Today’s destination is the Bryce Canyon and to get there Marco suggests to drive Cottonwood Canyon Road, which is a 48 miles (77 km) long gravel road.
To check if the road is passable we stop at the Bureau of Land Management in Big Water, were we get a map with all the dirt and gravel roads and the O.K. for the Cottonwood Road with a high clearance, 4-wheel drive.
It is a wonderful drive with lots of different rock formations and colors, we stop frequently to take the beauty of the landscape in.
From Cannonville, where we hit the paved road again, we already see the orange red pinnacles of Bryce Canyon. From here we start going up into higher elevations. Bryce Canyon is up at 9,000 feet (2,740 Meter) – it is terribly cold and windy up here and we have to wear our thickest jackets as well as gloves and caps to keep us warm. But, it is sunny and the view is incredible once again.
Towards the evening when we drive back through the park we see some deers grazing close to the road and on the way to Panguitch we see dozens of Antelopes.
In Panguitch we stay at the New Western Inn and have dinner at the only open restaurant in town – the Flying M.
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What a great tour! Last year we spent two days in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, and we did just a shoter section of Cottonwood Road. We stayed one night in Escalante (Slot Canyon Inn – SUPER!!) and drove from there to other canyons. An incredibly beautiful scenery, not yet so well known to tourists. A place to come back one day to stay a bit longer and to make some hiking tours. Many years ago we also had snow at Bryce Canyon as it was already early November when we were there. To see all the pinnacles covered with a “snow cap” was very special (but it was very cold, too!). Enjoy your coming days! Now heading for Moab? Or for Las Vegas and further on to Death Valley (also very impressive. You should stay overnight in the Death Valley, as we did last year. Anyway I will follow your trip on your blog. Best regards to everybody and enjoy the USA. Here we have some light snowfall again. Werner