Dave Hilbert's  
SoftSeatTravel
Canyon Tour
Maps show roads leading  north and south
out of Las Vegas to places with tons of elbow
room. A loop around the Colorado River will
put you within nearly a dozen spectacular red
rock canyons including both the north and
south rim of the Grand Canyon.  

Valley of Fire State Park
North on Route 15, the Valley of Fire State Park near
the shores of Lake Mead is well named with its  rocks
that glow red and a sun that can burn like fire.  Snappy
dry Mojave Desert air keeps it interesting but still
Nevada’s oldest park has few visitors touring its
bubbles of red rock set against a cobalt blue sky and its
twisted arches of red sandstone that frame distant cliffs.
Most travelers speed through on their way to Utah's  
Zion and Bryce canyons to the north.
The
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon, South Rim sunset

Zion Canyon
To keep congestion down, Park Service shuttles take
visitors to view the most scenic sections of Zion’s twisted
stone and sculpted spires. Zion’s 1920s era Zion-Mount
Carmel tunnel leads up and out to the road for Brice or to
the Grand Canyon. Freedonia marks Route 89 heading
north.   

You'll find all the elbow room you could ever want after
you pass through a few little towns and take a die-straight
road that makes a bee line for the north rim as it cuts
through the desert sage and creosote bush of the Kaibab
plateau. Forty miles of blacktop skirts the Vermilion Cliffs
on the left, a plain to the canyon on the right,  and makes
for the open road to infinity ahead.  

Marble Canyon
You leave the Grand Canyon and continue east beside the Vermilion Cliffs and
enter Marble Canyon. Here it is worth a stop to see Lees Ferry and watch a trip
outfitter provision their huge inflatable rafts for a 200 mile trip on the Colorado
River.

Antelope Slot Canyon
Another stop on a tour around the Colorado's canyons  should be slot canyons of
Page. Take  Antelope Pass at 6,533  feet elevation  for the great views of the
valley of the Colorado River and then enjoy a long downhill glide to Page where
you might be thinking mirage when you see the enigmatic towers of the Navajo
Power Plant on Route 98. They loom over Antelope Canyon, a wash that is dry
most of the year but when Antelope Creek conveys huge amounts of flood water
through the rocks during storms, they have carved out the most unusual rock
formations in the hidden canyon.
Canyon Photo Tips
South Rim Views
Grand Canyon North Rim Views
North Rim View
Lees Ferry
Zion SP Utah
Rain Rodolph
photographing in Valley
of Fire, SP Nevada
Las Vegas
Antelope Slot Canyon

Grand Canyon, South Rim
From Page head back south along the Echo Cliffs to the Little Colorado River and
then turn at Cameron to the plateau on Route 64 to the 7,400-foot high south rim
of the Grand Canyon.
So many viewpoints, so little time;  Mather point first thing in the morning has great
sunrise views. The west Rim Trail runs for eight miles along the canyon’s edge and
leads to great viewpoints, much of it  paved and  wheel chair accessible.

South again on 89 takes you through the ancient stone pueblos of The Wupatki
National Monument, the 11th century homes of the Anasazi and Sinagua cultures.
The road passes through the black volcano fields of Sunset Crater where eruptions
in the 11th Century threw tons of volcanic stone that blanketed the area driving out
the ancient farmers who left their stone buildings.
The Grand Canyon is near enough to Las
Vegas to be a welcome break from traveling in the
wilderness of the high desserts. You might want to
balance a few days of excitement, however, with
return to nature and listen to the wind singing
through the spires of Zion, see the majesty of sunset
at the Grand Canyon, or walk  through the quiet
forests of Ponderosa Pine on the Kaibab Plateau.
The frontier town of Williams at 6,700 feet along
the old Route 66 provides some nostalgia which
includes lunch in a 1950s diner. The Grand
Canyon Railway runs steam and Diesel trains
twice daily out of Williams to the Grand Canyon.

The road to Las Vegas runs right over the top of
762-foot high Hoover Dam. To the right, Lake
Mead and two years worth of Colorado River
water bordered by 550 miles of shoreline, below,
a concrete base 660 feet thick that took 4.5
million Cubic Yards of concrete to build, and to
the left, Colorado River water headed for the
agricultural fields of Arizona and California.
Soon you can be back in Las Vegas enjoying the
sumptuous buffets at the Mirage,
Steam train Rides in
Williams Arizona
Stone ruins near
the volcano of
Sunset Crater
Bridge over the top
of the Hoover Cam
The
Grand Canyon
Sunset at the Grand Canyon,
Grand Canyon,Sunset
Grand Canyon of Arizona
Grand Canyon South Rim
www.softSeatTravel.com
david@SoftseatTravel.com
Williams Arizona on Riute 66