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Through the Canyons of US-Southwest
A roundtrip through the US-Southwest offers the most beautiful and breath-taking sceneries of the world.
Most interesting sights:
NP= National Park NM= National Monument
| Information: general survey
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Map: Click on to enlarge
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San Francisco
..Cable
Car ... China Town..
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is a nice pretty town. It's streets are arranged in check pattern, though it is very hilly there,
Following sights we have visited in two and a half day:
City center (all can done by foot )
Chinatown:
a Chinese quarter in the centre. Nice even I have expected more. A
good place to eat there, the meals are cheap, delicious and big!
Fisherman's Warf
a tourist trap, but it has flair. There are fish snacks, souvenir shops,
pubs, theatres etc. but nothing special else.
Cable Car
the nostalgic tram, drawn by cables. It starts at Fisherman's Warf.
Trans America Building
the pyramid shaped sky scraper.
Lombard Street
is the "crookedst little road of the world" . It was a famous film
setting in a comedy film with Barbara Streisand (I don't know the original
title, The German title is: Ist was Doc? (Is there something, Doc?)
Alcatraz:
the famous prison island is today a museum. Interesting as any prison,
but nice views from the boat to the town. You get there by boat from Fisherman's
Wharf
Golden Gate Bridge
(a must ! )
The most impressive bridge of the world. You can walk over it. The
ride by car out of town is free, back you have to pay toll.
Golden Gate Park with Aquarium
a big park, where is lively hustle and bustle especially on sunny days. There are also some museums and an great Aquarium.
Around San Francisco
Muir Woods
app. 35 miles North of San Francisco is a small red wood forest. Red
woods are the world's tallest trees and conifers with a height of up to
130 m and a girth of 30 m. They can get an age of more than 2.000 years.
In Muir Wood Park are some younger and smaller redwoods. It is worth a
visit, if you don't visit the northern Giant Causeway in the Redwood NP
or the southern Sequoia NP.
Nappa Valley (we
skipped)
is the "Wine Country" of California 50
miles from San Franzisco. You can taste the wine in one of the many wineries
there.
to top
Highway No 1
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Don't miss the scenic costal route Highway No. 1 from Monterey to Santa Barbara. After Monterey is the "17 Miles Scenic Drive" where a toll is levied (we skipped it). Some mile further south you can have a short visit in the "Point Lobos State Reservat" (not a must see!). There we saw pelicans, seals and on some far rocks in the sea some sea lions.
Then the road along the coast to Santa Barbara offers breath-taking views. Calculate some time for taking pictures. If you like architectural trash, visit "Hearst Castle", a monumental estate built by billionaire Hearst, who had collected many antique stuff in Europe for his castle.
You might mail me, what is your opinion about worth a visit the Scenic Drive, Hearst Castle or Nappa Valley!
Santa Barbara is a pretty nice smaller town with a Mexican flair and even a mall in the city center, which is unusual for American cities.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles is a vast expanded urban area without the charm of San Francisco. Nevertheless here are some sights
Hollywood:
a rather shabby quarter with cheap motels and trashy shops. Worth a visit is the "Walk of Fame" with stars of famous actors and actress chiselled on the sidewalk and the "Chinese Film Theatre".Venice and Santa Monica
Beach promenade with palm trees. This is the most vogue part of the endless beach, with a lot of pretty girls and boys.Beverley Hills
here are the estates of the rich. Not much to see, mostly large hedges.Disneyland
some miles from the town. It is similar to the counterpart in Orlando: see here for some useful information: Disney WorldUniversal Film Studios
another worth seeing theme park. First you get a ride by tram through artificial film sceneries and then you can visit some performances in the park.Griffith Park
Park with viewpoint above the town.more sights (we didn't visit)
Paul Ghetty Art Museum :very famous pictures are displayed there, a must for cultural interested traveller
Queen Mary: old luxury liner, now a museum, expensive entrance fee
San Diego
South of Los Angeles at the Mexican Border. We didn't visit.
Oak Creek Canyon
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Coming from LA you descend suddenly and it is getting hotter. Then you are driving through a desert landscape with big cactus on the sides. Here you can visit the Joshua Tree NM (named after the same named cactus). After branching off from the highway to Sedona the scenery is getting more lush and green.
Sedona is a very touristy town with many resorts. The photogenic Red Rock Loop of the Oak Creek Canon is in South from Sedona.
Grand Canyon
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The biggest canyon of the world. We stayed over night in Flagstaff, because the prices of lodges in the park are high. At the rim of the canyon goes a free shuttle bus that stops at every viewpoint, from where you have breath-taking looks into the canyon. There are two trails down; the popular Bright Angel Trail is 10 miles and the steeper South Kaibab Trail is 8 miles long (not tried). It's important to take enough water with you; it's very hot at the bottom. There is a camping place, which is quickly full. You can do the Kaibab Trail in one day, if you are a trained. Going to the North Rim by car is a full day trip.Near the Grand canyon there is also the Sunset Crater, Wupatki NM and Meteor Crater.
Walnut Canyon NM
A round trip from one hour among the cliffs of the Sinaguan Indians (was not so much interesting)
Petrified Forest
Don't miss. In a green grassland with coloured clay badland hills are lying petrified trunks around. The scenery was really impressing in the late afternoon sun. Also the petrified trunks were very impressing. It is strictly forbidden to take petrified stones from the park, the rangers carry out some spot check.
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This Canyon is Navajo country and it is not allowed to walk down without guide there. Exception is the trail down to the "White House Ruin". The walk is worth doing. At different viewpoints you can have a look into the red and green canyon.
Monument Valley (see also picture at top)
...
.view back Mexican Hat.
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Monument Valley is famous by advertising for Marlborough cigarettes. It is also Indian country. The roundtrip through the table mountains is a must. Don't miss to have a look back to the world known motive, when you are driving the highway to Mexican Hat.
Natural Bridge NM
A nice National Park with natural rock bridges. It is a 2 hrs walk to the arches. It is nice but you can skip it, if you lack of time.
Arches NP
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Big arches are the top sights of this NP. On the way you can wonder about "Balanced Rock", (if it isn't crashed down already). The most impressing is the Delicate Arch (1 hrs walk), another is the Double Arch. Don't miss this NP!
Development of the Arches:
We missed
Canyon
Lands NP and Capital Reef NP
and decided to go on to Yellowstone NP.
Dinosaurier NM
It is a park on the way to the Yellowstone NP, not really worth for a long detour. A gravel road leads to the Green River, the campground on the river is named Echo Park. The Scenery is nice, but not as spectacular as elsewhere in this area. It was rather quiet there, a nice place for a break. We met some mufflon sheep with their bent horns.We decided then to go to Las Vegas instead to the Yellowstone Park. On the way you can visit Salt Lake City with the big temple of the Mormons, but sorry we headed for Las Vegas.
Brice Canyon
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My girl friend had had enough from red rock sandstone, but what we would have missed! A scenery just as made as cake with icing sugar from a fine bakery. A must!!!
Zion NP
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A National Park with huge rock formations and great hiking opportunities.Closed to this NP are also the Cedar Breaks NM and the Kolob Canyon. But then we had been tired from such a lot of red sandstone monuments.
The Strip (Las Vegas Boulevard) at night is illuminated with millions of lamps. Today there should be a copied Venice, a pyramid and puplic performanced pirate battle. The interior of the casinos is usually not very noble, it is not necessary to be dressed up.In Las Vegas it is possible to marry unbureaucratically. An officially given affidative that there are no impediments against marriage and a small fee and the engaged couple get a marriage licence. With this license a competent official or priest can carry out the marriage ceremony.
Death Valley
.....
.....
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Going to the Death Valley you first cross a desert country with big cactus. The Valley has different sights. The first is "bad water", the deepest point on earth (minus 84 under sea level). Around bad water is a large salt lake, which looks like an snowy area.
Noteworthy are the regular pattern made by the salt. At "Zabriski Point" is a viewpoint above the valley, here pay attenton to the many colours of the desert. Some miles further there is the bizarre Devils Golf Course that looks like a ploughed acre, but also is made by salt. In the North are Sahara like huge sand dunes, don't miss your way! You can watch how the shifting sanddunes devour trees that barren treetops are lurking out of the sand. 10 miles south of the visitor center a trail leads through the coloured Canyon. "Scotties Castle"is another trashy castle replica that wasn't visited by us.There is no direct way to Sequoia NP due to the heigh mountain range!
Mono Lake
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The Mono Lake has calcium bearing freshwater springs that built bizarre formed sculptures (tufa towers), when the calcium water bubbles up through alcaline water (see picture). The lake with the tufa towers reminds to pictures from the painter Dali. It is worth a visit! At the banks were millions of black maggots or beetles.Devil's Post Pile NM
If you have enough time you can take a sidet rip to the basalt columns of the Devil's Post Pile NM. If you are in a hurry, you can skip this, it isn't so interesting.
Yosemite NP
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A dense forest area with umpteen hiking trails and huge mountains that consist of granite monoliths. The biggest granite monolith of the world is El Captain with walls of 1.500m and more that are a challenge for top free climber; but fatal accidents happen sometimes. The 740 m high Yosemite Falls are dried out in summer, but the Nevada-, Vernal- and Bridal Falls (that changed after the wind) still have water in summer. Accommodation in the park is very expensive due to the proximity to San Francisco. The blaze of colours in early harvest was gorgeous. A nice trail from the visitor center leads to Nevada- and Vernal falls. There is a certain danger from bears in the park in remote areas. Take care and don't ignore the warnings!
