San Juan County Utah Tourism

Just beyond the places where everyone vacations is a land of space and time and silence; a vast land cut with deep canyons, punctuated by high mountains, and sparkling with sunlight.

Over 700 years ago the Ancestral Puebloan people lived in the canyons and on the mesas where silence now reigns. Quiet rock art speaks of time spent in these canyons and the silence of ruins hints at their communities.

At night one need only look up and time all but disappears. Splashed with uncountable brilliant lights, the night sky is unseen in most modern places. Summer programs at Natural Bridges National Monument offer insight into the heavens.

The screech of a hawk, the discussion of ravens, the slither of a lizard over rock, and the whistle of small birds, called swifts, performing aerobatics just for the fun of it were sounds heard by the Puebloans and heard now in the vast quiet that cloaks Canyon Country.

Time moves slowly along the swift flowing San Juan River where tours drift beneath timeless cliffs. The broad perspective of time is viewed through ancient rock art panels and ruins perched in cliff alcoves. The river itself offers lessons in contemplation and observation; egrets hunt in the shallows, eagles and hawks soar high above canyon walls, bighorn sheep drink at the river’s edge.

Our museums complete the experience of time travel. Explore the Navajo relationship with their exquisite home in Monument Valley together with the history of John Wayne films at Gouldings Museum. The Ancestral Puebloan people come to life at Edge of the Cedars State Park & Museum through a quiet window into the past. Huck’s Museum presents a vast collection of artifacts left by the departed ancient ones; bowls, arrowheads, tools used every day by people now long gone. Step farther back in time at the Dinosaur Museum where models of feathered dinos and dinosaur skin hint at a time before humans lived in the silence of Canyon Country.

Time and silence are paired with peace in this vast land. No malls here, no kick-up-your-heels tourist attractions, no constant activity. Come away, leave today’s noise behind, learn again the value of relaxation and uninterrupted thought. Visit Utah’s Canyon Country and enjoy our space, time, and silence.

Visitor information at www.utahscanyoncountry.com or Toll Free (800)-574-4386 before you come and at visitor centers in Monticello, Blanding, Bluff, and Monument Valley once you have arrived.