Tag Archives: Utah National Parks

UTAH’S NATIONAL PARKS #10: AMAZING ANTELOPE SLOT CANYON

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Contrary to how I titled this post (well, we were mostly in the Utah National Parks), we were actually still in Arizona, within the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation, at Upper Antelope Canyon.  The Navajo name for it is Tse’ bighanilini, which means “the place where water runs through rocks.” 

The sandstone walls are breathtakingly beautiful, rising 120 feet above the sandy trail that runs 660 feet long.  It is the most photographed slot canyon in the Southwest, and I added to that statistic during our last day of the tour, along with everybody else being led through the canyon by Navajo Nation tour guides. 

Tourism to this slot canyon is tightly controlled and has been run by the Pearl Begay Family since 1983.  In 1997, the Navajo Tribe made it a Navajo Tribal Park, and it has been an important source of income for them.

Photography is difficult in the canyon due to the wide exposure range made by light reflecting off the canyon walls.  My compact travel camera was challenged by these light rays, but I managed to get some shots that will hopefully give you an idea of the beauty of this canyon.

(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)

Entrance to Upper Antelope Canyon
Our guide playing a wooden Native American flute
This is where we came out of the slot canyon.

Following our hike back out of the canyon, we returned to St. George, Utah, for our final night, which included a farewell dinner with the group.  In all, we had traveled 1,272 miles during our Grand Circle trip.

Coming up later this summer:  Iceland & Scotland

UTAH’S NATIONAL PARKS # 6: DELIGHTFUL DEAD HORSE POINT STATE PARK & CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK

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This was the most unique bathroom stop ever! And, yes, it really is carved into real rock.

Continuing on our journey, we stopped to see John Wesley Powell Museum, in Green River, Utah.  Powell first explored and mapped the area in the 1870’s.  The museum is located on the river, and they had a lovely walking path we wandered along to take in the views of the river.

(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)

Shot from the bus window on the way to Dead Horse Point State Park

Dead Horse Point State Park was our next stop; and, yes, the “dead horse” was delightful!  The park gets its name from a rock formation that looks like a horse, when viewed from up above at a distance.  We took in the spectacular views from the visitor center, which had an attractive walking path with beautiful blooming cacti and trees all around. 

Can you see the horse? It’s a profile, and the ear is in the upper left quadrant.

On a clear day, the visibility from the viewpoint can reach nearly 100 miles.  It was hazy off in the distance, but we could see snow on the mountain tops.  There were also a couple of bright blue pools that seemed completely out of place.  They were solar evaporation ponds for a mine owned by Intrepid Potash, Inc.  Potash is potassium chloride, a salt found in the Paradox Formation.  Salt deposited from ancient seas made up this formation as it evaporated and was buried by other sediments. 

Off in the distance, you can see the bright blue pools.

Water is pumped down into the formation to dissolve the salt.  This salt water is then pumped into the shallow, vinyl-lined ponds.  A blue dye is added to speed up evaporation.

Finally, twenty-ton scrapers, guided by lasers, harvest the dry salt. A local refinery transforms this concentrated form of potassium chloride into plant fertilizer.

I was truly baffled, seeing this in the middle of a state park.  I didn’t know what to think…

Our next stop was at Grand View Point, which provided great views of Canyonlands National Park below.

Green River Overlook was our last stop in Canyonlands.  At 6,000 feet elevation, it provided a great perspective of Green River down below – especially since we had walked along the riverbank earlier in the day.

We continued on to Moab, our base for the next two nights.  Moab Diner had good ratings on Trip Advisor, and I enjoyed a tasty, fresh salad there; so, it deserves a shout-out and my last photo of the day.

Next up: Amazing Arches National Park