Trip Reports - Southwestern U.S. national parks tour

The Austrian and I decided to visit the famous (and not so famous Parks and National Monuments in the S.W. U.S. Feel free to ask questions. Here's a quick review:

27 May

Arrive into PHX at 2pm from PDX. Bags even came out near the front and fairly quickly (AS has a reputation of loading bags on before bringing arriving bags to the carousel). Quickly got onto the car rental shuttle to get a car from National. Only sedans appeared to be various dark shades of Nissan Altimas (wanted a light coloured car and one with XM radio) but alas none to be had.

28 May.

Returned and "re-rented" the Altima at National's Greenaway road location. Miles out of our way (Navajo Trail to Payson, Petrified Forest and Kayenta).

Proceeded up the Apache Trail. We liked how Phoenix uses xeriscaping (dry/desert landscaping) and native plants around highways and roads. Noticed that the saguaro cactii were in bloom (May-June) but this was the tail end of the blooming season in Phoenix. The cactii are present until about halfway up to Payson when they suddenly disappear (gets too cold). This highway is rather interesting in that it's been divided (since I last travelled it in '94) with one way using the old highway and the other the new. At some points, the highways cross so traffic in the reverse direction is to your right! Makes yuou check whether you're driving the right way or not.

Traffic on the Memorial Day Sunday on the Mogollon Rim wasn't too bad. Light after Heber.

Got to Petrified Forest and did the drive with a few walks. It would appear that getting here in the morning or late afternoon is the best. Being here in midday makes everything look bleached, and the painted desert (N of I-40) looks rather washed out too. The Petrified Forest has some walks worth going on but one would require at least 4-5 hours to devote. Although petrified logs are apparently quite common throughout the Colorado plateau, "gem" grade ones are found mostly at this site.

Proceed through Ganado and Chinle to get to Kayenta for the night. Kayenta has seen a lot of growth and now boasts at least 3 chain motels: the Holiday Inn which has been there for nearly 40 years, a supposedly-semi-historical Best Western, and a very new Hampton Inn. We chose this Hampton Inn for points purposes. It's your standard HI except most of the staff is Navajo. The place has a restaurant serving regional native fare, and also an elaborate gift shop. The place is quite nice with good enough atmosphere. Book ahead if you want to come this way as rooms fill up fast (bus tours use it) and we saw/heard several parties turned away.

That evening, we drove up Monument Valley. The more-famous part of it is at the Navajo tribal park just south of the Utah line but the valley itself runs pretty much between Kayenta and Mexican Hat in Utah. Morning and late afternoons are the best times to come to see the colours of the rock.

There's a charge of approximately $5 per person to gain access to Monument Valley tribal park. An option is hiring a Navajo guide who could take you to places not permitted to self-drive tourists (the tribal park - like many seemingly-desolate places in the Navajo nation - is actually inhabited). There's a 17 mile dirt road loop to drive around with the usual famous buttes (e.g., Mittens) and the vista where John Ford used to film Stagecoach.

29 May

After breakfast, we drove to Najavo National Monument. This site contains 3 ancestral Puebloan (or, better known by the Navajo term, anasazi) cliff dwellings. Only 2 are open for visits: Betatakin and Keet Seel.

You can see Betatakin by a 1 mile r/t trail from the visitor centre. Or you can book a ranger-led hike down there (offered 2x daily from Mem. Day onward at 830 and 11), and in the winter at 10). It's a tough hike: 5 miles r/t with a 700' drop out - and 700' climb back. 4-5 hour trip. While not as famous as the nearby Mesa Verde, it's a lot quieter and not crowded as there are naturally fewer visitors.

The Keet Seel ruins are apparently much more intact and spectacular but require an overnight hike of 17 miles r/t and hikers are limited to 20/day so book in advance. The 3rd site isn't accessible.

The Navajo nation doesn't charge for admission or camping in the NPS site.

Our ranger, who was Navajo, told us that when the monument was established, it had to be shrunk as people actually lived in and around the monument. The visitor centre was also built without the government's knowledge of Betatakin's existence!

30 May

This was to be our travel day to the north rim of the Grand Canyon but we managed to make a worthwhile visit on the way. To the south of the town of Page is Antelope Canyon. This slot canyon is very narrow - carved out by flash floods - and is famous for the photographs of the midday sun shining into the narrow slots. The more famous site is upper canyon which is located on the west side of the highway and the less famous lower canyon on the right. As it is on Navajo land, the nation charges a $6 per person admission fee. A $15 tour (mandatory) is require for touring either site but well worth it. A $25 photographers tour for upper Antelope is available - gives you 2 hours instead of 1. You'll need a tripod, wide angle lenses, and dust covering equipment.

We didn't visit lower Antelope as we got there after the best time of day had well passed but I think it's certainly worth visiting if you have 3-4 hours to spare there.

The best times to visit lower Antelope Canyon is apparently in the mid-late morning and upper Antelope Canyon has to be visited around midday when sunlight shines right into the canyon. The local Navajos who do the guiding warn of flash floods so the place is closed when rain threatens.

Onward through Page and to the Grand Canyon north rim. The Vermillion Cliffs to the north of the highway don't seem to stand out in the midday sun either. They're the lower of 4 or so major steps that make up the Grand Escalante whose bottom is the Kaibab plateau (lifted high around the surrounding lands at the Grand Canyon). There's another slot canyon that is apparently a hiker's paradise. Paria Canyon which starts in Utah (between Kanab, UT and Page, AZ) and ends near Lees Ferry requires a 4 day hike and shuttle among other things.

The drive to the Grand Canyon isn't as scenic as some make it out to be (maybe I'm spoilt by similar places at home).

Like lodges and food service on the south rim, this place is operated by Xanterra (http://www.xanterra.com). The lodge was one of 4 built and developed by the Union Pacific Railroad to develop tourist traffic (the others were at Zion, Bryce, and Cedar Breaks). The lodge itself doesn't have any lodging. All these are located in cabins and in a small hotel unit. There are 4 cabins with rim views. These are certainly worth getting. These are the Western Cabins (in quads and duplexes) which have porches with rocking chairs out front. We got a frontier cabin which are smaller duplex units w/o porches. Quite simple with a double and single bed, and small bathroom with shower. Functional but not much more. Had quiet neighbours one night but the 2nd we had PWT who insisted on listening to Cheech and Chong.

The original lodge was burned down in a fire (which also befell the ones at Zion and probably Cedar Breaks). The rebuilt version is quite nice with a big grand dining room, a nice scenic viewing room with balconies off either side (outdoor fire place too for evening ranger programmes). There's also an auditorium for ranger talks.

Food is available at a cafeteria (staff are fed here) and a grand old restaurant in the lodge. The restaurant has some tables by the window but getting these are pretty much luck of the draw. You need to reserve ahead of time for dinner or you may end up eating very early (starts at 445p) or late (last sitting at 945p). Food is actually fairly decent and decently priced, but the veg that comes with the mains are frozen and waterlogged (same at Zion and Bryce.) There's an option to have soup or salad with your main. Don't eat the pasta here or at Bryce or Zion. The stuff looks like slop. Breakfast is either buffet or off the menu (same at Zion and Bryce).

There's a limited number of cocktails but very good ones. Beers include offering from Henry Widmer in OR (hefeweizen for one). We thought the wines were a little expensive.

The viewpoints at the north rim aren't as spectacular as the south (not as close to the Colorado) but much fewer tourists make up for it. Going for dawn and dusk shots, we only encountered one other person at Point Imperial in the morning, and about 2 dozen in the evening. Cape Royal provides a view to the east. There are a couple of view points (Bright Angel and the one by the lodge) close by but these are naturally busier (but not as much as the south rim).

There are few day hikes on the north rim. Whatever you do, don't do the Widforss trail beyond the 2/2 1/2 mile limit (4-5 mile round trip). The full 10 mile hike isn't scenic enough. Going down below the rim for a bit on the Kaibab trail is probably the best bet. There's also one at Cape Royal which is probably good too.

Alternative accomodations are 2 private lodges just outside the park and at Jacob Lake on your way in (or out).


Note: the north rim is only open from mid May to sometime in October or November.

After 2 days at GC NR, we departed for Zion. Drove north and off the raised part of the Kaibab plateau (the top of the Grand Canyon near the bottom of Zion canyon despite being some 4,000' higher) so you drop several thousand feet to Kanab, UT. This is a good place to stock up on whatever. On the way to Zion, you can take a small diversion to get to Coral Sand Dunes State Park. This park has sand dunes which take on the coral colour of the red rock. You have to pay to get in but you can also visit, for free, BLM land nearby.

Zion is accessed from the east by a highway that uses a tunnel. Large vehicles have to pay a special fee as the tunnel has to be switched to one way. On the east side before the tunnel, the major attraction is Checkerboard mesa which is a sandstone formation but by lines in 2 directions. Just at the tunnel, there is a hike that takes you to a viewpoint high above part of the valley. There's also a trail leading to petroglyphs but we didn't have enough time. Big horn sheep were reintroduced to the area but we didn't see any.

Past the tunnel, there are 4 big switchbacks and you can see the great arch of Zion (a blind arch) above which the viewpoint mentioned in the previous paragraph is situated (so don't go over the edge).

Zion Canyon is closed to cars in the peak season (sometime from late autumn to Feb. or March) so a very frequent free shuttle bus system is in operation. Lodge guests are permitted to drive non-stop to the lodge with a special tag.

The lodge is one of the newest as it was burnt down and rebuild in mere weeks. A great part of its charm was lost in the process. Accomodation here is in cabins (with fireplaces) or 2 storey motel units. The motel unit we had was very large and modern. Not unlike your average hotel/motel room, with a balcony and aircon (hot here). A few rooms are suites with sitting area. Food here is similar to Grand Canyon NR in almost all aspects. There's an option for soup and salad bar at small cost which is worth the price though. Pasta still looks like slop. There's a few local beers (Uinta?) on taps well as cocktails (GC had cocktails and beer on tap too but these weren't local but Henry Widmer from Oregon). The place isn't as busy as the GC so reservations are merely advised (for peak periods) and not required. There's a cafeteria too but it has limited hours (mid morning until sometime in the afternoon). A coffee bar is open for those waking up early for hikes.

There are a few hikes in Zion. As the roads are all mostly in the canyon floor, you need to go up to see the place. The hike we chose was Angels Landing (highly recommended) which takes you to a point 1,500' above the canyon floor. We did this hike early (taking the 650 shuttle) to the trail head. It starts off easy but shortly goes up a set of switchbacks, into a canyon called Refrigerator canyon (cooled by the rocks), another set of switchbacks and a 3rd very photogenic set called Walter's Wiggles. The paved trail end here and then it's a rocky trail up the spine/ridge to Angel's Landing. The NPS has installed chains are carved out stairs so it's quite easy. One part of the ridge path is said to be only 3' wide with a 800' sheer drop on one side and a 1,200' one on the other. 3 younger persons who started the hike the same time we did didn't proceed to the top. The view at the top is certainly rewarding with a spectacular view of the canyon floor and surrounding peaks including the facing Great White Throne. One thing about this hike: bring lots of water and start early. Congestion was bad when we came down at 10 and there was no more than a dozen people at the top but many on their way up.

There are a few more hikes around. The trail to Angels Landing splits off and becomes the West Rim trail (long, with backcountry camping.) There's a short one to the garden of eden - an overhang where water comes out when it meets impermeable shale - where the cliff dwellers as they could collect water). Off that is a short and steep one (800' in 1 mile) to Hidden Canyon which is a slot canyon. Further up is Observation Point and the East Rim trail. These and the West Rim trail involve a 2,200'+ climb from the canyon floor. There's also a hike to Emerald pool which has some water falls and pools.

The other major activity is going up the Virgin river at Zion Narrows. What this involves is hiking however many miles you want up to slot canyons. Some make it a 16 miel day or overnight OW hike from upriver. This is the most popular activity but you do need a hiking staff and water shoes (availabel for rent from outfitters in Springdale).

The wildlife here include Mule deer (in poor condition as they are being illegally fed human food) and wild turkey (I was followed by a flock of 7 one morning - they must like coffee).

Note: buy a cup of coffee at the lodge (Xanterra) concessions and refills are free all day. The stuff is quite good and supposed to be fair trade organic.

3-4 June

After 2 nights at Zion, we headed to Cedar Breaks via the east. Cedar Breaks has the same formation as Bryce and is called a mini Bryce. The site is actually just north of Zion canyon but since there are no roads and a 6,000' elevation gain, a long diversion is required. The bowl is small but truly spectacular. It faces west so it's probably very good at/before sunset. Certainly didn't disappoint midmorning though. There are some 4 viewpoints which only require a short walk, but there's a 2 mile hike from very near the visitor centre to a view point so see the bowl from the SW. Be aware that this place is at the 10,300' elevation and the hike goes down a bit.

Going onward to Bryce, we passed near the Brian Head ski resort, through Panguitch lake (big trout fishing centre) and Panguitch (another good place to stock up). En route, you go through a canyon which has red rocks (said to be nice at sunset). If you haven't secured accomodation at Bryce, there are a few motels including the 500+ room Rubys Inn (Best Western) just outside with gas, shopping, nightly rodeo and more.

We stayed at the Bryce Canyon Lodge which is the only one of the 4 original Union Pacific lodges still standing, and it does have charm. There are rooms in the lodge but we had a cabin. These cabin are again duplexes and quads. They're rather large with 2 queens, gas fire place, full bathroom with tub, and a dressing room with sink.

Food is quite good in the lodge with the caveat on vegetables. As at Zion, dinner entrees come with an option of soup and salad bar at a small additional cost. Well worth it. Only bottled beers (only 1 - some mass-market one) was available and no cocktails - though cocktails were certainly available in the historical menu.

This was the only Xanterra place where we had breakfast which was quite good (really good western scrambled eggs one morning). Service sucked though.

There's a view road that runs the length of Bryce (it's really a mesa rather than a canyon and most of the features are east facing.) The best is to drive south and work your way north so all the turnoffs are to your right. Most of the viewpoints require short walks at best.

The best all-round view point is Bryce Point, with Inspiration Point a 2nd (the top of Inspiration Point requires a short but steep walkup). Inspiration is closer to the hoodoos.

There are several hikes here. We started down the Queens Garden, connected to the Navajo loop (which starts at the top). One feature of the Navajo Loop is Wall Street where you have huge Douglas-firs growing in narrow canyons. There was a rockslide that closed off the trail (for the season) at these trees less than 2 weeks before we got there. We did one side of the Peekaboo loop before walking up via Bryce Point. A shuttle system also operates here but it seems to be for hikers' benefit as hours (9-6) and frequency are much more limited.

If you have a second day, or are very energetic in one, the Fairyland loop is very interesting. The below rim trail appears to be for overnight hiking.

Addenda to Zion.

On the east side of Zion, there's a buffalo ranch, They serve buffalo meat there.

Down the road from Bryce is Kodachrome Basin which was made famous (and named) by National Geographic. I've loned heard of this place but my advice is to visit only if you have the time. It's interesting but its grandeur is much overshadowed by everything else. Might be worth hiking for a few hours. There are some (air conditioned) cabins within the park which might be nice to stay in. A few miles in by dirt road is an arch called Grosvenor Arch which is said to be large and spectacular.

5-6 June

After 2 days at Bryce, we headed to SW Colorado for Mesa Verde. The drive took us through Grand Escalante NM and Capitol Reef NP (both worth the time to explore if you have a 4WD/4x4 and the time). There are several dirt roads with interesting features. Capitol Reef has a paved view drive but it was our opinion that's its better explored on foot than viewed from inside a car. At a viewpoint east of the visitor centre are some petroglyphs.

Passing through the northeastern rearches of lake Powell, we came to Natural Bridges NM. There are 3 bridges in various stages of formation here. While you can view them from the road, it's best to hike down to them. The 1st two can barely be discerned as bridges from the view point. The 3rd (the oldest and most delicate) is much closer to the road. We would recommend an early morning hike (6-12 mile r/t) of these 3 bridges.

Onward to Cortez and then up to Mesa Verde. This NP is famous for cliff dwellings. As it was the 100th anniversary, 3 sites normally closed to visits were opened but tickets were very limited and long sold out. You have to buy tickets to visit the popular cliff dwellings including Cliff Palace, Balcony House and Long House. Tickets cost $3 and are available at the visitor centre on the day of and before the visit, or at the ranger office at the campground after the visitor centre closes.

Balcony house is the only east facing dwelling while the rest are mostly west facing. Two other cliff ruins are available to be visited w/o ranger guides or tickets.

There's only one hike of note which takes you to a petroglyph wall.

The inpark lodge at Farview is run by Aramark. Housing is in motel-style rooms. Despite the website's statements, there are only 2 grades of rooms. Kiva ones with air conditioning and all others w/o. There are in-room fridges which is a nice feature. The rooms mostly face S/SSE.

Food at the lodge's Metate restaurant is very good and a wine is recommended for each course. Aramark's system seems to limit the frequency of seating (tables are always available but they seem to only seat a table every 1-2 minutes) so many dinner seating requests (no reservations accepted) are met with a warning of 30 minute wait and a recommendation to have a drink in the upstairs lounge.

There's also a nearby cafeteria with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Note that dinner offering are severely limited in the evening (past 6? Opened until 8). Breakfast is buffet and you can actually take it to go. ;)

While we didn't have time to visit, there are these interesting nearby sites:

Valley of the Gods - just north of Mexican Hat. Lots of spires makes it reminescent of Monument Valley. 17 mile loop dirt road said to require a 4x4 (or at least high clearance).

Petroglyphs just west/south of Bluff. Hovenweep and Valley of the Ancients NM. The former has 6 anasazi towers among many ruins. The latter is a recently-designated NM with some 600 mostly-unexcavated/unmarked ruins. It's promoted as a make your own visit place. There are also various ruins between Natural Bridges and Cortez.

After 2 days at Mesa Verde, we headed for Canyon De Chelly via Durango and Aztec Ruins. Durango has the railroad to Silverton. On Main Street (south end) is a very nice french bakery/bistro with what must be the most authentic baguettes in the west (better than a lot of bread Ive had in France.

Aztec has Aztec Ruins which is a misnamed Pueblan town which has been excavated. A surprising amount is original. A kiva has been reconstructed and ranger talks are held in there. Further to the south is Chaco which was a huge city.

If you need a shopping fix, Aztec and Farmington offer all the chain stores in one ugly run of strip malls.

We drove to Shiprock and then headed south and then east on a Najavo road to view Shiprock and drive over mountains on a very steep and twisty road to Chinle (it's slow - posted at 20/25) unless you speed). Entering Canyon de Chelly, we drove on the norther rim road which takes you to 3 overlooks (of historical Navajo sites and Pueblan cliff dwellings). A 4th is closed indefinitely. The south rim drive has overlooks of various rockis including the much photographed spider rock (800' spire) and the trail to White House dwelling which is the only one you can do without a hired guide - this hike is worth doing.

Choices of accomodation in Chinle include a Best Western, Holiday Inn (most modern?) and the Thunderbird Lodge. We stayed at the latter. Rooms are nice, showers are very very powerful, and there's t.v. if you need it (first set we saw in over a week). There are a few rooms in the original trading post buildings. I stayed in one in '94. The cafe offers Navajo food and members of the nation actually eat here. SOme of the fare may be seem as grisly to non-Navajo though.

Tours of the canyon floor require a guide and tours are offered by bus, horseback or on foot. Visitors with 4x4s (SUVs and AWD vehicles are not necessarily 4x4s) can hire a guide at the visitor centre.

From here, it was all south.

8 June.

Drove out of Chinle and headed towards Silver City, NM. Stopped at the Hubbel Trading Post NHS. It's a still-operating historic trading post that still buys crafts from the Navajo and sells food and other stuff.

Drive to the NM border was very... bland. Some of the towns in eastern AZ are interesting for all the ancient cars in junkyards (restoring at '46 Ford?) The drive got interesting as it passed over the mountains into NM.

Silver City is a growing sprawl that houses one of the NM state Us. From here, we drove to Gila Cliffs. Be warned that the road is very winding. The recommended drive time is 2 hours. I did it in 55 minutes. :D

Our accomodation at Gila Hot Springs was an old farm house converted into a b&b lodge called... the Wilderness Lodge (see silvercity.org for links). The lodge has the feature of (rocky) soaking pools filled with water from hot springs in the adjacent Gila river.

Gila Cliffs NM may be rather understated compared to Mesa Verde but since it is relatively undervisited, it's the only one in the NPS system where you can go into the ruins w/o a ranger being present.

9 June.

After visiting the lodge in the morning, and wasting time finding a hot springs (too muddy and fullof bullfrog tadpoles), we drove out on a different route which passed some huge mines, back through Silver City and west to Tucson. I had wanted to visit Chiricahua but the late start and more importantly, huge dark clouds over the area precluded the visit.

I had expected to see saguaro cactii but the landscape was more full of soaptree yuccas (NM's state flower) right until Tucson.

Accomodation was at the Hilton Tucson East which is good to elites. This hotel is also very close to the eastern part of Saguaro NP. Unfortunately the scenic loop is closed this summer for repaving so one has to make do with a hike or see the visitor centre.

We did make it to the western part of the park for a sunset drive. There's a dirt loop here which takes you to a Saguaro forest. We did notice the west park seemed to be missing Barrel cactus that the east park had more of.

As a note to where Saguaros grow. They live on gradual gravelly slopes called baradas (sp?) so they're not found everywhere.

The San Xavier del Bec mission south of town is being renovated so be aware that the west tower is surrounded by scaffolding.

Bamavol likes a Mexican restaurant (there's 2 of them now) called Las Cazuelitas (see/search the Hilton forum). Highly recommend the food especially the tableside guacamole and parilla.

Next day was out west to Organ Pipes NM. The drive out includes driving through native reservations The Saguaro is a food source and the fruit was just beginning to ripen. The native calendar names the season "when the saguaro seeds turn black).

The organ pipe cactus is a species of cactus found in Mexico and this part of AZ is its furthest northern range. It's still outnumbered by Saguaro. Two drives are available to view the cactus. One's the Ajo Mountain drive (17 mile dirt loop) and one starting near to the visitor centre (1st 5 miles only, the rest is closed due to calving season of a large mammal). The campground is also a good place to view them. The two roads by the border are closed indefinitely.

If you want duty-free, drive a few miles south of the visitor centre, buy duty-free, briefly cross into (but not formally enter) Mexico, and come back to the U.S.

Note that there is a Border Patrol checkpoint just outside the north part of the park so foreigners will need their travel documents.

Driving back towards Phoenix, we passed through Ajo. The town was the site of a Phelps Dodge mine. The old town actually has a lot of charm and is worth stopping by or staying in if you want lodging near the park (some friends of mine frequently stay in a B&B that was the old mine manager's house).

BTW, beware of cactus. Needles are very sharp and the cholla ones attached readily to anything.

Wow. Sounds like a great trip.

Having been to Bryce, Grand Canyon, Mesa and Monument Valley (on 2 separate trip), I'd have to say that Monument Valley (near Kayenta) was my favorite.

We approached from Moab Utah (from the north). You can see for miles and miles as you drive. MV was visible from at least 50 miles away (if I recall correctly). Monument Valley ever so gradually, looms larger and larger as you approach.
On my next transcon LA/NY, we just so happened to fly over the 4 Corners area. Have to say it was pretty cool looking down at MV.

We booked a night at Gouldings Lodge, just across the highway. It's a motel with history. All rooms overlook MV. They even offer old John Ford movies, Stage Coach comes to mind. :D