The Vermilion Cliffs are a red sandstone escarpment that rises 3,000 feet above the plains north of Arizona’s Grand Canyon (and they especially glow vermilion at sunrise and sunset). This undeveloped geologic wonderland is a colorful mixture of sandstone, siltstone, limestone, and shale. The cliffs create thermals perfect for 20 species of raptors, including bald eagles, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, and endangered California condors that were first reintroduced here in 1996.
Highlights
Coyote Buttes North (The Wave), Maze Rock Art Site, White Pocket, Paria River Canyon
Must-Do Activity
There are several visitor centers to get information about the National Monument, including at Navajo Bridge on Highway 89A and the seasonal Paria Contact Station off Highway 89, as well as Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offices in Utah at Kanab, St. George, and Big Water. Guided tours are available to White Pocket (no permit required) if you do not want the challenge of driving the sandy roads.
Best Trail
It is a 1.4-mile roundtrip hike to the petroglyphs at the Maze Rock Art Site off House Rock Valley Road that may be more than 1,000 years old. Backpacking 38-mile-long Paria Canyon is a world-famous route that ends at Lees Ferry in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Permits are required to overnight, and most thru-hikers set out from White House Trailhead within Utah’s Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument to avoid the slot canyons on Wire Pass Trail or Buckskin Gulch Trail (which often has waist deep mud).
Photographic Opportunity
Coyote Buttes North (The Wave) is one of the most sought-after photography locations in the U.S., but most of us will never win that lottery. Here is a similarly beautiful sandstone formation in White Pocket, which is open to visit by anyone with a 4×4 that can get through miles of deep sand (or hire a guide to drive).
No entrance fee, but a $9 online lottery entry and $7 permits for each person and dog apply for Coyote Buttes North (The Wave), they cost slightly less for Coyote Buttes South and Paria River Canyon
Road Conditions
House Rock Valley Road (BLM 700) runs 30 miles between Highways 89 and 89A to the south, crossing several washes, but it is passable with a passenger vehicle when dry. Most of the roads running east from House Rock Valley Road require four-wheel drive due to deep sand (including access to White Pocket).
Camping
Dispersed camping is allowed in most of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, and the BLM runs the free Stateline Campground (that is the official northern terminus of the Arizona National Scenic Trail) on the northern border and White House Campground (fee) in Utah.
Related Sites
Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (Utah)
Formerly Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, in 2018, this 193-acre site was named the country’s 60th (and smallest) National Park. It has a new museum and theater, and the claustrophobia-inducing tram cars still take visitors to the top of the arch for excellent views of St. Louis and across the Mississippi River into Illinois. The city is also home to 1,371-acre Forest Park (site of the 1904 World’s Fair), with many attractions like a zoo, art museum, ice skating rink, outdoor musical theater, history museum, and science center.
The antebellum plantation of White Haven is where the future General and President raised a family in the 1850s following his initial resignation from the U.S. Army. A thought-provoking museum is housed in the former horse stables, while access inside the house is only on a free ranger-guided tour. It is located next to Grant’s Farm that offers free Budweiser brewery tours and a chance to see the famous Clydesdale horses.
The celebrated author’s hometown of Hannibal on the Mississippi River is a pilgrimage site for a half-million visitors annually. The museum has eight buildings, including the house his father built in 1843. Across the street is the Becky Thatcher House, where Twain’s childhood sweetheart (Laura Hawkins) lived. Held every July, National Tom Sawyer Days features frog-jumping and fence-painting contests.
Named in honor of a U.S. Congressman, these 3,750 acres provide a variety of wetland habitats for migratory birds along the Mississippi River floodplain.
Day 3
Jefferson City
The capitol building is known for its stained glass, murals, carvings, and statuary, as well as being home to the Missouri State Museum. Nearby, Jefferson Landing State Historic Site preserves the Lohman Building and Union Hotel that were restored along the Missouri River.
Spread across nine separate units, this sprawling jurisdiction used to be two National Forests until 1976 when the more northerly Clark National Forest was administratively combined. Between Jefferson City and Columbia, Pine Ridge Recreation Area accesses Cedar Creek Trail, which has multiple trailheads and four loops totaling 36 miles.
Day 4
Kansas City
The city that crosses the western state border has more than 200 fountains, the most of anywhere outside Rome, Italy. Kansas City is best known for its barbecued meats slathered in thick, tangy sauce, a tradition dating back to 1908. The two oldest contenders for best barbecue in K.C. are Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue and Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q, but it is hard to find a bad restaurant due to the stiff competition.
The most photographed spot in the city might be the giant shuttlecock sculptures on the lawn of the free art museum (where there’s also a free mini-golf course). Near Union Station, the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial features a 217-foot-tall Art Deco tower with an Egyptian motif.
The visitor center in downtown Independence offers a film and a few artifacts, as well as first-come, first-served tickets for ranger-guided tours of the Truman Home. About a 30-minute drive from Independence, take a self-guided cell phone tour around the ten acres surrounding the 1894 Truman Farm Home, which once stood on a 600-acre farm that is now the suburb of Grandview.
If you make it to Independence, pay to visit this museum located where emigrants once departed to begin their long journeys on the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California National Historic Trails.
When Carver died in 1943, this site became the first National Park Service unit to honor an African-American. The scientist was born into slavery on this farm but went on to earn a master’s degree in botany from Iowa State University in 1896 and to work at Tuskegee Institute for 47 years where he popularized peanut, sweet potato, and soy agriculture. There is a museum with interactive exhibits and a self-guided one-mile loop trail with interpretive signs.
The original Bass Pro Shops in Springfield has almost 500,000 square-feet dedicated to outdoor recreation, including the Archery Hall of Fame and this impressive aquarium (fee).
Missouri stayed in the Union throughout the Civil War despite the $10-million in property damage caused by guerrilla fighters, making it the third most fought-over state. Start your visit by watching a short film, then peruse the excellent museum before taking the five-mile driving route that provides an overview of the battle at eight interpretive stops.
Day 6
Branson
The entertainment capital of the central U.S. has a main strip lit up like Las Vegas without the casinos. The main draw is the variety of live music and magic shows offered every day of the week in 37 theaters, but do not miss the historic downtown with the iconic Dick’s 5 & 10 Cent Store on Main Street. There are also mini-golf courses, a wax museum (topped by King Kong), an amusement park, a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, and a building shaped like the bow of the Titanic hitting a giant iceberg.
Spread throughout the Ozark Mountains, 1.5-million-acre Mark Twain National Forest is full of caves, sinkholes, springs, and streams. Greer Spring is the second largest in Missouri, with a daily flow of 222-million gallons as it drains 1.2 miles into the Eleven Point National Scenic River. Several long trails explore the National Forest’s seven designated Wilderness areas, including sections of the 350-mile Ozark Trail. Mark Twain National Forest also has three designated Scenic Byways: Blue Buck Knob, Sugar Camp, and Glade Top Trail.
Optional stop at the “Tri-Lakes”
The reservoirs of Table Rock, Taneycomo, and Bull Shoals offer opportunities for boating, fishing, and water sports. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers runs a museum at 252-foot-tall Table Rock Dam on the White River.
The Jacks Fork and Current Rivers flow freely within Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The best way to explore the serpentine park boundaries is on the water, but roads access several swimming holes and the bright red Alley Mill. The dolomite and limestone karst underneath this park is riddled with caves and sinkholes, like Devils Well, Round Spring Cave (offering ranger-guided tours for a fee), and Jam Up Cave (only accessible from the Jacks Fork River).
After suffering catastrophic damage from a 2005 dam breach, this park has been redeveloped and still has the chutes and waterfalls that provided its name. Its campground is considered one of the nation’s best for RVs on public land.
Established in 2020 to protect the French colonial-era houses of Missouri’s first permanent settlement where residents still go all out to celebrate Bastille Day. The oldest standing structure is the Bolduc House that dates back to 1792, while the Old Brick House from 1804 is now a restaurant.
This geologic wonderland features a natural bridge, caves, sinkholes, limestone bluffs, and a large natural spring, but may be best known for the burned-out ruins of a mansion.
The M-K-T (Missouri-Kansas-Texas) Railroad has been converted into the 240-mile-long Katy Trail, running across the state from north of St. Louis to Clinton (75 miles southeast of Kansas City). Camping along the trail is an option, but it passes through many towns with hotels.
Accessed from the same trailhead as the state’s high point, Mina Sauk Falls is a 132-foot cascade accessed via a three-mile out-and-back hike that gains 430 feet in elevation. Missouri’s tallest waterfall typically flows best during the spring season; otherwise, it is reduced to a trickle.
The park’s billion-year-old granite rocks are broken into vertical cracks and eroded into huge “elephants” like 680-ton Dumbo (27 feet tall and 35 feet long). The park even has a one-mile paved path designed specifically for the visually impaired with signs in Braille.
In northwest Missouri, winter is the time to visit to see nearly one-million snow geese, plus trumpeter swans, bald eagles, and a variety of shorebirds and waterfowl.
The Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZT) runs 800 miles from Coronado National Memorial on the Mexican border to Stateline Campground in Utah (where Vermilion Cliffs and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments meet). The AZT has a cumulative elevation gain of more than 100,000 feet and goes above 9,000 feet in several locations, with the low point at 1,646 feet on the Gila River around Mile 270. Credit for developing and promoting the AZT began in 1985 with Dale Shewalter, a Flagstaff teacher who has a memorial in Buffalo Park on the urban alternate route of the AZT. There is also a mountain biking AZT that avoids Wilderness areas and an equestrian route that is mostly the same except for some road crossings and a loop around Flagstaff.
I completed the AZT northbound in spring 2026 and you can read my series of short daily blog posts here:
Huachuca Mountains, Mica Mountain, Upper Sabino Canyon, Gila River, Four Peaks Wilderness, East Verde River, Mogollon Rim, Anderson Mesa, Grand Canyon National Park
Must-Do Activity
Must keep moving! How many miles to do in a day is entirely up to the individual backpacker, but the less distance covered the more food carried. Water filtration is also a must-do activity because caches are few and far between, so springs, cattle tanks, and creeks provide the majority of liquid (the FarOut app is the most updated source of information). Popular resupply towns along the route are Patagonia, Tucson, Summerhaven, Oracle, Kearney, Superior, Roosevelt Lake, Pine, Flagstaff, Tusayan, and Jacob Lake.
Best Trail
My favorite section of the trail was west of Gordon Hirabayashi Campground in Coronado National Forest’s Upper Sabino Canyon at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains (before it started steeply climbing up to Mt. Lemmon). The southernmost section that immediately ascends above 9,000 feet in the Huachuca Mountains was also surprising, pleasantly for the scenery and unpleasantly for the steep grades and loose rocks (and blisters).
Photographic Opportunity
The AZT goes from “spines to pines” and then back and forth between the two again and again. I was excited that after living in Arizona for 11 years of my life, I finally saw my first wild desert tortoise and two Gila monsters in the Sonoran Desert.
Peak Season
March and October
Fees
The only fee required is to pass through 18 miles of Saguaro National Park (an America the Beautiful pass also works)
Road Conditions
A few trailheads are on paved roads, but most require dirt roads and some are no longer accessible at all. A good but narrow dirt road climbs to Montezuma Pass at Mile 2, while House Rock Valley Road at Mile 800 requires a high-clearance vehicle (and can be impassable when wet). Shuttle services are available by reservation for thru-hikers at both ends.
Camping
If thru-hikers wish to camp in the 18 miles of Saguaro National Park that climbs Mica Mountain, they must pay to make a reservation at Grass Shack or Manning Camp. Grand Canyon National Park does not charge for thru-hikers to stay at the hiker-biker campsites on either rim or for a permit to camp at Bright Angel or Cottonwood Campgrounds at the bottom of the canyon. Stateline Campground on the Utah border is small but free with no water available.
Southernmost point on the Mexico borderHuachuca MountainsHorned lizardDesert tortoiseRoosevelt LakeRoosevelt LakeRaven with the San Francisco PeaksGrand CanyonColorado RiverRibbon Falls in Grand Canyon National ParkState Line Campground on the Utah borderCopper belt buckle for finishers that I ordered in AprilNorthern terminus marker in State Line Campground
Explore More – One of only 11 National Scenic Trails in the U.S., what year was the first official thru-hike on the AZT once the final gap was completed along the Gila River?
After completing the southernmost 713 miles of the Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZT) in March, I took 45 days off to wait for the North Kaibab Trail to reopen so I could finish hiking through Grand Canyon National Park and north to the Utah border. I had gone hiking in the time between, but was unsure how “backpacking ready” my body would be after the time off. I surprised myself by starting with a 26-mile day that included going to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and turning around, then following that up with a 31- and 37-mile day to reach where I left my vehicle parked at the end. Again, I could not have done this without assistance from my wonderful Mom who drove up north from Pine, Arizona with me.
This has been a wonderful experience, and I met some fascinating people even though I spent 95% of the trail miles alone. It has me excited about doing the 214-mile John Muir Trail in California’s Sierra Nevada in August. At this point in my life, I am fairly certain that I am not mentally ready to take on a multi-month-long trail.
Arizona Trail Day plus+1, Mile 721 to 713 to 730 returned to Ribbon Falls in the Grand Canyon where I made it day one on March 4. There were lots of people out on the trail early, plus trail crews working hard to fix and maintain the steep route. Today had a 7,000-foot cumulative elevation gain and 6,000-foot cumulative loss. However, thanks to my Mom, I just carried a day pack. Got to start hiking through part of the 2025 Dragon Bravo Fire as I left the National Park and entered Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
Arizona Trail Day plus+2, Mile 730 to 761 on the Kaibab Plateau through the 2025 Dragon Bravo Fire. Started by climbing to 9,139 feet, the highest point on the entire trail. Big thanks to the sawyers who cut thousands of dead trees for safety in Kaibab National Forest. Saw mule deer, grouse, and my first Kaibab squirrel (with the long ear tufts), but no bison. Had a nice dinner at Jacob Lake Inn with my Mom and trail buddy Jake (“Earthshaker”) who I met today.
Arizona Trail Day plus+3, Mile 761 to 798 to finish at the State Line Campground on the Utah border for my highest mileage day of the journey. This was my 33rd hiking day, plus I took 6 zero days and 45 days off waiting for the North Kaibab Trail to open in Grand Canyon National Park. The scenery was epic the final two miles as the setting sun lit up the Vermilion Cliffs and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. A wonderful ending to an unforgettable adventure.
Grand CanyonNorth Kaibab Trail2025 Dragon Bravo FireKaibab squirrelThe salad plate at Jacob Lake Inn was shaped like the AZT logoRaven about the trailheadVermilion Cliffs National MonumentState Line CampgroundCopper belt buckle for AZT finishers that I ordered in April
Held the last full week of July, Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo is considered “The Daddy of ’em All” and has been held annually since 1897 in the state’s capital city. It is easy to spend several days exploring local museums and attending the free air show put on by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, four Western Heritage Parades, performances at Indian Village, and three free pancake breakfasts. Daily gunfights are put on throughout the summer by the Cheyenne Gunslingers near the Railroad Depot Museum.
If you need a break from the rodeo and concert crowds, head 40 minutes west on Interstate 80 to hike at rocky Vedauwoo Recreation Area. The National Forest also contains its namesake 12,013-foot mountain on the Colorado border. The Snowy Range Scenic Byway cuts across this rugged landscape and is a great place for outdoor recreation. If you pass through Saratoga on the west side of the peaks, soak at the free Hobo Pool, the town’s developed hot springs (with indoor showers).
Originally founded in 1834 for its strategic location at the confluence of two rivers, the fort was purchased by the U.S. military in 1849. In the summer, stop into the bar for a cold sarsaparilla or attend July 4th festivities. West of the fort, at Register Cliff and Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site pioneers left their marks along the North Platte River.
The newest State Park in Wyoming preserves a nuclear missile command center manned nonstop for decades by the U.S. Air Force. Underground tours are offered for a small fee.
Day 2
National Trails Interpretive Center
In Casper, this free museum is run by the Bureau of Land Management on a hill above where the Pony Express, Mormon Pioneer, Oregon, and California National Historic Trails all ran along the North Platte River in the 1800s. Fort Caspar Museum also celebrates its trail town history.
Mostly undeveloped for tourists, Weston Recreation Area is located 30 miles north of Gillette off Highway 59 with at least 15 miles of Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) trails. Fishing for warm water species like smallmouth bass and bluegill is possible at several reservoirs. On moonless nights, the stars in this part of the state are epic.
Devils Tower was named the nation’s first National Monument by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. If you look closely, the vertical columns of the 867-foot-tall volcanic formation may hold a few rock climbers dwarfed by the scale. It is often easier to reach this northeast corner of Wyoming while visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota.
The Bighorn Mountains are crossed by three scenic byways: Cloud Peak Skyway, Bighorn Scenic Byway, and Medicine Wheel Passage. Located right off Bighorn Scenic Byway (Highway 14) is 120-foot-tall Shell Falls, while accessing the short trail to 600-foot Bucking Mule Falls involves driving about ten miles of dirt roads.
Devil Canyon Overlook and most of the 27 miles of hiking trails are in the Wyoming section of the park along with Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, Hillsboro Dude Ranch, and several tipi rings found along Bad Pass Trail, a route which has seen over 10,000 years of human use.
Day 4
Shoshone National Forest
Considered the first protected forest in American history dating to 1891, this National Forest encompasses incredible scenery, more than 1,300 miles of hiking trails, and tallest mountain in Wyoming.
Cody
Cody is the gateway to Yellowstone National Park’s eastern entrance and holds a nightly rodeo during the summer. It is also home to an excellent and eclectic museum called the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
Optional route on Beartooth Highway
U.S. Route 212 is an All-American Road that crosses a high-elevation plateau on the Montana border before entering the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park. Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (Highway 296) connects Cody with the Beartooth Highway.
The world’s first National Park was created in 1872 and surrounds the giant 45-mile-wide caldera of a supervolcano. This geologic wonderland contains more than 50% of the world’s geysers and is a haven for wildlife that is best seen in the Hayden and Lamar Valleys. The park has countless waterfalls, including the 308-foot-tall Lower Falls that can be viewed from famous overlooks like Artist Point and Inspiration Point, or you can hike the steep, paved trail 600 feet down to the Brink of Lower Falls for unforgettable views of the canyon, especially on sunny days when a rainbow appears in its spray.
It can be hard to get a reservation to stay inside the park overnight, so many visitors cross the border into Montana to the towns of Gardiner or West Yellowstone. Campgrounds, dispersed camping, and backpacking are also options in Montana’s Gallatin National Forest.
Wherever you spend the night, make sure to visit Lower Geyser Basin the next day. This is where Old Faithful can shoot water up to 185 feet in the air. Since the occurrence of several earthquakes, it is no longer as consistent as its name suggests, but its eruptions can be accurately predicted every 60 to 110 minutes throughout the day. Nearby, Grand Prismatic Spring in Midway Geyser Basin is definitely worth a stop, especially from an overlook along Fairy Falls Trail.
Jenny Lake sparkles below 12,325-foot Teewinot Peak and is the trailhead for popular Cascade Canyon Trail (you can take the shortcut aboard a shuttle boat for a fee). There are plenty of activities other than hiking, which include wildlife watching, boating, horseback riding, mountain climbing, whitewater rafting, or cross-country skiing in the winter.
Jackson
Crowded in the summer, Jackson is famous for its four arches in its town square that are built from shed elk antlers found in the National Elk Refuge. Horse drawn carriage rides into the middle of the wintering elk herds are a popular winter attraction in the refuge. Right in town in the summer, Bar T 5 offers wagon rides and chuckwagon dinners with live entertainment.
This is the road connecting Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, so visiting here is not really optional, but stopping to hike to Polecat Hot Springs for a soak is worth the time.
Day 7
Teton National Forest
South of Jackson, you can drive to pretty Granite Falls, a 50-foot-tall and 100-foot-wide cascade that was featured in the film A River Runs Through It (plus the falls has a hot springs across the river at its base). There are many hiking and camping options available throughout Teton National Forest.
The visitor center displays fossil fish, turtles, and other species, and on the deck outside there is an awesome timeline that traces CO2 levels and life on Earth throughout geologic time. Take the steep steps up the Historic Quarry Trail to find fish fossils still in the rocks. Several companies on private property in the area allow visitors to pay to quarry their own fish fossils to keep.
From Pinedale, a 50-mile (partially paved) drive leads to the campground at Green River Lakes, which opens up into a beautiful valley that frames photogenic Squaretop Mountain. Starting from the lakeside campground, the Highline Trail is a 72-mile trek that traverses the Wind River Range, my favorite mountain range in the world.
South Pass City
South Pass City State Historic Site is a well-preserved ghost town with 30 structures where kids will appreciate the irony that the Sweetwater County Jail later served as a classroom. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail passes through the middle of the ghost town. Lantern-guided tours inside the nearby Carissa Gold Mine and Mill are available by reservation.
Some of the best dinosaur fossils in the world were found in Wyoming, and the little town of Thermopolis (home to the world’s largest mineral hot springs) has an excellent museum, plus visitors can schedule a trip to work alongside paleontologists at an active dig site in the summer.
Along 36 miles of the Green River (Seedskadee means “river of the prairie hen”), 220 types of birds have been identified, and other species seen include pronghorn, mule deer, and moose.
Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Green River straddles the Wyoming-Utah border in the northern portion of Ashley National Forest offering 360 miles of shoreline, five full-service marinas, whitewater rafting, and numerous boat launches and campgrounds.
Killpecker Dunes
North of Rock Springs is North America’s largest active dune field in a remote area called the Red Desert, home to the nation’s only herd of desert-dwelling elk. The Bureau of Land Management allows dispersed camping throughout the region, including near the dramatic Boars Tusk rock formation and further south around the badlands of Adobe Town.
Raven About The Parks 