Photo Trip to Utah: Cedar Breaks, Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon

Note: this is one of a series of posts that deal with topics covered before in the Blog, but now we have the pictures processed to prove it!

August 30, 2008
Southern Utah

One of the nice things about where our "home base" was at Lake Powell is that we were able to make day trips to various landmarks and parks in the "Grand Circle" area. There are many parks and special areas within relatively close proximity to each other in this part of the country. Of course, the emphasis is on "relatively", in this case a full day of driving.

We started out heading northwest along US-89 into Utah, through Kanab and past the access road to Zion National Park. We bypassed Zion this time because they use a shuttle bus serevice inside the Park to reduce traffic congestion. Since we had the dogs with us, that would have been impractical. A little further on, we found the road that would take us to Cedar Breaks National Monument. This little-known National Park Service area is a natural ampitheater carved from the rocks and cliffs, and bears a striking resemblance to Bryce Canyon, its neighbor to the northeast. We had our picnic lunch by one of the overlooks, and I hiked up one of the trails to see an ancient stand of bristlecone pines.

Next, we headed to Bryce Canyon National Park. The access road tothe Park passes right through Red Canyon, which made for a good stop for a few photos and a "rest". It's amazing how spoiled we are to travel in the motorhome, where a "rest stop" can be just about anywhere we want. In the Range Rover, not so much.

We drove the full length of Bryce, making note of photo opportunities along the way. Bryce is basically a linear park, running north to south with several side roads and numerous overlooks along the main road; you get out by backtracking the way you came in. As we made our way back to the main gate, we stopped at quite a few spots for photos, until the clouds started gathering and we felt a few drops. Fortunately, any real rain held off until after we were already heading back to Lake Powell.

Click here for some pictures from this day trip.

I'd identified a shortcut back to Lake Powell that would have cut over a hundred miles off the trip. Unfortunately, it would have entailed driving about 20 miles on an "unimproved" road. Discretion being the better part of valor, I knew that rain and dirt roads aren't a good combination in this part of the country. We made it home in fine shape by sticking to the same route we'd taken, along US-89. We'll save the back-road adventure for another visit...