In Spring 2015, we returned to southwest USA to experience some remarkable sights:
Click “i” to display informative captions. Add any of the above images to your Cart for purchase using my Portfolio site. See a more extensive gallery in my Portfolio.
Spring/fall desert canyon hiking itinerary, round trip from Salt Lake City
The above photos dated March 27 to April 8, 2015 are from the following itinerary, which makes a good round trip in 2 weeks from Salt Lake City:
Ratings key: *** Must do | ** Do | * Maybe
- Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
- * Capitol Gorge (Golden Throne Trail, The Tanks, Pioneer Register)
- ** Hickman Natural Bridge and ** Rim Overlook Trail
- * Grand Wash
- Goblin Valley State Park
- ** Valley of the Goblins
- nearby BLM land slots:
- *** Crack Canyon
- * Wild Horse Canyon (different than ** Little Wild Horse – Bell Canyon loop done in 2020 and 2006)
- * Ding Canyon
- Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
- ** Leprechaun Canyon (on BLM land 8 miles north of GCNRA on Highway 95)
- ** Natural Bridges National Monument
- Needles District of Canyonlands NP
- ** Lost Canyon and Peekaboo Arch
- * Slickrock Trail
- * Cave Spring & Historic Cowboy Camp
- * Needles Outpost Campground has nice *** hot showers to wash off the desert dust. (The scenic ** Canyonlands National Park’s Squaw Flat Campground was full on Thursday and Friday during Easter week 2015.)
- ** Shay Canyon’s petroglyph gallery (on BLM land outside of Canyonlands National Park, a few miles up the highway from Newspaper Rock)
- We skipped ** Moab this year because its campgrounds were overbooked due to the crowded Easter Jeep Safari (Saturday, March 28 – Sunday, April 5, 2015), and instead headed into less-crowded spring destinations in Colorado:
- * Dallas Divide, Colorado (a pretty pass in the San Juan Mountains which will look fantastic with *** fall foliage colors on some future trip)
- *** Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park, Colorado
- *** The Painted Wall viewpoints around sunrise and sunset
- * Campground
- ** Colorado National Monument, Colorado
- ** Monument Canyon Trail to Independence Monument
- ** Devils Kitchen
- ** Rim Drive views
- ** Dinosaur National Monument, near Jensen, Utah
Tom and Carol Dempsey drove this round trip from Seattle March 25-April 10, 2015.
See related articles:
- The Colorado Plateau (centered upon the Four Corners region of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico) has the highest concentration of parklands in North America. You could spend a lifetime exploring the astounding natural wonders of this remarkable desert region.
- Also in Southwest USA: Nevada (plus Texas , California)
- 2014 spring road trip to Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, California: March 15-April 9, 2014