Superior Seasons in the Southwest
Skip summer’s swelter and enjoy glorious fall and spring
by Frank Mungeam, Tour Guide
“It’s 115 degrees in summer,” my friends in the southwest admit, then always add, “but it’s a dry heat.” Somehow, I never hear anything after “115 degrees.” On a bike, even the breeze is hot at that temperature!
The undulating road weaves past surreal shapes of striated rock and soaring cathedrals of Navajo sandstone. Guests love this ride so much they often ask if they can turn around and do it again. (The answer, of course, is yes!)
That’s why our Bryce-Zion and Santa Fe-Taos bike trips skip July and August. We tour the southwest during spring and fall so we get the “dry” without the “heat”! Both seasons are ideal for bike touring, with warm, dry days and less traffic than during the peak travel months of summer. In addition, each season offers special experiences often missed at other times of the year.
In April and May, winter battles the summer daily at the highest reaches of Bryce Canyon National Park, where patches of snow cling with weakening grasp to steep red rock cliffs.
My favorite tour experience is watching the sun rise at Bryce Canyon. We gather at the rim overlook in hushed anticipation. First light streaks across the horizon, illuminating the amphitheater of Bryce. Hoodoos (bizarre-shaped pillars of rock) awaken with a reddish glow, and the canyon transforms minute by minute in a painter’s palette of desert hues. We’ll be in shorts and a T-shirt later in the day, but at this hour we’re bundled in fleece and bonded by the beauty of this moment.
Crisp spring mornings are also perfect for exploring Bryce’s otherworldly landscape by foot. We hike along the Fairyland Trail, dwarfed by spires of sandstone sculpted by wind and water. Or we might wander through “Queen’s Garden” to “Wall Street,” where a solitary Douglas fir has rooted itself, stretching skyward toward sunlight from a narrow chasm in the rock.
Wildflowers also surge to life in spring. The delicate cliff rose blooms each evening, then gradually wilts during the heat of the day, only to be resurrected once more by nightfall.
The sculpted sandstone monuments of Zion National Park, our other major destination during our Bryce-Zion tour, are stunning in any season.
My favorite bike ride in the world is found here at Zion. A magical 12-mile ride reveals why the first Mormon settlers called this place “Zion” — a place of sanctuary. The undulating road weaves past surreal shapes of striated rock and soaring cathedrals of Navajo sandstone. Guests love this ride so much they often ask if they can turn around and do it again. (The answer, of course, is yes!)
The seasonal changes at Zion are most noticeable when we explore the park by foot. Some of the best and most diverse hikes in the world are found within Zion Canyon, from the half-mile stroll to Weeping Rock, the cascading waterfalls at the picturesque Emerald Pools, and the dizzying climb up Angels Landing. Fiery Indian paintbrush, delicate columbine, and bell-like Utah penstemon brighten our journey.
In spring, the Virgin River allows visitors to glimpse the creative force that chiseled this 2,000-foot deep chasm as it roars through the park brimming with winter snowmelt. In fall, the Virgin turns coy and modest, reduced to a mere trickle. It’s the ideal time to hike The Narrows. One of the most stunning and unique hikes anywhere, the trail is the river. We amble upriver in knee-high water, passing through a corridor that shrinks to a mere 20 feet at its narrowest point.
Fall brings a different delight to the high country. We ride through a corridor of color as we descend from 10,000-foot Cedar Breaks National Monument, passing through groves of amber aspens, their tinted leaves dancing in the breeze. The autumn color tour hits the higher elevations of Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon in September, and filters down to Zion Canyon later in October.
A photographer’s delight, the fall color display is one of many reasons to explore the “seasons of the southwest.”