We did a 2 mile hike that took us up a plateau and to a stunning collection of petrified wood.
It was a bit steep and challenging, but the boys didn't complain a bit. Arthur was tired and got carried a lot, but Paul and Laszlo were playing and having a great time.
The color variation is absolutely wild. We saw red, yellow, lavender, all in rocks. We even found a petrified stump with some crystal looking rocks growing on it. Here is a collection of some of the coolest specimens we found.
Paul really wanted to have a turn taking photos, so we gave him the camera and let him shoot what he wanted. He got some really nice ones, so maybe in the future I won't have to be the sole taker of photos!
I love the bark texture that some of the petrified logs had on the outside! A few even still had the tree rings on the inside. I've heard that there is actually more petrified wood here than at the park in Arizona, so if you're interested maybe check this one out.
Paul and Laszlo just cruised along on this hike, they left Lee and I in their dust! To be fair, we were either going Arthur speed or carrying Arthur, but I was impressed with their energy levels and how little complaining I heard.
If you aren't interested in petrified wood, there is some very interesting history here as the Fremont people lived in this area.
The trail saves the best for last! This is probably the biggest and perhaps the most thoroughly well preserved piece in the park.
The other major feature of Petrified Forest State Park is the lovely reservoir/lake. The kids loved it, even though it was waay too cold to even want you put your feet in it.
After our hike, we had a picnic and worked on junior ranger booklets. Yep! they have them here too! And right around the picnic area there was this remarkable specimen of a pieced together petrified tree trunk.
The boys liked practicing rock skipping and spending a little time around the chilly lake. We spotted a bald eagle looking for fish. The lady at the visitor's center confirmed that there were 3 bald eagles that live near the lake, even so I thought I must be wrong and it was some other bird. Nope! It was the eagle!
That was our last day in Escalante. We packed up the next morning and headed home! But we planned for one more stop on the way...
While researching this trip, I found out that Monroe, Utah has some hot springs! The public/free Red Cliff Hot Spring we stopped at for a few minutes just to check it out. The rock is so beautiful, but it's the only thing around that looks like that. Everywhere else is just beige and green rolling hills.
The pools were tepid, not cold, but not really hot either. The one little pool that was warmer was also full of people, not coincidentally, but we weren't planning to stay too long anyway.
Down the road was Mystic Hot Springs, which requires reservations. This was a very quirky but fun place to relax even on a windy day.
The largest pool was about the same as a heated pool. A bit warm and shallow enough for Arthur. The pool next to it was a bit deeper and warmer.
Up the hill were the bathtubs which were all piping hot. Those ones took some getting used to, but were very nice (as long as I left my sunburned feet out of the water.)
Arthur did not care for the super hot tubs, we mostly stuck with the cooler pools, but it was nice to have a quiet few minutes in the hot water.
Lucky for us that Big O had the right kind of tires and got us all set up and on our way. That was our eventful end to our very fun spring break trip!
Our new tires didn't fail us and we made it home in one piece. I can only imagine what it would have been like to get a flat tire down in Escalante on Hole in the Rock road, and I am SO GLAD we didn't get a flat until we were only a few miles from a tire place and a tow truck!
