BackRoadsWest

01/05/2025

Yellow Top is a colorful section of the larger Candy Cliffs scenic area next to Yant Falt north of St. George, Utah. This roughly 5-acre area of ridges and steep cliffs comprised of Navajo Sandstone is seldomly visited and cannot be seen from the more popular area of Candy Cliffs. One must traverse a half-mile long canyon with several short dry falls and lots of brush. The old saying, no pain no gain, holds true when visiting Yellow Top to photograph and enjoy this amazingly colorful area.

12/10/2024

Wanna go on an armchair road trip through Arizona on Route 66? Watch part 1 of our virtual road trip down historic Route 66 from the New Mexico border to Flagstaff. Sit back and watch what there's to see along this famous road. Part 2 will come out shortly and covers Williams to the California border.

This virtual journey will take you down historic Route 66 through the state of Arizona. All the towns and places Route 66 passes through in Arizona boast abu...

11/21/2024

Be on the lookout for our upcoming video tour of Route 66 through Arizona that showcases many of the sites along the way with its artifacts and Americana. This will be part 1 of 2 that will cover Route 66 from the New Mexico border to Flagstaff. It will be posted in about a week from now.

11/09/2024

Would you like to learn how to find great scenery in Southern Utah? One way is to blindly explore and hope to find scenery (which isn't hard to do in Utah). Another way is to learn where to expect the "usual suspects". What are usual suspects? Come out to the Color Country Camera Club meeting at the St. George Library (at 88 W 100 South) at 6pm on Tuesday, November 12 to find out. Cliff will give a presentation on the geologic formations, the usual suspects, which are what's responsible for putting the color in Color Country and creating Utah's fantastic scenery.

11/07/2024

We've been to the Red Planet and have lived to tell about it. Take that Elon Musk! And we didn't even need oxygen. Plus, we didn't even leave Utah! This is the Mars Research Station just east of Capitol Reef National Park along Cow Dung Road. Yes, you read that correctly. Along with the research station, the landscape really is other-worldly and very photogenic.

07/27/2024

You’ve all probably watched some of the videos I’ve created in the past that are part of my hobby. But you may have not seen any videos I create for my real job. This latest video was created for our public transit operation in Las Vegas, where bus operators need to know how to read a form called a “paddle”. It instructs them what places they need to go to (bus stops) by what time. It also tells them a lot more about their work shift and can be confusing to read. This video plays on a big screen in their driver lounge every so often so they can be reminded how to read it, as it’s easy to forget all the details. Enjoy the tour of this small but mighty form!

A "paddle" is a sheet of paper that provides driving directions to a bus driver when they leave the bus yard they begin their work shift, till when they retu...

07/27/2024

Our latest video tour takes you to more of Utah’s spectacular and unique scenery, a place called White Rocks. In our opinion, this place is on par with Coyote Buttes (aka The Wave). White Rocks is only 15 miles from Coyote Buttes, but because of the differences in geology, the landscapes and rock formations here are very, very different than anything else we’ve seen. It’s a wonderful place. Enjoy the tour!

The White Rocks area of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah is a labyrinth of crazy white rock formations like none other that we’ve seen els...

07/04/2024

Happy Fourth of July! We recently shot this video in May during a quick passing storm at the Navajo Bridge that marks the northern end of Grand Canyon National Park at Marble Canyon/Lees Ferry. This video does no justice if you’re not watching it with the volume turned up. There’s nothing like the sound of an American flag flapping in the wind! When we pass by here, it’s customary to walk across the older bridge, built in 1929, which sits about 500 feet above the Colorado River. However, no walk today in fear of being blown off the bridge! The second picture is of the twin bridges taken during safer weather. The same flag can faintly be seen above the visitor center in the middle of the 2 bridges.

06/27/2024

You don’t need to be in a slot canyon to be wowed. A canyon with lots of dramatic and unusual rock formations will do just fine. This is Cathedral Wash canyon located in the Lees Ferry section of Lake Powell National Recreational Area next to Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. Wow, that’s a mouth full! At any rate, this canyon is quite spectacular. If you’re good at mild rock scrambling, you can make it all the way down to the Colorado River near Navajo Bridge; a 3 mile roundtrip hike. If you’re not that great at rock scrambling or a little shy of heights, the walk down to the first dry fall won’t disappoint. The Cathedral Wash trailhead is found along the road to Lees Ferry – you can’t miss it. These are pictures taken in May during some great weather. Don't go there now as it's too hot!

06/25/2024

Have you ever wanted to learn more about the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument but were too afraid to ask? Look no more and don’t be afraid! This is a video tour we’ve been wanting to create for a long time as it includes pictures we’ve been accumulating since 2005 and incorporates the knowledge we’ve gained from visiting many of the places in GSENM for that long. It’s also the longest video we’ve ever produced at created at 1hr 14min. Prepare to sit a little longer than normal to enjoy the whole tour!

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) covers a large area encompassing many different scenic areas and unique places of interest all nestle...

06/02/2024

My buddy Russ Stringham, a real estate agent, is listing this unique property near Bryce Canyon National Park. This compound started out as a getaway place for a fellow former resident of the Victor Valley and has grown into what it is today. He’s lived at this property for several years, but now wants to sell and move back into the Mojave Desert, but this time in Arizona. You may remember the video I posted of an area near Bryce a few weeks ago. That was taken when Russ and I went to the property for me to photograph the site. Here is the resultant video tour. If the property interests you, please contact Russ. His contact info is at the end of the video. Enjoy!

Take this virtual video tour around a property uniquely designed for the outdoor enthusiast that sits on just over 26 acres with a 4,500 square foot building...

04/23/2024

Exploring Sidestep Canyon in the White Rocks area of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument near Church Wells, Utah. This is a place I've been wanting to get to for a while. It was an 8 mile roundtrip hike. We saw some of the most bizarre geology I've ever seen.

03/25/2024

This is why Southwest Utah is referred to as "Color County". This is the colorful Chinle Formation in Babylon, Red Cliffs Reserve, near Leeds, Utah. Photos taken March 24, 2024.

02/11/2024

Roadcuts are a geologist’s friend! During our many road trips, we’ve passed through many roadcuts. But no roadcut stacks up to this one! See our video tour that explains what you’re seeing and the story intriguing behind its geology.

A new highway roadcut near St. George Utah reveals some colorful and very interesting geology. Watch this tour of the site, and you'll hear the story behind ...

01/24/2024

For those interested in Route 66 and road trips in general, this documentary from PBS Wyoming mirrors many of the stories that are heard along Route 66. However, this documentary covers the original "coast to coast" road, the Lincoln Hwy. The history and resurrection by tourism of these two roads are almost identical. If historic road trips interest you, I highly recommend taking an hour to watch it.

Before the Interstate Highway System, before famed Route 66, before highways were even numbered, there was one road that started it all, one road that change...

01/22/2024

Road cuts are a geologist's friend (including geology nerds like us). If that's the case, then drones are a geologist’s friend too! This awesome view can be found in the recently dug roadcut along the new Toquerville Bypass road that is still under construction. Digging of this roadcut began in August 2023. This drone footage does a great job of showing four levels of historical deposition. The top is sand and alluvial material that was recently deposited (last few 1000 years). Then there is a basalt layer created from a large lava flow. Next are more deposits that occurred before the lava flow. Then, finally, the colorfully-layered Iron Springs Formation is exposed. If it weren't for the roadcut, you wouldn't know it's there! Look for our upcoming video that will explain more about what's going on in this new geologic site thanks to new development.