Medicine Bow Peak Trail, Medicine Bow National Forest, July 2022 As 2022 draws to an end, it is—as per tradition—time to look back on the year at Live and Let Hike. This is the ninth year of the blog—the tenth anniversary coming in 2023—and there was no let-up in content, as I published 68 entries, …
Harpers Corner Trail, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Following a pinyon- and juniper-studded ridgeline out to its terminus, the Harpers Corner Trail features stunning panoramic vistas high above canyon country in Colorado/Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument. The landscape below, cut and eroded by the Green and Yampa Rivers, spans millions of years of geologic time, from …
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Mitten Park Trail, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Situated just north of Echo Park on the Colorado side of Dinosaur National Monument, a sudden break in the cream-colored Weber sandstone produces a multi-hued swirl of color—a peculiar twisting formation where the horizontal shelves suddenly thrust upward into vertical stripes, culminating in one of the area’s …
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Steamboat Rock, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Roughly straddling the border between Utah and Colorado, Echo Park Road extends 12 miles and connects the paved Harpers Corner Road with its namesake Echo Park—a hidden flat near the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers in Dinosaur National Monument. Here travelers will find a campground and …
Quarry Exhibit Hall, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Scenic hiking trails abound in the woefully underexplored canyons of Dinosaur National Monument, but it is the famed fossil quarry that gives this Utah/Colorado park its name. Here, in 1909, paleontologist Earl Douglass began what would become one of the most famous digs in the world, uncovering …
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Sound of Silence Trail, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Like Canyonlands or Capitol Reef in southern Utah, Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and Colorado features nearly two dozen sedimentary rock layers that span the Permian through Cretaceous periods (66-300 million years ago). The view from Cub Creek Road at the trailhead for the Sound of …
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Box Canyon Trail, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Two short and easy hikes take off from the parking area at the end of Cub Creek Road (Josie Morris Cabin) in the Utah portion of Dinosaur National Monument. The longer—and arguably better—is the Hog Canyon Trail. But there is a shorter alternative—Box Canyon—which wanders ¼ mile …
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Hog Canyon Trail, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 One of two short and easy hikes beginning from the old Josie Morris Cabin in the Utah portion of Dinosaur National Monument, the Hog Canyon Trail parallels the sandstone pitches of Split Mountain before turning and following a narrow cut partway into the Weber sandstone mass. This …
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Jones Hole Trail, Dinosaur National Monument, June 2022 Although most famous for its prehistoric fossils, Dinosaur National Monument in northeast Utah and northwest Colorado covers more than 200,000 acres of canyon country that rivals the “Mighty Five” national parks farther south. Here the Green and Yampa Rivers—and their various tributaries—have carved a labyrinth of snaking …
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Timpanogos Falls, Mount Timpanogos Wilderness, June 2022 Below the imposing massif of Mount Timpanogos (11,749’)—the second-highest peak in northern Utah’s Wasatch Range—lies a wonderland of aspen groves, cascading streams, and verdant meadows, many of which are a stone’s throw from the popular, 20-mile Alpine Loop Scenic Byway. Ambitious day hikers can set out to tackle …
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