Canyon Country Parklands: Treasures of the Great Plateau

Maj. John Wesley Powell called parts of it "the Great Unknown." In 1869 the soldier-turned-geologist first led an expedition into this unmapped, 130,000-square-mile region now shared by Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. He found a land of high, desert-like plateaus that in places rose nearly two miles above sea level. Streams and rivers scored the land, slashing awesome canyons and scooping out amphitheaters filled with fantastic rock formations. Now, in the company of author Scott Thybony, you, too, can roam the remote, rocky Colorado Plateau, carved by eons of wind and water and frost—an area packed with some of the continent's greatest scenic marvels. Five chapters, with more than 140 illustrations, take you through a land of mesas and buttes. soaring stone pinnacles and arch¬es, deeply etched canyons, and colorful cliffs and badlands. A 16-page portfolio shows you the diversity of plants and animals that live in canyon country. You'll begin your tour with a dory trip on the Yampa and Green Rivers through Dinosaur National Monument, then continue across the Painted Desert to explore among the fossilized trees of Petrified Forest National Park. You'll hike and ski the rocky mazes and imposing heights of Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. In Canyonlands, a memorable hike takes you along part of the Outlaw Trail rid-den by Butch Cassidy. You'll meet geologists, Park Service rangers, river runners, Indian priests, and ranchers such as Heidi Redd, who has run cattle near Canyonlands for more than 25 years. You'll witness a Hopi kachina dance on Third Mesa in Arizona, and visit the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi—the "ancient ones" —including Keet Seel and Betatakin in Navajo National Monument. You'll travel on foot and by raft through the labyrinthine depths of the Grand Canyon—a spectacular journey past layered rock walls cut through by the Colorado River over millions of years.