The Tonto Trail is one of the wonderful features of the Grand Canyon. You can walk for miles enjoying one view after another. And it really is mile after mile – I’ve heard that the Tonto Trail is about twice…
Horseshoe Mesa Loop, pt. 2: Horseshoe Mesa
If you decide to hike the Grandview Trail in Grand Canyon National Park, the only way I can recommend it is if you go another couple miles (3+ km) out onto Horseshoe Mesa. This is where the “grand views” really…
Horseshoe Mesa Loop, pt. 1: Grandview Trail
I love the Grand Canyon! And I love finding new trails into the canyon I’ve never thought about doing before! So, last winter, when my hiking colleagues and I began talking about a dayhike on the Grandview Trail this spring,…
Tonto Trail: South Kaibab to Bright Angel
I love the Grand Canyon. It’s so awe-inspiring, so much bigger and more beautiful than any picture could portray. Over the years, I’ve hiked down into the canyon several times from both rims – from the first time I visited…
Grand Canyon Rim Viewpoints
Usually, I write about hiking. Long hikes to awesome views and pretty places all over the US. However, when I’m traveling, I don’t always hike. Sometimes, the best views are to be seen without hiking, and this can be terrific…
Graveyard of Fallen Arches
In Southern Utah there is a fin—or a butte—or a mesa—whatever you want to call it—that sticks up almost out of nowhere just north of the Lake Powell Dam. We visited the fin while searching for Skylight Arch, which I…
So You Wanna Go Down in the Canyon… The South Kaibab Trail
If you counted up how many times we’ve been to each national park in the US, I’m sure you’d find the one we’ve visited the most to be Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona. In the last 16 years,…
Prettiest Hike in Organ Pipe: Bull Pasture
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument may be known as much for being directly on the Mexican boarder as for the cactus that gives it its name. From almost anywhere in the park, you can look south and see into a…
Fantastic Rock Formations at Chiricahua
If you like rock formations, and you’ve worn out Moab, Utah, the place for you to visit is Chiricahua National Monument in southern New Mexico. Here, gray rock towers point skyward in the most amazing shapes and number. Many of…