“Helluva place to lose a cow.” That is what homesteader Ebenezer Bryce said when he brought his wife to run cattle in Utah’s Paria Valley in the 1870s where the canyon limestone had eroded into thousands of spires and sculpted hoodoos and window arches. These days Utah’s Canyon Country caters more to awestruck adventurers than wandering cows but the effect on first-time visitors is still the same.
Crayola doesn’t pack its crayon boxes with enough colors to describe southwestern Utah, from the chocolatey browns of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to the pinks and oranges of Bryce Canyon to the “Circle of Painted Cliffs” in Cedar Breaks National Monument to the whites and reds of
Zion National Park. Utah bills its slice of paradise as “Color County” and who is to argue?
Hiking tours in
Zion, Bryce and Escalante meander through intricately carved slot canyons, cling to towering expanses of slickrock and visit refreshing waterfalls tumbling out of hidden gorges. In Zion, the route traipses right into the waters of the Virgin River for a journey between the walls of a twisting sandstone canyon. And up to the top of the intimidating Angel’s Landing – if your nerve will allow it. The make-believe landscape of Bryce Canyon is best explored along the aptly-named Fairyland Loop.
There is such an abundance of wonder in
Utah’s Canyon Country of unforgettable hikes that many little secret spots could easily be overlooked by time-strapped travelers.
But our Four Seasons guides know them all too well and you won’t miss out on the natural arches and otherworldly formations of the Devil’s Garden in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument or the red rock delights in Red Canyon State Park or the desert oasis of Calf Creek. This is truly a place where the trips are over too quickly but the memories remain for a lifetime.
