If there’s a scene in Arches National Park that’s totally classic (other than Delicate Arch!) it’s the view of the North and South Windows. At sunrise, you’ll often find photographers lining up to get iconic shots of both or either…
Canyonland Views from Murphy Point
The Murphy Trail in Canyonlands National Park can be a little bit confusing – not because hiking it is all that difficult (it’s a trail and it’s pretty hard to get off of it), but because the name is actually…
Off-trail Hike to Ring Arch
Ring Arch is a lesser-known arch near Courthouse Wash in Arches National Park. No official trail leads to it, but it’s often combined with (and is easier to find than) The Tunnel. The span is very thin and narrow, so…
Best Hikes for Kids in Utah’s Big 5 National Parks + Grand Staircase-Escalante
Southern Utah is a favorite destination for tourists and locals alike. Who can resist giant arches, towering hoodoos, sculpted slot canyons, and rock formations galore? The good news is that the national parks in southern Utah (namely, Zion National Park,…
The Tunnel in Arches
Last fall, en route back across the country, we took an unexpected side-trek to Arches National Park. I’d been reading about off-the-beaten-path arches in Arches, so our first hike was off-trail down Courthouse Wash to The Tunnel. As features in…
Hiking Book Review: Utah Canyon Country
I have a review of a great book to share with you today: Utah Canyon Country: 20 Must-See Sites and Short Hikes by Laurie J. Schmidt. I’d had my eye on the book for some time, so when I was…
1 Day, 3 Day, and 5 Day Hiking Itineraries in Arches National Park
Arches National Park may have the most fantastic scenery concentrated into the smallest space of any national park in the United States. The park is less than 120 square miles, and almost every hike in the park is along one…
Lathrop Trail: Rim to White Rim Road
There are several premier trails that take hikers from the mesa of Island in the Sky to the White Rim Road. I’m sure they’re all very nice, but out of them all I chose to hike the Lathrop Trail… and…
Views of Eastern Canyonlands from the Lathrop Canyon Overlook
Island in the Sky has some amazing trails. Murphy Point, Grand View, White Rim Overlook, Mesa Arch, and others offer fantastic views without a whole lot of vertical-gain effort. Others – like the Gooseberry Trail, Wilhite Trail, or Murphy Hogback…
Trip Overview: Death Valley and Beyond
I returned a few weeks ago from a fantastic trip to the American southwest! We hiked over 100 miles (despite the short days of November), laughed a lot, stargazed almost every night, and just had a wonderful time hanging out…