Monday, 23 April 2018
After our morning hike in Dinosaur National Monument, we traveled a few hours south to Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. The park was crowded: this is prime season for southern Utah. Earlier in the year there is too much snow, later there is too much heat. We snagged one of the few remaining campsites -- it helped that we were tent camping.
After our morning hike in Dinosaur National Monument, we traveled a few hours south to Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. The park was crowded: this is prime season for southern Utah. Earlier in the year there is too much snow, later there is too much heat. We snagged one of the few remaining campsites -- it helped that we were tent camping.
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| The entrance to the park is Wild Horse Butte, which can be seen for miles. |
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| Before you get to the main valley, you pass the "Three Sisters", which gives a taste of the carved sandstone to be seen in the valley. Usually such structures are called "hoodoos", but here they are known as "goblins". |
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| The main Goblin Valley. Visitors can enter the valley and walk wherever they like. We spent about 1 1/2 hours walking before it just got too hot and the sun too intense. |
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| More goblins. |
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| It's hard to get a size perspective, but these structures tower 20 to 40 feet above the valley floor. |
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| Like fluffy summer clouds, individual goblins invite names. We called this one "rubber ducky". |
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| And this one looks remarkably like a shark. |
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| No name. Just bizarre! |
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| At the end of the valley the small washes and canyons continue, but the goblins are mostly gone. |
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| The setting sun's light intensified the colors of this butte near the campground. |
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