Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for utah
Little Hollywood
By Linda Tancs
Vistas of sagebrush and towering sandstone cliffs have lured filmmakers to Kanab, Utah, for 80 years. That’s why it’s become known as “Little Hollywood.” Movie posters and autographed photos abound in buildings; abandoned film sets are tourist attractions. You can experience more of frontier movie making at The Little Hollywood Movie Museum on Center Street, which reveals how Southern Utah became the backlot for some of the most spectacular movies ever made.
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A Snow Globe Stroll
By Linda Tancs
Main Street in Park City, Utah, is a magical place during this festive season. Even more so thanks to the life-size snow globes decorated by local artists comprising the Snow Globe Stroll. Each globe is themed around a different holiday song. Every globe also includes hidden objects that are part of a scavenger hunt. Enjoy this free, family-friendly event!
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Human History in Zion
By Linda Tancs
Utah’s Zion Human History Museum displays artifacts and archival materials from the permanent collections of Zion National Park. Visitors can learn about human history in the area, from the Southern Paiute from thousands of years ago to the Mormon pioneers of the 1800s. Once the park’s main visitor center, the facility is prized as much for what’s outside as for what’s inside. Check out the back patio for a dramatic view of the West Temple and the Towers of the Virgin. In front of the building you’ll enjoy views of Bridge Mountain. When the canyon shuttle is running, the museum is stop #2. Otherwise, you’ll find it one half mile north of the park’s south entrance on the main park road or 11 miles west from the east entrance.
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A Man-Made Wonder of the West
By Linda Tancs
A man-made reservoir covering an impressive 186 miles in length and nearly 2,000 miles of shoreline (longer than the west coast of the U.S.), Lake Powell is a popular vacation destination for boating, waterskiing, fishing, camping, hiking and exploring the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Located on the Colorado River and straddling the border between Utah and Arizona, it features the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge, once the highest arch bridge in the world. It also boasts 96 major canyons, some of which are up to 20 miles long. Antelope Canyon is reportedly the most photographed. Other popular canyons include Gunsight Canyon and Navajo Canyon, which offers views of Navajo Tapestries, the multi-colored streaks of iron oxide and manganese residue that have “draped” down the sides of the canyon wall.
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Utah’s Most Scenic Drive
By Linda Tancs
Pure driving bliss. That’s what they call Scenic Byway 12 in Utah, a federally-designated All-American Road spanning 122 miles. Only one-third of America’s scenic byways get this distinction, granted to those roads that are tourist destinations unto themselves due to their unique features. Highway 12 has plenty of those, like the breathtaking views of Bryce Canyon National Park, the hair-raising ascent and descent of the Hogsback and the overall views at the road’s summit nearing 9,000 feet. The road is open year-round but wintry weather might make for a white-knuckle ride.
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Belly of the Dragon
By Linda Tancs
Located in southern Utah near Kanab, the Belly of the Dragon is a man-made tunnel under Highway 89 designed as drainage for the upper canyons that feed into the North Fork River. The resulting flooding created undulating waves inside that arguably resemble a giant digestive tract. Although the tunnel is short, it’s susceptible to flash flooding; check weather conditions before use.
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Goblins in Utah
By Linda Tancs
It isn’t hard to understand why the otherworldly environment of Goblin Valley State Park makes it one of Utah’s most popular parks. It features hoodoos (sandstone formations of mushroom-shaped rock pinnacles, some as tall as several yards) that are said to resemble “goblins.” Some of them even form a maze, making the 3-square-mile attraction a kid-friendly playground. Canyoneering is popular there, along with a hike to Goblin’s Lair, a beautiful slot canyon.
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A Clone in Utah
By Linda Tancs
Located in central Utah at the Fishlake National Forest (so named for the largest freshwater mountain lake in the state), Pando is an aspen clone that originated from a single seed and spreads over 106 acres, consisting of over 40,000 individual trees. Reputedly, it’s the world’s largest organism ever found at nearly 13 million pounds. It attracts visitors worldwide and was even honored by the U.S. Postal Service with a stamp as one of the “40 Wonders of America.” The clone’s name derives from the Latin phrase meaning “I spread.”
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The Legend of Dead Horse Point
By Linda Tancs
According to legend, Dead Horse Point was used by cowboys to herd wild mustangs roaming the mesa top. Even more legendary, though, is the view, one of the most photographed scenic vistas in the world. Located a short distance from Utah’s Arches National Park and Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point State Park‘s namesake overlook provides sweeping views of the canyons as well as the Colorado River 2,000 feet below. As if that view weren’t good enough, Bighorn Overlook is a worthy rival, an off-the-beaten trek providing canyon views that most visitors wouldn’t even know existed. The park is about 32 miles from Moab.
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A Wrinkle on Earth
By Linda Tancs
The Waterpocket Fold is a geologic wrinkle on the earth extending almost 100 miles. It formed between 50 and 70 million years ago when a major mountain building event in western North America (the Laramide orogeny) reactivated an ancient buried fault in the region, causing the west side to shift upwards relative to the east side. This geologic wonder is the centerpiece of Capitol Reef National Park in the heart of Utah’s red rock country. Abounding with cliffs, bridges, domes and canyons, the park is also a refuge of pristine dark night skies of the highest quality, garnering it “Gold Tier” status by the International Dark-Sky Association. The most scenic portion of the Waterpocket Fold, found near the Fremont River, is known as Capitol Reef: capitol for the white domes of Navajo sandstone that resemble state capitol building domes, and reef for the rocky cliffs which are a barrier to travel, like a coral reef.
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