Goblin Valley State Park, Utah
Checking the map, if I ever visit Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef (better get on the Stairmaster!), Goblin Valley is about midway between the northern end of Capitol Reef NP and Canyonlands NP. It's just a short bit south of I-70 connecting Grand Junction to Salina (Salina is directly south of Salt Lake City).
** ping **
Wow. Added to my ever-lengthening bucket list. I’ve seen a bit of the painted desert and petrified forest, but haven’t yet been to Yosimite, Yellowstone, Monument Valley, or even the Grand Canyon. I’m an Easterner. It ain’t that easy to get there.
Out of curiosity, have you ever seen a well justified description of how these rock and plateau shapes are actually formed?
I used to think it was just wind erosion, eroding different strata with different material properties accordingly, but like structures around Joshua Tree National Park, even homogeneous strata appear to be shaped and boulders sitting one upon another from nowhere, just tend to boggle the mind. Like the moving rocks in Death Valley floor.
My younger son loves “Galaxy Quest”. And “Spaceballs”.
The trip is to go to the northern edge of Zion near Georgetown. There is an 11,000 foot peak you can easily drive to. That is the top of the grand staircase the bottom of which is the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon. This peak is visible for miles and miles as you travel down the staircase and is a spectacular point of reference.
The area is all about the rock and the trip down hill through the layers and layers and the colors and time. Consider it as a whole massive geological structure that cover mega square miles.
Go downward to Bryce Canyon then across to to the Grand Staircase Escalante and Escalante UT Utah, then enter the Capitol Reef Park across the Water Pocket Fold and over to Canyon Lands/ Arches.
Be sure to buy a National Parks Pass Port because you will get lots of opportunities to get it stamped.
Moab is on the route as is Bluff and Mexican Hat and Monument Valley.
For a thrill.....drive down the Mugy Dugway..... you’ll never forget driving down the edge of an 1800 foot mesa into the Valley of the Gods. There is a similar thrill as you cross the Water Pocket Fold.
I love the area.
The whole Moab, Utah area is one of the most undervisited areas in the country. By undervisited, I mean it has so much to offer compared to the number of visitors it receives.
I was there two years ago, on a trip I won through Buick. The area has everything, and it has not been abusively commercialized.
If you’re not ready for physical activity, there’s tons to do: drive through the mountains, drive along the Colorado river, mild Colorado raft rides, see the Arches, ancient Indian drawings and cliff villages, as well as some fabulous restaurants and a couple of top notch resorts.
If you’re in-shape, there’s whitewater rafting, hiking in slot canyons, horseback riding, some of the best mountain biking in the world, and exploring in some of the most remote areas in the country.
It was probably my favorite vacation yet. I never made it to Goblin, but next time i want to explore some of the slot canyons around it.
I highly recommend visiting the area.
Amazing pictures! That wind blows through this area hard enough and at different levels that it carves these sandstone rocks up. Very beautiful area. Thanks for the ping!
Remarkable!