10 of the Most Dramatic High Desert Spots in the West

National Parks Insider Guides
by Blaze Nowara Sep 26, 2016

Horshoe Bend, Page, AZ

Grand Canyon Village, United States

Get up close and personal with the edge
#hiking

Galleta Meadows

Borrego Springs, United States

You can’t miss the gigantic metal animals, monsters, and dinosaurs scattered all across Borrego Springs. You can drive right up to most of them, though they’re more fun to explore via dune buggy with a cooler of snacks/beers + no map, All made possible by the recently deceased Dennis Avery and commissioned artist Ricardo Breceda.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes Park

Kanab, United States

Camped here for 3 days while visiting Zion National Park since the campground there was full and so happy that we did. It’s a 30 min drive to Zion and back, but it’s less crowded here and the dunes are beautiful. Amazing to go out there at night and be greeted by a dome of endless stars. #camping

Antelope Canyon

Page, United States

YOU GUYS. This is artistic nature in its truest form. It’s one of those places where you see a ton of pictures beforehand and think “There’s no way it really looks like that” BUT IT TOTALLY DOES. Beautiful! Definitely do Lower Antelope Canyon though for less people, but just be warned — you won’t have the canyon to yourself. We did Ken’s Tours for $20 pp (plus $8 fee pp to park). Very informative and our guide Tevin (who you’d be lucky to have) knew his way around a camera and took plenty of awesome pictures for us on our phones. #hiking

Arches National Park

Moab, United States

Balanced Rock at Arches National Park. Our road trip through Utah was one of my favourite trips of all time. The desert is beautiful. #hiking #camping

Joshua Tree

Phoenix, United States

Watch the stars rise in a desert wonderland #hiking #extreme #camping

Zabriskie Point

Inyo County, United States

Gorgeous lookout point over a very unique landscape composed of sediment from Furnace Creek Lake which dried up 5 million years ago.

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

El Prado, United States

The view is great, but make sure you plan time to hike to the bottom for hot springs. Local tip: you can tell outsiders because they wear swimsuits. #hotsprings #hiking

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Death Valley, United States

Amazing place to come for golden hour and sunset. It’s tough work walking along the dunes as your shoes fill with sand. #nationalpark #sanddunes

Discover Matador