Crazy Beauty Right At Home
When one thinks of US Travel and vacation destinations in the states, chances are most thoughts go to coastal states like Florida, California, New York, or a bit more remote, ‘exotic’ states like Hawaii or Alaska even. It’s not often that our minds conjure up an epic trip or vacation to the Southwest. I mean, Kanab, Utah? It had certainly never really been on my radar as a specific travel destination…… until I started seeing some amazing images pop up on my Instagram, highlighting our own National Parks via Travel & Leisure posts.
It might just be that we have Covid to thank, that some lesser-known US areas were “trending” lately, because international travel has been a rollercoaster of risk, and hopping in a camper van or RV around our own country has been the one possible form of escape and adventure when lockdowns and social distancing have kept us all home-bound for far too long. Whatever the reason, I sure am glad that the unique Southwestern landscape imagery crept into my feed and into my mind, and it seemed like a trip that could actually come to fruition, for this travel-addicted girl who was so very ready to fly the coop.
The more I researched, the more fascinated I became with these remote areas with alien-landscapes that I wasn’t as familiar with as I felt I should’ve been. These places are in my own country! Why have I not seen them yet? And how soon can I go?? Thus began the planning for a two-week road trip in late April 2021, that would take me and Cisco through four states and countless natural phenomena in National Parks and far lesser-known smaller areas with BIG ‘sights’ and exciting adventures!
As always, I want my trips to be as epic as possible in every way… ‘the trip of a lifetime’— which means awesome & unique accommodations, excellent food, and mind-blowing attractions. And while I can live for 10 days in a camper van with no problem (like we did in Iceland), I definitely enjoy the lap of luxury, and like to bake in some posh experiences into all of my trips. This one was no different.
We started our two weeks in Palm Springs, checking out Modern Mid-Century design that the city is famous for, but the highlight was getting to visit Joshua Tree National Park (a dream of mine since I had seen one on the cover of U2’s album). You can read all about that awesome beginning of our trip in my blogpost, coming soon.
Next, to get to Utah, we drove through Nevada, spending a lovely night in Vegas with an awesome meal at Lago, and spending the next day, up early, and exploring the Valley of Fire (blog about the best things to see there in a day, also coming soon). The awesome Nevada State Park is a 30-40 minute drive from the Vegas strip, but a world apart.
Finally, we made it to Utah, where we had planned to spend 5-6 days, so that we could see as much as possible. In all my research, I found that we could’ve easily spent a month there, and not even have scratched the surface of this fascinating state, and all there is to see. But 6 days was what we had to work with, before driving down to Sedona, AZ (another area I wanted to explore on this trip), so we focused on the Southern region this time, and made sure to include as many epic South-Utah sights as we could in our itinerary.
WHERE TO STAY IN UTAH?
Throughout my Utah research, when I started marking all the areas in Utah on maps.me that I knew I wanted to visit— Bryce Canyon, Zion, the Slot Canyons, Escalante, Lake Powell— I realized that they all formed a bit of a circle around one Utah area in particular: Kanab. Since I had never heard of it….. more research. Turns out Kanab is a popular place to ‘home base’ when exploring Southern Utah. It is a super cute, quaint little town, with awesome restaurants, super cool attractions of its own, and all the areas I wanted to see were at most, 1.5 hours drive from Kanab.
Things to see in and around Kanab:
Other than their fun Visitor’s Center, the Little Hollywood Movie Museum (over 100 famous tv series and movies were filmed in and around Kanab!), and lots of great restaurants (more on that below), all within the center of the town of Kanab, there were several bigger attractions just on the outskirts of town (within 20 miles) that were on our ‘Must-see’ list. The four main sights we had seen images of, that we wanted to visit, were the Moqui Caverns, Belly of the Dragon, the Great Chamber, and Coral Pink Sand Dunes. With the exception of the Coral Sands Park, we were able to visit and explore the other three in the first half of a day, leaving ample time for the dunes in the evening, when it was less hot, and when we could go sandboarding- something Cisco had been looking forward to! Unfortunately, the wind was blowing crazy hard that afternoon, and so we didn’t ride the dunes as we had hoped. Instead we just drove through and watched the smooth pink sand get whipped around by the gusts. It was still beautiful, and we’re hoping to put that on our ‘Next Time’ list, along with many other things.
The Moqui Caverns and the Belly of the Dragon, were easy to access, and the Great Chamber, or Cutler Cove, as it is more commonly referred to locally, was definitely a bit harder of a find. The Moqui Caverns are caves visible from Route 89 road, just a few miles north of Kanab town center. You can see them hovering above the marked Moqui Cave below, and you do not need to pay or access the lower cave to visit these caverns. It’s a short 10 minute hike up the rocks to these beautiful light-filled sandstone caverns. The Belly of the Dragon, a man-made tunnel under the highway, about 11 miles further north on 89 from the Moqui Caverns, was a fun, short, ‘ribbed’ pathway that makes for some cool photos!
The Great Chamber took some pre-day plotting. We actually used GPS coordinates from All Trails and google earth to pin point where it was located. Even knowing exactly where it was, we did get lost a bit in trying to find it, as you have to navigate a massive maze of interconnected short sand roads that all run into one another. And don’t even attempt this without a jeep or similar 4 wheel drive vehicle with high clearance. When I say sand roads, I mean deep sand in places. We again left at 7:00am, and when we got to the Great Chamber at around 8:00am, we were all alone to play in the epic cavern and huge sand dune that lies in the middle of it. As we were leaving, about an hour and a half later, at around 9:30am, there were tour groups, led by local guides, that were just arriving. So, if you don’t have a good 4×4 vehicle, you can always book a local tour guide to take you to this awesome spot!
The thing is, Kanab has so many epic sights nearby, and we had just 4 full days, so we needed to limit our ‘what to see list’, to the day-trip locations that really peaked our curiosity. These were our favorites…
Day Trip to Bryce Canyon:
Hoodoo that voodoo that you do so well…. Oh, and that view!! And that hue!…
We left Kanab at 7:00am to get to Bryce Canyon relatively early (it was a 1.5 hour straight drive up), and arrived to some seriously spectacular orange hues and crazy geological wonders. In a fast nutshell— 60 million years ago, Bryce Canyon was a huge lake. Iron (orange) sediment started forming at the bottom. Over millions of years, the lake drained and erosion and weather attacked the sediment that was left behind. For ~200 days of the year, the region experiences both above and below freezing temperatures, allowing ice and rain to create the hoodoos (the tall, unusual knobby spires that cover that Canyon.) Water seeps into spaces between and within rock. When the temperature lowers, the water within the rock freezes and expands. This expansion, known as ice wedging, starts to break apart rocks, first into walls, then windows, then a fully formed hoodoo. They are an amazing glimpse into what Mother Nature is capable of. We did the Queens Garden trail down to the canyon floor, into the Navajo loop trail to get back up. ‘Wall Street’, one of the famous paths of the Navajo Loop Trail, was closed on the day that we were there. But we went up the other side of the loop from the canyon floor, and it was, in a word– spectacular.
If you only have a day at Bryce, this is the combo hiking trail I would without a doubt recommend (along with many other bloggers I read). Give yourself approximately two+ hours to do the Queens Garden + Navajo Loop trail together. We walked at a very leisurely pace, stopping to take LOTS of photos. I would recommend parking at Sunrise Point, descending down Queens Garden, connecting to Navajo Loop at the bottom. You can choose to come up Navajo Loop on the right side trail, like we did, or take Wall Street, on the left, which has steeper switchbacks at the end. Both are stunning. We then drove along the scenic rim drive along the Canyon, and then got lunch & headed on to Escalante, to rest for the night, before our epic second day adventure….
Overnight in Escalante & the Slot Canyons, Peekaboo & Spooky:
Since we were still booked at our hotel in Kanab for these 5 nights, we just took small overnight backpacks to Escalante and booked a cheap little cabin in a Camper Park for the night, with the sole purpose of being close to the slot canyons in the morning (otherwise we would have had an approx 3-4 hour drive from Kanab to reach them). The small cabin at Canyons of Escalante RV Park we got through AirBnB, was comfy, cozy, and in the perfect location right in Escalante. We had two amazing meals at the Esca-Latte Cafe & then the next day after the canyons, at Circle D Eatery. If you’re in this neck of the woods, try these restaurants. They were delish!
After a good night’s rest in the cabin, we were up again early, and ready for the adventure that awaited us. At this point already, we had seen some truly unbelievable and legendary sights during the Utah portion of our abridged ‘Epic America’ road trip. But so far, my FAVORITE, and most fun day, was exploring these two insanely awesome slot canyons in Grand Staircase Escalante. I’ve always seen photos and heard everyone talk about Antelope Canyon (probably the most famous), and I’ve never been, so I can’t compare, but I can say that the two slot Canyons Cisco and I explored— ‘Peekaboo’ and ‘Spooky’, were epic! I’ve also heard that Antelope Canyon (currently closed), requires permits, and requires that you go in a group with a designated guide, so there are time constraints, and other people to contend with. We got to these slots early in the morning (approx 7:45am arrival time), and had them all to ourselves!
There’s a trick to getting there early, since they are pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and our trick was staying the previous night in Escalante, getting up at 6:00am, and taking our 4×4 Jeep down the uneven gravel ‘Hole in the Road’ 26 mile-drive to the parking for the trail to the slots. We didn’t stop at the main, Upper Dry Fork Trailhead Parking though, but instead continued a bit farther to the Lower Dry Fork Parking, which saved us about an additional one mile hike. This closer parking does mean that you need to scramble down some rocks, but it’s nothing difficult, and if you follow the cairns (vertical stacks of rocks left by other hikers/rangers), it will lead you to where you need to go. Also, make very sure you’ve downloaded the app Maps.me (I never travel ANYWHERE without it), and it will help you locate the entrances to both Peekaboo & Spooky slot canyons exactly, as well as parking lots, etc, while you are offline. Something that is very important when you are in the middle of nowhere, and have zero service with which to pull up GPS. Just make very sure you download the specific map of the region you want to go to, ahead of time, while you have WIFI. This is all very important.
So what is a slot canyon? And why those names for these two? A slot canyon is a long, narrow, deep channel that is formed from water rushing through rock. It starts off as a little crack and steadily grows larger from continuous flash floods and erosion. The end result is a narrow canyon with high walls and has height-to-width ratios that typically exceed 10:1 over most of its length and can approach 100:1!!!! The two we did, although not as famous as some of the others (like Antelope, the Narrows, and Buckskin Gulch), are some of the most unique because of the twists and turns and curvy sculpted walls. Peekaboo required climbing up a 15 foot sheer face just to get in, and has multiple arches and hole cutouts in the stone throughout (hence the name.) Spooky was definitely a lot narrower, and therefore darker too, as the width of the canyon walls were as narrow as 10 inches in some places! At the narrowest part, I had to shimmy sideways and Cisco had to drop down and crawl where it was slightly wider on the bottom, because his broad chest and shoulders couldn’t make the 10“ squeeze. Sooo fun though! We oogled and gasped and laughed through every moment. Highly recommend this, if you are ever in or near Grand Staircase Escalante!
Side note: Because slot canyons are formed from rushing water, the dangers of flash floods still exist today. Hikers have died because they were caught in canyons when a flash flood came on suddenly. So, if you ever decide to hike a slot canyon anywhere, make VERY sure beforehand that there is absolutely no possible rain in the forecast for that day.
Kanarra Falls:
Reading the previous info about slot canyons, you’ll know my utter fascination and newfound obsession with how intricately cool they are! So you’ll understand my excitement, when during my research of epic things to see in Utah, I came across waterfalls IN a slot canyon!! Kanarra Falls in Kanarraville (an hour and a half drive from Kanab) was as stunning as I had imagined. In order to protect the trail from excessive visitors, the town limited the amount of permits to 150 hikers per day. We bought our permits online about a month in advance, and as always, we got there early (around 8:00am) because we wanted to be the only ones on the trail… and we were. Be sure to book your permits ahead of time, as we ran into someone as we were leaving the hike later in the day, at the entrance, who wanted to go, but there were zero permits left for that day. So don’t miss out. If you know you want to see this (and you should!), buy the $12 per person permit here: Kanara Falls Tickets
The trail to the falls starts off as an open air, bright and beautiful trek through an open canyon alongside the creek, and we had to cross the creek bed at least half a dozen times before reaching the narrowing walls of the slot canyon. At this point, we had to wade directly through the creek, and through the slot canyon to reach the first waterfall. The entire experience was awesome!
Side note: The water is VERRRRY cold, and you cannot avoid having to wade directly through the creek, once in the slot canyon, to get to the waterfall. I wore waterproof hiking boots (and I would highly recommend that or neoprene socks), as we saw people hiking in flip flops or Teva’s and their feet were dark red to purple from the biting cold of the water. Yikes! We did this trek in late April, so maybe it might be more bearable in the summer, but also lots more crowds. Be sure to book early and check the weather forecast too!
After leaving Kanarra Falls, we were able to drive through Zion National Park to get back to Kanab. I had hiked Angel’s Landing (the highest peak) on a previous trip to Zion, so this time, we just did a very leisurely drive through Zion, along the very scenic road from Zion Park Boulevard back to Kanab. Even from the car, there are stunning views of this beautiful National Treasure to see…
A Day on Lake Powell:
We only got to enjoy being on Lake Powell for a day, but it was quite a day, and we are already planning our return!
We booked a combo package of a room for 2 nights + speedboat for a whole day, through Lake Powell Resort, and the price was way more cost effective than booking them separately! The room was comfy, with a beautiful view of the lake, and the food we had two nights in a row for dinner at the Rainbow Room was delicious! When we got to the Whaweap Marina in the morning, we decided to upgrade for $90 more to a much more kush boat (from a 19′ to the newer, faster 21′), and we are so glad we did! It gave an incredibly comfortable ride, and the amenities including sound system, and big canopy to protect us from the elements were very much appreiciated.
The geology was of course stunning, and being that we were there on a weekday during off-season, it really felt like we had the lake to ourselves. We saw just a few other boats actually out and about on the lake and got to enjoy the landscape scenery in a very serene way. I guess you could call it serenery. 😉 We meandered through canyons (loved Labrynth Canyon!), not knowing what would be around each turn, and loved seeing the reflection of the sky in the water everywhere we went. Again, we found Maps.me to be incredibly helpful to pinpoint exactly where we were, although the GPS on the boat worked great too. For a day that had been forecast as rainy, we definitely lucked out and got not a drop, and at one point, it warmed up enough that we could soak in some sun.
A very important note: When we were there (April 2021), we were told that the lake had not seen these low water levels before (it was record-setting low!), and that in a few years, there may be no lake anymore to visit. Some of the waterways were already shut down when we were there, because there was no more water to boat through. My advice would be to see Lake Powell asap, if it’s on your list of things to see and do in our beautiful country, as this particular beauty may be gone soon, and you may have missed the boat.
Where to stay & eat in Kanab:
For our five nights in Kanab, we stayed at the Canyon Boutique Hotel, which is definitely the most luxe of all accommodations options in Kanab (and still under $200/night), and it was awesome and well-worth it! The rooms were big, clean, comfy, and our suite had a huge jacuzzi tub and fireplace in the room (both verrrrry appreciated when the temperature dropped into the 30’s (F) overnight!) There were lots of lovely touches (welcome note, cozy robes), and breakfast was included with the cost of the room, and it too was a wonderful, welcomed inclusion. It was ready for you to pick up at the time you designated the night before, and it was delicious! They had it packed up for you, which you could take to the dining room, or take on the road with you, if you were headed out early to see attractions to beat the masses. You can book it here. The staff is awesome. The owner Travis, is great, and if you go, tell him I sent you! Lastly, the Canyon Boutique Hotel hosts one of the absolute best restaurants in Kanab— Sego. Make sure you make a reservation for this gem. We hadn’t, and got lucky with a cancellation on a Tuesday night, and it was excellent!! I mean, truly.
Where else to eat in Kanab:
Kanab may be small town, but it is full of Big flavors!
- Make sure you eat at Wild Thyme. (We did, twice!) Delicious flavor combinations of unpretentious, hearty food. We loved it! The pistachio chicken, Cowboy BBQ ribs, and carrot cake (pictured below) were our faves.
- Kanab Creek Bakery: Their coffee & chai latte were awesome and their pastries looked incredible.
- Peekaboo Canyon Wood Fire Kitchen: a vegetarian restaurant with vegan options— the impossible burger, amazing fries, juniper salad, and hell dive artichoke dip were all great.
