This is the fourth diary installment of The Dkos Road Tour Series. See explanation at the close of this diary. I trust you will find the information enjoyable and educational. Our destinations today will take us, first, to southeast Utah, then to southwest Colorado, and from there to northwest Utah. As a reminder, the information herein is “layered.” Meaning, the reader chooses how much or how little read, graduating from the essentials to more in-depth details.
CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK
Location/Geography: South-Central Utah. San Juan, Wayne, Garfield and Grand counties. Closet City or Town: Moab. Area: 337,570 acres (527 square miles/1,365 km²).
Coordinates: 38°12′0″N 109°56′0″W (http://bitly/1lioWd1)
Geologic graphics/illustrations: http://bitly/SNYn8A
Google images/maps:http://bitly/1vbX2ah
√ Spotlight: Utah’s largest national park. The first of the great canyons inscribed by the Colorado River where its drainage merges with the Green River above Moab. A spectacular sandstone maze of mini-canyons featuring three distinct districts. The so-called eco-warrior and author, Edward Abbey, described the park’s setting as the most weird, wonderful, magical place on the planet Earth—there is nothing else like it anywhere. In his time, he also was a ranger at nearby Arches NP and frequented Canyonlands. Focus: geology, desert ecology, and human history.
√ Snapshot: Canyonlands NP is an expansive landscape of sedimentary sandstone formations located in the heart of the Colorado Plateau. When it was designated a national park status in 1964, relatively few people were even familiar with its remote multi-chasm terrain spread out below the backdrop of the La Sal Mountains. Prehistoric people, however, managed to sustain a fragile existence in an equally fragile environs. To a large degree, Canyonlands remains untrammeled today. Its minimal network of roads accesses only a few areas of the park, mainly part of the Island in the Sky and the Needles, which are two of three major districts dividing the park’s vast dimensions. Canyonlands is also a great place for hiking though many trails are demanding (read “for the experienced hiker”). Water and gravity are the primary tools of nature that have fashioned the mesas, buttes, arches, and pinnacles throughout this mostly backcountry domain. Time and erosion have also done wonders in hewing a fascinating array of landscape features. Nearly all the park’s backdrop is pinkish in color, brick red or salmon (in some places); also, tinted with varying amounts of hematite. Patina (aka “desert varnish”) stains some of the broader facade surfaces with telltale blue-black streaks. Sometimes these artistic designs border on the exotic. Canyonlands takes its fitting name from hundreds of lesser canyons contained in the greater context of a mother canyon. Indeed, here is a landscape of myriad tributary canyons in the guise of a ranging national park hosting two rivers flowing through the deep interior (the Colorado and Green).
√ Guided Tour Essentials: Each aspect of the park shares a common and primitive atmosphere, thereby preserving a desert environment as diverse in its flora and fauna as the canyon topography is craggy, maze-like, and utterly contrasting. Each district, plus the annexed Horseshoe Canyon, offers its aesthetic rewards given their respective and varying appearances and geologic setting. Throughout this protected domain roams the Great Basin Desert's iconic predators, avians, reptiles and smaller mammals, all of which keeps Canyonlands feral and free. Overseeing three distinctive regions, Canyonlands was initially incised by the Green and Colorado rivers flowing hundreds of feet below the high rims. To the north, the Island in the Sky district overlooks the canyon country from 1,000 to 2,000 feet (304 - 609 m) above the surrounding terrain. Bordered by the Green River on the west and the Colorado River on the east, this facet of the park boasts the most spectacular views of tributary canyons and geologic formations. Maze-like in every respect, there is an unpaved road through this sector though recommended only for four-wheel-drive vehicles. The adjacent Dead Horse Point alsooffers an exceptional and higher view of the confluence (featured in this text).
The neighboring Needles district forms the southeast corner of the park and is suitably named for its colorful and dominant spires and fins of Cedar Mesa Sandstone. The extensive trail system in this sector is favored by visitors for long day hikes and overnight outings. Trails and four-wheel-drive roads lead to captivating features such as Tower Ruin, Confluence Overlook, Chesler Park, the Joint Trail, and the ever popular Elephant Hill. Across the Colorado, The Maze district is the least accessible sector in the park. Here the Orange Cliffs Unit of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area shares its western boundary of the park. Such terrain also translates to entirely remote. Sometimes referred to as a thirty-square-mile puzzle inscribed in sandstone, this apt description of this district says it all. This wild and wonderful facet of the park is also known for extreme backcountry environs, where landmarks of its geography and a veritable convoluted topography are nothing less than dazzling and bizarre. Hence, the name––the Maze. With its fourteen amazing arches (thus far, this is the count), the Maze Overlook, the Golden Stairs, the ornate and Land of Standing Rock (aka the “Doll House”), and The Chocolate Drops (trail), to mention just some sectors, guarantees visitors a superlative, rugged adventure in every sense. Indeed, those relative few visitors who venture into this back of the beyond environs are 100 miles (160 km) from anywhere in the way of a town or city! Still, the scenery and solitude are worth the risk if hikers are in sound physical shape. It should also be noted that four-wheel-drive is required on vehicles. Likewise, the punishing road to get to the Maze is often called the most strenuous part of the visit.
Keep in mind sectors, like The Wall, Standing Rock, and Chimney Rock Camps, are not for the faint-hearted. It follows these respective routes is not recommended for high-clearance vehicles without four-wheel-drive; also, drivers who think they can handle such difficult terrain, and based upon prior backroad experience, are advised to think again. To put it another way: even for the more experienced drivers entering the Maze District is exacting and demands slow and heedful driving all the way.
Directions: From Moab, drive north on Hwy. 191 for about 10 miles (16 km) to Hwy. 313, then west toward Dead Horse Point and follow signs into Canyonlands. (Hwy. 191 is south of I-70 and north of Monument Valley, on Hwy. 163). For the Needles District, take Hwy. 191 south of Moab for about 37.5 miles (60.3 km), then go west on Route 210 and follow the road to the park. For the Maze District on the other side of the Green River, which is mainly four-wheel-drive terrain, take Hwy. 95 near Hite (on Lake Powell) or else Hwy. 24 via Hans Flat, then take the turnoff (for Hans Flat) north of Hanksville. For Horseshoe Canyon, which is south of the Goblin Valley turnoff, go north of Hanksville to a dirt road heading east from Hwy. 24 (which during inclement weather is passable only with four-wheel-drive).
Contact Information: Canyonlands National Park, 2282 SW Resource Blvd, Moab UT 84532. Phone (General Information): 435-709-2313; Backcountry Information: 435-259-4351; Fax 709-2300
Here's my recommendation for a follow-up URL: http://1.usa.gov/1h4Uvtg
CANYONS OF THE ANCIENTS NATIONAL MONUMENT
Location/Geography: Southwest Colorado. Montezuma and Dolores counties. Closet City or Town: Dolores; Mancos. Area: encompasses 176,056 acres (71,247 ha). McElmo Canyon Creek vicinity. The northern part of the monument has gently sloping, relatively even surfaces ranging in elevation from about 6700 feet (2,042 m) in the east to about 6,000 to 5,500 feet (1,828 - 1,676 m) in the west.
Coordinates: 37.37056°N 109°W (http://bitly/1uhMpAk)
Google images/maps: http://bitly/UA9rZ5
√ Spotlight: Some six thousand identified archaeological sites to date. Nearly one hundred per square mile. In some places, such as Mockingbird Mesa, there are as many as forty sites per square mile. The monument is 28 miles (45 km) from Mancos, Colorado (close to Durango) and, therefore, centrally located in the heart of the Ancestral Puebloan repository of culture via archeology. Represents the largest concentration of archaeological sites in North America. Stone tower sentry posts. Focus: human history and archaeological ruins.
√ Snapshot: A sprawling layout of ruins awaits visitors. Indeed, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (hereafter “CANM”) has been declared the most prolific setting for Ancestral Puebloan ruins anywhere in the Southwest! Archaic and prehistoric people once roamed the Southwest's canyons and mesas for thousands of year, and this locale’s historical footprint records as much. From hunter-gatherer nomadic tribal people vectoring across parts of the Colorado Plateau to the Ancestral Puebloans who later inhabited parts of this territory for over a thousand years, that legacy extends into the historical and contemporary benchmarks. Starting with the Puebloans (the successors of the Ancestral Puebloans) Ute, Navajo, and Europeans (i.e., the Spaniards) eventually occupied parts of the Plateau, followed by the Anglos, who represent the latest arrivals and showed up in the early part of the 19-Century. It follows CANM is replete with culture and artifacts. As for the suitably named monument’s habitat, this locale represents a desert country landscape of prehistoric dwellings, dominated by typical Transition Zone plants and vegetation. Junipers (genus Juniperus) and piñon pine trees (pinus edulis) are the larger variety. But there is water here. The trick is knowing how to tap into its resource, which sometimes means funneling the precious elixir to settlements. The Ancestral Puebloans knew how to do it. Throughout the monument are captivating and picturesque scenes. For example, McElmo Dome, in the southern sector of the monument, is buttressed by sheer sandstone cliffs with mesa tops rimmed by a harder caprock, and a lower terrain scored by canyons incised to modest depths. The varying elevations were also ideal for the original inhabitants. From 4,900 feet (1,493 m) to around 7,500 feet (2,286 m), vegetation and wildlife remain diverse. Hundreds of years ago, the climate and region were once wetter and cooler, especially during hotter months. Ergo, a readymade habitat for the Ancestral Puebloans; just add water (to gardens and fields)! The outer boundaries encompass approximately 183,000 acres (74,057.4 hectares) of land, approximately 176,056 acres (71,247 hectares) of which are in federal ownership (BLM). Declared a national monument in June 2000, CANM’s domain is a literal haven of ruins.
√ Guided Tour Essentials: About 45 miles (72 km) west of Durango, Colorado, and 9 miles (14 km) west of Mesa Verde NP, there are three BLM Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) located inside the monument: Cross Canyon, Squaw (Papoose) Canyons and Cahone Canyon. Myriad artifacts from excavations in the monument are housed at the nearby Anasazi Heritage Center (hereafter, “AHC”), serving as the gateway to CANM. Sand Canyon is perhaps the most famous archaeological site in this region, featuring celebrated ruins such as the Sand Canyon Pueblo. The only developed recreation site within the monument’s protected boundaries is the impressive Lowry Pueblo National Historic Landmark. Another celebrated ruins with a standing tower perched on a giant slab of sandstone is Painted Hand Pueblo. Visiting this equally impressive ruins also requires a short hike into the backcountry site (.7 mile/1.1 km). At this site, visitors see where rooms of this dwelling were built against the cliff face, as well as on top of gigantic boulders. Thus, builders made good use of what nature provided. The ruins derive its name from pictographs of hands painted on the pueblo’s foundation. The so-called Cutthroat Group of Hovenweep NM is also in this vicinity and beyond that is the Square Tower House archaeological complex (also part of Hovenweep’s archaeological estate). With its natural and cultural resources, the entire high desert environs present a rugged landscape with changing topography and elevation. Moreover, the primitive environs complement the preservation of CANM’s scientific and historical value in artifacts and dwellings, whose historical assets is managed by the BLM. In this light, the agency functions as an integral cultural landscape enclosing a veritable storehouse of wealth in its environmental and cultural resources. This national monument is well worth the time required to explore its ranging perimeter. Like the Anasazi Heritage Center, Canyons of the Ancients offers an unparalleled opportunity to observe, study and experience how cultures lived and adapted over time in the American Southwest.
Directions: Located 10 miles (16 km) north of Cortez, Colorado, at 27501 Hwy. 184 just west of Dolores. Besides these general directions, there are a variety of ways to enter the monument from various points along the so-called Trail of the Ancients (i.e., a network of highways and roads in parts of the Southwest), all depending on which way you are coming from. Indeed, there are many routes to choose from: Dove Creek, Cahone, Pleasant View, Yellow Jacket and Cortez are all access points in Colorado. Bluff, Blanding, Montezuma Creek and Aneth are access points in Utah. Part of the byway, Colorado Hwy. 10 from Pleasant View, goes into the heart of the park.
Contact Information: Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Anasazi Heritage Center BLM, 27501 Hwy. 184, Dolores CO 80323, REGION: Southwest. Phone: 970-882-5600; Fax 882-7035
Here's my recommendation for a follow-up URL: http://on.doi.gov/STQW00
CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK
Location/Geography: South-Central Utah. Wayne, Garfield, Sevier, and Emery counties. Closet City or Town: Torrey. Area: 378 square miles (979 km²); 240,904.26 acres (97,490 hectares). Some 100 miles (160 km), lengthwise the ʻreefʼ is relatively narrow (378 mi2 - 979 km²). Capitol Reef NP encompasses the Waterpocket Fold.
Coordinates: 38°12′0′′N 111°10′0′′W (http://bitly/1psHS0r)
Geologic graphics/illustrations: http://bitly/1lsD2IO
Google images/maps: http://bitly/1ltDxXi
√ Spotlight: The Waterpocket Fold represents a unique geographical and geophysical landscaping. Spellbinding Paleozoic and Mesozoic era formations, whose varying shapes were created by major faulting and folding of the landscape. In short, wrinkles never looked so good! Focus: geology and hiking.
√ Snapshot: The former national recreation area that was upgraded to a national monument was later bequeathed a national park status (1970). Capitol Reef NP defines a massive crease and stress in the planet’s crust. The term reef refers to any rocky barrier while a waterpocket is essentially a broad basin formed in many sandstone layers and eroded by water. With the majestic Henry Mountains backdrop, the Waterpocket Fold is formidable terrain in every respect. With its unique environs, the environs just might be the best-kept secret in the Southwest, mainly because this national park is seldom crowded with visitors relative to other scenic places throughout the Colorado Plateau. Impressive landmarks appear from the Fremont River to Pleasant Creek. Everywhere one looks there is something different to see and something spellbinding given the setting’s landscape features. Some 65 million years old, newer and older layers of rock formations are folded over each other and contorted into a classic S-shape. This revealing and warped landform may have been caused by colliding continental plates that also created the Rocky Mountains but has since weathered over the millennia. The result has exposed layers of odd-shaped rocks (domes) along with surfeit and diverse fossils.
√ Guided Tour Essentials: The park’s environs are embellished with brilliantly colored sandstone cliffs, gleaming white domes, and contrasting layers of formations representing many geologic periods, mostly from the Mesozoic Era (252.2 to 72.1 myr). The geologic upshot is a gallery of sheer cliffs, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisting canyons, graceful arches, and, of course, the classic dome-shaped Navajo Sandstone hallmarks that inspire both the appearance and fitting name of this national park. The prolonged warp underpinning of the landscape throughout this region typifies a quintessential monocline (i.e., a fold in the planet’s crust with one very steep side in an area of otherwise nearly horizontal layers). Established as a national park in 1970, Capitol Reef is essentially all about its geologic makeup. The rugged and surreal features in this region are the result of a 75-mile-long (120 km) upthrust called the Waterpocket Fold. Slightly measuring lengthwise for over 100 miles (160.9 km), Capitol Reef is east of Torrey, 3 miles (4.8 km) west and southeast of the middle desert defining this region of central Utah. The setting’s telltale spine of topography goes from Thousand Lake Mountain to the Lake Powell country (in the east). The entire region, including the parkʼs sector, was once the edge of a primal shallow sea sometime during the Paleozoic Eraʼs Permian Period (298.9 to 254.2 million years). The invasive and deepening sea left limestone deposits (the Kaibab Formation). Much later in time during the Mesozoic Eraʼs Triassic Period (252.2 to 208.5 myr), streams deposited reddish-brown silt (the Moenkopi Formation). Some 10,000 feet (3,048 m) of sedimentary strata make up the Capitol Reef foundational materials. These rocks range in age from the Paleozoic Eraʼs Permian Period (298.9 to 254.2 myr) to the Mesozoic Eraʼs Cretaceous (145 to 72.1 myr). Today, the result of these petrified formations is nothing less than stupendous. Miles of paved roads penetrate the park and numerous roads are unpaved, requiring four-wheel-drive vehicles. Capitol Reef is also known for its excellent hiking, from easy to difficult backcountry trails.
Directions: Westbound from I-70 take Utah Hwy. 24 west toward Hanksville (Exit 149). Stay on this highway for 95 miles (152 km) to the park entrance. From I-15 take Hwy. 50 east at Scipio (Exit 188) toward Salina for 30 miles (48 km). At the junction of Hwy. 89/259, go right (south) for another 9 miles (12.8 km), then turn left (east) on Hwy. 24 toward Sigurd. Continue on this road for 82 miles (131 km) which lead to the Visitor Center.
Contact Information: Capitol Reef National Park HC 70 Box 15 Torrey UT 84775. Phone (visitor inforation): 435-425-3791 ext. 111; Fax 425-3026
Here's my recommendation for a follow-up URL: http://1.usa.gov/1liqMKT
FYI: This installment of THE DKOS ROAD TOUR SERIES provides an excerpt from the larger text, SCENIC ICONS OF THE SOUTHWEST (http://amzn.to/2on3z89). The soft cover 8.5 x 11 format (491 pages) provides the same information but also includes a thorough background on geology, natural and human history and miscellaneous subject matter. Additionally, there is an Android app available and the less expensive Kindle version. For information about myself and my books featured on Amazon, feel free to drop by www.richholtzin.com and leave a comment. I also write under the nom de plume, RK ALLEMAN. For more background about this tour series, please read my 3/29/2017 diary, HIT THE ROAD TOUR SERIES: An Introduction.
Another installment of this series will be next Sunday. Hopefully, every Sunday there will be a trio of new scenic icons for the reader’s enjoyment and enlightenment. (For those who want to know where they’re going in these upcoming tours, the previously mentioned introduction lists a Table of Contents (in alphabetical order).
About The Author: Rich, who writes under the nom de plume, RK ALLEMAN, has worked in the field as an outdoors educator and interpreter for the likes of the Grand Canyon Field Institute (nearly 20 years), Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff), and Yavapai College (Prescott, AZ). For nearly 40 years, he has backpacked some 8,000 miles, not including hiking sorties. Most of his works focus on the geosciences (mainly, geology, archaeology, and ecology), human and natural history applicable to the Colorado Plateau Province (aka the “Four Corners Region of the Southwest).
Note: previous diaries can be found at these URL: Intro diary http://bit.ly/2nu738O 1st diary http://bit.ly/2opAB6Y 2nd diary http://bit.ly/2oe49Cm 3rd diary http://bit.ly/2pFVvMo