The Navajo Bridge was opened in 1929 to switch the ferry that offered the one Colorado River crossing. At simply 18 toes vast, that bridge is now a pedestrian walkway (one other bridge was constructed to accommodate site visitors in 1995). As if the copper-colored chasm weren’t thrilling sufficient, the Navajo Bridge can be a roosting spot for endangered California condors, which perch below the deck and garner whoops from the gang once they unfurl their 6-foot wings and soar out over the river. Within the Navajo Bridge Interpretive Middle, open from the start of March to the top of October, see historic images of the development of each bridges, in addition to up to date Indian crafts. Navajo artisans arrange non permanent craft cubicles exterior the middle, displaying beadwork, silver jewellery and different wares.
Spend the remainder of the day savoring the silence and sandstone splendor of the Marble Canyon-Lees Ferry space. To get right down to the river, take Lees Ferry Road from simply previous the Navajo Bridge. Cease at quiet Paria Seashore, the place there’s an edge of soppy sand, or proceed alongside the river to Lees Ferry itself, the place you’ll discover the unique web site of the ferry, a picnic space, bogs and signage explaining the historic significance of the crossing.
Maintained by the Nationwide Park Service, the Lonely Dell Ranch Historic Site preserves the straightforward pioneer lifetime of the Lee household, who ran the ferry from the late 1800s into the Twenties.
The place to remain: Within the distant Marble Canyon space, three family-owned resorts occupy jaw-dropping settings that greater than make up for the resorts’ lack of high-end facilities. You may stroll from the Navajo Bridge to the Navajo-run Marble Canyon Lodge, which retains its Wild West atmosphere whereas providing a choice of budget-friendly rooms, residences with kitchens and kitchenettes and seven two-bedroom, two-bath cabins. The registration space is wheelchair-accessible; a degree, stair-free path runs by the grounds; and wheelchair-accessible rooms can be found.
A little bit greater than 3 miles up U.S. 89A, timber-framed adobe Lee’s Ferry Lodge has 10 comfy and budget-friendly rooms, merely furnished with knotty pine beds and Navajo rugs, every with its personal patio. Visitor rooms usually are not wheelchair-accessible, however all of the rooms are on the bottom flooring.
4 extra miles on U.S. 89A, Cliff Dwellers Lodge is a favourite with kayakers and anglers, providing boat leases and guided fishing journeys along with 20 reasonably priced cabin-style rooms, some accessible.
Day 2: Marble Canyon to Kanab, Utah (78 miles)
Hit the street persevering with west on U.S. 89A, the Fredonia-Vermilion Cliffs Scenic Road, which marks the southern boundary of the 280,000-acre Vermilion Cliffs Nationwide Monument. For the primary 28 miles, the street traverses Home Rock Valley with the Paria Plateau rising like a red-walled fortress simply past, edged with the jagged buttresses of the Vermilion Cliffs. Cease on the Dominguez-Escalante Interpretive Site 16 miles west of Lee’s Ferry Lodge, the place the Bureau of Land Administration (BLM) erected a marker explaining the historical past of the Dominguez-Escalante expedition, a group of explorers and Franciscan monks who camped on this space in October 1776.
You may discover your ears popping and the panorama altering over the subsequent 20 miles as you climb 2,500 toes onto the Kaibab Plateau. Dense thickets of ponderosa and piñon pine shroud the street as you go Jacob Lake, elevation 7,900 toes, the turnoff for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon 31 miles to the north up Freeway 67. (Word: Freeway 67 to the North Rim is closed within the winter.)
Previous Jacob Lake, the street begins to descend the plateau’s west facet, and the panorama under gives essentially the most dramatic fowl’s-eye perspective of the entire drive. Cease at Le Fevre Overlook to marvel on the immensity of Grand Staircase-Escalante Nationwide Monument (GSENM) under, an expanse of layered sandstone sculpted by wind and water to reveal sequences of stair-stepped layers.
Coming into Kanab from the plateau’s huge vacancy, you’ll instantly discover the rough-and-ready bustle of this hardy pioneer fort and Mormon settlement turned out of doors recreation hub, the place everybody appears both on their technique to a nationwide park or simply coming back from one.
