Rockies, Canyonlands & New Mexico – Customer Comments.
If breathtaking scenery, amazing wildlife, contrasting cultures and good clean mountain air are your thing then this itinerary will be right up your street. This is a route we first drove several years ago and it’s fair to say the variety of scenery in one itinerary probably stands this route apart from any other we offer. We have built in numerous 2-night stops and no one journey is to long or arduous so you have plenty of time to enjoy the surroundings.
2 Comments to “Rockies, Canyonlands & New Mexico – Customer Comments.”
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Hello Alistair,
I know you like feedback on your holidays as each one is so individually dealt with. After last year’s Canyonlands tour which we did late April and into May, we decided to go a couple of weeks later in the hope that more roads would be opened after the winter snow.
We landed in Las Vegas at the beginning of the second week of May and picked up a Nissan Pathfinder from Alamo. Our room at the Mirage had not been properly serviced but it was so late we collapsed into bed and pointed it out to them the next morning. Our other two nights in this hotel were faultless!!
Death Valley was so amazing that I do not have the words and the Furnace Creek Ranch was delightful. We went to Rhyolite ghost town and then through the Red Pass down to Titus Canyon, a spectacular drive. Artists’ Drive showed us colours in nature that are indescribable and leaving us wishing we had better cameras!!
To go day by day through our holiday would mean me typing out a journal of tens of pages so I will restrict myself to highlights. The Holiday Inn at Green River was positively 5 star for welcome and services on this type of holiday and from there we explored the San Raphael Swell including the ‘Little Grand Canyon’. The highlight of the following day was a drive to Mineral Bottom where canoes are launched into the Green River. The descent was nailbiting and the ascent real adrenalin junkie stuff (my opinion).
From Moab we explored The Arches National Park for a whole day getting out and walking to some of the sights. The Best Western Hotel is very good and Eddie McStiff’s across the road is excellent eating whatever your taste.
The drive from Moab to Glenwood Springs and the Antlers Best Western took us along Castle Valley Scenic Byway. Majestic fortresses tower up on both banks of the Colorado River. Wingate sandstone cliffs hundreds of feet high glow pink in the sunshine.
Last year we did not have time to view Colorado National Monument but it was well worth the visit. Its history is catalogued in print and on film in the Visitors’ Centre. The drive took us up to 6498ft on tarred road with spectacular views around every hairpin bend.
From Glenwood Springs the next day we drove to Leadville, an old mining town in the Rocky Mountains. The Mining Museum is a must and a drive around town just looking at the beautifully and lovingly restored little houses is joyful eye-candy. Independence Pass at 12,095ft gave us some snow to look at.
Our next destnation was Durango and meant another day in the Rockies viewing mining towns from the car and then Silverton on foot. Another extremely interesting Visitor Centre in a town which has so much of interest away from the main through road.
The Strater Hotel in Durango is a little holiday within a holiday. The rooms are absolutely stunning with all their Victorian decor and The Office Spiritorium is great for dinner. A lively, atmospheric town with lovely architecture. There is a complimentary breakfast too as there were in most of the hotels in which we stayed.
Our next destination was Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and it was easily reached through Aztec and Bloomfield. There was a long drive along gravel roads to reach this World Heritage site but totally worth the effort. To be able to walk around among the ruins of Pueblo Bonito and see where a massive rockfall crushed some of the unearthed houses and walls was unforgetable. The Visitor Centre has such comprehensive information and guides and we were glad to have found a map of the Indian Tribal Lands for the long drive to Chinle and our next stop. I was greatly reassured by this map as we drove along the roughest of gravel roads seemingly into the heart of nowhere. However we eventually reached tarmac and then a very long straight road to the hotel in Chinle. This is in Navaho Nation and there is no lift to the first floor. Anyone staying there needs to try to be booked on the ground floor or be strong enough to haul suitcases up a flight of stairs. The rooms are good though. There is also no wheelchair access. The dining room offers great food with local flair and no alcohol!!
$100 secured us the services of a guide for a three hour tour along the floor of the Canyon de Chelly in our vehicle. This was an adventure. The spring winds were blowing and so the canyon was dusty and hazy in places but our guide had us enthralled with the history of the dwellings perched high up in alcoves in the canyon walls and the petroglyphs drawn on the Navajo Sandstone by the Anasazi people centuries ago. We visited Bluff and enjoyed the history of the area, watching a film of “The Hole in the Rock Pioneers” who founded the town.
We once again drove up the Moki Dugway and along the top of the mesa and over the two days in the area of Mexican Hat viewed Muley Point from which we could see a distant view of Monument Valley, a mindblowing view, we saw The Goosenecks from hundreds of feet above them and then found our hotel on the banks of the San Juan river. The San Juan Inn offers no tv and no hairdryer, a minute toilet and shower room and has the washbasin in the bedroom. It was clean, comfortable and the staff at reception and in the restaurant were great.
We drove around Monument Valley again this year because it is just so picturesque and in the year since we were there, the Visitor Centre has become huge and offers some really expensive souvenirs, notably designer Navajo jewellery and artworks. There were many places to visit from Mexican Hat including the Natural Bridges National Park.
Kanab was a delightful little town with a rich history of Hollywood film making. Our hotel was really special being a tastefully Western themed Holiday Inn Express and both nights we spent there we ate at a Mexican reastaurant called Nedras Too. Pareah Canyon contains some of the most spectacular coloured rock strata we have seen.
The route to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was open so a drive across alpine meadow scenery with spring foliage on the trees was so beautiful. The canyon was hazy but breathtaking and we walked some of the routes to the lookout points. Anyone going to the North Rim must be careful not to miss the view poionts along the way – they are truly fantastic.
From Kanab back to Las Vegas was not too far so we detoured through Zion Canyon. All roads in this canyon had been recoated in the colour of the rocks so instead of grey tarmac we had pink roads which blended in so naturally. We headed back via St. George to The Mirage in Las Vegas where 104 degrees meant we stayed within the confines of the hotels and off the strip. The hotel buffet supper offered absolutely everything one could think of and it was all delicious.
I have missed out many little side trips we made e.g. The Hoover Dam, The White Canyon, Lake Powell and Lake Mead etc. but have already written so much, if you had not already noticed!!
I will end by saying that Jonathan had planned the route of a spectacular and interesting, unforgetable holiday which together with CNA’s meticulous booking system for hotels, flights and information about our route and all the vouchers etc that were needed, made our bespoke holiday one hundred percent enjoyable.
Thank you Alistair and all your colleagues involved, you are an awesome team.
Dear Alastair,
I just wanted to say a big thank you for arranging us the holiday of a lifetime! It went exactly to plan from beginning to end. The folder with detailed maps and information about the places we were visiting was excellent and meant we could make the most of everywhere we went.Even the tour guides thought we were well informed! The hotels were well situated and always friendly and comfortable and most gave us a complimentary breakfast even when it was not stated beforehand in the itinary.
I also wanted to say that whenever I phoned beforehand with any queries about the trip, the service I received was always friendly and helpful.
I would certainly use Complete North America again and once again would like to say a big thank you for making our holiday one to remember,
Many thanks,
Kay Guttridge