Monument Valley Tribal Park is on the Arizona-Utah border and is one of the most brilliant jewels in the American Southwest. Its scenic wonders populate a long list of the most memorable Western images in movies, advertising and still photography. Yet nothing captures the sheer majesty and power of the place like being there. The ride up U.S. Highway 163 from Kayenta to Mexican Hat, Utah, runs right through the valley, which is broad and flat, ringed with high red rock cliffs and populated with mesas, buttes, monuments, spires and red sand dunes. Monument Valley is a treasure trove of scenic delight, history and Navajo culture. I have ridden the short scenic loop that is open to the public without escort, however, I heartily recommend paying one of the local Navajo companies for a guided tour. The three-hour journey will reward you with up-close and personal photo opportunities of the physical beauty, as well as historical and cultural perspectives that are necessary to fully appreciate the wonders of Monument Valley. I have, in the past, talked the guides into letting me ride the full tour if road conditions deep in the backcountry permit; unfortunately, this time they didn’t, at least for the big Harleys. Make certain to time your arrival at the visitor center to allow for either a sunrise or sunset. It is truly a magical place, and as the sun rises or sets, the entire palette shifts, coloring and being colored by sky and earth. We sat at the rim looking down into the valley at Mitten View and saluted the end of a fabulous day of riding by smoking a prized 10-year-old Cuban cigar, brought along for just this occasion—a Monte Cristo #2. “Beauty is below me.” (Click image to enlarge)

Following the religious experience of a Monument Valley sunrise, graced by a crescent moon, the ride north was delightful in the cool of the morning. A quick detour to see the Goosenecks of the San Juan is another side trip that is a must. From an overlook high above, you look down into the 1,000-foot-deep canyon cut into the layered slick rock by the San Juan River as it wanders back and forth in an accordion path. It meanders 22 miles in length by water, yet just over a single mile if you were to take a straight line. It is an awesome spot for a picnic or a cigar.

From Goosenecks, the road ahead leads to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, seldom-visited jewels in the Grand Loop. These two parks, though right on top of each other near Moab, Utah, couldn’t be more different for the rider. Canyonlands is characterized by rides along the high plateau and breathtaking overlooks down into scenic panoramas with a scope and majesty that defy comprehension. Arches is more intimate, allowing you to get up-close and personal with the arches—large and small, massive and delicate—that give this area its name. (Click images to enlarge)

From Moab, a good day’s ride took us out to Utah Highway 128, which runs alongside the Colorado River for miles in a canyon—sometimes just wide enough for the river and the road—with the canyon walls soaring a thousand feet straight up. Then we rode on to Utah Highway 12, universally rated as one of America’s most scenic byways. It was a smooth and simply lovely road of twisting, perfectly banked curves switching back and forth, with cliff face on one side and deep canyon on the other. Then, out of nowhere, the cliff face simply disappeared and the plateau fell away on both sides. The narrow, twisty road now ran along a razor-thin ridge, barely wide enough for the no-shoulder, two-lane road, with precipitous falls into deep canyons on both sides. The road wound on through cedar, gloriously colorful aspen and piñon pine forests, through Capitol Reef National Park and the Grand Staircase Escalante. We finally ended the day at the threshold of Bryce Canyon, buzzing with the sensory overload of the day’s ride.

From an elevated overlook at Bryce, the horizon, far in the distance, was not yet showing even a thin line of real light, but rather simply a dilution of the darkness. Soon, however, the sun began its ascent, first dimly edging and then providing that magical golden light that seems to illuminate from within Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos, spires and cliffs, with their hauntingly beautiful golden glow. The bizarre shapes and sheer numbers of the hoodoos make you step back and marvel at nature’s handiwork. The art of the sculptor, they say, is to be able to look at that solid, shapeless block of substance and see the art that resides within. Then, with patient skill, remove all the material that isn’t art. In Bryce Canyon, nature’s art is everywhere, and the process of sculpting and refining goes on moment by moment. As we experience it, it is changing slowly, constantly, beautifully becoming something new for us to witness on our next ride through. “Beauty is around me.” (Click image to enlarge)

By 9 am we were in the saddle and headed for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and two wonderful nights of luxury in the cabins at the fabulous Grand Canyon Lodge, a log-constructed relic from the 1930s. The dining room, verandas and multiple overlooks provide everything you could ask for from the Grand Canyon—all within walking distance—but we couldn’t resist the wonderful roads, and spent much of the day exploring away from the lodge, returning only for sunset cocktails and cigars. (Click image to enlarge)