3 Best Sights in Marble Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park

The route north from Cameron Trading Post on U.S. 89 offers a stunning view of the Painted Desert. The desert, which covers thousands of square miles stretching to the south and east, is a vision of subtle, almost harsh beauty, with windswept plains and mesas, isolated buttes, and barren valleys in pastel patterns. About 30 miles north of Cameron Trading Post, the Painted Desert country gives way to sandstone cliffs that run for miles. Brilliantly hued and ranging in color from light pink to deep orange, the Echo Cliffs rise to more than 1,000 feet in many places. They are essentially devoid of vegetation, but in a few high places, thick patches of tall cottonwood and poplar trees, nurtured by springs and water seepage from the rock escarpment, manage to thrive.

At Bitter Springs, 60 miles north of Cameron, U.S. 89A branches off from U.S. 89, running north and providing views of Marble Canyon, the geographical beginning of the Grand Canyon. Like the Grand Canyon, Marble Canyon was formed by the Colorado River. Traversing a gorge nearly 500 feet deep is Navajo Bridge, a narrow steel span built in 1929 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Formerly used for car traffic, it now functions only as a pedestrian overpass.

West of the town of Marble Canyon are these spectacular cliffs, more than 3,000 feet high in many places. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is required here, as there are no paved roads and the sand is deep. Keep an eye out for condors; the giant endangered birds were reintroduced into the area in 1996. Reports suggest that the birds, once in captivity, are surviving well in the wilderness.