More From The Road In Utah

With my visit to Natural Bridges National Monument complete, I retraced my course back to Utah route 95 and drove eastward to route 261 and went south.  This drive was uneventful until I reached the Moki Dugway, a three-mile section of road that includes a gravel surface, grades of up to 10 percent, and switchbacks; and excludes any painted lines.  Soon after the pavement gave way to gravel, I stopped at a pullout and took this picture of some nearby cliffs.

I then took a pic looking south, and very much downhill.

Here's a rock formation not far from the road.

I stopped at another pullout and took a pic of the road below and ahead of me.

Due to the Moki Dugway being somewhat narrow, those of us driving on it sometimes slowed down or stopped to allow a car going in the opposite direction to pass.  Driving here is definitely not for the faint of heart.  For more about the Moki Dugway, go to Bluff Utah, Dan Treks and Utah's Canyon Country Blog.

After surviving the Moki Dugway, I continued southward along route 261 and took a right onto Utah route 316 and drove its entire length, about four miles, to reach Goosenecks State Park.  The namesake goosenecks are bodies of land extending between and above the meandering San Juan River, a tributary of the Colorado.  This gooseneck in the next picture extends from the near side of the river just below the viewing point.  If a trail were to be put in, it would probably be strenuous and dangerous.

To the right (and the north) of the gooseneck just above is one extending from the opposite side of the river.

To the left (and the south) of the first gooseneck above is another one extending from the opposite side.

I took short walk southward and got a shot of this gooseneck from a different angle.  I still couldn't see the part of the river closest to the viewing point.

For more about Goosenecks State Park, besides the official link above, go to Utah's Canyon Country, Utah Life Elevated and Visit Four Corners.

My next stop was just a few miles from Goosenecks.  I drove back to Utah route 261 and drove its last mile to its south end at U.S. route 163.  I turned right to go south and after about a mile and a half, turned left onto a dirt road to see Mexican Hat Rock.  The area had signs indicating that it was private property and telling visitors to stay on the roads.  I took two shots of the rock, turned my rented car around, and got out of there.  I don't think that their focus was ideal, but they still show the interesting shape of the rock.  Here's one....

....and here's the other.

For more about Mexican Hat Rock, go to Utah Life Elevated, Utah's Canyon Country and Dan Treks, which by now are among the usual suspects.

As I left the Mexican Hat Rock area, I turned north on U.S. route 163 to its end at U.S. route 191, and continued northward to the small town of Bluff.  This town has its own set of natural rock columns, known as the Twin Rocks or the Navajo Twins, seen here above and behind the Twin Rocks Trading Post.  To my disappointment, the adjacent Twin Rocks Café was closed.

Bluff was my last intended stop.  I got back on the road again and drove eastward to Colorado and then southward back to New Mexico, arriving in Santa Fe late in the evening.  Once again, this post gets the "science" label to due all the geology that I got to see.