L AT I ME S .
CO M
ROAD TRIPS PLACES TO GO
SLOWLY FLOAT IN THE ARIZONA DESERT
A PURPLE- AND ORANGE-TINGED SUNSET caps the craggy beauty of the Coyote Buttes wilderness area at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona.
By Sara Lessley
The route: From the Glen Canyon
Dam, just outside Page, Ariz.,
hugging the Arizona/Utah border
around the Vermilion Cliffs Na-
tional Monument on U.S. 89 to U.S.
89A into Kanab, Utah.
Miles: About 120 miles from Page
to Kanab.
Best time: Spring or fall; the road
hits 7,925 feet in elevation at Jacob
Lake, so snow may be an issue.
Lower down, the summers can be
hot.
Why: Discover a scenic — and
historic — route in this “Arizona
Strip” country from the massive
Glen Canyon Dam (good visitor
center for the water-use curious)
and into Marble Canyon and its
“balanced boulders” (also stop-
ping at Navajo Bridge to walk
across the old span and look for
condors), then around the spec-
tacular Vermilion Cliffs and up
into the piney-green Kaibab Na-
tional Forest.
Highlights: A bit south of the
industrial-size dam, pull into
the packed parking lot for
Horseshoe Bend off U.S. 89.
The vistas are faultless. Watch
your footing; there are no railings.
Up unpaved House Rock Valley
Road, just off U.S. 89A, we
gazed at a dozen endangered
California condors swooping and
soaring in circles above a reintro-
duction site on the Vermilion
Cliffs.
S U N DAY, J U N E 11, 2 017 S9
James Hager Getty Images / Robert Harding World Imagery
retro. Free bikes stand ready for a the tiny tourists on the rim 1,000
89
UTAH GLEN slow spin down the main street. feet above. From Glen Canyon
CANYON
DAM Don’t miss the dozens of plaques Dam to Lees Ferry, there are
89
Kanab commemorating the western breathtaking views of the Navajo
Vermilion Page movies and TV shows that were sandstone cliffs that iconoclastic
89A
Cliffs filmed here for decades. environmental writer Edward
ARIZONA N.M.
98 Abbey described (before the dam
89A
Kaibab Memorable meal: A five-minute he despised was built) as “tapering
National walk from the lodge puts you spires, balanced rocks on pillars,
Forest
at Peekaboo Canyon Wood mushroom rocks, rocks shaped
Fire Kitchen (peekabookitchen liked hamburgers, rocks like piles
Grand Canyon N.P. .com), with quinoa-stuffed avoca- of melted pies.” Yup, exactly.
89 do for starters, followed by kale
salad topped with honey-glazed Plan to spend: Most of a sightsee-
Kaibab walnuts, dates and red onions. ing day for the 120 miles of the
25 MILES
National sometimes windy, always scenic
Forest
Tourist treat or trap: Leave the U.S. 89A. To augment the don’t-
Sources: Mapzen, OpenStreetMap
car behind for old-fashioned travel miss drive, overnight at either end:
Lou Sp irit o Los Angeles Times on the river. Our slow float on Page (float trip or slot canyons
Colorado River Discovery’s tour) or Kanab (hiking, biking and
Memorable stay: The quirky Quail (www.raftthecanyon.com) motor- Hollywood).
Park Lodge (www.quailpark ized pontoon boat took us past
lodge.com) in Kanab is bright and photogenic Horseshoe Bend and [For more road trips, see S12]