The Devils Garden

Just a few miles into the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument there is a dirt road going south into the foothills. It is a dusty road flanked by large fields. Long Horn Cattle come close to the road here to see the passerby's as they zoom down main route 12. I take the turn off and drive down the dusty road. I am watching the time and the gas needle as I am going far out into a wilderness area. There are no gas stations or restaurants out here. There are many smaller enticing turn off roads but I am on a mission. I am looking for the famed Devils Garden that is somewhere down at the end of  road.

After what seemed like an hour I was wondering if my GPS was telling me the truth there was no road marked on the screen and it said I was driving on open range.  But then there it was a small hand painted sign on the left side of the road... Devils Garden this way.
Here is the photo essay of that stop. Click on the image to see it larger.

As the day moved from late morning to early evening my belly began to complain and road fatigue was setting in. Up ahead a few miles was the Boulder Mountain Lodge, a phone call and I had the last room for the night, lucky me. This is a first class lodge and is often totally booked. My room looked out on a small pond. The last image here is the view from the back deck off my room. This was such a nice place I booked two more days using it as a base from which to explore the back roads. They also have a great home made Elk Sausage.