The Grand Canyon is more than a great chasm carved over millennia through the rocks of the Colorado Plateau. It is more than an aweinspiring view. It is more than a pleasuring ground for those who explore the roads, hike the trails, or float the currents of the turbulent Colorado River. This canyon is a gift that transcends what we experience. Its beauty and size humble us. Its timelessness provokes a comparison to our short existence. In its vast spaces we may find solace from our hectic lives. The Grand Canyon we visit today is a gift from past generations.


Address:
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023

Phone: Visitor Information 9286387888

WEBCAM http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/par...cam/grcacam.cfm

MAPS

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/GRCAmap1.pdf

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/GRCAmap2.pdf

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/GRCAmap3.pdf

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/GRCAmap4.pdf

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/GRCAmap5.pdf

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA) offers unparalleled opportunities for waterbased&backcountry recreation. The recreation area stretches for hundreds of miles from Lees Ferry in Arizona to the Orange Cliffs of southern Utah, encompassing scenic vistas, geologic wonders, and a panorama of human history. Additionally, the controversy surrounding the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and the creation of Lake Powell contributed to the birth of the modern day environmental movement. The park offers opportunities for boating, fishing, swimming, backcountry hiking and fourwheel drive trips.

Address:
P.O. Box 1507
Page, AZ 86040-1507

Phone: Carl Hayden Visitor Center 9286086404 Headquarters 9286086200 Bullfrog Visitor Center 4356847400 Lees Ferry Ranger Station 9283552234

MAP

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/GLCAmap1.pdf

The National Park Service has published the new Fall Guide for travel to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Here is their link for the download:

http://www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/newspaper.htm

There is some beautiful rock formations called White Pockets right along the Utah - Arizona border. It's remote and requires some planning and perhaps a guide.

Detailed information can be found written by Bo Beck, Zion Park search and rescue veteran team member, and www.zionnational-park.com author Tanya Milligan at this wonderful website.

http://www.zionnational-park.com/paria-white-pocket.htm

I was also lucky enough to find nice folks in Europe who have visited and taken wonderful photographs. Further information can be found on this page:

http://www.synnatschke.de/wp/wpocket_e.html
And a lot of pictures of White Pocket are presented at these two galleries:
http://www.isaczermak.com/arizona_wp.html

http://www.synnatschke.de/foto_wp/album.html

Here's a photo that they have shared for use on http://www.whitepockets.com

[attachment=47:header.jpg]

Can anyone provide a trip report on the new Grand Canyon West Skywalk? I hear it is 4,000 feet above the canyon floor. It's 120 miles east of Las Vegas and Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin leads the first walk. Aldrin is know for taking the first steps on the moon. How is it?

Navajo National Monument preserves three of the mostintact cliff dwellings of the ancestral Puebloan people (Hisatsinom). The Navajo people who live here today call these ancient ones "Anasazi." The monument is high on the Shonto Plateau, overlooking the Tsegi Canyon system in the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. The monument features a visitor center, two short selfguided mesa top trails, two small campgrounds, and picnic area. In the summer, rangers guide visitors on tours of the Keet Seel and Betatakin cliff dwellings. Tours are usually available during the spring and fall months as well.

Address:
HC-71, Box 3
Tonalea, AZ 86044-9704

Phone: Headquarters 9286722700

MAP

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/NAVAmap1.pdf

Petrified Forest is a surprising land of scenic wonders and fascinating science. The park is located in northeast Arizona and features one of the worlds largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood. Also included in the parks 93,533 acres are the multihued badlands of the Chinle Formation known as the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites and displays of 225 millionyearold fossils.

Address:
Petrified Forest National Park
Petrified Forest National Park, AZ 86028

Phone: Visitor Information 9285246228

MAPS

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/PEFOmap1.pdf

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/PEFOmap2.pdf

I found this pic at http://www.pdphoto.org in the public domain. Great shot.
[attachment=22:roadtrip...g_021404.jpg]

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park

Address
P.O. Box 1245
Payson, Arizona 85547
(928) 476-4202
Giftshop (928) 476-2261
Fax (928) 476-2264

Directions
The park is located off Hwy 87, just 10 miles north of Payson.

Slide Rock State Park

Address
409 West Riordan Road
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
(928) 779-4395
(928) 556-0253 fax

Park Hours
May - October: 8:30a.m. to 5:00p.m.
November - April: 10:30a.m. to 5:00p.m.
Open 7 days a week.

Directions
Located next to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff on Riordan Road.

Riordan Mansion State Historic Park

Address
409 West Riordan Road
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
(928) 779-4395
(928) 556-0253 fax

Park Hours
May - October: 8:30a.m. to 5:00p.m.
November - April: 10:30a.m. to 5:00p.m.
Open 7 days a week

Directions
Located next to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff on Riordan Road.

Red Rock State Park

Address
4050 Red Rock Loop Road
Sedona, Arizona 86336
(928) 282-6907


Park Hours
Winter Hours:
8a.m - 5p.m (Oct.-Mar.)
8a.m - 6p.m. (April)

Summer Hours:
8a.m - 8p.m (May-Aug.)
8a.m - 6p.m (Sept.)

Visitor Center
9a.m. - 5p.m (Sept.-Apr.)
9a.m - 6p.m (May-Aug.)

Directions
Take 89 A, turn on Lower
Red Rock Loop Road.

Lyman Lake State Park

Address
P.O. Box 1428
St. Johns, Arizona 85936 (928) 337-4441

Directions
The park is located 11 miles south of St. Johns on US 191

Park Hours
The park is open 365 days a year. Quiet hours are 10:00 p.m to 7:00 a.m. Checkout time for camping is 2:00 p.m.

Jerome State Historic Park

Address
P.O. Box D
Jerome, Arizona 86331
(928) 634-5381

Park Hours
The park is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and closed on Christmas Day.

Directions
The park is located in the town of Jerome just off State Route 89A, on Douglas Road.

Homolovi Ruins State Park

Address
HCR 63, Box 5
Winslow, Arizona 86047
(928) 289-4106
(928) 289-2021 fax

Park Hours
Park is open 364 days a year, and closed Christmas Day. Checkout time for camping is 2:00 p.m.

Directions
From Flagstaff, take I-40 east
to Hwy. 87 North, use Exit 257

Fort Verde State Historic Park

Address
P.O. Box 397
Camp Verde, Arizona 86322
(928) 567-3275
(928) 567-4036 fax

Park Hours
Open 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. every day. Park is closed on Christmas Day.

Directions
I-17 to Hwy 260 (east). Turn left on Main Street to 125 E. Holloman St. and turn left. Park is on your right.

Fool Hollow Lake Recreation Area

Address
1500 N. Fool Hollow Lake
Show Low, Arizona 85901
(928) 537-3680

Park Hours
Open 365 days a year. Access to the park is restricted between 10p.m. and 5a.m.

Directions
The park is located two miles north of US 60 off Highway 260.

Dead Horse Ranch State Park

Address
675 Dead Horse Ranch Road
Cottonwood, Arizona 86326
(928) 634-5283

At the base of sheer red cliffs and in canyon wall caves are ruins of Indian villages built between AD 350 and 1300. Canyon de Chelly National Monument offers visitors the chance to learn about Southwestern Indian history from the earliest basketmakers to the Navajo Indians who live and farm here. Authorized April 1, 1931. Boundary change: March 1,1933. Acreage 83,840 all nonfederal.

Address:
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Chinle, AZ 86503

Phone: Headquarters 9286745500

MAPS

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/CACHmap1.pdf

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/CACHmap2.pdf

Pipe Spring National Monument, a little known gem of the National Park System, is rich with American Indian, early explorer and Mormon pioneer history. The water of Pipe Spring has made it possible for plants, animals, and people to live in this dry, desert region. Ancestral Puebloans and Kaibab Paiute Indians gathered grass seeds, hunted animals, and raised crops near the springs for at least 1,000 years. In the 1860s Mormon pioneers brought cattle to the area and by 1872 a fort (Winsor Castle) was built over the main spring and a large cattle ranching operation was established. This isolated outpost served as a way station for people traveling across the Arizona Strip, that part of Arizona separated from the rest of the state by the Grand Canyon. It also served as a refuge for polygamist wives during the 1880s and 1890s. Although their way of life was greatly impacted, the Paiute Indians continued to live in the area and by 1907 the Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation was established, surrounding the privately owned Pipe Spring ranch. In 1923 the Pipe Spring ranch was purchased and set aside as a national monument. Today the Pipe Spring National Monument Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians Visitor Center and Museum explains the human history of the area over time. Daily tours of Winsor Castle, summer "living history" demonstrations, an orchard and garden, and a halfmile trail offer a glimpse of American Indian and pioneer life in the Old West.

Address:
HC 65 Box 5
Fredonia, AZ 86022

Phone: Offices 9286437105 Visitor Information 9286437105

Rainbow Bridge is the worlds largest natural bridge. The span has undoubtedly inspired people throughout timefrom the neighboring American Indian tribes who consider Rainbow Bridge sacred, to the 300,000 people from around the world who visit it each year. Please visit Rainbow Bridge in a spirit that honors and respects the cultures to whom it is sacred. While Rainbow Bridge is a separate unit of the National Park Service, it is proximate to and administered by Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. For additional information about services and facilities connected with Rainbow Bridge, visit Glen Canyon NRAs Home Page.

Address:
PO Box 1507
Page, AZ 86040-1507

Phone: Visitor Information 9286086404 Headquarters 9286086200 Emergency 8005824351