Michael Janke

…or what’s otherwise know as Horseshoe Bend. It’s a popular stop off for tourists (by the thousand) and Instagram selfie queens (by the dozens). Hard to appreciate it when you can barely see it.

Some places – though very beautiful – are simply too popular to enjoy. Compared to Goosenecks State Park – which is much nicer, not as accessible and has about one ten-thousandth of the traffic – Horseshoe Bend looses whatever it might have to the crowd of people glimpsing over the edge, taking fashion selfies, and hiking back to the parking lot.

We felt this way at Zion National Park also. The drive though is wonderful, but because we have been there several times already the hassle of beating the crowds, parking, and waiting for two different shuttles just to get to the best part of the canyon wasn’t worth it. The number of visitors is such that one has use the park service shuttles to reach the canyon, and a local shuttle to get from parking spots back to the park shuttle.

We ended up driving through – which with an annual or senior pass is free – and continuing on.

There are sandstone cliffs and canyons all over this part of Utah and Arizona, most of which are quite, serene, and sparsely occupied.

Maybe in winter?