Exploring the famous national parks of Southern USA

Utah was high on our list for a reason. We were eager to drive some scenic 4x4 tracks again and just vanish for a time in the vast desert. Continuing towards the border with Mexico, we visited Death Valley, Sequoia and Joshua Tree national parks. All wonderful parks which often left us speechless of its beauty. In this update a few of our highlights and a hidden gem we absolutely loved!

What's in this update

• Stunning scenes of Utah
• A hidden gem?!
• Exploring the famous parks of Southern USA
• What's next?!

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Stunning scenes of Utah

We spent nearly 3 weeks in Utah, amazed by all its grandeur and solitude. You name a national park, and we’ve been exploring it!  After doing some errands in Salt Lake City, we quickly drove into the desert. The first NP on the list was Capitol Reef; we had heard great stories from that place and we had noticed a 4x4 track heading through the northern part of the park that we were keen to drive. We found a shortcut from the highway to drive straight into the desert towards Capitol Reef and followed a winding road that brought us to some really remote places. The sun was almost setting when we stumbled upon an absolutely gorgeous area. White sand stone was alternated with red colored rocks, it was already beautiful on the ground but from above it was truly spectacular (see for yourself on the photo below)! 

We’d spent the night wild camping at the border of capitol reef NP and visited the park in the days after. The northern section was beautiful, following some 4x4 tracks that ended up in a place called ‘Cathedral Valley’, where we even ended up seeing the northern lights unfold above us later that night. 

We continued to Arches NP and were lucky to get a timed entry permit for the next morning. Martin had been visiting this park in 2016, and it was crazy to see how crowded it had become. We really enjoyed the park and hiked some trails, but were glad to head towards the lesser-known areas of the desert. Later that afternoon, we headed towards Canyonlands National Park and *wow* we found one of those rare wild camp gems that night. We slept only meters away from a cliff and overlooked the Northern part of Canyonlands, with the White Rim trail right below us. We were speechless and extremely grateful that these spots still exists.

The next morning, we went early to the rangers station in the hope to get a permit to drive the white rim trail and sleep at one of the designated camp spots. Unfortunately, the camp spots were taken but we did manage to get a driving permit for that day! While winding down the steep Shafer trail, we saw the start of the white rim trail on the horizon. Winding through the canyons alone, with no sounds at all, really made us appreciate this gem of a park. 

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A hidden gem: Bridges National Monument

Although not everyone might agree with us on this, but bridges national monument was one of our favorite parks of southern USA and much better than Arches NP. The natural bridges are arch-like structures created by water, unlike in Arches NP that are a result of wind and ice erosion. When we were there, we nearly had the place for ourselves. Hiking trails lead us through the beautiful landscape towards the (dry) river down below. It’s only a tiny park compared to others in Utah, but the natural beauty and lack of tourists made sure we could peacefully explore this park on our own terms. 

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Exploring the famous parks of the Southern states

With only a bit more than two weeks on our visa left, we headed to the Grand Canyon. We spent a morning enjoying the beautiful views, but decided we preferred to spend our final days away from the crowds. After doing a drive-thru oil change (best idea ever) in Las Vegas, we headed to Death Valley! We slept inside the park where wild camping is still allowed and we absolutely loved it. Although being quite hot, we were amazed by the sand dunes on the mountain slopes, completely dried up lake with all its salt structures, beautiful colors of weathered metals in the rocks and so much more. With the frequent earthquakes we experienced, it really felt as an extreme place to be. 

Next we drove to Sequoia NP and were amazed by the gigantic sequoia trees. It was a bit sad to see all the damaged and burned forests along the way, which had been killed in recent forest fires. Although the sequoia trees are able to withstand the minor fires, they aren’t surviving the more extreme ones that are now occurring. It’s sad to think that these old trees that reach up to 2000 years of age are currently destroyed by fire in an unprecedented rate (20% died in the last 2 years only). 

Joshua tree NP was our final stop before heading to Baja, Mexico. It was great to find some wildlife in this NP, with the favorite being the desert cottontail rabbit. We took a few days to explore the area fully, and although it’s not a super interesting NP at first, we loved all its interesting corners, the amazing rock structures and beautiful Joshua trees. 

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What's next?!

We cross the border into Tijuana and take our time to explore Baja Mexico! We can’t wait to share the adventures we already have had with you. Imagine stunning beaches, crazy marine wildlife and a new culture with a great variety of people and experiences. 

Until next time!