Meanderings along scenic backroads Our 2006 sojourn on back roads of USA and Canada

Red Canyon National Park Aug 8, 2006

The landscape is awe-inspiring and after driving through the formation that is Zion the scenery changed. We were now transversing countryside with alternating views of cliffs, and fields, and beautiful forested land. The scenic byway ends at highway 89 where we turned north and continued through the Dixie National Forest and more pastoral scenes. We arrived at the Red Canyon RV Campground in the early afternoon. This is a nice, clean park with free laudry facilities and helpful managers, but it is located on a highway so is pretty noisy during the day. The day temperature was a cool 77F dropping to 40F at night. Highway 12, the road to Bryce Canyon, cuts through the floor of Red Canyon with spectacular rock formations, views of red hoodoos, and pinnacles in hues ranging from peach to brilliant vermillion. This little jewel of a canyon is little visited due to its close proximity to Bryce Canyon. The highway burrows through terra-cotta tunnels as it heads east through ponderosa pines and twisted stone formations tinted pink and scarlet by iron-rich minerals. Unlike Bryce where one stands on the rim looking down into the amphitheatre, in Red Canyon, one is on the floor of the canyon looking up at the formations.

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