Pictures of iconic Mesa Arch, often photographed in the early morning glow, frequently grace the pages of calendars and coffee table books. There is something about the arch, maybe the most popular destination in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, which catches the eye. Perhaps it is the setting—the rare instance in which a natural arch is …
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Upheaval Dome—a deep, circular depression containing sharp, chalky badlands—is one of Utah’s Canyonlands National Park’s, or even the American Southwest’s, greatest geological mysteries. How did this peculiar feature form? Geologists continue today to debate the answer. To some, Upheaval Dome is a hollowed crater, evidence of a meteorite strike some 200 million years ago. To …
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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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Grand View Point, one of the finest overlooks in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, is situated at the end of the principal drive through the park’s iconic Island in the Sky District. Visitors in search of a rather casual stroll can venture even farther, hiking from Grand View Point to the very southern tip of the …
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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 …
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 …
Continue reading Corona Arch Trail, including Bowtie Arch and Pinto Arch (Moab area, UT)
If you’ve made it to Capitol Reef National Park in central Utah, you’ve already reached one of the American West’s most isolated destinations. Wayne County, in which much of Capitol Reef is located, has not a single stoplight, and any delays encountered on the road are more often than not of the bovine kind. Most …
Continue reading Notom-Bullfrog Road and Burr Trail to Bullfrog Marina
After spending four months as a seasonal interpretive volunteer at Capitol Reef National Park, I have completed a whopping 46 blog posts for Live and Let Hike about Capitol Reef, including 42 detailed descriptions of the park’s trails and routes. Alas, despite wishful thinking, your average visitor to Capitol Reef is not likely to research …
Continue reading Top 10 Hikes in Capitol Reef National Park’s “Frontcountry”
The mostly level and shady Capitol Gorge Trail continues up the narrow canyon where the scenic Capitol Gorge Road ends. A geological cousin of nearby Grand Wash, Capitol Gorge also played a central role in the area’s human history. For nearly 80 years, despite its extreme narrows, the canyon was the only reliable transit point …
Continue reading Capitol Gorge Trail, including the Tanks (Capitol Reef National Park, UT)
Some places have great stories, and popular hiking destination Cohab Canyon in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park is exactly one of those places. For the Mormon faith’s remaining polygamists in Utah, the late 1800s were a trying time: the state had just consented to the Edmunds Act, which bans the practice. Federal law enforcement officials …
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