Tag - desert

The Watchman Trail 6

Unforgettable Views of the Watchman Trail

Location: Zion National Park, Utah Length: 3 miles (with the loop at the end of the trail) Ascent: 300 feet Difficulty: Easy GPS Coordinates:  N 37 12.083   W 112 59.186   The start of this 3-mile long trail can be found near the Visitor’s Center, you just need to cross the Route 9 to find yourself at its trailhead. It is interesting that regardless of its proximity to Park’s South Entrance, this trail is missed by lots of visitors, who prefer more popular routes like [...]

Twenty Mule Team Canyon Road 24

Scenic Drive along 20 Mule Team Canyon Road

  Location: Death Valley National Park, CA Length: 2,8 miles GPS Coordinates: N 36 24.570  W 116 47.680 Contact Information: Death Valley National Park P.O. Box 579 Death Valley, CA 92328   One of the best-known “historic symbols” of Death Valley is the Twenty Mule Teams. Such “teams” were comprised of 18 mules and 2 horses, pulling huge wagons filled with borax, bringing it from mines located in Furnace Creek area to the railhead which was at that time near Mojave. That was an exhausting trip which lasted for 10 days, [...]

Story in Stone Trail 24

Story in Stone Trail

  Location: Sheep Rock Unit, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon Roundtrip: 1/3 mile Difficulty: Easy Elevation Gain: 40 feet GPS Coordinates: N 44 39.126   W 119 38.407 Visitor’s Information Open: all year round No Pass Required   Foree Area is the northernmost section of Sheep Rock Unit, separated by some private lands from the main part of the Unit. The main tourist features of this area, except for the magnificent scenery of course, is a modest picnic area and two hiking trails – the Flood of Fire Trail and the Story in Stone Trail. Sharing [...]

Blue Basin Overlook Trail 8

Blue Basin Overlook Trail of the Sheep Rock Unit

    Location: Sheep Rock Unit, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon Roundtrip: 3,25 miles loop-trail Difficulty: Moderate Elevation Gain: 760 feet GPS Coordinates: N 44 35.730 W 119 37.856 Visitor’s Information Open: all year round No Pass Required   John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon can become a decoration of any journey. It's like a trip in a time machine to the distant past of the planet. And if you have interest in paleontology, it is definitely worth a look, although this national monument is located away from the beaten tourist trails, [...]

River Trail 42

Cant Ranch and a peacefully beautiful River Trail

  Location: Sheep Rock Unit, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon Roundtrip: 0,6 miles Difficulty: Easy Elevation Gain: None GPS Coordinates: N 44 33.334   W 119 38.677 Visitor’s Information Open: all year round No Pass Required   Cant Ranch is the second “must-visit” place on your trip around the Sheep Rock Unit after Paleontology Center. It can be easily found as it is situated just across the street from the Center. The former house of Scottish immigrants - James Cant and his wife Elizabeth, which was built in 1917, serves now as a historical [...]

Thomas Condon Overlook Trail 19

The beauty of John Day River valley as seen from Thomas Condon Overlook Trail

  Location: Sheep Rock Unit, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon Roundtrip: 0,25 miles Difficulty: Easy Elevation Gain: 40 feet GPS Coordinates: N 44 33.101   W 119 38.759 Visitor’s Information Open: all year round No Pass Required   If you chose John Day Fossil Beds (JDFB) National Monument as your next trip destination, you may plan the exploration of this unique source of geologic history study starting from any of 3 units, it is made-up of (Clarno Unit, Painted Hills Unit, Sheep Rock Unit). But to our opinion the best way to start [...]

East Mesa Trail 11

East Mesa Trail (going to Observation Point)

  Location: Zion National Park, Utah Length: 3,3 miles (one way trip) Elevation Gain: 280 feet Difficulty: Moderate GPS Coordinates: N  37 17.819   W  112 54.013 Zion National Park has several overlooks providing the visitors with an amazing panorama of the park’s canyons. One of them is Observation Point, situated at the Eastern Rim of Zion Canyon, at elevation of approximately 6,500 feet. The usual starting point for the hikers, willing to reach Observation Point, is the Weeping Rock Trailhead, which is actually the start [...]

Mt. Carmel Highway 15

Zion National Park and the Scenic Drive along Mt. Carmel Highway

  Location: Zion National Park, Utah Address: 1 Zion Park Blvd., State Route 9, Springdale, UT 84767 Phone: (435) 772-3256 GPS coordinates of Zion East Entrance: N 37 13.999 W 112 52.527   Nowadays it is hard to astonish a person with anything. People are satiated with information and colorful pictures. But Nature is a great architect, its imagination is simply inexhaustible, and every time it is able to delight the eyes of an investigative observer with something which makes you to freezes in awe and admiration. Do [...]

Devil's Golf Course 18

Devil’s Golf Course – Alien Views and Landscape

Location: Death Valley National Park Length: It can be as long as you want (there is no a designated trail) GPS Coordinates: N 36 17.157 W 116 49.567 Contact Information: Death Valley National Park P.O. Box 579 Death Valley, CA 92328 The Devil’s Golf Course is a fabulously beautiful and large salt pan on the floor of Death Valley National Park. It is located in the Mojave Desert. This salt pen is a huge bed of a dried up Lake Manly that covered the territory of the valley. The [...]

Badwater Salt Flats 24

White Salt Flats of Badwater

Location: Death Valley National Park Length: 2 miles roundtrip GPS Coordinates: N 36 13.79 W 116 46.035 Contact Information: Death Valley National Park P.O. Box 579 Death Valley, CA 92328 Badwater Basin is an endorheic basin known as the lowest point in North America. Its elevation is 282 ft below sea level. The name to the area was given thanks to the spring-fed pool of “bad water”, the salt make this water undrinkable. Actually, this water is four times saltier than the water in the ocean. Although, the water in [...]

Geologic Time Trail 26

50 Million Years’ History of the Geologic Time Trail

Location: Clarno Unit, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon Round Trip: 0,5 miles Difficulty: Easy Elevation Gain: None GPS Coordinates: N 44 54.794 W 120 24.562 Visitor’s Information Open: all year round No Pass Required   The Geologic Time Trail is one of three Clarno Unit’s trails, allowing the visitors fully enjoy the striking Palisades and investigate the spectacular, unique fossils, telling us the story of the distant past, when Clarno Unit was not an arid, desert area, but a tropical forest full of various flora and fauna representatives. This trail provides [...]

Desert View Watchtower 6

Why are the views from Desert View Watchtower are the best ones?

Location:    Grand Canyon, South Rim Hours:    8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Elevation:    7438 feet GPS Coordinates:    N 36 2.649 W 111 49.568 Visitors Information:    Open all year round Entering South Rim from the South Entrance you will find yourself at Grand Canyon Village – a tourist center of the South Rim, with a Visitor Center, all the lodges, restaurants, historical points of interest and main transportation junction of the South Rim. If you decide to travel along the rim enjoying the variety of [...]