Goblin Valley State Park
Friday, September 04, 2009
Hanksville, Utah, United States
Utah is probably the state with the largest number of weird
and beautiful and unique geological formations because the southern part of the
state lies at the center of the Colorado Plateau through which the Colorado River
and its tributaries have cut deep canyons and other eroded forms in the relatively
soft sandstone . The most famous spots are the national parks – Zion, Bryce
Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and Capital Reef, but there are also a number of
smaller places of such interesting erosion that are either under Bureau of Land
Management (also called Bureau of Livestock and Mines) control, which don’t get
as much respect, or are Utah State Parks.
Goblin Valley is one of those state parks. The park is a few
miles off the road that runs through the canyon country between Green River on
I-70 and the more southwesterly national parks like Capital Reef, Bryce Canyon,
and Zion. I had been to Goblin Valley once before on a trip to Utah with my
friends Don and Doug in 1999 and strongly suggested to Doug we go again.
Goblin Valley probably has in its small area some of the
most fun landscapes and best hoodoos of any park, with many of the formations
shaped like mushrooms or erect penises. Those with dirty minds or just active
imaginations can let their minds run wild . Someone with a lot of time on his or
her hands could probably map out and name each individual hoodoo based on what
it looks like.
I guess I was feeling pretty good about my body around the
time of my visit after all the iron I had been pumping and mornings at Red
Rocks I had been boot camping. It seems from my pictures that Doug and I took
our shirts off a lot to pose on, next to, and between the perfect hoodoo
perches. OK, the weather was really nice and sunshine felt extremely good, but
still – that is just so gay!
Other Entries
2025-02-17