The Colorado River

Rocky Mountain National Park is pretty much the very definition of the phrase "Purple Mountain Majesty". The views in this park are mind-boggling as you try to wrap you head around the scale of the scenery you're looking at.

And more than that, it's the birthplace of the Colorado River, and two of the most scenic roads you'll ever want to drive.

Let me also say that I've encountered snow twice in this park, in September.

If you're in Glenwood Springs and you want to pay your respects to one of the quasi-legendary gunfighters of the Wild West, prepare to walk up a few switchbacks. But hey, a visit to Doc Holliday's resting place in the Linwood Cemetery was pretty cool.

This link will take you to the Colorado State Page.

I really don't think I've given Colorado National Monument a fair review. They're just a victim of circumstance.

If you're coming from the West, you have just seen the San Rafael Swell or Arches and Canyonlands. If you're coming from the South, you've just been on the Million Dollar Highway. If from the East, the Rocky Mountains.

At this point, Colorado National Monument... is just a nice scenic drive.

Utah-128 follows the Colorado River's meanders upstream (from Moab) for over 30 miles before turning toward (and joining) I-70. It is one of those roads which seemingly define some of the iconic views of the West, where the Colorado River lazily flows through the Red Rock desert with its sculpted mesas and pinnacles.

There are also a couple of images of Cisco, an uranium mining town on US-6 near I-70.

Moab is mostly a tourist town. It's a very handy base-camp for day-trips into Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point, trips on the Colorado, red-rock jeep tours, and is the start (or end) point for two outstanding Colorado River Roads, Utah-128 and Utah-279. It's also an excellent place to wander around after dinner, winding down from the day's activities.

This link will take you to the Utah State Page.

Arches National Park is a unique park, a sandstone desert with a unique geology that allows the formation of stone arches. Arches National Park has the greatest density of stone arches in the world.

Although it's only a few dozen river miles upriver from Canyonlands, the two parks are completely different in character and content.

Dead Horse Point State Park is right next door to Canyonlands National Park, about a half-mile as the crow flies, or about 11 miles by road. That's just the way things are out here.

From the top, you get a magnificent view of the Colorado River Valley and the goosenecks just before entering Canyonlands. Unfortunately, the main view is to the South, so the sun will always be in front of you.

Canyonlands National Park is proto-Grand Canyon, and in my opinion even more impressive in many ways. It is the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers, a major contributor making the Colorado the powerhouse river of the Southwest. Once the Colorado enters Canyonlands, it doesn't leave Federal land until the river reaches the California.

I've only been to the Island In The Sky District, since it was the most accessible.

The Glen Canyon National Recreation Area encompasses and products the Colorado River (and many of its tributaries) from Canyonlands to Grand Canyon National Park. It is mostly a creation of the Glen Canyon Dam, which creates a reservoir behind it (Lake Powell) a hundred miles long.

Included on this page is the Navajo Bridge at Marble Canyon and the Lees Ferry Unit of the park, river level access a dozen miles below the dam.

Lake Powell is created from the Colorado River (and its tributaries) by the Glen Canyon Dam. It's approximately 140 river miles (100 linear miles) long, and provides water, power and entertainment to millions in the Southwest.

Using it as a water route is also the only convenient way to get to Rainbow Bridge National Monument. These images are of the 50 river miles from Wahweep to Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

Rainbow Bridge National Monument is the largest (known) Natural Bridge in the world, at 290 feet high and 275 feet wide.

It is accessible by boat from Lake Powell, or you can get a permit from the Navajo, and do an arduous 14 mile hike across a sandstone desert.

Glen Canyon Dam is a 600 foot high thumbnail that holds back the Colorado River creating the massive reservoir named Lake Powell.

I took the Dam tour, and it was a dam... It was an impressive tour which takes you all the way down to the generator room via two sets of elevators. No stairs, but there is some walking involved.

Grand Canyon National Park is the premier National Park in America, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and many consider the park bucket-list-worthy.

In addition to the South Rim, there is a North Rim, which is 10 miles as the crow flies, but over 200 miles by car.

I won't mention the crowds. If there was ever a need to plan ahead for a trip, Grand Canyon is it.