Anasazi State Park Museum - #11

The Anasazi State Park Museum is located in Boulder, Utah at the Coombs Site where excavations over the years have uncovered numerous above-ground structures and pit structures as well as thousands of artifacts from Ancestral Pueblo (or Anasazi) who inhabited the area between 1129 and 1169 A.D.  The artifacts in the museum and the exterior structure replicas are interesting if you happen to be in the area, but do not necessarily warrant a visit in and of themselves.

Location:  Located 250 miles from Salt Lake City in south central Utah along Highway 12 in Boulder.

Total Sites:  No campground or camping facilities
Elevation:  6,700 ft
Date Created:  1970

One Star*

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument is an amazing place.  Acres and acres of petrified sand dunes as far as the eye can see.  We only touched the surface of this fantastic wonderland and I can't wait to go back.  This trip we explored Calf Creek.  One day we hiked the Lower Calf Creek Trail from the campground to the fantastic lower falls.  The next day we did the Upper Calf Creek Trail from Highway 12 to the upper falls.  Both hikes were spectacular and offered an amazing variety of terrain.  It takes some time to get to Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, but the sites and scenery is well worth the effort.

Five Stars*****

Escalante Petrified Forest State Park - #10

Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is a small park located just outside of the town of Escalante along the banks of Wide Hollow Reservoir.  The park is nice for its convenient proximity to the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument.  However, the sites are pretty small and compact and only certain sites have water and electrical hook-ups.  Next time we will probably stay in one of the campgrounds located in the National Monument.  The park had a few petrified logs on display that were cool and a short mile and a half trail (that we didn't have time to explore).  

Location:  Located west of Escalante, approximately 257 miles south of Salt Lake City, off of Highway 12.

Total Sites:  19
Stayed in Site:  #8
Elevation:  5,900 ft
Date Created:  1976
Hook Ups:  None in our site, but a few sites by the reservoir had hook ups

Three Stars:  ** (due to tight spots and fact that campground is not located in Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument)