Trails
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Video of Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
Natural Bridges, 6,500 feet above sea level on Cedar Mesa, is home to three spectacular sandstone landforms. The three massive bridges where formed from sandstone that was once the shore of an ancient sea. Sipapu (In Hopi methology, a gateway through which souls may pass to the spirit world), is the second largest natural bridge in the world. Kachina (named for the dancers that play a central role in Hopi religious tradition), is the youngest of the three. A rock fall in 1992 dropped over 4,000 tons of rock to the valley floor. Owachomo (rock mound in Hopi), is named after the rock formation on top of the southeast end of the bridge. The “Bear’s Ears” buttes are seen on the horizon. Horsecollar Ruin is a well preserved ancestral Puebloan site that is more that 700 years old. There is a campground available with 13 sites. An 8.6 mile loop trail will take you to all three bridges. Shorter trails lead to each bridge from the scenic drive.
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Video of Emerald Pools and Trail, Zion National Park, Utah
Water from Heaps Canyon, originating ten miles away in the further reaches of Zion, takes a 150 meter fall in the upper Emerald Pool. From there the stream drops about 350 feet to two other pools until is reaches the Virgin River. The round trip trail from the Zion Lodge to all the pools is about 3 miles and takes about two hours. Springtime has the best waterfalls and the summer stream bed is usually dry. Slideshow and photographs copyright 2008, Creative Juice LLC.
Emerald Pools trail information
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Video of Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico
Adolph Bandelier, the first anthropological scholar of the southwest, explored Frijoles Canyon, New Mexico in 1880. The oldest site in Bandelier National Monument dates back to 2010 B.C. Around 1100 A.D. Pueblo Indians began inhabiting Frijoles Canyon and the Pajarito Plateau. Around 1300 A.D. about a dozen large villages existed in the area. One of them, Tyuonyi, is accessible within the Monument near the visitor’s center. The remnants of cliff cave dwellings dug into the volcanic tuft, along the canyon walls, suggest an extensive multi-story village. Some of these Pueblo structures with labyrinths of caves and rooms were occupied for over 400 years. Approximately 3,000 archaeological sites are being documented within the Monument. An unexcavated village, Tsankawi, lies 11 miles away in a separate section of the Monument. The pueblos and cliff cave dwellings were vacated in the 1500’s. Part of the Monument has wilderness designation. Visitors can overnight in the backcountry with a permit. Family and group campgrounds are also available.
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Video of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
Petrified Forest National Park has the largest collection of fossilized trees in the world. 225 million years ago the trees, Araucarioxylon, Woodworthia, Schilderia, and others, fell into streams and washed into floodplains and mixed with silt, mud, and volcanic ash. Silica-laden groundwater seeped through the logs and replaced the wood tissue with silica. The silica crystallized into quartz, preserving the wood. Remnants of early human occupation of the area dating back to 1250 A.D. are found at Puerco Pueblo. The 100 room pueblo sheltered over 1,000 people. More recently, the Painted Desert Inn, built by Herbert David Lore around 1920, was used as the first overnight lodge in the area. The décor and architecture of the Painted Desert Inn reflects the awesome vistas of the surrounding beauty of the Painted Desert. The nearby trail head will lead you to a unique wilderness camping environment. Musice copyright 2008 by Maury Smith. Slide show and photographs copyright 2008, Creative Juice LLC.
Petrified Forest National Park
Map of the Petrified Forest National Park
Brochures in PDF about the lifeforms and history of the Petrified National Foreswt
