We drove to the southern end of the gorge, which is closest to where we are staying. We stopped in one of the Park Service Visitor Center, where somehow we got roped into watching a video about watersheds and the things that impact them. It was a little preachy, to be honest, but we do agree with the idea.
We ended up driving to the Grandview section – this park is really, really huge so it’s got a bunch of ‘sections’ – which is at the top of one of the mountains. We apparently were at the highest point in the park, which I think was 1400 feet. The day was kind of overcast but we did get some great pics of the New River:
We decided to hike along the Rim Trail to Turkey Spur. Apparently it’s called that because turkeys sometimes roost there, although the sign did say we were more likely to see turkey vultures than turkeys. I have to say I didn’t mind not seeing much of any bird given that. The rocks there were pretty cool:
And the view was nothing to sneeze at either:
Once we hiked back to the car, we headed down the mountain to Sandstone Falls. These are one of the highlights of the park, and they did not disappoint.
Tomorrow the plan is to explore the northern end of the park. More crazy mountain roads….