Slot Canyons, Caves all inside a Cathedral, Definitely an Adventure Worth Taking!

It's been a while since I've kept up my favorite posts which are my Travel Tuesday posts. I've been on a lot of adventures this past year and it's time I start sharing them with you all.  This week I'm going to showcase my most recent travels which took me to Cathedral Gorge State Park in Eastern Nevada.

Funny story, I only learned about this park about a month ago. Came across a blog post about it and it only took one image and I knew I was going to go find it. When I realized how close it was to me, that just made it a done deal!

Let me tell you this is a very lesser known spot and a bit out of the way. Even on a Saturday, we had most slots, caves, tunnels, and hikes to ourselves.

It's a smaller state park but it makes up for it in what you are able to see.

We went through over 20 slot canyons, same types of rock but each had their own uniqueness to them and colors as well as surprises.

The tunnels and caves were pretty interesting to go through as well. Down on my belly a few times hoping my butt wasn't too big to fit through the tunnel cracks, LOL  Luckily it wasn't.

You can tell why they call it Cathedral, because of the texture and the height of the walls.

The best advice I can give if you are going to visit this park, get out and explore. The more you do on foot the more you will find.

In fact, we ran into a couple down there who had gone through the entire park and each stop and hadn't seen any of the slots or caves. The reason being they didn't get out and walk towards the cracks and crevices. They are everywhere, but you have to venture into them!

No technical skills required to see most!  There are a few rope areas, the ropes are provided, but mostly these slots and tunnels are for anyone who can walk and move through them.

How to get there? Well, they are about a 2.5-hour drive from Las Vegas. Or if you are from Cedar City or St. George Utah, you're looking at 1.5 hours.

I found the canyons to be creepy and hauntingly beautiful in the best ways. I would highly recommend this for anyone who is on a road trip in the area and wants to take a beautiful detour!

Summers are hot, we were hiking in around 103. But it's in mid-elevation (over 4,000 feet) so spring and fall are probably the best times to visit. Winters do get colder and likely some snow.

But no matter the temp, once you get back in the slots it is much cooler. I'd say 10-20 degree's cooler in spots, so they are a welcome experience to go through.

I do actually have a lot more pictures, but I'll save them for Instagram. If you don't already follow me on Instagram and you enjoy travel pictures, I have to say I post about travel about 99% of the time.

There are so many places in this country that are absolutely stunning, but I am just going to say it out west we have sights that are unbelievable and nothing like the rest of the country has! You have to travel here to see them, and if you know a local to give you tips it will make your adventures all the greater!!!

Well, I can't really say much more about this park, it's stunning and unique! The pictures say more than I can, but even they don't really do it justice!

If you go:

* Bring lots of water and snacks.
* There is currently a $7 car entrance fee.
* There is a campground, dump station, showers, and water.
* It can be seen in an afternoon or a day or two.
* There are also other nearby state parks worth seeing about 15-30 minute north.
* Be careful not to damage the rocks and canyons
* Hiking in the caves and slots, you will get dusty and dirty
* Do not hike into the slots when it is raining or if it looks like it may rain.

Hoover Dam, Nevada

Many people visit Las Vegas, Nevada to see the casino's and shows.  But for those who want a little adventure, history and love to sight see.  About 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Hoover Dam is one of the places you should add to your visit if you are ever in the area.

I'm going to start off right away and apologize for my pictures.  The quality isn't exactly great, like I usually like to show you.   I've been to Hoover Dam, or Lake Mead a few times but in the past I never took a camera.  However, since I only use my own pictures and don't want to use others, these are the pictures you get.
But I will say, if you are visiting during better "daylight" hours of the day, these pictures would not only be clearer but the rocks are so much more red and vibrant and the water is usually a beautiful blue on a sunny day.  As you can tell my pictures were taken at night, pretty much just at dusk.

The Colorado River which begins in the Colorado Rockies and then heads into Utah and flows through some of the most beautiful desert country you have ever seen.  Eventually heads into Arizona/Nevada and the Hoover Dam which actually sits on the Nevada/Arizona boarder is where most of the remaining river water ends up.

Lake Mead is in some desolate but beautiful desert country.  Beautiful red and orange rock surround the lake.  Lake Mead is actually one of the largest reservoir in the United States (by Volume, not size.)
It was build during the Great Depression, it gave thousands of people jobs during hard times.  But it also took over a hundred lives in the process.

Most who visit the lake itself enjoy fishing and boating.  But many people, over a million a year take a trip to the Hoover Dam to see the Concrete arch that spans what is called the Black Canyon.

I highly recommend taking the time to walk across the bridge, lets just say the views are spectacular on both sides of the dam!
To give you an idea of the size, the Hoover Dam is 726 ft tall.  The base is as wide as two football fields.
An idea of how much concrete was used, you could build a 4 foot wide sidewalk around the entire equator of the earth with as much as they put into it.  Yup, that is a lot of concrete!


Have you been to Hoover Dam?  If you have I can pretty much guarantee a guess that your pictures are better than the ones I show above.  Is this a place, you hope to at least see once if you can?