Colorado National Monument

We visited Colorado National Monument, in — you guessed it — Colorado, west of Grand Junction.

Sign

We started by having a picnic lunch in a nice shelter:

Picnic shelter

Picnic

Then continued along the twisty roads, looking at the interesting rocks:

Rocks

The first of three tunnels:

Tunnel

We stopped at several viewpoints:

Rocks

Morons sitting on rocks off the trail:

Morons and rocks

An open-ended canyon:

Valley

Rocks

Big horn sheep; we were excited to see her, as she was the first big horn sheep we’ve managed to get a picture of in the wild (we’ve seen them in a zoo in Palm Springs, and on the side of the road in Lake Mead, but not so close):

Big horn sheep

Rocks

Tunnel

Info sign

Rocks

Viewpoint:

Rocks

Viewpoint

Rocks

Tree

Rocks

Blooming prickly pear cacti:

Blooming cacti

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Artwork

Visitor center

Relief map:

Relief map

The Colorado plateau; been to all of those places:

The Colorado plateau

Views:

View

The other two tunnels:

Tunnel

Balancing rock:

Balancing rock

Aztec Ruins National Monument

We visited Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, New Mexico.

Pueblo people describe this site as part of their migration journey. Today you can follow their ancient passageways to a distant time. Explore a 900-year old ancestral Pueblo Great House of over 400 masonry rooms. Look up and see original timbers holding up the roof. Search for the fingerprints of ancient workers in the mortar. Listen for an echo of ritual drums in the reconstructed Great Kiva.

(Quoting from the NPS website.)

Sign

A very nice picnic area:

Picnic area

Where we enjoyed a picnic lunch:

Picnic

The visitor center:

Visitor center

Flowering Prickly Pear cactus:

Flowering Prickly Pear cactus

Exploring the ruins, with the help of an audio guide:

Ruins

A reconstructed great kiva:

Reconstructed kiva

The reconstructed kiva in the background, and ruins of a smaller one in the foreground:

Ruins

Unlike many sites, one can go into this:

Ruins

Demonstrating how low the doorways are:

Jenn & David

Ruins

Into fairly intact rooms:

Ruins

Original ceilings:

Ruins

On guard:

On guard

Ruins

Chatting with a volunteer:

Volunteer

Ruins

An impressive place, fascinating to explore.

Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument has multiple units in Utah and Colorado. We visited the main one, site of Hovenweep Castle and several other ruins:

Hovenweep National Monument sign

A sign with a map of the various units:

Map sign

We hiked along a canyon-edge path, with a view of several structures on both sides of the canyon:

Structure

Structures

Path

Structures

Structure

Selfie

Structures

Structure

Structures

Hovenweep Castle:

Hovenweep Castle

Tower

Structure

Selfie

Video

Video: timelapse of truck driving in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

We drove our truck in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, along Burr Trail Road to the Singing Canyon, a delightful little slot canyon that is easy to access from the road (most require a several mile hike to reach). This is a timelapse of driving to and from there, with lots of interesting rocks on the way. Plus a couple of cows.

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument including Singing Canyon

We took a day trip along Scenic Byway 12 and Burr Trail Road to Singing Canyon, a small slot canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

The monument is a massive area, almost two million acres, administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

The drive we went on was just a tiny fraction of it; inspired by this article.

The Grand Staircase is a massive series of cliffs, going from Cedar Breaks National Park to the Grand Canyon; here’s an image from the Wikipedia article:

The Grand Staircase

Heading along Scenic Byway 12:

Scenic Byway 12

Lots of interesting rocks along the road:

Road and rocks

Monument sign:

Sign

One of the visitor centers for the monument, in Cannonville, Utah:

Visitor center

Back on the road:

Road and rocks

Another visitor center in Escalante, Utah:

Visitor center

Road and rocks

Jenn & David

Road and rocks

Trying a prickly pear cactus candy snack from the first visitor center (pretty tasty):

Cactus candy

Road and rocks

Singing canyon, so named due to its amazing acoustics, which we can confirm; we had it all to ourselves, too:

Singing canyon

Jenn & David

Singing canyon

Interesting rocks outside the canyon — actually it’s still in a canyon, Long Canyon:

Singing canyon

Interesting rocks

Looking down into Long Canyon:

Road and rocks

We encountered a couple of free-range cows on the road:

Cow

Road and rocks

Rocks

Road and rocks

An enjoyable drive, and impressive slot canyon.

Pipe Spring National Monument and Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

A day trip to Pipe Spring National Monument and Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, amongst other places.

Pipe Spring National Monument sign:

Pipe Spring National Monument

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Diorama:

Diorama

Exhibit:

Exhibit

Outside, behind the visitor center:

Mountain

Sign

Old cart

Bridge

Display

Building

Inside

One chicken wandering around:

Chicken

Longhorn bull:

Bull

Building

Roof:

Building roof

Cart

The main building:

Building

The building was closed, but I peeked through the gate:

Inside

The spring goes through that building, and out the side:

Spring

Into a pond:

Pond

Wagon:

Wagon

Some interesting rocks on the drive to the sand dunes:

Mesa

Interesting rocks

Tourist trap cave:

Tourist trap cave

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park:

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

Coral Pink Sand Dunes

David

Coral Pink Sand Dunes

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

We stopped for some food at Thunderbird Restaurant, “Home of the Ho-Made Pies”:

Thunderbird Restaurant

Info:

Info

Dessert menu:

Restaurant decor:

Restaurant

BLTs:

BLTs

We had pie slices for dessert, and got a whole pie to go:

Pies

Pie

We went back there another day for dinner:

Chicken Alfredo

Chicken cordon bleu burger

More interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Rock shop:

Rock shop

You guessed it, more interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Video

Video: timelapse of truck driving through Cedar Breaks National Monument and Utah rocks

A timelapse video of driving our truck through snowy Cedar Breaks National Monument, then out and along highways towards Cedar City, enjoying the many interesting colors and shapes of Utah rocks and scenery.

Cedar Breaks National Monument

We visited Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah. A fairly basic park, without a visitor center yet (they are building one).

It’s at 10,000 feet, so was still snowy around the end of April. It is the highest part of the Grand Staircase.

Sign

Snowy amphitheater:

Snowy amphitheater

Cedar Breaks

Jenn and David

Snowy meadow:

Snowy meadow

Snowy amphitheater

Cedar Breaks

Snowy

Another viewpoint:

Viewpoint

Cedar Breaks

Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano, and Wupatki National Monuments

We took a day trip to three national monuments east and north of Flagstaff, Arizona: Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano, and Wupatki National Monuments:

Map