– Jim Wirth

The San Jose Mercury News’ online publication MercuryNews.com ran a great article yesterday about how to Plan a trip to Southwest Utah, written by Associated Press Writer Roger Petterson.  In his article, Petterson provides a handful of very useful recommendations on destinations like Cedar City, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, and Zion National Park, complete with driving routes, and links to websites with even more helpful information.  Petterson has a real knack for writing  about trip planning for popular destinations throughout the United States, and you can find over 50 of his archived articles at The Free Library – you might just find what you’ve been looking for to plan your next trip.

If you are planning on visiting Southwest Utah anytime soon, in addition to visiting the websites recommended in Roger Petterson’s article, you will find some great videos to help with your planning right here on OpenRoad.TV:

          –  Grand Southwestern Roadtrip

          –  Canyoneering near Zion Park

          –  Picture Perfect Zion Park

          –  Moab Mountain Biking

          –  Colorado River Rafting

– Jim Wirth 

Mike Malandra is a professional landscape photographer.  Mike recently discovered the OpenRoad.TV group on Facebook and posted a few of his photos and video photo slideshows.  Mike spent a little time on the OpenRoad.TV website and loved what he saw, so he reached out to me through Facebook this week to say hello, and boy am I glad he did.  Being the curious person I am, I went out to Mike’s “Elements of Nature” photography website, and was very impressed with his work.  Mike’s online gallery showcases his landscape photos throughout a number of states in the American West, as well as New York, New Jersey, Florida and Hawaii.

One photo in particular, which Mike has titled “Rock Fins,” really jumped out at me, and Mike has graciously allowed me to share it here…

“Rock Fins” was photographed by Mike in March of 2007 at Utah’s Arches National Park in the Courthouse Towers area of the park.  Adequately named, Arches National Park boasts over 2,000 natural sandstone arches and many other unusual rock formations exposed over millions of years by the awesome forces of nature.  Thanks for sharing Mike, and keep up the great work!

And while we’ve got you thinking about the natural wonders of Utah, check out our Grand Southwestern Roadtrip and Zion National Park adventures.