Bryce Canyon National Park

Players:  Jenny, Jake & Jackson
Date of Visit:  June 2008
Website:  www.nps.gov/brca
Location:  Utah
Entrance Fee:  $25 per car
Type of Trip:  Overnight trip as part of Western US Roadtrip
Park Passport Stamps Available:  1
Trip Report:  Bryce Canyon is a very unique place.  Located in southern Utah, it is part of the Colorado Plateau (which also includes several other national parks and scenic areas in the Southwest).  Bryce is a natural amphitheater full of rock spires and formations called hoodoos; what really sets Bryce Canyon apart, however, is its gorgeous colors -- reds, oranges, yellows, even purples.  Bryce is named for an early settler, Ebenezer Bryce, who commented that the canyon was "a hell of a place to lose a cow."

Bryce Canyon Amphitheater

Arches National Park

Players:  Jenny, Jake & Jackson
Date of Visit:  May 2007
Website:  www.nps.gov/arch
Location: Utah
Entrance Fee:  $10 per car
Type of Trip:  Overnight Trip as part of Western US National Parks Roadtrip
Park Passport Stamps Available:  1
Trip Report:  This was Jackson's first national park, and the first stop on a 3-week roadtrip through the Western United States that we took in 2007.  Arches National Park is located in southern Utah, in the desolate rock/canyon section of that state. Arches is just a few miles outside of Moab, UT and a few miles from Canyonlands National Park (which we did not visit for some reason).  This means that Arches can get very hot in the summer and snowy/icy in the winter.   Arches National Park protects some of the fantastic red sandstone arches, natural bridges, and hoodoos found in this area.