Did you know that the National Parks Service has decided to hold three free weekends of entry to the U.S. National Parks this summer?

The first, on June 20 and 21, has already passed. July’s free weekend is the 18th and 19th, and in August it’s the 15th and 16th.

According to parks officials, the free weekends are intended to encourage park visitation while also providing families some small financial relief during what are difficult economic times for some. Typical National Park admission fee is $20 per vehicle.

On the road in southeastern Utah, parks visitation appears to be doing fine this summer, buoyed by an influx of European tourists (especially from Germany and France) taking advantage of the euro’s current strength against the U.S. dollar.

The new, popular travel method for the Europeans is not by traditional bus tour but RV rental. Companies such as CruiseAmerica set them up with camping reservations in the various parks, and they travel a set route provided by the company.

A recent week spent touring some of southeastern Utah’s national parks and monuments reveals what the tourists are here to see: fascinating geology — unlike anything any other place in the world has to offer.

A few highlights from Utah’s parks follow.

 

Arches National Park

Arches is located less than five miles north of Moab, Utah, a town that has become fantastically popular destination for mountain bikers and off-road Jeep adventurers from the U.S. and abroad. If you go to Arches, be sure to check out Moab. It’s a small, eclectic city with friendly locals.

Arches is named for the sweeping rock formations caused by thousands of years of erosion by natural forces: wind, ice, earth movement, natural landslides and more. These are not natural bridges. Natural bridges are formed only by the erosion of water wearing away beneath and alongside them.

There are about a dozen arches you can visit or view in the park, although some require walking long distances to reach them. One of the most beautiful is Delicate Arch. North and South Window Arch are adjacent to one another, looking like a pair of funny glasses. Last summer, Wall Arch collapsed. Its remains can still be seen crumbled in the canyon below.

The park has one campground and does not require reservations. Camping is an additional $20 per night on top of the park entry fee. However, during the summer the campground is usually full, so it’s a good idea to plan ahead.

You can get more information about Arches National Park at the website www.nps.gov/arch. The park’s main office is located in Moab.

 

Canyonlands National Park

A sprawling expanse of land along the winding terrain of the Colorado and Green Rivers, Canyonlands looks like an ancient abandoned empire from the distance.

It’s a geologist’s Mecca, and with the majority of the park impassable to everyday vehicles, Canyonlands will be seen by most visitors only from a distance.

An ideal spot to view the southern portion of the park is from the Needles Overlook, located about 12 miles north of the Utah town of Monticello on Route 191.

The road, a well-paved 22-mile journey to the overlook, is a designated recreation area where you can camp in the Windwhistle Campground or free camp in accordance with federal regulations on one of many available dirt roads.

The view from the overlook down into the canyonlands is amazing. It looks like something different to everyone ... from human intestines to a giant jigsaw puzzle.

The rivers’ diverging paths have dug deep canyons and gullies across the park’s expanse. Nevertheless, the land was still able to be used historically for cattle grazing.

If you want to go into Canyonlands, there are two primary access points, one in the northern part of the park and one in the south.

The north access, to visit the Island in the Sky region, is the easiest and about a nine-mile drive from the turnoff on Highway 313 (accessed from Utah’s Route 191). Park admission is $10, and there is an additional $10 – $15 fee per night for camping.

For more information about Canyonlands, visit www.nps.gov/canyonlands.

 

Natural Bridges National Monument

Natural Bridges has three large natural bridges of varying age and size. This is a National Monument, not a park, so the entry free is considerably less at $6 per car.

If you’re not inclined to hike or walk long distances, Natural Bridges is an ideal destination because all three of the bridges can be viewed from easily accessibly overlooks along a nine-mile driving tour. The monument is also less populated with tourists than the other parks, and is located not too far from Lake Powell.

The nearest Utah town is Blanding, a 40-mile drive to the east. To the south, land in Arizona and New Mexico is part of the vast Navajo Reservation, which makes up a wide southwestern swath along the border of the Four Corners.

The three natural bridges, Sipapu, Kachina and Owochomo, were given Native American names from the Hopi language after their previous two sets of names failed to stick.

The first set, President, Senator and Congressman, ranked the bridges in order of size. The second set, Augusta, Caroline and Edwin, was after Western exploration groups.

The tallest bridge, Sipapu, is 220 feet high. You could put a 20-story building underneath it! The land was designated a federal reserve in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt. It was the first National Park System area in the state of Utah.

You can camp at Natural Bridges for the bargain price of $10, half that if you have an annual U.S. Parks pass.

For more information about Natural Bridges, visit www.nps.gov/nabr. A great map with details about how to get to all these parks, as well as thousands of other places in the Four Corners region, is the American Automobile Association Indian Country Guide Map, available at any AAA office.

Leah Etling is on an extended trip through the Western U.S. Email her at etling@hotmail.com.