Utah has not only amazing national parks that you know of but also state parks. One of the state parks that should be on your bucket list is Goblin Valley State Park. Southern Utah, Northern Arizona, and Colorado is like a layered cake. Erosion makes the varied form and colors of the rocks and the sands. Goblin valley state Park shows you that natural erosion can also make great arts. Goblin Valley State Park has the largest collection of hoodoos of this kind. Two trails are particularly recommended: the Goblin’s Lair and the Valley of Goblins. The valley is not really a trail; you are free to walk and wander around the forest of hoodoos. Goblin’s lair is a hiking and scrambling route. You can scramble down to a hole amongst the rock formation. The earlier settlers thought these were goblins layers, so there was a lair for goblins and a lair for goblette.
Hiking around the areas like this or in southern Utah in general, one should always be aware of flash floods and lightning. These conditions may seem really dry and desert-like, but rain does occur. I just happened to be visiting goblin valley on a rainy day. Not only did the temperature drop quite fast after the rain it also increased both the lightning and the flash flood concern. As soon as it started raining, everyone quickly dropped back to The high ground, the parking lot. Please exercise caution hiking anywhere in the slot canyons in the four corners area.
Dropping out of the Goblin Valley, I followed the scenic route 24 to the lesser-known Capital Reef National Park. This national Park doesn’t necessarily have a strict ticketed entrance, nor does it need overnight hikers to get backcountry permit reservations, making it popular for the locals.
A lot of the spots you can drive by, some of the most famous ones include a nice pie shop. I chose to go on three of the most stunning hikes: Navajo Knobs, Cassidy Arch, and Chimney Rock.
Hiking the Navajo knobs was quite tricky on an extremely windy day like I did. The trail followed roughly three bulging-out rock formations. With each turn, the wind picked up and started whipping the sand and the stones across my legs. I didn’t know that I was getting a leg exfoliation this trip! Even though I was on the verge of being blown away, enjoyed the glimpses of view I had. The sceneries down towards route 24 were incredible. You could see the canyons and mountains southward and the unique rock formations to the north. There’s scarcely any weather that’s called comfortable weather in the desert; it’s either too hot, too windy, or too cold. On this trip, it was all three, something that will still take me some time to get used to.
Cassidy Arch is a popular place for rappelling. You can rappel right on the famous Arch’s side, which is rumored to be where Butch Cassidy buried most of his loots. If you decide to repel down this route, give yourself enough time, as one of the passing hikers quoted around 2 hours to complete the entire rappel.
Chimney Rock was a rather easier hike, but the view was equally highly rated as you get an up-close view of the stunning Red rocks and Canyon down below. Chimney Rock is also the starting point for a much longer Trail that follows the Lower spring Canyon for a total of 10 miles one-way. Something I will be sure to do next time.
Following route 24 Westward it’ll bring you out of the Capitol Reef National Park into higher elevation. Red and yellow gradually turn into blue and green. Here you will start to see lakes and reservoirs. This area is called The Grass valley, a traditional hunting ground for the local Southern Paiute tribes. Interestingly, this was also part of the old Spanish route, a trading route connecting New Mexico and California. This Northern portion of the trait route goes through Utah. There are some interesting road signs about the local Paiute tribe and the old Spanish route. Take a look if you’re interested in this part of the history.
