Spring
Spring is the desert's brief, green argument. Snowmelt fills the waterfalls and turns quiet washes loud, wildflowers run through the lower elevations before the heat arrives, and the high country stays locked in snow while the red rock is already perfect. It is a moving target — a few weeks too early up high, a few too late down low — but time it right and you get the whole range of the West at once, cool mornings and long light.
IR-71
UT-91
UT-101
Scenic Byway 1212
Boulder
One of the last places in America to receive paved road access
Cannonville
Gateway to Kodachrome Basin and the Grand Staircase
Escalante
The town that gave Grand Staircase-Escalante its name
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Walk among 150-million-year-old stone trees
Hells Backbone Grill
A farm-to-table pioneer in the middle of nowhere
Henrieville
A blink-and-you-will-miss-it ranching hamlet
Kiva Koffeehouse
A hand-built cliffside coffee shop with canyon views
Lower Calf Creek Falls
A 126-foot waterfall hidden in a desert canyon
Mossy Cave Trail
A hidden waterfall and ice cave just off the highway
Red Canyon
A blazing red gateway carved by water and wind
The Hogback
A knife-edge ridge with 1000-foot drops on both sides
Upper Calf Creek Falls
A remote 88-foot cascade reached by a rugged trail
I-151
I-171
UT-181
UT-242
I-402
I-40 / Historic Route 663
Holbrook
A Santa Fe railroad town once too tough for women and churches, now the seat of Navajo County, gateway to the Petrified Forest, and home to the concrete teepees of the Wigwam Motel.
Williams
The last town on Route 66 to lose its traffic to the interstate — a rail gateway to the Grand Canyon since 1901, bypassed only in 1984 after a court fight, and revived twice over.
Winslow
The town an Eagles lyric made famous — and the home of La Posada, the last great railroad hotel and Mary Colter's finest work, at the southern doorway to Hopi and Navajo country.
I-40 / Historic Route 66 / US-931
US-401
UT-441
US-502
US-601
SR-641
Historic Route 66 / I-402
Peach Springs
The capital of the Hualapai Nation — the People of the Tall Pines — on Route 66 at the rim of the Grand Canyon, gateway to Grand Canyon West and the only road to the Colorado's floor.
Seligman
The town that refused to die when the interstate went around it — a barber's crusade made this the Birthplace of Historic Route 66, and the reason the Mother Road still runs.
I-702
I-801
UT-831
SR-89A2
US-894
American West Heritage Center
A living history farm spanning 160 acres of Cache Valley
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Sweeping dunes of coral-colored sand framed by red cliffs
Wind Cave Trail
A short hike to a triple-arched limestone cave overlooking the canyon
Wupatki National Monument
The red pueblo the volcano built — remembered, not abandoned