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Things to Do in Arches National Park
Arches National Park is a masterpiece of nature and a beloved Utah tourist destination. Renowned the world over for its delicate rock garden, the national park is among the most iconic places in the United States. In Arches, giant sandstone arcs frame snowy peaks and juniper-clad desertscape. While the entire area is a red rock paradise, there is no doubt that these natural rock arches are its primary draw. Indeed, its signature sandstone span is so lauded, that it has become a symbol of the American Southwest—emblazoned on license plates,…
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Visiting the Island in the Sky: Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park offers some of the most enthralling vistas in the American West. Blanketing more than 520 square miles of the Colorado Plateau, it conceals winding river canyons, towering rock pinnacles, and ancient Native American settlements. The Colorado and Green rivers are the prime sculptors in the area. Aided by erosion, they have chiseled out a tapestry of gullies and mesas that fans out over the vast desert landscape. The majority of this immense area remains an obstacle for all but the heartiest back-country explorers. But in Canyonlands’ Island in…
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Hiking in the Canyonlands Needles District
Canyonlands National Park is a rugged wilderness of buttes and mesas that sprawls outward in a tapestry of oranges and reds. The Canyonlands Needles District is one of four distinct areas within the national park. It is an oft-forgotten wonderland of stone pillars that jut skyward like blunted needles. Among the area’s towering rock garden, it conceals some of the best hiking trails in the American Southwest. Although it isn’t as heavily trafficked as other areas in Utah’s Mighty 5, the hiker’s paradise boasts bewitching vistas, diverse topography, and unforgettable…
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Driving the Scenic Highway 12 in Utah
After visiting Capitol Reef’s Strike Valley, Dan and I found ourselves racing along Utah’s Highway 12 in order to catch a return flight to Seattle. Our path to the Salt Lake City Airport followed the Burr Trail to Boulder, then veered right—ascending a hair-raising road up Boulder Mountain, toward Torrey. Though spectacular views turned our heads every which way, the scenery sped by in a blur. I tried to snap photos of the moving landscape, but failed to capture its majesty through the car’s dusty windows. Then and there, we…
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Things to Do in Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park is an otherworldly fairyland of elegant beauty and shocking colors. Renowned for its rock formations that pierce the sky like rust-colored stalagmites, the canyon’s ethereal desertscape is nothing short of breathtaking. Bryce’s spire-clad environment is utterly unique and unforgettable. A sculpture garden of pastel daggers, the national park is a photographer’s dream and one of the most iconic landscapes in the American Southwest. I reckon it is impossible not to stand in awe of the park’s sandcastle-like hoodoos, delicate fins, and cavernous amphitheaters. THINGS TO…
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Things to Do in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park
Valley of Fire State Park may be only 50 miles from downtown Las Vegas, but it feels world’s away from the city’s casino-flanked strip. Throughout the park, the stillness of nature replaces a constant whirl of slot machines, and age-old rocks tell the stories of those who once called the area home. The Valley of Fire lies amidst a seemingly endless expanse of parched grey rock. Covering nearly 46,000 acres of the Mojave Desert, the state park is a place where Nevada’s barren landscape puts on a dramatic and colorful…
