In this last of four posts about the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, we see a video of another of its treasures. There are colorful, natural cliffs in the otherwise desert flatlands of America’s Southwest known as Vermilion Cliffs. They were designated a National Monument in 2000, one of our most recent and undeveloped frontiers.
From a condor’s view — [Special aside: Condors are the largest North American land birds, with eight-foot wingspans. Once they were almost extinct. Today they make their home in these cliffs, as well as in the cliffs of the Grand Canyon.)] — the lay of the lands are like giant steps of a Grand Staircase, (Escalante, Vermilion, Grand Canyon, etc.) You’ve seen my pictures of the Grand Canyon and Escalante, but Vermilion also has the same beauty and colors of geological time.
It does take care and planning if you want to visit. Four-wheel drives are highly recommended when you drive the backroads, (for hikes and overnight stays at places like Paria Canyon1 and the world-famous “Wave” swirling sandstones.) However, you can glimpse the majesty of these mountains from the highway, driving through these 280,000 acres, when the sunrises and sunsets set off torrents of color that are worth, should I say, a ver-“Million” dollars – ha!
Footnote 1: Permit required through the Bureau of Land Management.