Sunset: Grand Tour exploring the Southwest: at least once in your life, you should visit certain pla

I could live a thousand years and never grow tired of sunset on sandstone. Colors invisible under noon's hot light emerge as reds fleeting as flames, the ancient rock transforming by the second, before darkness takes hold of the day.

My friend Tom and I have nailed it, catching the last light at Valley of Fire State Park near Las Vegas. We're barely an hour out of a casino, where we watched the false sky on the ceiling progress from hot pink to deep purple as it mimicked the changing desert day. Now we're seeing the real deal--sunset perhaps, but the beginning of a 1,050-mile loop into the heart of the Southwest.

If you were going to choose one drive to capture the West, this journey into the Colorado Plateau might be it. For Tom and me, the drive into this epic terrain, home to such American shrines as the Grand Canyon and Zion, is the ultimate road trip. Our route takes in four national parks and nearly a dozen national monuments, recreation areas, and state parks; it ranges 10,000 feet in elevation, from desert to above timberline.

Along the way we'll meet cowboys and Navajos. We'll follow mountain-lion tracks and watch from remote plateaus as distant puffs of cloud build into towering thunderheads. And so we drive, usually hundreds of miles a day seeking the right place at the right moment--like this Nevada sunset. Because, as Tom likes to say, "Now is now."

Las Vegas to Bryce Canyon

From Las Vegas, we head northeast on Interstate 15, making a brief stop to view Zion National Park's Kolob Canyons. At Parowan we break away onto the two-lane roads that are to be the essence of this journey. Cottonwood seeds drift through the truck's windows as we head up the 13 percent grade on Utah 143 toward Brian Head. Aspen trees, green with their new spring leaves, marble the spruce forest. Atop 11,307-foot Brian Head Peak, we look southeast over the Colorado Plateau. The torn cliffs of Cedar Breaks National Monument create a splash of red in the foreground. The Paunsaugunt Plateau stretches to the horizon, its most famous landmark, Bryce Canyon National Park, concealed to the east.

At Bryce, Tom and I take the 8-mile hike that starts from Sunrise Point. While the Grand Canyon and Zion have an almost divine grandeur, Bryce feels more mercurial. Instead of formal, temple like bluffs, the forces of erosion have produced a complex of towers and turrets. The Paiute Indians thought that these hoodoos were humanlike creatures turned to stone by an angry coyote god. Despite the fierceness of its creation legend, Bryce is burdened with cutesy place names more appropriate to Disneyland: the hike we're taking is the Fairyland Loop.

To be fair, this dreamlike labyrinth of color and shape is not the easiest place to put into words. When asked what Bryce was like, early settler Claude Sudweeks kept it simple: "Oh, just a hole in the ground--but you should see it."

Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef

Few places in the United States remain as wild as the Colorado Plateau; few have resisted settlement for so long.

We take Utah 12 east from Bryce toward Escalante, Utah--a town of 818 residents that sits at the northern boundary of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This is one of the most isolated pockets of the United States, so secluded that the nearby Escalante River was one of the last rivers mapped in the Lower 48 states.

And yet isolation can be liberating--as I found out when I talked to furniture maker David Delthony and his artist wife, Brigitte. A few years back, while on a Southwest vacation, this couple from Berlin passed through Escalante. On a whim, they bought an old sawmill as an investment. The next year they returned, camped on their property and began to think that they could make the improbable move to Escalante from a world capital of more than 3 million.

Says Brigitte, "It was almost like moving to the moon. It was challenging to do all at once. And although I haven't totally figured out what it was all about, I do feel it was destiny for me."

Chain-sawed, shaped, and sanded from laminated wood, David's pieces, with their flowing lines, recall the contours of the Escalante region's eroded sandstone formations and canyons. "The visual language of my work fits perfectly with the countryside," he says.

An art therapist who works primarily with clay Brigitte also finds inspiration in her natural surroundings. "I just don't know," she says, "how an artist can make a better sculpture than what is already here."

That is one of this country's secrets: the way, in unnamed side canyons, moments of perfection play out for neither artists nor writers, but just because.

Not far from Escalante, Calf Greek is one of hundreds of streams on the plateau whose flow eventually makes it to the Colorado River. Tom and I hike along the creek. Ponds created by beaver dams reflect the banded cliffs, while brown trout swim in place, pointed upstream and working lazily against the current. The sound of rushing water builds, and as we round a bend, Lower Calf Creek Falls comes into view. The water plunges through a gap in the rock more than 100 feet up, plummeting into a round pool surrounded by a sand beach.

The air is saturated with an almost invisible mist that feels cool against our faces. We watch as a lone duck lets the current created by the falls' impact carry him to the edge of the pool. He races back for another ride and briefly holds his place against the flow. Then he ceases his paddling and surfs the waves back to the water's edge, over and over again--and even now, in my mind.

Capitol Reef to Bluff, Utah

It's strange how in a place where the Earth's processes are most evident, I look toward outer space for a point of comparison. Such is the case with the Waterpocket Fold, the 100-mile-long gash that runs through Capitol Reef National Park. Viewing it from the Strike Valley Overlook, I can't shake the idea that I have seen it before--but as some anonymous planet of childhood sci-fi imaginings.

Rumbling south on the Notom-Bullfrog Road toward Lake Powell, there are no other cars in sight for 30 miles, just triangular formations, jagged as Cadillac tail fins. The road is beautiful but trying. We are coated in a layer of pale red dust, the fine, almost aerosol remains of the layers of landscape we pass through.

Then, beyond a ripple of coral pink dunes, improbably-impossibly--blue Lake Powell spreads out where the Colorado River once flowed through the desert. Dotted with jet skiers and houseboats, the lake's surface reflects the sun off a million facets, and we drink in the breeze as we make the 25-minute car-ferry passage from Bullfrog to Halls Crossing.

Our destination for the night is Bluff, Utah, the town founded by a group of Mormons known as the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition. Sent by church leaders to settle southeastern Utah, the group earned its moniker by lowering wagons, animals, supplies, and people 40 feet through a tiny gap in the sheer cliffs above the Colorado River. They finally called it quits here, where Bluff now stands.

In this isolated part of the world, Bluff makes a comforting home away from home--especially with the Cow Canyon Trading Post and Restaurant in town. Liza Doran and her husband, Jim Ostler, opened the store in 1986, then started a restaurant a year later. The moment you enter, you notice the quality of the pottery, basketry, rugs, and jewelry most crafted by the Zuni and Navajo peoples of the Colorado Plateau. "What drew me here is the mix of cultures," Doran tells us. "It's part of the sense of place."

That sense of place extends to the restaurant's menu too. While the climate makes it impossible to grow some types of produce, Doran does cultivate herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, and she keeps the menu selections simple.

"I have to drive three hours to get romaine lettuce, so if I don't have an ingredient, I just deal with it," she says. "I'll go out in the yard and work with what's there. It's like Ruby Warren, a Navajo woman who works at the restaurant. She can make spanakopita or overhaul your truck. You learn to be resourceful around here."

Bluff, Utah, to Grand Canyon

Three days 300 miles From Bluff, we slide southwest into Arizona, past worthy detours: Goosenecks State Park and Valley of the Gods. Then the carmine mesas of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park rise into view.

For generations of moviegoers, this is the American West. John Ford directed the film Stagecoach here in 1939, then followed it with My Darling Clementine and The Searchers. But for its Navajo inhabitants, the valley is no mere movie set. It is home. To spend time here is to suspend yourself between myth and reality in a way impossible anywhere else.

Not far away is another reminder of the deep roots of civilization in this land: Navajo National Monument, its Ancestral Puebloan dwellings worth the 5-mile hike it takes to see them up close. Then we veer northwest to Page, Arizona.

In Page, old West and new collide. The John Wesley Powell museum celebrates the man who led the first expedition down a wild Colorado River. Today, the Colorado has been tamed by the Glen Canyon Dam. The dam's curving white face rises 710 feet; beside it, high-tension power-line towers, looking like gigantic Hopi katsina dolls, march across the desert to carry electricity to Phoenix and beyond.

Back on the road, we begin the drive to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Tom suggests a side trip to Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. He wants to see the observation station for the California condors; wildlife biologists have periodically released birds into this area since 1996.

It's getting late, so I veto the detour. "You know," I say, "I'm always in places where there are supposed to be condors, and I've never seen one. Not one."

By the time we reach the deck at the Grand Canyon Lodge, the air has taken on an energizing chill. There's a palpable serenity as people from all over the globe settle into the rough-hewn chairs to ponder the view of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Heaven should be so mellow--and also serve cold beer.

Out on the Transept Trail, we edge along one of the rocky peninsulas that reach into the canyon's emptiness. We pause when a bird soars overhead, 20 feet above us. A huge bird, a primordial winged thing, with a bare pinkish head and white markings along the undersides of its wings. Apparently--but not definitively--a condor.

And so, on our way back home, we debate whether or not this beast of the skies was in fact a condor. In the end, we reach no conclusion, which is fine. Traveling through the red rocks and the rainbow canyons, you make a journey that is about potential, into a land still wild enough for a condor and empty enough to hold all your imaginings. "Now is now," my friend Tom says. And on this road, you never know what now will bring next.

RELATED ARTICLE: Southwest Grand Tour

Take the ultimate road trip through the West's red rock wonderland.

Our Southwest Grand Tour leads from Las Vegas into the canyons and mesas that form the heart of the Colorado Plateau. Here you will find some of the best-known natural wonders anywhere in the world, including Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Grand Canyon National Parks. But here, too, are lesser-known gems, like Utah's Goosenecks State Park and Arizona's Antelope Canyon.

With their array of nearby services, the national parks provide the steppingstones around this area; you'll probably want to center your journey around them. The trip described in this story took us 10 days to complete, but we easily could have lingered longer. (For a four-day option, see "Mini Grand Tour," below right.) Except where noted, the entire drive took place on two-lane roads off the interstates.

Eat and sleep

Las Vegas

Approximately 127,000 hotel rooms give you lots to choose from; for a list of lodging options, contact the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (702/892-0711).

Zion National Park

Springdale, Utah, is the park gateway and has a large selection of lodging and restaurants. Desert Pearl Inn. Beautiful, modern rooms. From $103. www.desertperal.com or (435) 772-8888.

Zion Lodge. Vintage cabins as well as motel rooms in a traditional lodge in the park. From $107. www.zionlodge.com or (888) 297-2757.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Panguitch, Utah, is about 21 miles from the park and is the largest nearby town. There are also several motels and restaurants along Utah 12 and in Tropic, about 7 miles from the park turnoff.

Brycce Canyon Lodge. In the park, 2 miles from entrance. Open April 1 through October 31; it has both rooms in the main lodge and cabins. Make reservations early. From $99. www.brycecanayonlodge.com or (888) 297-2757.

Attractive, large complex just outside the park entrance. Open year-round. From $65 www.rubysinn.com (866) 866-6615, or (435) 834-5341.

Best Western Rubys Inn.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Although tiny, Boulder, Utah, is nearby and offers dining, food, and gas services. Escalante, Utah, is slightly larger and also has basic accommodations. Boulder Mountain Lodge. One of our favorite places, this is an updated take on a classic Western lodge. Its restaurant, Hell's Backbone Grill, serves modern, Southwestern-influenced cuisine--a big cut above the more basic fare found at most spots along the drive. From $85. www.boulder-utah.com or (800) 555-3446.

Monument Valley and environs

Monument Valley sits on the border between Arizona and Utah. Other than Goulding's Lodge, the nearest services are available in Kayenta, Arizona, 22 miles south, and in Mexican Hat, Utah, 22 miles northeast. Bluff, Utah, is farther away (45 miles northeast) but with its galleries and restaurants is in some ways the most attractive place to base yourself.

MONUMENT VALLEY

Goulding's Lodge & Tours. Founded by Harry Goulding and his wife, Mike, this is the original accommodation at Monument Valley. The facility includes a restaurant, grocery store, gas station, and museum in addition to its motel-style lodging. From $118. www.gouldings.com or (435) 727-3231.

BLUFF, UT

Cow Canyon Trading Post and Restaurant. Great selection of Zuni and Navajo art. The restaurant is the areas best, with a limited selection that emphasizes fresh local ingredients. Trading post open year-round, restaurant open Thu--Mon Apr 1-OCT 31. (435) 672-2208.

Desert Rose Inn & Cabins. Built in a traditional lodge style, the inn offers hotel-style rooms and attractive cabins with timbered ceilings. From $69. www.desertroseinn.com or (888) 475-7673. Recapture Lodge. A local institution, the Recapture has motel rooms but can take on the sociable feel of a summer camp, thanks to the many rafting groups that stay here. Most nights, there are slide shows on local subjects; owners Jim and Luanne Hook are great sources of information on nearby trips and outings to Monument Valley. From $40. www.recapturelodge.com or (435) 672-2281.

KAYENTA. AZ

Best Western Wetherill Inn.

From $70. (928) 697-3231.

MEXICAN HAT, UT

San Juan Inn & Trading Post.

From $70. (435) 683-2220,

(Eat and Sleep' continued far right)

Southwest essentials

Buy a parks pass. With entry fees of $20 per vehicle at the major national parks, consider a National Parks Pass ($50; covers entrance fees at national parks, monuments, and recreation areas for one full year from first use). www.nps.gov, (888) 467-2757, or purchase at any national park.

Do your driving midday. Plan to get to your destinations in time to enjoy the dramatic light of morning or late afternoon.

Pay attention to conditions. Weather is highly variable, especially depending on elevation, which ranges to more than 11,000 feet. Spring and fall have the mildest temperatures and are the best times to visit (although early or late snows can force closures of some roads).

Plan ahead. Destinations can be widely spaced. Make sure that you keep your gas tank full and carry extra water and food in case you have problems.

Call for road conditions: Arizona, (888) 411-7623; Nevada, (877) 687-6237; Utah, (800) 492-2400.

Las Vegas

Frequent flights from just about anywhere make this a natural place to start your grand tour. Nearby attractions like Valley of Fire State Park (702/397-2088) will whet your appetite for what you'll see later on. For more information, contact the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (702/892-0711).

Zion

National Park

Zion's towering red sandstone formations will stay in your mind forever. Shuttles take visitors through Zion Canyon, where two good short hikes are the 3-mile round-trip Watchman Trail (terrific valley views) and the 2 1/2 mile round trip to the waterfalls and spring-fed pools on the Emerald Pools trails. Less crowded but just as spectacular is the park's Kolob Canyons section, off 1-15, where the 5 1/2 mile round-trip Taylor Creek Trail leads to the grottolike Double Arch Alcove. www.nps.gov/zion or (435) 772-3256.

Grand Canyon National Park

If you have already visited the South Rim, consider making the North Rim your Grand Canyon destination. At 8,000 feet, it is higher in elevation and less crowded. A drawback is that snow limits the North Rim's season to mid-May until mid-October. Check out the Grand Canyon Lodge, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. For great views, drive 23 miles from the lodge to Cape Royal or 11 miles to Point Imperial. An easy hike is the 3-mile round-trip Transept Trail. www.nps.gov/grca or (928) 638-7888.

Great detours

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Reachable via Utah 148, this 10,662-foot limestone amphitheater is one of the highest points on the drive. Accessible by car from Memorial Day into October. www.nps.gov/cebr or (435) 586-9451.

Kodachrome Basin State Park

Brilliantly pshotographable scenery earned this park its name back in the 1930s. The turnoff is at Cannonville, Utah. (435) 679-8562.

Capitol Reef National Park

Continued from page 2.

Our route runs along the park's lower part, but to see its main arches and cliffs, go north 34 miles on the partly unpaved Notom-Bullfrog Road from the junction with the Burr Trail Road. wwwnps.gov/care or (435) 425-3791.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Lake Powell boat tours run from Wahweap or Bullfrog Marina to Rainbow Bridge National Monument. There are also 15-mile mellow Colorado River raft trips from Glen Canyon Dam to Lees Ferry. www.nps.gov/glca or (928) 608-6404.

Natural Bridges National Monument

The monument's three bridges can be visited on a 9-mile drive. 40 miles west of Blanding on Utah 95, take Utah 275 to the end. www.nps.gov/nabr or (435) 692-1234.

Valley of the Gods

Located 12 miles southwest of Bluff off Utah 163, a rough, 17-mile road takes you into a landscape similar to Monument Valley. (435) 587-1500.

Goosenecks State Park

Stunning overlook of the San Juan River canyon. From Utah 261, take Utah 316 about 3 miles to parking. (435) 678-2238.

Navajo National Monument

Betatakin Ruins is accessible on ranger-led 5-mile roundtrip tours. Trips run once a day from late May through September and are first come, first served; try to be at the monument by 7:30 A.M. From U.S. 160, take Arizona 564 9 miles north. www.nps.gov/nava or (928) 672-2700.

Antelope Canyon Navajo Tribal Park

Two beautiful canyons actually: The lower canyon demands rock scrambling. The upper canyon is easier to explore but requires a guided tour (around $27). Don't miss the John Wesley Powell Memorial Museum (closed Sun; $2; 6 N. Lake Powell Blvd., Page; www.powellmuseum.org or 928/645-9496). Antelope Canyon entrance on Arizona 98 about 3 miles east of Page. $6 per person park entry. (928) 698-2808 or www.navajonationparks.org

Vermilion Cliffs National Monument

Within vivid sandstone cliffs, Paria Canyon offers good hiking (call for a permit); also visit the site where California condors have been released. (435) 688-3200.

Eat and sleep

Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim

With no nearby towns, lodging and dining choices are limited, so plan ahead.

Grand Canyon Lodge. Designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the lodge is a national-park classic. It offers vintage cabins and some motel-style rooms. From $87. www.grandcanyonnorthrim.com or (888) 297-2757.

Reservations are required for dinner and recommended for other meals at the lodge's spectacular dining room. (928) 638-2611 ext. 160.

Jacob Lake Inn. Motel rooms, rustic cabins, and a dependable restaurant 45 miles from rim. From $55. www.jacoblake.com or (928) 643-7232.

Kaibab Lodge. Cabins, plus restaurant open for dinner and continental breakfast. 18 miles from the North Rim village. Open May 15-Oct 15; from $80. (928) 638-2389; Oct 16-May 14, (800) 525-0924.

Grand Canyon National Park, South Rim

The South Rim gets most of the park's annual 4 million visitors, which means that in-park lodging should be booked in advance (888/297-2757 or www.grandcanyonlodges.com). In-park options include:

Bright Angel Lodge. These rustic, cabinlike lodgings were designed by famed architect Mary Colter. From $56.

El Tovar. Wonderful 78-room canyon-rim lodge was built in 1905; a must-see even if you don't stay here. From $124.

Kachina Lodge and Thunderbird Lodge. Motel-like twin lodges. From $116.

Maswik Lodge. Modern motel units. From $63.

Yavapai Lodge. Large motel complex. From $90.

You'll find other motels south of the park in Tusayan and more in Williams and Flagstaff, 60 and 80 miles south, respectively.

Travel Resources

Arizona Office of Tourism: www.arizonaguide.com or (888) 520-3434.

Dixie National Forest: www.fs.fed.us/dxnf or (435) 865-3200.

Garfield County Travel Council: www.brycecanyoncountry.com or (800) 444-6689.

Grand Circle Association: www.grandcircle.org or (888) 254-7263.

Kaibab National Forest: www.fs.fed.us/r3/kai/index or (928) 643-7395.

Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas: www.lakepowell.com or (800) 528-6154.

Page-Lake Powell Chamber of Commerce: www.pagelakepowellchamber.org or (928) 645-2741.

San Juan County Multi-Agency Visitor Center: (800) 574-4386 or www.southeastutah.com.

Utah Travel Council: www.utah.com or (801) 538-1030.

Lake Powell Ferry. For schedule, call Bullfrog Ranger Station (435/684-7400) or visit the ferry website (www.nps.gov/glca/ferry.htm).

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon is easily explored via auto or shuttle bus (mid-May until early September) on the 18-mile main park road. But a hike into the formations gives a whole different perspective. The 8-mile Fairyland Loop is hard to beat. Outside the main part of the park is the 3/4-mile round-trip Mossy Cave Trail off Utah 12, where you can hike to a small grotto and also walk along the Tropic Ditch. www.nps.gov/brca or (435) 834-5322.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

This sprawling monument was established in 1996. Outside Escalante, unpaved Hole-in-the-Rock Road leads 14 miles to the arches at Devil's Garden, then 26 more miles to Dance Hall Rock--where Mormon pioneers held dances. Twelve miles east of Escalante, a 6-mile round-trip hike visits Lower Calf Creek Falls. Find information at the Cannonville visitor center or the Escalante Interagency Visitors Center. www.ut.blm.gov/monument or (435) 826-5499.

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Most visitors see this icon of the American West from the Valley Drive, the 17-mile unpaved loop road that runs through the park. Try to time your drive for morning or late afternoon. Guided vehicle tours can take you into parts of the valley otherwise hard to access; you can hire Navajo guides at visitor center booths (from $25 per person). $5 park fee per person. (435) 727-5870.

Mini Grand Tour

Don't have the 10 days our Grand Tour requires? Here's a four-day sample, starting from Las Vegas. First day: Kolob Canyons in Zion National Park. Second day: Cedar Breaks National Monument. Third day: Bryce Canyon National Park. Then return.