How we Wandered through the Goblin Valley, UT

The Crew

The Goblin Valley

Side effects from the heat

Our first destination in the great canyon land in the southwest has become the Goblin Valley State Park.  We were headed down south from Salt Lake City, which in spite of its poor references from people we met on the road surprised us.  It apparently is a city with great cultural habits judging by the artsy decorations in it’s historical downtown and by many invitations for other cultural events.  Joseph Smith’s followers are more than apparent and definitely form a part of the city’s culture and its unnoticeable religious context.

Heat of The Goblin Valley

When we got on Highway 24 towards Hanksville; a small town around 5 miles away from the Goblin Valley, we finally saw the great red canyons and their ruins along the highway and views that we know from all kinds of movies.  It is something strange to see in the middle of a desert and sand dunes and cacti, snakes and poisonous frogs.

We camped probably in the most amazing campground we’ve ever stayed; right underneath one of those red canyon residues that stretches somewhere far up in the sky and crumbles down to the ground from about three quarters of its height.  We didn’t even pitch a tent and headed to the Goblin Valley right away.  We were pleased by the fact that unlike in the Yellowstone National Park we didn’t see that many people and even one of our older camper neighbours told us he is shocked how many people already know about this place.

The Goblin Valley apparently got discovered in the 1920’s when cowboys were looking for herds of wild cows.  It’s a very strange and old geological formation of coastal and sand dunes about as old as 170 million years.  Stunning place to watch a sunset with a storm somewhere in the distance while you freely roam in the valley.  We got lucky for this occasion and were blessed with a rich colourful spectrum that polluted the dusk.

Many thoughts come to your mind seeing something like that and one of the strongest is dreading the day when even this place gets crowded by people and when they will build those wooden corridors reminding you of being run down them like a herd of the wild cattle that is just being sold to its new owner. 

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