Our first views of the Grand Canyon at the Desert View overlook were breathtaking.
The day we stopped at Mesa Verde National Park and the Four Corners Monument, we had to eventually make it to the Grand Canyon campground. It’s only about 5-6 hours worth of driving from Durango, but we made several stops. So we were hard pressed to get to the campsite with enough time to pitch our tents before dark.
The drive itself on U.S. 160 west through the northern parts of the Navajo Nation wasn’t that interesting for a while. We’d hit a small town about every 20 miles.
Just west of the Four Corners Monument on US 160.
But with time the scenery began to improve, slowly but surely.
That’s Black Mesa towards the left of the photo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mesa_(Apache-Navajo_Counties,_Arizona)
We briefly had to travel from north to south on U.S. 89 smack-dab through the Painted Desert. It’s very beautiful and reminded us of Badlands National Park in western South Dakota. These rocks were more vivid.
Once we turned westward on Arizona Route 64, we saw the stop for the Little Colorado River gorge scenic overlook. This was also a fee-based area operated by the Navajo Nation, like the Four Corners Monument. This time it was only $5 per vehicle.
The views are worth it. It was pretty windy when we were there, I remember.
This is the Little Colorado River Gorge. This is a mere fraction of the depth of the Grand Canyon, but for someone who hadn’t seen anything like this, it was still amazing.
There was just a trickle of the Little Colorado River. It’s flowing westward (the water is heading away from you in this view) towards the main Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.
The boys got a kick out of this sign.
Just a few minutes later, we arrive at the Grand Canyon east gate. The woman who checked our Military National Park Pass said “You can get your first view of the canyon just around the corner!” so we stopped at the Desert View overlook.
We are very appreciative of our military National Park pass. Complimentary admission to all the national parks through the end of 2015!
Enjoying our first views of the canyon at the Desert View overlook. It was mostly overcast on our arrival day, so we looked forward to seeing the vibrant colors later in our visit.
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