Vermillion Cliffs National Monument: National Geographic Magazine Takes A Look At An Unsung Monument (PHOTOS)

The following is an excerpt from the February issue of National Geographic magazine:

It's hard to believe that a national monument girded by towering cliffs -- their color burning through the spectrum as the day advances -- could be so little known. Yet few people have heard of this place. One reason is that Vermilion Cliffs National Monument is upstaged by its neighbors, which include some of the most famous national parks and monuments in the US: Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and more.

Another reason is the ruggedness of the terrain. Though located only a few miles from Lake Powell, the 300,000 acres encompassed by the monument are no place for the fainthearted or unprepared.

"Exit the car, enter the food chain," quipped one official with the Bureau of Land Management, which administers the monument.

The predators here are sun, heat, thirst, ignorance, isolation and rattlesnakes, not necessarily in that order. There are almost no marked trails, only a few signposts and none of the assurances, warnings, or rangers found in national parks. Here your cell phone doesn't work, you camp where you can, and the only water is what you carry.

Read the full article in the February 2012 issue of National Geographic, available on newsstands now.

All photos ©Richard Barnes/National Geographic.

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Comments

[canadagood]

07:06 AM on 02/05/2012

I caught them from an airplane window a couple of years ago.
(I still enjoy getting the window seat).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/canadagood/4186673567

[beth24]

09:17 PM on 02/03/2012

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!! I have the issue with the Wegman dog dressed as a poodle but I missed this article and photos. I will be sure to look! WOW this is so beautiful wish there were guided trips there!! Why isnt there???

[blurredmolly]

05:28 PM on 02/03/2012

too bad it's in Arizona.

[Frank-Landfield]

12:32 AM on 02/03/2012

On my list
:-)

[COPESTIR3]

09:00 PM on 02/02/2012

I remember my grandparents taking me there as a child. I took my daughter there when she is twelve. She talks of taking her children. It is so magical and beautiful. The rocks hum.

[hottingers]

08:50 PM on 02/02/2012

Just freaking gorgeous.

[LadyGiGi 25]

08:16 PM on 02/02/2012

Beautiful scenery. I would LOVE to go there one day.

[topkatnc]

07:56 PM on 02/02/2012

Beautiful pictures ... love number 4 of the dunes .. I see what looks like a wolf's head and snout peeking through the dunes ... or maybe not .. still eye candy .

[LeftoftheLeft]

03:58 PM on 02/03/2012

Number 4 is a picture of a very small side canyon right off "The Wave" in Coyote Buttes. (It looks much bigger than it actually is in that photo.) It's actually petrified sand dune, so it's rock and not sand dunes. The Wave itself covers only a very small area as well. To go there you need a BLM issued permit - you can either try to get one online or through an in-person lottery held the day before the permit is issued, either at the Paria BLM ranger office or the Kanab BLM ranger office, depending on the time of year. It's very difficult to get them. A WHOLE lot harder than it used to be. The last time we were in the area we looked at the sheet and it said around 90 people were showing up each day to try and get ten permits. (I think it's ten, anyway.) I'm not sure how many they give out for each day online.

[topkatnc]

06:32 PM on 02/03/2012

It looks like a beautiul place to visit .. how lucky you are to see it in person .

[hdohighdesertobserver]

07:10 PM on 02/02/2012

Not well identified in this article, Vermillion Cliffs borders the Colorado River just south of Lee's Ferry which is south of the AZ UT border.

[barkingcat]

10:48 AM on 02/03/2012

Yes -- good point.

[Noah Cross]

06:27 PM on 02/02/2012

"Exit the car, enter the food chain". My new motto in life.

[irocker350]

05:02 PM on 02/02/2012

I love the desert, the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, I like it when people say that the desert is boring and there's nothing to see, it just means that it will stay unspoiled longer.
The desert is a wonderful place desolate and deadly to the umprepared.
I love the smell of the desert after a rain storm, I love the look of the sunsets, sunrises, the middle of the night, especially during a full moon, or when there's no moon and you look up and see forever, you can see the spiral arms of the milky way and let your mind wander at the possibility of what might be out there while experiencing what is right here and now, an owl glides silently past, coyotes go about the business of surviving another day. a thunderstorm light show in the distance, god! I love the desert

[IsotelusMaximus]

05:19 PM on 02/02/2012

I agree, the desert is where it's at!!

[beth24]

09:19 PM on 02/03/2012

beautifully described and so true!!!

[BigOrangeBoehner]

04:58 PM on 02/02/2012

Awesome!!!!