Summer is officially here and it’s hiking season! One of the Lodge’s favorite hikes is Calf Creek Falls. This hike is the main draw in the Calf Creek Recreational area on Highway 12 near Escalante. Loved by hikers everywhere, Calf Creek is a trail not to be missed. Read More
Dixie National Forest covers more than two million acres in Southern Utah. One of our favorite locations in Dixie Forest is on the west end of Boulder Mountain, about half an hour from Capitol Reef National Park. The road twists up the mountain to stunning scenic overlooks. (This, incidentally, is the road you take to Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument and Scenic Highway 12.) Read More
One of the best all-round hikes in Capitol Reef National Park is Cassidy Arch. If you get the chance, we at the Lodge at Red River Ranch encourage you to hike this trail. Read More
We at the Lodge at Red River Ranch make it our responsibility to tell you about some of the best places to visit in Southern Utah. One of the places with the most scientific and historical significance in Utah is the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. This park protects one of nature’s most amazing phenomena – fossilized trees. Read More
The Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument protects some of the most spectacular geological formations of the Grand Staircase area of Southern Utah. The Grand Staircase is the name given to the succession of sandstone cliffs that run step-like through Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and Grand Canyon National Park. It forms the backbone of Utah’s southern majesty.
President Clinton declared the area surrounding the town of Escalante a national monument in 1996. The monument encompasses almost 2 million areas of wilderness land, divided into three sub-regions. It is governed entirely by the Bureau of Land Management. The area as a whole has produced many archeological finds, including several dinosaur fossils. Read More