The iconic rock formations in Utah's Arches National Park are an incredible sight, straight out of Toon Town. Photo / Getty Images
The iconic rock formations in Utah's Arches National Park are an incredible sight, straight out of Toon Town. Photo / Getty Images
Tim Stewart takes to the trails of Utah and is overwhelmed by the diversity and beauty of the rock formations.
As you turn the corner into Utah's Arches National Park, it feels as if you've stumbled into Toon Town. Shapely towers of red rock sprout like strange flora out of the desert floor. The rocks around Arches National Park have been referenced so often in visual media that the RoadRunner will surely appear through an Acme hole in the road surface. These shapely and surreal rock formations are iconic enough for Utah to put them on their license plates.
Arches was the first stop on our national park trail through southeast Utah. Essentially, we were on the lookout for rocks. This part of the world has some very pretty examples of them from the dusty red surrealism of Arches to the staggering sandstone walls of Zion.
To access Arches, Moab is a great launchpad. It's basically a 1km strip of accommodation and postcard vendors. For breakfast that's a cut above the standard tourist fare on offer here, head for The Jailhouse cafe. The buckwheat pancakes were fluffy and flavoursome and it really is in an old jail. Soak up the authenticity, folks.
Arches is not large. You could easily see most of it in a day. The longest hikes are only two to three hours long. Of course, timing is everything. The red rock arches will really come into their own at sunset. See if you can catch the moon rising behind a hoodoo, that's the name for a boulder left balancing atop a delicate spire of rock by erosion over the millennia.
We stayed the night in the gas and lodgings town of Beaver on the I-15 and then we headed south-west for Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce Canyon is part of the Grand Staircase which sits on the south-western edge of the Colorado plateau. This area has a veritable rainbow of geological phenomena on offer, such as the vermilion cliffs, white cliffs and pink cliffs.
At one point on the park road we found ourselves at 2743m. Elevation is something you may want to consider before plunging down to the valley floor on one of the longer trails. Getting back up to the car could be a real chore for the unprepared.
Luckily for those who favour the auto tour, striking views of the formations of spires and hoodoos that pack the Bryce amphitheatre are abundant.
Delicate crystalline formations of bright red rock banded with stripes of white sit next to razor-thin fins of rock that jut out into the canyon. There is quite a variety of geology to drop your jaw over.
Bryce Canyon was where I had my first encounter with one of the huge black ravens that are a common sight in these parts. They are very comfortable with the camera. I can see why Hitchcock was so into them.
Arches National Park, Utah. Photo / Supplied
We used St George as a base for Bryce Canyon and our next stop, Zion National Park. When I'm road tripping in the States I like to consult roadfood.com to find trashy treasures. Legendary sandwiches served in dive bars and standout salsas from Mexican mom and pop joints. Unfortunately, this part of Utah yielded zero recommendations. It's all about the parks round here. Perhaps the best plan in Utah is to self-cater. Hit a supermarket and sort out a picnic plan.
From spring through to autumn, Zion is accessed only by a tour bus from the visitor centre. So the logical plan of attack for us was to work our way back from the end. The bus takes you along the floor of the valley and rearing up either side of you are monumental sandstone walls topped with prism-like peaks.
At one point I spied some climbers hanging out on a portable platform at the base of an endless wall they were about to ascend. Hopefully they wouldn't have to contend with the once thought to be extinct California condors and peregrine falcons that also hang out on these walls. If you're alert and keep your eyes peeled you may spy these majestic beauties high above cruising for prey.
There are some serious trails here that will take you right up to the tops of these peaks. The guided recording on the bus warns you that lack of fitness or preparation "may result in death". The voice then reeled off some alarming mortality statistics.
We stuck to the valley floor.
The three parks we covered in the three days we were in Utah were just a fraction of what the Canyonlands have to offer. For the wilderness enthusiast, this would be a great place to get lost for a while.
Once we'd had our fill of natural wonder we slid down the I-15 to Vegas. It was time to get lost somewhere a little less pure.
CHECKLIST
Getting there:Air New Zealand flies twice daily to Los Angeles from Auckland, with three flights until March. From there, codeshare partner United Airways continues to Salt Lake City.
