For most of my life, I’ve been a city person. New York City, Tokyo, Jakarta, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Bangkok — these are all places I’ve called home at some point. But nobody knows as well as a city person that big, busy metropolises can get draining after a while. That’s why I was so tempted by an October visit to the flip side: Southern Utah and the Grand Canyon.
Photo: Jonathan DeLise
Camera Roll: a 3-Day UTV Adventure in Southern Utah and the Arizona Strip
With schools in full swing, and the Colorado River rafting season coming to a close, the summer crowds have mostly tapered off in October. In return for avoiding peak season, a fall visit to Southern Utah and Northern Arizona means milder weather, lower costs, and, in my experience, miles and miles of unobstructed off-road adventuring.
Indeed, with Uncharted Society, a Montréal-based adventure tour company, and ATV Adventures, an adventure tour outfitter in Hurricane, Utah, this city dweller experienced three days of slaloming between Hurricane and Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.
My off-roading adventure began with a layover in St. George, Southern Utah’s biggest urbanized section, which has nonstop flights to St. George Regional Airport (SGU) from cities like Los Angeles, Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and, seasonally, Dallas-Fort Worth. As part of our exploration of some of the country’s (and world’s) most beautiful terrain, we spent some time searching for whoop-de-dos (three-foot-tall bumps) in our UTVs in St. George and paused to admire the austere beauty of Warner Valley. Photo: Jonathan DeLise
I was slightly nervous before setting off on my UTV adventure since this was the one time this year that I would have driven. But my tour guides were professional, clearly knew their way around both the vehicles and the territory, and even put up with my lead foot … from time to time. Although I’d never used any of these vehicles before, it was just like driving a car — only without a windshield. (On that note, remember to protect your nose and ears.) Photo: Jonathan DeLise
In Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, it’s hard not to be awed by the variegated layers of rocks and numerous species of cacti present throughout the Arizona Strip, which is the part of the state located north of the Colorado River. This is one of many views for the record books: the Colorado River snaking through a horseshoe bend of the Grand Canyon in Whitmore Canyon. Photo: Jonathan DeLise
I dare you to guess why this place is called Echo Canyon. Photo: Jonathan DeLise
Hiking over the lava fields of the Uinkaret Plateau, north of the Grand Canyon, I finally made it to the Nampaweap petroglyphs. Believed to be aged between 1,500 and 10,000 years old, this rock art site comprises one of the largest collections of petroglyphs in the region. The Southern Paiute tribe, best known for basket weaving, are believed to have been the authors. I just wish there was a translator app. Photo: Jonathan DeLise
Bar 10 Ranch, an active cattle ranch covering more than 200,000 acres close to Mt. Trumbull, Arizona, has two types of accommodations: a lodge and individual Conestoga wagons. Despite the secluded address, there are a couple of different ways to get there. Besides driving two to three hours from St. George, there’s a short paved landing strip for private and scenic planes just a few minutes away at Whitmore International Airport. Once there, you’ll find tons of activities and amenities, including a pool table, skeet shooting, tetherball, basketball and tennis, horseback riding, helicopter tours, nature trails, and ATVs to rent. Photo: Uncharted Society
The Heatons, who founded the Bar 10 Ranch in the early 1970s, originally lived with their 10 children in a compact wooden shed that frequently burned down. You can pay homage to their residence, farm, and sole outhouse, as well as their small vegetable garden in which the same potato plant flowers to this day. Worth visiting nearby is the Mt. Trumbull schoolhouse, a 2001 replica of the original 1910s structure, complete with period memorabilia. At its peak in the 1920s and 1930s, Mt. Trumbull had a population of roughly 250 people. However, given the harsh climate and isolated location, the school closed in 1968, with all residents finally leaving the area in 1984. Photo: Jonathan DeLise
After a long day of ravines, boulders, and (someone else’s) flat tire, I settled into my Conestoga wagon. It had very good heating and more power points to charge electronics than most modern hotels. The ranch’s staff is well-versed in local history, lore, and cowboy stories, the latter of which was humorously recounted during nightly campfire sessions — with s’mores, of course. Photo: Jonathan DeLise
Given that the ranch’s location is particularly remote, meals — eaten communally in the lodge — include the ranch’s own Red Devon beef, Navajo fry bread, biscuits and sausage gravy, and pot roast. And don’t forget to try the pancakes with boysenberry jam and regional honey. Photo: Jonathan DeLise
It’d be hard to overstate how much I enjoyed trudging through the harsh landscapes of Southern Utah and the Arizona Strip. What I can easily say is that I wouldn’t pass up another opportunity to have an off-season off-roading adventure — only next time, I’d bring a two-ply Kleenex. Photo: Jonathan DeLise