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I just returned from a driving trip through the Southwest. I will list below
the major highlights of the trip and I will rate each one on a 0-10 base
(10=best). This may be lengthy, so if you don't want to wade through it, go
ahead and quit:
1. Cental City Colorado: (Rated @ 0)
This was a quaint mountain town but I was unaware that the entire city
has become a continuous casino. What a waste. Also, no gas for sale,
all the stations have been shut down by the EPA according to a local.
One good point, we did see two small herds (totaling 27) mountain sheep
on the expressway. They were in the side right of way - munching grass.
2. The Colorado River Valley in Utah (Rated at 8)
This is the drive from I-70 to Moab, Utah. As beautiful a canyon drive
as I can imagine.
3. Arches National Park (Rated at 9, maybe even 10)
Simply fantastic. This park involves a lot of short hikes of medium
challenge. We (My brother Russ and I) walked up to all of the arches
and some of the walks had us pretty well exercized at 70 F. I don't
think this would be recommended in July/August when temperatures are
extreme. Of all the arches, Sand Dune Arch is the favorite. A short
easy 0.4 mile hike takes you to a crack between standing monoliths
which are perhaps 150 ft high. The crack is about 6 ft wide at the
most narrow point. This path takes you to an enclosed "room" open to
the sky and with an internal large arch. The room has a sand floor
and with the bluest of skies for a ceiling the impact is stunning.
Also, the hike to Delicate Arch is pretty tough, but worth it. The
hike is 1.5 miles and takes you 500 ft up to the base of the arch.
This is the view most commonly seen on calendars, book covers, etc.
If you visit this park, plan on 4-6 hrs and you will be glad you did.
4. General note: Utah terrain is more rugged than anything I have seen.
The drive from Green River to Richfield was beautiful.
5. Bryce Canyon: (Rated at 7)
This is really beautiful. The only reason I listed it as low as 7 is
that it offers similar scenes throughout. If you see this one, it is
a must to get out of your car and walk down into the formations. This
reminded me of the "drip castles" which you can make on beaches, except
that the colloration of the formations is bright red, white, and some
tan.
6. North Rim of Grand Canyon. (Rated at 8)
This goes beyond the limits of vision. The canyon is too deep to see the
bottom and too wide to see across. Plenty of great views. We walked out
onto a viewpoint and took lots of pictureds. Breathtaking!
Huge Ravens and Mountain Jays are there to pose for you.
7. Zion National Park (Rated 9)
Every view is better. I shot a lot of film here. The drive is does not
require getting out of your car. Huge cliffs, 2300 feet high. At the
Zion Canyon, there is a path which you can walk (1.5 miles or so) which
takes you right to the point where the canyon narrows to a slit. This
is a must and it is an easy walk. On this path were groups of deer which
had no fear of people. We walked within 6 ft of them. Stunning walk
with a river at the floor, sheer walls, animals, vegetation, hanging
gardens, birds, and other wonders.
8. Death Valley - (Rated at 10+, the best of all)
If you go here, do it during winter. It was warm in November, I know
it goes over 120 F in August. Everything here is unbelievable. I'll
describe a few:
a) Dante's View - This is a drive up to a peak which overlooks the
entire valley. You can see its 100 mile length by
30 mile width. It has fascinating pastels and the
white salt floor at the South end is easily seen.
The view is from 6 or 7000 feet and resembles the
view you get in an airplane. This view alone is
worth the drive.
b) 20 Mule Team Canyon. Rough drive, but any car could make it. This
is a narrow, winding drive to a canyon where they
actually used mule teams to haul out Borax. It
makes you think you are on a different planet.
c) Badwater - 287 feet below sea level. This is a huge salt flat
and is a must. You can park your car and walk out
to and onto the salt flat. There are pools of salt
water so salty the shores are white crystals. These
pools have salt tolerant plants growing which look
like junipers, but on close inspection, they are
some form of succulunt (sort of like a wierd jade
plant) There are also lots of tiny animals living
in the salt water and also algae.
The sickening thing was the huge abundance of
cigarette butts on the white salt paths.
d) Artist's loop - a nice drive with "Painted Desert" type of scenes.
We stopped and climbed up to a viewpoint and saw
a lizard which was about 12" in length.
e) Natural bridge - A medium tough walk of 1 mile to see a stone
bridge. Pretty! (No match for Arches)
f) Mustard Canyon - We missed this one - Anyone see it ?
9. Furnace Creek - Small town in the valley - has gas and groceries.
10. Stove Pipe Wells - Huge sand dunes
11. Las Vegas and Laughlin - Casinos - (What can I say!)
12. Hoover Dam - (Rating 8)
This is a great tour. For $5 you see a film made at the time of the
construction, go down into the power generation station, walk the tunnels
and all with a guide who is very helpful.
13. Carlsbad Caverns - (Rating 9)
Unbelievable! The main room has the equivalent of 14 football fields
of floor space. The cave floor is 550 feet below the surface of the
top of the mountain. The cost is $5 and you can go on a self-guided
tour on a well guarded paved path. The formations are fantastic and
the size is immense. At one point, you have a ceiling to floor height
of 360 ft. The only disappointment is that the lighting is ok, but
low, and the brilliant coloration you see in all the photos is not
apparant. You see soft pastel tones, which may be more intense in
photos (I'll let you know).
14. Varous Ghost towns:
#1. Oatman - lived in, not really my idea of a ghost town. Lots of
"Sell crafts to the tourists" shops. The buildings were old and
probably authentic, but fixed up for the tourist trade and
as a result, not too appealing. Two notable things in this Arizona
town. (1) Wild Burros roam the street. (2) Their Policeman,
was strutting the main street in full uniform including a red
beret.
#2) Goldroad, AZ. All that's left is stone foundations on private
property. Signs all over - "No trespassing."
#3) Signal, Az. - Could not locate.
#4) Stanton, Az. - Found it! Rough dusty road, but it was worth it.
Stanton is now a working gold field owned by an association called
"The Lost Dutchman Mining Association." One of their members, Bob
Blevens took us on a tour of the hotel, Opera House, and Bar (all
adobe). Bullet holes in the wall, etc. He said that $100 million
on gold was taken out of Stanton in 1863-1900 at $10/oz.
Original pieces of wall paper and other cloth wall coverings were
still there. If you visit this, you can see miners at work at
the creek.
#5) Jerome - Not a ghost town - this is an artist's colony hanging on
the side of a steep mountain. Lots of nice galeries and
neat restaurants. Would be a nice visit if you are driving
through AZ. Also in Jerome are a museum and a commercial ghost
town, which we did not visit.
#6) Charleston AZ. We located the area and found Charlestown by walking
down the railroad tracks until we found a siding. All that is left
is paths and foundations. Some of the scraps of building material
indicate that this may have been a thriving town relatively recently
(40's?). We found ashphalt shingles, and there was lots of
concrete.
#7) Harshaw - Saw one adobe building with a tiny attached corral. Also
attached to the building was something resembling a modern carport.
This "Carport" had adobe pillars, and it's roof was continuous with
the main roof of the house. We feel it was a covered hay storage
area to keep winter snow and ice off of the hay bales.
#8) Mowry, AZ. We found one foundation - nothing else.
#9) Gleeson, Az. Some current occupancy. A Jail building and a school
foundation remain. Nearby also are an adobe house and an adobe
long building (Warehouse? Barracks?)
One occupied house was immaculatly kept and whitewashed. The yard
was neatly arranaged with rocks, all of which were whitewashed..
#10) Sunglow, AZ. No Trace.
#11) Paradise, Az. No Trace - there was an active campground at the
site.
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Well, that's it. If you are thinking of going to those areas and want more
detail from me, drop me a note.
11 responses total.
I appreciated your appreciation (or lack thereof) of these sites...but putting a "Rating" on them makes me feel like....you did in Central City.
Sounds like a wonderful trip. I've done western trips but have seen very few of the spots you visited. Reading your descriptions makes me want to see them all (maybe even Central City).
Well, I thought the "rating" would be at least one person's view of the relative worth of the trip. Some trips result in endless shops selling junk like "made in Korea" genuine Indian pottery and not much else. The higher the rating, the more I would recommend someone include them on their agenda should they be in the area. Take it for what it's worth and if it isn't worth that much, my feelings will not be hurt.
Well, I went to Las Vegas, so I can't talk.
Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed readiing this item!! :-)
you're welcome & thanks for the comment
Update: Got my pictures & they met all my expectations. Some look close to calendar quality. The only ones not to my expectations were the Carlsbad cave pictures. Mine were ok, but the pro's who do the postcards did a LOT better.
They use four foot diameter flashbulbs :).
Well, it's planning time again. We are getting together plans for the 1996 southwest tour. This time it will be in October and we are making a b-line to Salt Lake City. Next we will be zigzagging South seeing all the sights we can find between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Then across the Calif. desert to San Diego, and back through Yuma and along the remote back roads at the extreme southern border to somewhere below Tucson. Then up to northern Arizona and Northern New Mexico, again seeing all the sights we can. Once we get to Salt Lake City, our objective will be to minimize highway travel. Unimproved roads are a welcome challenge. Next step: Plan a route on all the back roads to maximize the things we can see. Any suggestions?
Ok, it is time for roadtrip 97. This time we are planning on driving to
Cheyenne, Wyoming, then driving along the Colorado-Utah border to Northern
New Mexico. From there, we will cover Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.
We will go through some very remote areas of Nevada, then Southern California.
Back to the California/Arizona border down to Yuma, then along the US-Mexico
border to Douglas, Arizona. From there, we will go to White Sands &
Alamagordo, NM, and down to Big Bend Texas. From Big Bend, we will stop at a
few small places in West Texas, then head home.
The topics for this trip are: Photography, Rock and Fossil Collecting,
National Parks, Ghost Towns, Indian ruins,
Roller Coasters, Las Vegas, Bird & Animal
watching and Southwestern Cuisine.
We are getting detailed maps and trying to find other sources of info for
things to do and see along the way, but if any of you have "must see"
recommendations along or 100 miles or so either side of this path, we will
certainly pack it in.
Sidenote: Last year, an old high school buddy located me by my internet
address. I haven't seen him since HS graduation in 1961. On our
1996 roadtrip, we (My brother & I) picked him up in Utah and
he toured all the national parks we could find in Utah for the
next 3 days. We made a big loop and took him back to Nephi, Utah,
where his truck was and we went on our way. It was a great
reunion, and we are picking him up this year in Cheyenne and he
will stay with us to Las Vegas.
Again, any advice for things to see or do will be put in the planning
book!
One additional item: We plan to visit several "slot canyons" on this trip. You may recall seeing a lot of publicity recently when a group was washed away when they ignored storm warnings. These are extremely narrow deep canyons which are little more than cracks in the rock. About the only way to get a photo in these is to have the sun directly overhead, and I understand that only lasts a brief time.
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