The Great Sand Dunes National Park is in south central Colorado nestled against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. They are the tallest sand dunes in North America. The Great Sand Dunes cover a 30 square mile area and are up to 750 feet tall. It was only a 2 hour drive from Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
After visiting Mesa Verde National Park, we stayed at the western slope towns of Durango and Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The area is only about 35 miles from New Mexico, has a moderate climate at 7,000 feet compared to the rest of Colorado, and has the stunning Rocky Mountain backdrop.
From Zion National Park in Utah, we traveled to the southwestern corner of Colorado to explore the incredible number of Puebloan Ruins scattered throughout Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Hovenweep National Monument.
[Read more…] about Mesa Verde, Canyons of the Ancients, Hovenweep
From Bryce Canyon we went to Zion National Park in southwestern Utah. We stayed at Bauers Canyon RV Park in Glendale, Utah which was about a 30 minute drive to the Zion entrance along the Mount Carmel Highway. Temperatures dropped to freezing at night, so we needed our heated water hose.
We were looking forward to coming back to Bryce Canyon National Park because of it’s collection of natural amphitheaters consisting of orange, red, and white hoodoos. We were less than an hours drive from Escalante, Utah. Nearby was Kodachrome Basin State Park.
From Capitol Reef we drove the Scenic Byway 12 to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. The road was picturesque, very curvy, and took us to an elevation of 9800 feet. There was snow on the ground at higher altitude.
