Goldstrike Canyon Trail (Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV)

Goldstrike Canyon Hot Springs, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, February 2023 Most visitors flock to Lake Mead National Recreation Area—straddling the Arizona-Nevada border, a short drive from Las Vegas—for water-related activities on the United States’ largest reservoir by volume. However, adventure-seekers of the land-bound sort are also treated to a fair amount of challenging and …

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Horseshoe Bend Trail (Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, AZ)

Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, May 2021 There once was a time when Horseshoe Bend—an entrenched meander along the Colorado River—was a relatively sleepy destination, known largely only to locals living in northern Arizona. But today, thanks to social media (and its high propensity for showing up as a Windows desktop background), the …

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Cathedral Wash (Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, AZ)

Cathedral Wash, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, May 2021 Appearing modest from the trailhead, Cathedral Wash quickly deepens into a spectacular canyon that cuts through the Kaibab Limestone and Toroweap Formation in northern Arizona’s Glen Canyon area, ending at the Colorado River and a narrow sliver of Grand Canyon National Park. Don’t be fooled by …

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Dinosaur Hill Trail (McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, CO)

Dinosaur Hill Trail, McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, September 2020 In western Colorado’s Grand Valley, between the modest town of Fruita and splendid Colorado National Monument, lies one of the most famous dinosaur dig sites in the United States. It was here in 1901, on a multi-hued hill composed of rock of the Morrison formation, …

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White Rock Canyon – Arizona Hot Spring Canyon Trail Loop (Lake Mead National Recreation Area, AZ)

Nestled in the depths of a slot canyon downriver from Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, Arizona Hot Spring boasts sizzling temperatures of 85-120 degrees year-round. On weekends in winter and spring, residents of the Las Vegas area flock in droves to the spot, with their bathing suits and Tevas in hand, in order to …

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White Rim Overlook Trail (Canyonlands National Park, UT)

Though just up the road from Grand View Point in Canyonlands National Park’s Island in the Sky District, the White Rim Overlook Trail receives far fewer visitors. The hike, an easy and quick jaunt out to the southeast tip of the “Island” plateau, offers unobstructed vistas to the north, south, and east—some of the best …

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Utah Highway 279 from Moab

Moab, Utah—the now iconic hangout for hikers, bikers, climbers, and alas, jeep enthusiasts—is situated amid a sea of slickrock and flanked by the Colorado River, the blissful sculptor of many of the American Southwest’s grandest canyons. While millions flock to Moab’s Arches or Canyonlands National Parks each year, lesser-known Highway 279 follows one of the …

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Corona Arch Trail, including Bowtie Arch and Pinto Arch (Moab area, UT)

Boasting an aperture of 140 ft. by 105 ft., Corona Arch is one of Utah’s largest—and most spectacular—natural arches. Yet its location, tucked away amidst BLM land, keeps the place relatively unspoiled, in contrast with the swarming crowds of nearby Arches National Park. Corona is situated amidst a seemingly endless sea of slickrock of the …

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Confluence Overlook Trail (Canyonlands National Park, UT)

Utah’s Canyonlands National Park is sliced into three quadrants by the deep cuts of the Colorado River and the Green River: Island in the Sky, Needles, and The Maze. Yet due to the deep incisions formed by the two rivers, very few roadside overlooks, or even backcountry trails, offer a glimpse of either. An exception …

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