Red Cliffs National Conservation Area

We originally planned to stay at the little campground in Red Cliffs, but Bob became doubtful about how well the campsite would work for our RV. We were lucky enough to get reservations at Quail Creek RV, which is just down the road and under the freeway from Red Cliffs. We dodged a bullet there, since it was very hot and we wouldn’t have had AC at Red Cliffs. If we come this way again, we know which campsites would work for us, and we’ll deal with the heat if need be.

The first day, we drove over and went up the Red Reef Trail. Spectacular. Simply spectacular. I would have liked to have gone further, but the photo below shows what turned us back. The hand/foot holds up the rock don’t look that bad in this photo, but they were way steeper than it looks. And then, at the top, when you run out of those, you’ve got an itty bitty ledge to try and get footing on.

Water Canyon hike at Red Cliffs

This photo better shows how steep the climb up was, but it fails to convey that itty bitty ledge thing. My feeling was that if my life depended on it, I could get up that. But I’d never in a thousand years get back down. We turned back.

There was an exposed rock face with lots of dinosaur footprints. That is a dinosaur footprint, but I think you have to use your imagination and take my word for it. The photos I took of these just don’t look like anything much. It was a lot more interesting in person.

Native American Ruins

I read a review of the hike that we did on our second day at Red Cliffs, and the person writing it said something about the scenery being disappointing. Call me crazy, but I think this is some pretty gorgeous scenery.

This is later into the second day hike. The colors change continuously as the day progresses. In this case, things got much brighter.

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