Desert red rock and the Colorado River provide the dramatic setting for our unique trip to southern Utah. This hiking and walking escape is one of our most remote getaways allowing us to step back in time unto a sandstone wilderness. Day one sees us heading out from our first inn in Moab, to explore nearby Dead Horse Point State Park.

Walking atop a gigantic mesa we are surrounded by an immense sea of canyons, labyrinths and mazes. What lies before us is a dynamic overview of Canyonlands National Park. In this geologists’ paradise, exposed cliffs can be viewed with almost every rock formation created in the Colorado Plateau over the past 250 million years. Two thousand feet below lies the Colorado River, the fifth longest river in the United States.

The next day we visit Arches National Park, the land wilderness author, Ed Abbey, called the most beautiful place on earth. You’ll weave through a wonderland of standing desert rocks and far-reaching vistas. You’ll also visit eight famous arches, including Landscape Arch, the longest in the world.

On day three we transfer locations from Moab to Bluff. Bluff, UT is a remote area that has changed little since the turn of the century. It still has an original pioneer fort from 1880, and the Victorian era homes sheltered under old cottonwood trees give a sense of life here at the turn of the century.

Along the edge of town runs the San Juan River, close to which are numerous archeological sites. These sites are the heart of what was once Anasazi country. Anasazi or Ancient Ones were Native Americans who once flourished here before mysteriously disappearing over a thousand years ago. Our hikes for the next two days will examine and visit remote pictographs (paintings), petroglyphs (carvings) and ruins (home, religious and granary
sites) from the time of the Anasazi. These sites are little known and we only get a chance to see them by taking the trails!

The desert’s plant life also provides an extra splash of color. In the
spring claret cup cactus blooms in vivid pinks and reds and in the fall cottonwoods burst with color against the red rock walls.

Trips begin with dinner on Sunday and end after hiking and lunch on Friday.

• Dead Horse Point State Park
• Arches National Park
• Natural Bridges National Monument
• Spectacular Canyon Country
• Hidden Anasazi Indian ruins

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