This is the second in a series of posts about visiting 12 national parks in Utah and Arizona over 9 days.

To beat the crowds, we woke up early to drive the 18-mile scenic road to Rainbow Point. Outlooks along the way provide hundred-mile views of Bryce Canyon and the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Buses filled the parking lot by the time we reached Bryce Point, where a vertigo-inducing path leads to a tiny—and crowded—overlook.
  
Back at the cabin, we meant to take one last, quick look at the canyon before checking out, but we ended up walking the rim trail as far as Inspiration Point. What a gorgeous morning. We packed up the car around eleven and left for our next stop: Torrey, Utah. We weren’t expecting anything special on the 2-hour drive, but it turned out to be the most unforgettable day on the road. We went east on SR 12—and ended up on the moon.

This scenic byway passes through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a vast wilderness of stair-stepped plateaus cutting through eons of geologic history. At one point, the road takes a steep hairpin turn and descends into a lunar landscape of slickrock and volcanic boulders. We stopped at the overlook with everyone else to gape and say, “That’s where we’re going!” We ate lunch on a rock balcony with a 500-foot drop, and my dear husband, who has a fear of heights, didn’t even complain. The scenery was too amazing.

The section of SR 12 between Escalante and Boulder (Utah) is named “The Million Dollar Road” for the trouble it took to build back in 1935. Driving along the Hogsback, where the highway follows a knife’s edge along a dizzying sandstone ridge, we had to admire the bravery of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

By early afternoon, we’d reached Torrey, gateway to Capitol Reef National Park. Here, a giant rock formation called the Waterpocket Fold rises like a wave out of the desert, extending for a hundred miles. A paved road leads along the reef’s massive domes and arches, with dirt spurs providing access to hiking trails (in good weather).

In the 19th century, settlers drove their wagons through narrow slots in the reef, leaving dated signatures alongside ancient petroglyphs. We walked the 2-mile spur road into Capitol Gorge to see this “Pioneer Registry” and the potholes where parched travelers found water. The “tanks” are dry now, and we didn’t pack enough water for the trip—our bottles were empty at the halfway point. Later we’d be as sunburned as tourists at the beach. (It was snowing that morning at Bryce, so who thought to wear sunscreen?)
 
Before leaving the park, we visited the settlement of Fruita, where Mormons planted apple, peach and cherry orchards. The tiny Behunin cabin was home to a family of ten; the oldest sisters spent their nights in a wagon, and the boys slept under a rock ledge. At a roadside stop, mounted binoculars offer a close-up view of petroglyphs left by the valley’s first inhabitants, the Fremont Indians.

That night, we did laundry, ordered pizza from the restaurant across the street, and enjoyed yet another priceless sunset from the balcony.
 

Arches National Park
We set out for Moab, passing plenty of SUVs with bikes, kayaks and climbing gear strapped to their roofs. (This corner of Utah is a hub for outdoor adventures.) Just off US 191, the visitor center for Arches National Park sits at the bottom of a sheer rock cliff, and we could see cars inching their way up a steep incline. After a quick check of the exhibits, we too were cresting that ridge. First we’d been on the moon; now we were driving on Mars.

Huge red monoliths towered over the desert, and jagged fins jutted out of the sand. The park gets its name from more than 2,000 sandstone arches, but many are only accessible by hiking trail. We were just as awed by the sights along the scenic drive. Some of the formations, such as Courthouse Towers, resemble stately federal buildings. Balanced Rock perches on a column 128 feet above the ground. Early pioneers must have thought they’d stumbled into hell, based on their names for the Devil’s Garden and Fiery Furnace. A giant salt dome shaped this region, pushing up layers of rock into vertical blades before it collapsed. Wind, water and time did the rest.

You can’t stay long in this part of the country without becoming intrigued by geology. As we learned, all the parks on our itinerary are features of the Colorado Plateau, starting at the high end with Arches and ending at the Grand Canyon, where the Colorado River has exposed rock layers nearly 2 billion years old. (If anybody needed a perspective on birthdays, there it is.) In Orlando (where we live), a 1950s bungalow is a historic landmark, so we couldn’t help but be awed by such primeval riches. 

We took the time to hike to fragile Landscape Arch—rangers say it could collapse at any time. The 1.5-mile round trip felt longer, thanks to the rocky incline and heat, but we were treated to sweeping views of the high desert and the snow-capped La Sal Mountains. The arch itself is a spindly ribbon spanning nearly 300 feet (almost too big to photograph). Huge chunks have already fallen, which is why visitors are kept at a safe distance.

We still had a few hours of daylight, so we made a spur-of-the-moment trip to Dead Horse Point State Park. Sitting on an outcrop 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, this rocky island was once used to corral wild horses, hence the name. This late in the day, we were surprised to find couples and families gathering along the stone ledges; there couldn’t have been a more spectacular place to watch the sunset.

For the next two nights, we were booked at the Castle Valley Inn Bed & Breakfast, 17 miles outside Moab. Driving farther and farther away from “civilization,” I started to question the choice. We reached the valley just as the sun dropped behind the mountains—a blaze of color on the sandstone cliffs—and we finally found the address. Deer were grazing in the apple orchard. Our hosts, Jim and Mary, were charming, and our cabin was spacious and comfortable. Home, sweet home.

Next: Canyonlands National Park and Monument Valley.