We've traveled over 4,500 miles in Rose and she is still doing great! The weather on the other hand, continues to be a challenge....Winter’s not over yet in Utah even though the calendar says it’s spring and - we are still dodging snow and ice – we had to make two detours to get from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park.
Molly - licking the snow!
We thought after seeing a couple of the parks in Utah we would get burned out on the different types of rock formations and the canyons would all start looking alike ( kind of like cathedrals and castles in Europe) – boy were we surprised! They all have lots of rocks but that’s where the similarity ends…each park has it’s own special beauty, unique features, plants and animals and human history too!
The hoodoos are the unique rock feature at Bryce and they were even more spectacular with snow on them - the winter weather has it's advantages! Seeing the snow on the hoodoos was beautiful but the thought of camping in 2 feet of snow was not so appealing ( even in Rose). We quickly adjusted our plans again and headed east about 24 miles to Kodachrome State Park –it’s 3,000 feet lower in elevation than Bryce so there was NO snow on the ground. The park was in a beautiful canyon off the beaten path so it was really quiet – only a few other campers and lots of trails to explore- we had it all to ourselves ( such a rare thing these days)!
Our campsite at Kodachrome Park - Rose is the "silver speck" down at the bottom of the picture by the rocks!
We traveled along Highway 12 - a beautiful All American Scenic Highway with gorgeous views and a REALLY winding, steep road but after driving the Pacific coast Highway it was easy peasy! We made stops along the way at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Escalante Petrified Forest Park and Anasasi State Park. Our last destination was Capitol Reef National Park- what an amazing park it is! It’s a combination of Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon – all in one park! Towering canyon walls like Zion, hooddoos like Bryce and incredible colorful rock layers like the Grand Canyon. The added bonus is that the pioneers who settled the area planted lots of fruit trees and the campground was in an orchard of apricot trees in full bloom !
Highlights:
Bryce Canyon's amazing "hoodoos" and arch
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
- Beautiful sunset at our campsite on a lake
- Hike to a waterfall in the desert and lifesize Fremont Indian pictograph
Capitol Reef National Park
- Amazing colors in the rock layers and history of the Mormon pioneers
- Drive and hike in the bottom of a very deep gorge on the same road the wagons used
- Hike to Hickman Natural Bridge
We're only half way through our Utah park tour ( it's amazing how many parks there are in Utah) .. next stops are Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Goblin Valley and Dead Horse Point State Parks plus historic sites where the ancestoral Puebloans lived! Hopefully spring will truly be here!
