Today we went on an adventure to the north. We decided to check out Canyonlands National Park. If you look on the map you will notice that it covers a lot of territory and most of it is without roads. It is a VAST area of canyons, arroyos, needles, mushroom rocks, and indescribable beauty. But I am getting ahead of myself.
We started our trip by heading north on good old Hwy 191. US Route 191 traverses the
country from north to south, through diverse country. It would be fun to someday drive the entire length. From our campsite it was only about 15 miles to Monticello, UT which is a small town of a couple of thousand. Stopping at the visitors center was a good idea because the friendly folks there were both fun to talk to and informative. They steered us to a great road that went straight west from the visitor center and went up and NE over the mountains through the Manta-LaSal National Forest. After a very pleasant 25 mile drive, we came to Hwy 211 and turned west. The canyon walls came up around us as the road curved this way and that. Soon we found Newspaper Rock State 
Park. This park is basically a rest area that has a large overhung rock panel that is filled with petroglyphs. A fence protects the art but allows you to get within 20 feet of the carvings. Many of the figures were new to us in subject and style which was fun to see. We saw several figures that resembled bison, also several of the people were mounted on horses which put the drawings later in time than those in the Petrified Forest area.
After Newspaper Rock SP it was more turns and twists, more scenic vistas, mo
re stops for Kodak moments. After about 25 more miles we came to Canyonlands National Park, or at least one arm of it. About 2 miles past the entrance gate is the visitor center where we got some information, bought some postcards and had our packed picnic lunch. Food always tastes best when eaten outside and in scenic locations. While at the VC, I met the ranger who is in charge of interpretation and volunteer activities. We chatted about the volunteer opportunities that the park offers. I left with her card so that I can send her an email to get on her mailing list.
After lunch it was time to explore the area. How can I describe this place? You just have to go there and experience it for yourself. My photos will never do it justice. One can stand at a lookout, or climb atop a rock and gaze in all directions and see incredible beauty in every direction and then drive a mile or two and do it again. The opportunities for outdoor adventure are amazing. It surely made me wish I was young again so that I could hike more, ride more, get a jeep, etc. If I lived in this area, I would have a jeep. Utah is criss-crossed with four wheel drive roads going to some awesome sounding places. Even CNP has jeep roads that cross it. Evidently they are rated based on the Moab difficulty scale of 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, all the way up to 5. A “5” can have some nearly vertical portions. Hmmmm, can’t wait to do one of those. The one that we saw had a difficulty scale of 3.5 which is substantial, I think. I talked to a guide from “Moab Adventures” who told me about the road and the grading system. He had just come off the road with a jacked up fairly beat up Ford Excursion and had stopped to turn the front hubs back to free-wheeling.
We started our trip by heading north on good old Hwy 191. US Route 191 traverses the
country from north to south, through diverse country. It would be fun to someday drive the entire length. From our campsite it was only about 15 miles to Monticello, UT which is a small town of a couple of thousand. Stopping at the visitors center was a good idea because the friendly folks there were both fun to talk to and informative. They steered us to a great road that went straight west from the visitor center and went up and NE over the mountains through the Manta-LaSal National Forest. After a very pleasant 25 mile drive, we came to Hwy 211 and turned west. The canyon walls came up around us as the road curved this way and that. Soon we found Newspaper Rock State 
Park. This park is basically a rest area that has a large overhung rock panel that is filled with petroglyphs. A fence protects the art but allows you to get within 20 feet of the carvings. Many of the figures were new to us in subject and style which was fun to see. We saw several figures that resembled bison, also several of the people were mounted on horses which put the drawings later in time than those in the Petrified Forest area.After Newspaper Rock SP it was more turns and twists, more scenic vistas, mo
re stops for Kodak moments. After about 25 more miles we came to Canyonlands National Park, or at least one arm of it. About 2 miles past the entrance gate is the visitor center where we got some information, bought some postcards and had our packed picnic lunch. Food always tastes best when eaten outside and in scenic locations. While at the VC, I met the ranger who is in charge of interpretation and volunteer activities. We chatted about the volunteer opportunities that the park offers. I left with her card so that I can send her an email to get on her mailing list.After lunch it was time to explore the area. How can I describe this place? You just have to go there and experience it for yourself. My photos will never do it justice. One can stand at a lookout, or climb atop a rock and gaze in all directions and see incredible beauty in every direction and then drive a mile or two and do it again. The opportunities for outdoor adventure are amazing. It surely made me wish I was young again so that I could hike more, ride more, get a jeep, etc. If I lived in this area, I would have a jeep. Utah is criss-crossed with four wheel drive roads going to some awesome sounding places. Even CNP has jeep roads that cross it. Evidently they are rated based on the Moab difficulty scale of 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, all the way up to 5. A “5” can have some nearly vertical portions. Hmmmm, can’t wait to do one of those. The one that we saw had a difficulty scale of 3.5 which is substantial, I think. I talked to a guide from “Moab Adventures” who told me about the road and the grading system. He had just come off the road with a jacked up fairly beat up Ford Excursion and had stopped to turn the front hubs back to free-wheeling.
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