The most recent vacation I went on was in 2019. It was the last time before COVID stopped us from going on trips across the country. On this trip, we went to Utah and Colorado and got to see some of the best places they had to offer. I never really knew how beautiful Utah was until I got to go on this vacation two years ago. In this blog, I will be talking about a few of the places we got to go to while we were there.
Mesa Verde
One of our first stops was in the Mesa Verde national park in Colorado. The park offers amazing sites and a look at Native American history in the United States. All throughout the vast valleys are Puebloan cliff dwellings hundreds of years old. While we were there, we got to hike through the valley to two of these dwellings and learn about the way the Puebloan people lived. The valley was already beautiful, but this piece of history made it that much better. While driving there, we were admiring the beauty so much that we were pulled over for driving too slow.
Arches National Park
If you are going to visit Utah, you must go to arches national park. The beautiful red rock is so unique to the area and there is not much of a hike to get to the arches. When we went, we wanted to see most of the arches that the park had to offer, so we spent around twelve hours hiking around to see them. The hike was relatively easy besides the temperature. We did end up getting lost on the way back and had to jump down a fifteen-foot rock to get back on the path. I recommend bringing a map in case your phone runs out of service.
Goblin Valley State Park
While we did so many more things on this trip like venturing through a slot canyon and climbing up a massive sand dune, I want to highlight goblin state park as my favorite part of the trip. The park was our last stop before going to the airport the next day and, while we were there, we camped out with a group of other visitors. The park has a ton of little rock pillars that make the place special. This is not the reason I liked it so much though because the area also happens to provide one of the best views of the stars in the world. It has little to no light pollution, so you could practically see the whole galaxy of stars. We stayed up until four in the morning to get the best view of the night sky hanging around a small fire and just being with family.
I know quite a few people who have visited the arches. The sights there are amazing. Mesa Verde is also an amazing man-made wonder. I remember reading about it in history books when I learned about the Pueblo peoples. Very jealous that you got to visit these places but you’ve inspired me to check them out for myself oneday.
Wow Graham what a fantastic post! It’s so crazy that I’ve also been to all these places. I agree that you really have to go there to realize how beautiful it is. My personal favorite was going to see the cliff dwellings, it was so cool to see how people could make a home carved into the side of a rock.
Great post!! The way the blog was laid out made it super aesthetically appealing and was a great read. I have never been to Utah or Colorado but you’ve demonstrated that they are well worth the trip. I love that there is a mixed sense of history in the sites. The Arches National Park looks absolutely beautiful!! Great job!!
This is an awesome post! Pre-COVID vacations were definitely something. I personally have never been to the west coast, but if I were to go, I would probably go to some place like Colorado or Utah. Like you saw, the national parks are something else and I think they would be so cool to visit, especially with the hiking that you mentioned! Ultimately, great post and it would be fun to visit!