7. Utah

Drove 3 hours into Utah to Natural Bridges National Monument. Arrived at 10:30AM, and got one of the last available campsites - no hookups. May is the busiest time of year for the Utah National Parks and Monuments, and campgrounds fill up very early.  Spent the rest of the day hiking down to and up from the 3 beautiful arches that make up the park.

Next morning, drove another 3 hours to Canyonlands National Park, the Needles section (this park has 3 huge sections). Arrived around 10AM and tried to find a campsite inside the park, but they were all full. Luckily, a ranger directed me to a site where the people were getting ready to move to the group area, so got the last open site in the park.  Lots of Europeans were there; this is the norm in Utah in May, as they rent motorhomes for 2-4 weeks from Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and do the National Park driving loop. Used my motor scooter to drive around the Park, and did a few hikes. The scenery was amazingly beautiful. (Camera had bad dates so it shows April.)

Next morning, drove another 2 hours North through the town of Moab, then another hour to the "Island in the Sky" section of Canyonlands National Park. At the start of the drive was a layby called "Newspaper Rock". Pictographs a thousand years old.

Spent the day touring this section of Canyonlands, which was very crowded as it was so close to Moab. My camera does not show the views well, but they were spectacular, looking down to the Colorado and Green rivers.

That evening drove back into Moab, where I stayed at an expensive campground for 4 nights. It was nice to have electric, water and showers after two nights of dry camping.  Took a day off and rode my bike around Moab. Following day toured Arches National Park, on my motor scooter; it is only about 10 minutes drive North of Moab. Most crowded place I had been to so far, with loads of Asian bus tours.  Nice, but way too crowded for me.

Following day, drove my motor scooter on a windy road by the Colorado river. Really nice drive with cliffs and rapids.

Next morning, left Moab and drove North and West to Capitol Reef National Park. Stayed in their beautiful campground called Fruita, in the middle of an orchard. Rode my bicycle all around and did a bunch of hikes. A real nice place, and not crowded like the parks around Moab.

Next day, drove 3 hours West and South over a 9,200 ft. pass to Bryce Canyon National Park. Stayed two nights at a private campground 10 miles outside of the Park.  Drove my motor scooter around which was real cold in the morning as the Park is at high altitude. Renee Schneider said this was her favourite national park and I agree with her as the scenery was spectacular.

After two days of Bryce, drove to Zion National Park. This was Memorial Day weekend, so was lucky to get into a private campground 13 miles outside of the park. Used their shuttle bus for the first day, then my scooter for the second day. The park was super crowded as was to be expected. Did almost all of the easy and moderate hikes, some were good, others way too crowded to enjoy.

After 3 days at Zion, drove 3 hours South and East to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. About halfway, stopped for an hour at Pipe Springs National Monument, which was a real nice surprise. Took the short tour of "Winsor Castle", and checked out the animals.