Utah 2005
There was a definite change of scenery when crossing into Utah from Colorado. The green mountain sides were replaced by a vast expanse of beautiful red colored mountains and plains. From west of Green River, Utah there are no services for 102 miles along I-70! I didn't realize that there was any place in the United States where you could travel a highway and not see a gas station, a store, or a bill board for over a hundred miles.
Zion River RV Resort in Virgin, Utah, about 13 miles from Zion National Park was our base camp for twelve days. The campground is located on Route 9 along the Virgin River. There is very little road noise. The campground is a well maintained, manicured up-scale park with all of the expected amenities. All roads in the park are black top and the sites are concrete pads. Pull thru sites are up to 70' in length. As expected for a park like this, prices for everything are a bit steep. Showers in the bath house are $1.00 for 5 minutes and washer and dryers go for $2.00 each. Wireless high speed internet connection is available for $5.30/ day. You can also have a telephone for a $53.00 deposit. Telephone charges are steep also; they even charge for toll free calls. The park's staff is friendly, however I did not find management going "above and beyond the call of duty" when I needed the services of a mobile RV technician to correct a heater problem.
Jim, Ann, and Rose stayed with us for a few days in the RV while at Zion River RV Resort. It was nice to see them again and we really enjoyed their company as well as their taking us around to see the local sights. Ann's mother and step-father live in St. George, a short drive from here.
Zion National Park is a geological wonder land. The rugged beauty is breath taking. Visitors can view this beauty along The Zion Canyon Scenic Drive via a sightseeing shuttle bus which can be boarded from outside the Park or from the Park's Visitor Center; private vehicles are not allowed. The shuttle bus makes several stops at scenic points where you can get off, hike a trail, and then get back on to continue up the road or return to your starting point. The shuttle buses have bicycle racks too. Utah Route 9 goes through the Park and through a 1.1 mile tunnel that was built in 1920's. Most RV and dual wheel truck require an escort which cost $15 to go thru the tunnel, if they are 11'-4" high, 7'-10" wide and less than 40' long. Vehicles over 13'-1" are not permitted through the tunnel.. The two lane graded road leading to the tunnel has six consecutive hair pin turns going from south to north. This scenery along this road leading out of the park is as breath taking as the scenic shuttle bus ride. A link to Zion National Park is included in the links section of this site.
There are many shops, restaurants, and motels in the quaint little town of Springdale just out side of the park's South entrance.
Bryce Canyon National Park presented us with still more breath taking rugged beauty. Jim was our chauffer for this side trip. But, Bryce was different than Zion. Bryce is made up of towering geological erosions called Hoodoo's (1. A pinnacle or odd-shaped rock left standing by the forces of erosion. 2. To cast a spell or cause bad luck. 3. Voodoo.) Bryce is approximately 78 miles northeast of Zion. A link to Bryce Canyon National Park is included in the links section of this site.
Patricia and I took a two day, 1,000 mile side trip to visit the following six national parks, forest, and monuments:
Arches and Canyonlands National Parks are approximately 30 mile apart, but their geological makeup's are vastly different. Arches was basically formed by underground salt deposits producing the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths. Whereas Canyonlands was formed primarily by water and gravity cutting flat layers of sedimentary rock into canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches, and spires. Patricia hikes up to Copper Ridge Sauropod Dinosaur Tracks, just north of Moab, Utah, to walk where dinosaurs roamed 150 million years ago.
Capitol Reef National Park is a 100 mile long wrinkle in earth stretching across south-central Utah. Geological formations were created 65 million years ago by the up lifting of the Colorado Plateau.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a relatively new national monument having been established by President Clinton. Utah Scenic Route 12 snakes along the top of the monument with some pretty exciting sharp and steep turns; without guard rails in most places! Escalante is called the "Heart of Highway 12" because it is geographically located near the midpoint of Scenic Byway 12.
Dixie National Forest provides a contrast of colors with red canyons, green evergreens, grassy meadows, grey, tan, black, and white sandstone formations and white birch trees.
Cedar Breaks National Monument is 10,350' above sea level. No wonder I was a little short of breath while walking around up there! The canyon is 2500' deep and the monument receives 15' of snow each year. Utah Scenic Rout 12 passes through the monument and is often closed in the winter for periods of time due to snow.
Besides being some of the most beautiful country that we have ever seen, this part of Utah is a sportsman's and hiker's heaven. If you haven't been here, we highly recommend a visit. Spend some time and explore the country side. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Utah.
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