Each National Park has it’s highlight.  For Yosemite it’s El Capitain; for Yellowstone it’s Old Faithful.  Some may argue their favorite sites for each park… or favorite of the Parks.  One of my favorites is Mesa Arch.  I always think Mesa Arch is in Arches National Park… but it’s actually in the Park across the street Canyonlands.

But it’s not Canyonlands or Arches National Park I want to share.  It’s actually ‘The Road Less Travelled’, the White Rim road.  We saw this road from an overlook, and thought… now that’s where I want to go.  I wonder if we can camp there?

Well the answer is .. yes, you can camp there… with a permit and reservations made a year in advance.  Apparently it’s a much coveted trip… 100 miles in total of decent, sometimes rough dirt road that runs ‘beneath’ the park that ordinary folk see.  I wasn’t even aware that such a back dirt road inside the park existed.  So we got a day pass and embarked on a grand adventure.

We felt like explorers seeing the park for the first time.  We were ants amidst there giant canyons.  It was like a John Ford film with stagecoaches baring the elements.  The landscape was vast and humbling.  It really made you realize how small we are in this great big magnificent world.

Photos can’t do the grand majestic landscape justice.

Along the way we saw few cars, but a number of bicycles making the trek.  Then we saw this little ram munching away on the side of the road, which was a real treat for me.

Next time we’ll have to make reservations and take the entire road.  Since it’s a slow road, they say it takes 3 – 4 days to complete the 100 miles.  This seemed like the best kept secret around to us… now that we know it’s here, and have tasted it’s beauty, we’ll be back for the whole experience.