40 Miles of Dirt

Many of you know we like the roads less traveled. It's part of the wonder of wandering.

As we headed out of Bryce towards the Grand Canyon Google suggested we take the route back through Kanab. Eric isn't a fan of traveling the same road twice and this route seemed rather indirect from point to point.

After additional research on our Rand McNally Road Atlas Eric found an unimproved 49 mile long dirt road that would cut 60 miles off our travels. It's impassable after rain with some cautions about trailers. On the other hand, Cottonwood Canyon Rd would be an adventure with some epic views.

We decided to stay at Kodachrome Basin State Park at the head of Cortonwood Canyon Rd for the night and think about it.

Fun fact: This park got its name after National Geographic Society expedition to the area saw the color and beauty of the 67 monolithic stone spires, called sedimentary pipes, accentuate multi-hued sandstone layers that reveal 180 million years of geologic time.  They called it Kodachrome after the popular color film, in 1948. Thank you George Eastman!

Beautiful to look back towards Bryce for another beautiful sunset. It never gets old.

You probably have already surmised that we decided to go for it on Cottonwood Canyon Rd. It was slow go, with top speed of 20mph over the 3.5 hr drive. The canyon scenery was beautiful through Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. I could see how the road would be impassable with rain through the dried washes across the low spots on the road.

We stopped along the way to see Grosvenor's Arch, gather firewood and take pictures. If we didn't have the trailer there were trails that looked amazing. If you are in the area, I would recommend you take the time to take this drive.

We both decided that the last few miles of the trip were a few too many miles of dirt and

we happy to see the pavement of Route 89.

Prize beer with some delicious fried chicken at Birdhouse in Page, Az gave us the strength to make it to Grand Canyon that evening .

See you on the road