Nothing reminded us more of the mountains and vibrant fall forests of Colorado when we saw the striking mesas of Monument Valley just a day’s ride from Cortez. They were only visible in the distance, but it was magical to roll towards them in the evening light!

The viewing platform on the world-famous rocky buttes was our destination for the next day. While sitting there for a while in the warm, late afternoon sun, we enjoyed the scenery, where over 60 films were shot, almost on our own. Comparatively small and unknown but no less impressive were the rocky buttes of the Valley of the Gods, which we explored on a 25-kilometer dirt road.

After this short detour to the southwest, we returned to the village of Mexican Hat and fortified ourselves at the petrol station for the upcoming climb up the hairpin bends of the Moki Dugway. From a distance, we could hardly imagine how the road would wind its way through the steep cliffs up to the plateau 400 meters above. With the many warning signs about gradients of over 10% on unpaved surfaces, I could already see a pushing section coming our way. However, my fears turned out to be completely unfounded, as the track was wide, less steep than indicated and passable throughout without any major effort. We only had to stop to enjoy the views of the Valley of the Gods below us and take photos. The view was even more spectacular from Muley Point, a viewpoint on the edge of the tableland, which we reached via a short clay road.

By the time we got there, many campers had already settled in for a night under the stars. As we were a little low on water due to the exhausting climb, we were looking for someone to fill up our bottles. We decided on Paul from Oregon, a stroke of luck! Not only did he provide us with water, but he also offered us a warm outdoor shower, under which we immediately and happily placed ourselves. A gas-powered continuous-flow heater in the back door of his campervan made this luxury possible.

Freshly showered, we cooked our evening meal on the cliffs at Muley Point. Although we couldn’t get enough of the magnificent panoramic view of Monument Valley and the San Juan River canyon and would have loved to pitch our tent here, we forced ourselves to leave in the moonlight. Thunderstorms were forecast and the first flashes of lightning were already visible on the horizon. We wanted to cycle back at least as far as the tarmac road, as signs indicated that the road would become impassable if it was wet. So, we said goodbye to Paul and looked forward to seeing him again in a few days. He had offered to share the group campsite in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park with him and some friends. They had reserved the site for a whole week and could easily accommodate an additional tent, so nobody would have any objections. We wanted to visit this part of the national park anyway, but had previously hesitated about the 60-kilometer-long access road. Thanks to Paul’s offer, it was now clear to us that we would definitely put up with the extra kilometers.

The night-time onward journey took a lot of effort, but it was great fun. With a full moon and no traffic, we made such easy progress that we ended up pedaling for an hour to a gravel parking lot, where we set up camp for the night at around 10 pm. How glad we were about this effort when the rain drizzled down on our tent during the night!

The next morning the thunderstorms caught us and, lacking shelter, we cycled through the pouring rain until the sun came out again. In the evening, however, the rain set in again, forcing us to cook in the toilet block of a National Forest campsite. The predicted rainy weather persisted for two more days. We spent our time in the visitor center, the library, the gas stations and in the covered shelter of the village square in Monticello. Dustin spared us another wet night in the tent: in the backyard of his house was a comfortably equipped trailer in which we were allowed to stay.

The night in the dry was finally followed by a day of riding in the sun. We curved through a beautiful, red-colored canyon towards the Needles District of Canyonland National Park. When we arrived at the group campsite in the park, we were greeted by Paul and his friends. Once again, we were allowed to take a hot shower between the back doors of Paul’s van and then sit around the campfire with lasagna from the casserole. It was as if we had always been part of the group.

Luckily, we set off on a hike in the morning before it started to drizzle again. We certainly wouldn’t have set off in the rain and would have missed the loop trail through the impressive rock formations. After another convivial evening by the fire, we cycled back to the main road the next day in a downpour. The dark clouds created a nice atmosphere, but we would have gladly done without them by now! At least it got dry towards midday and a strong tailwind blew us to Moab faster than expected. There we unexpectedly found accommodation in the guest house of a somewhat quirky Warmshower hostess. The art in the garden and in the house was somewhere between creative, tasteful, bizarre and creepy. But we received a very warm welcome and were enriched by an fascinating encounter!

Just a few kilometers north of Moab is the Arches National Park, which we didn’t want to miss. Although the park is small, the attractions are so far apart that it took us the whole day to reach the fully booked campsite. Once again, we were able to set up on a nice couple’s campsite before taking refuge from the rain in our tent. The exit from the national park was cut short via a great gravel road, which saved us many meters in altitude and several kilometers on the narrow, busy main road. This allowed us to end our detour to the north in a pleasant way and head west again on the I-15 highway. But more detours were waiting just around the corner.

The first led into the Goblin Valley State Park. The funny rock formations in the park gave the impression of a huge playground and spread a noticeably cheerful atmosphere among the visitors. In the next village, Hanksville, we were having a coffee at a gas station when two gentlemen asked us if we wanted the steaks from their cooler. They were on their way home and would otherwise throw everything away. No, we had no use for the meat, but we would never turn down any other food. Ah well, they also had some vegetables and fruit with them. We took five bags of salad, a huge bowl of fruit, two yogurts and a packet of sweet potatoes from them. We couldn’t take any more with us despite our best intentions, which is why the finest meat, bacon, eggs, cheese, several yogurts, vegetables and fruit ended up in the bin. It was painful for us to watch! We thought about this waste for a while until the spectacular scenery of Capitol Reef National Park changed our minds. This national park had disappointed us on a road trip in 2014, as we were unable to see most of the sights without a 4×4 vehicle.

This time was to be different: David had planned a round trip on sandy tracks in both the northern and southern parts of the park. Nobody could give us any real information about the northern route, as a large part of the route was outside the national park and led through the national forest. Its official website normally publishes information on current road conditions, but since the government shutdown, the message “The Radical Left Democrats shut down the government.” puts you off🙄. An employee at the Cathedral Valley Inn rated the route as difficult but doable. The ranger at the national park information center was very firm and said the road was impossible by bike. We preferred to believe the motel employee and rode on to Loa to start our tour from there to Cathedral Valley in the northern part of Capitol Reef National Park.

Although the road was sandy, it was much better than anticipated and led us through a super beautiful area with majestic rock cathedrals. Very satisfied with our choice of route, we returned to the Cathedral Valley Inn after the round trip, thanked them for their good advice, filled up with water and were allowed to bake a fresh waffle at the breakfast buffet😋. This was the way to continue … and it did! On the dirt road in the southern part of the park, we were again rewarded with impressive rock formations and magnificent views.

The scenic road before Escalante was less strenuous, but just as worth seeing and lived up to its name. Yes, we can really get excited about this table mountain landscape😉! Unfortunately, the visit to a slot canyon near Escalante was not to be, as it started to rain buckets when we reached the town. We actually only wanted to stop briefly at a petrol station and let the worst of it pass. But it didn’t pass that quickly and we only left our warm, dry shelter in the late afternoon to cook in the village park and camp a little outside the residential area.

As soon as the rain front had passed, the sun warmed up quite nicely again during the days. Yet on the clear nights in Bryce Canyon National Park, temperatures dropped below freezing. We were all the more grateful to our cycling friends Dan and Salome that they had hidden a token for a warm shower for us ❤️! Like all the other tourists, we took a short hike through the hoodoos, visited the viewpoints around the amphitheater and then travelled on to Zion National Park.

We were particularly looking forward to visiting this park, as the Belgian cyclist Fabrice, whom we had met in Yellowstone and Colorado, had reserved a campsite there and invited us to share it with him, Dan and Salome. How nice to see these familiar faces again and swap stories with them! But we didn’t just chat, we also hiked Angels Landing, which actually requires a permit to restrict the number of visitors. However, thanks to the government shutdown, access was only controlled until 3pm😉.

Unfortunately, we soon had to say goodbye to our cycling friends to continue on to St. George. Here, we were allowed to stay with our Warmshower hosts Sylvia and her husband Eric. We felt a little uncomfortable when we entered their spotless living room with panoramic windows, dusty and sweaty. After a shower and in clean clothes, we felt much more at ease and enjoyed dinner and the fascinating conversations about the country, its people and different views. Today we used the opportunity to clean and service our bikes, wash our clothes and pack our warm clothes deeper into our bags. Soon we will find out whether we were too impatient…

This post was written on October 29, 2025 and published on November 3, 2025.