Roads Less Traveled

To me, Bryce, Arches and Zion, were the three main National Parks to see in Utah. But there is much more and so we hit a few other places as well.

In Moab, scenic route 128 follows the Colorado River and borders Arches. We drove the canyon road about 20 miles along the river one morning.

About 15 miles in we came across the Red Cliff Lodge and Castle Creek Winery. What a beautiful setting!

Canyonlands is another place to visit when you are in Moab, Utah. I was unfamiliar with it, but I'm glad we checked it out. There are three basic areas to Canyonlands; Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze. The book, The Maze, by Will Hobbs is a children's novel that essentially takes place in this part of Canyonlands. Now that I've been to the park, I have to go back and read that book! He is a terrific writer of adventure novels for youth. But I digress! We did NOT go into the Maze. It is remote and available only by backpack. The Needles section is a part of the canyon that is full of spires and columns, but we were a good drive from that area. We visited the Island in the Sky, essentially a rim road with views into the canyon. 

Canyonlands is created by the Green River and the Colorado River. They enter at different places but meet in the canyon.

Island in the Sky is basically a plateau. The road cuts across the plateau to different vistas providing views of the canyon below. The canyon is wide in many places with a fairly level floor. It is not as spectacular as some we've seen, but it is extensive. There are two sections to it; the section carved out by the Green River, and the part carved out by the Colorado River.

Paths lead to scenic views that the road doesn't quite reach.

 Some paths are more defined than others.

And some boggle my mind. I'm amazed that the Park Service hasn't blocked off this path so close to a deadly dropoff! I saw several people venture out to the point. I wasn't one of them!

There was one unique feature in Canyonlands. Upheaval Dome was at the top of a climb. I was glad it wasn't too difficult, considering the altitude. At least living in Pittsburgh and Georgia has conditioned me to climbing hills. 

Upheaval Dome is a crater at the top of an overlook.

This was one of those times when Larry waited while I explored.

The path was better marked in places than others. When I got near the top I wandered a bit looking for the main viewing point.

But I made it!

Upheaval Dome. 

Obviously, I'm not a scientist. When I looked into the crater, I wondered if it couldn't have been a collapsed dome! But that's not what geologists have determined.

The end of the drive across Island in the Sky brings you to this fantastic view of the river valley below and the canyon floor. Somewhere out there was where the Green and the Colorado Rivers merge. They are responsible for all of this.

The End of the Road

And the View Below

Scenic Byway 12 is a highway out of Panguitch that goes through some incredible country and into the Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument. The Grand Staircase is 1,880,461 acres in Utah set aside for study. Environmental, Archaeological, Geological groups, and anyone else who wants to learn about our earth, are able to come here. Access is limited to a few roads in and numerous trails through. Dinosaur fossils are prevalent there and several forms of prehistoric as well as current life forms are found there that have never been found elsewhere. It is a wild and barren land that stretches from southern Utah to the Grand Canyon. The Staircase refers to its geologic makeup. There are 5 staircases/periods of time that can be studied in this area that go back thousands of years. (Do not use my description here as a 'research point'. I easily grasped the significance of the area, but had a more difficult time understanding the scientific data and format of the Staircase. It is not a visual Step--which of course is what I wanted to see!)

We drove into the area on Rt. 12 on a cloudy day that brought every kind of weather we could ask for, except warm and sunny!

It started out windy...as usual. We have had plenty of wind on this trip! But the clouds were light. The road into the Grand Staircase went through some little towns with some interesting history. Many of these towns were settled by Mormon's on a mission, under the direction of Brigham Young, to discover good land for settlements. In one town, the settlers spent 2 years digging a canal by hand from a river 10 miles away! In another, Pipe Stream, it was determined the area would only support a family. Hardy souls for sure!

Once again we toured some amazing scenery. Obviously there must be water down there where it's green.

 I found a rock shop and went looking for fossils for my grandkids.

He had plenty to choose from and enjoyed sharing it with me.

The clouds got lower as we drove on.

 The Long and Winding Road.... led to a stretch of highway that followed a ridge line. The mountain fell away on both sides.

We stopped for lunch at a very nice restaurant, (which was fortunate, because it was also pretty much the only restaurant).

Across from the restaurant was this little building.

Interesting art work dotted the premises.

Old Wagon tucked off to the side.

After lunch it was time to head back. 

And then of course it snowed.

Utah was remarkable. I never appreciated how much it had to offer. (Including crazy weather!) There are a couple of other local places we visited, but I will save that for a later post. For now, the sun was setting on our time here.