US National Parks Circuit

It has taken me a long time to write about this trip i did in June 2008. Reason for this delay (besides me being lazy and the markets being crazy) was that i needed help to make a map of this trip – to easily describe what i mean by US National Parks circuit. The route actually offers lot more than just the national parks but i call it that as it goes through many of the well known and large national parks in US. Now that i have the map ready, here goes

To do justice to this trip and appreciate the incredible splendour that some of these national parks and other places offer – i would suggest a minimum of two weeks (three is better) time at hand for the drive. It’s a total drive of almost 4000 miles so more than one person driving would help! We started the road trip at Denver, Colorado – one could do it as easily from Las Vegas or from Salt Lake City.

Just to the east of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains, Denver and its neighbouring areas provide lots of adventure activities (white-water rafting, mountain biking, trekking) and sightseeing options. Our first trip was to Mount Evans – in the front range region of Rocky Mountains. One of the highest paved roads in North America, it was a scenic drive with some beautiful lakes and snow-capped peaks all around.

We spent couple of days in Denver, did some adventure equipment shopping (Denver has some of the largest stores specialising in adventure equipment – for mountaineering, white-water rafting, kayaking, biking etc. etc.) and then started our circuit drive moving westwards towards Vail .

Famous as a skiing destination, we were happy to be in Vail in off-season climate and enjoy the surroundings. The city also offers many outdoor activities in off-season like guided hikes, mountain biking, horseback riding etc.

Our next stop was Aspen (so named because of abundance of aspen trees in the area) – also a ski resort. The core area of Aspen is a nice mix of historic character, as well as some glitz of the rich and famous. Aspen has amongst the highest per capita in US, and has attracted many celebrities – but also has lots to offer to a tourist in terms of cultural activities, adventure as well as sightseeing!

From Aspen we were driving towards closeby Maroon Bells, when we had a chance encounter with a bear –crossing the road. It was completely unexpected and by the time i could take out the camera, he was ready to go back into the woods – though i was able to click one picture!!

Maroon bells was simply spectacular. We had seen many pictures in brochures and thought they were the kinds taken on a special day with a special camera – those doubts got cleared when we took some similar pictures with our own camera!!

We drove back towards Vail, this time taking the route via the Independence Pass (at a height of 12095 ft, between Aspen and Leadville). We crossed the pass after dark and even though the pictures were not as bright and clear, driving through the cold in the night with snow all around was an amazing experience!

Next morning we bid adieu to Vail and drove towards Moab to visit Arches National Park. Just as we entered Utah we visited couple of small vineyards and wineries trying out some local wines and buying some for the trip!

We reached Arches National Park by late afternoon. Long long days of June (doesn’t get dark till 9PM) were a real help in terms of sightseeing despite long hours of driving almost daily!! Spread over 119 square miles, Arches National Park is filled with stunning sandstone formations.

Most large formations visible in the park today are either the salmon-coloured Entrada sandstone – in which most of the arches formed. Some of the notable ones are Balanced Rock (picture above), Double Arch, Devil’s Garden, Courthouse towers and the most famous – Delicate Arch (picture below)

Our next stop was Natural Bridges National Monument in Southeast Utah – which contains three large natural bridges eroded into Cedar mesa sandstone. These bridges are formed when meandering streams of water slowly cut through the canyons; and are much rarer compared to arches which result from other erosional forces.

The three large natural bridges are named Kachina, Owachomo (in the picture below) and Sipapu – which are all Hopi (Native American) names. These are accessible from the Bridge View drive which winds along the park and goes through all three bridges – with hiking trails at each viewpoint leading down to the base of the bridges.

The drive from Natural bridges towards Monument Valley was an extremely scenic one; leading through what is known as the Valley of the Gods – with many tall, red sandstone mesas and cliffs. As one descends towards the valley – the view is breathtaking with almost a 270 degree panorama of different red sandstone formations in the distance and close-by. In any one frame (like in the picture below) the camera could only capture perhaps one fourth of the span!

Little ahead on our way to Monument Valley, we crossed the small town of ‘Mexican Hat’ named after a curious formation nearby of a large flat rock 60 ft in diameter perched precariously on a much smaller base at the top of a small hill.

Few miles ahead of Mexican Hat was the monument valley – some of the formations can be seen for many miles even before reaching the valley. The valley is not a valley in the conventional sense, but a wide flat, sometimes desolate landscape, interrupted by the crumbling formations rising hundreds of feet into the air, the last remnants of the sandstone layers that once covered the entire region.

Monument valley area lies entirely within the Navajo Indian reservation on the Utah/Arizona border – and the entrance of the Monument valley Navajo Tribal Park is managed by the natives and not covered under the US National Parks Entrance Card. While the view from the lookout point is quite spectacular – one must do the 17 mile valley drive (see car in picture below) to get a closer look at the monuments.

The 17mile valley drive takes one through 11 observation points, giving a closer look at some of the mesas – like the rain god mesa, elephant butte, camel butte, spearhead mesa and the three sisters amongst others.

Tired from the drive to and through monument valley, we headed to our resting station for the night - the Cameron Trading Post. Just about 30 miles from the entrance to Grand Canyon National park, the post run by Native American Indians provides an insight into the their food, their culture, and also hosts a large collection of the Native American Art.

The most popular amongst tourists, Grand Canyon overwhelms the senses by its immense size (277 miles by 18 miles and 1 mile deep) and the amazing landscape. We had been to Grand Canyon before (years ago) so decided to spend only a day here and get back to the road less travelled!

But before we got back to our National Parks circuit, we took a break in Las Vegas. There is not much i have to add about Vegas, to what many of you would already know. One recommendation though – if you are willing to spend a little extra, stay at the Bellagio in a room facing the fountains - they charge extra for the fountain facing rooms but it’s worth the spend !

Thanks to the break in Vegas, we were all re-energised to explore some more sandstone formations that Zion National Park promised. The colour of the sandstone cliffs here varied from cream, to pink, to red giving them a unique look!

With some of the internal roads being done up, and private vehicles not allowed in all parts of the park, we took the free shuttle service which goes through the various observation points. One can see many of the marked formations from the bus itself – the great white throne, the checkerboard mesa and the three patriarchs being some that i can remember! However there are trails at most of these points which one can take to get a closer look at the formations.

Not too far (about 80 miles) from Zion National Park is Bryce Canyon National Park. Personally i thought it was the most spectacular amongst everything we had seen so far, surreal – looked like it was a different planet! I really don’t believe the pictures can do justice to the magnificence of the place.

The thin spires formed in sedimentary rock are known as hoodoos – and vary in height from 5 ft to almost 200 ft. The shape of these hoodos is affected by the erosional patterns of alternating hard and soft rock layers. Minerals deposited within different rock types cause them to have different colours throughout their height.

Bryce Canyon is vast and has multiple observation points, spread out over a 20 mile area – you probably need couple of days to go through all of them. Paria view, Bryce point, Inspiration point and Sunset point are some of the names i remember.

Next day was a long drive – to cross most of Utah and much of Wyoming to reach our next destination(s). We took a brief stop at the Salt Lake City – driving through the university and taking a quick stop at the Mormon Temple and the LDS Church (Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter day saints) located at the city’s centre block (also called Temple square).

Next morning we drove towards Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park. Jackson Hole is the name given to the entire valley as mountain men entering the area had to descend along relatively steep slopes – though sometimes the town of Jackson itself is mistakenly called Jackson Hole.

A popular tourist attraction of Jackson are the Elk Antler Arches – constructed at the four entrances of the town square. The Arches were constructed in 1968 from shed elk antlers and are particularly appropriate as Jackson lies at the perimeter of the Elk refuge.

Less than an hour from Jackson is the Grand Teton National Park. Grand Teton preserves a spectacular landscape with majestic mountains and pristine lakes and some wildlife.

About 30 miles north of Grand Teton National Park is the South entrance of Yellowstone National Park – one of the five entrances of the park. This park spans over a vast area by any standards– almost 3500 sq miles across three states – Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone National Park has lots to offer – mountain peaks, lakes, waterfalls, lots of wildlife and what the park is best known for - the hot water geysers and springs.

One of the most popular areas in the park is the ‘Old Faithful’ geyser. As the name suggests – this is the faithful large geyser which erupts at regular intervals (between 70 to 90 minutes interval). Average height of the eruption is almost 145 ft and lasts for about couple of minutes. Visitors gather around the geyser in large numbers before the estimated eruption time!!

There are atleast a dozen other large geysers of different sizes and characteristics – to cover each of them would make this blog post more painfully long than it already is. Besides hot water geysers and springs, there are mud pots (like Fountain Paint Pot) and fumaroles – many of them resulting in unique colour formations based on deposits around and within them.

Mountain peaks and lakes towards the east gate offer some amazing views. For waterfalls one has to travel up north to Tower falls (Yellowstone map at http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/interactivemap/index.htm). Most exciting part about Yellowstone for me was the bear sightings. With luck favouring us we had four bear sightings in two days – and some of them at fairly close quarters! Wildlife at Yellowstone includes Grizzly bears, black bears, bison, elk, coyote, moose and bighorn sheep.

We decided to take the northeast gate out of the park to go via Montana. It was a scenic route climbing to a height of over 10000 ft, with lots of snow covered mountains for miles before we entered Montana.

Our penultimate stop was Mount Rushmore National Memorial – a large sculpture of four US Presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln (left to right in picture below). Sculptor Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers sculpted the 60 ft carvings between 1927 and 1941 to represent the first 150 years of American History.

About 8 miles from Mount Rushmore is the Crazy Horse Memorial. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski (who worked under Sculptor Gutzon Borglum earlier at Mount Rushmore) and the Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear started the Memorial in 1948 to honour the culture, tradition and heritage of North American Indians. The sculpture’s final dimensions are planned at 641 ft by 563 ft, with the head of crazy horse at 87 ft and will be the world’s largest sculpture when finished. Started in 1948, the sculpture is far from complete – for reasons relating to funding and some other controversies.