Goblin Valley State Park, Utah

Goblin Valley State Park, located northeast of Capitol Reef National Park, is famous for its thousands of hoodoos but, unlike many hoodoos in other areas of southwest, the eroded sandstone columns here bear strong resemblance to a variety of specific forms and many do in fact appear to be “goblins.” The valley with most of the hoodoos is encircled with fantastic sandstone buttes and it’s there that we started our hike rather than in the valley itself. We began mostly on a trail but after the trail ended at a mile and a half we just kept walking, exploring the cliffs and climbing into some of the canyons, in one of which we hiked up to a cave. One of the most incredible things were the multi-colored rocks we found outside the valley which were totally different from the cream and rust sandstone; not only were they beautiful, but very unique.

The Entrada Sandstone in the park has weathered into many interesting formations beyond the famous hoodoos, and we spent many hours hiking across the desert and enjoying the variety before deciding to turn back and ultimately enter the valley where the hoodoos were. Once there we had a good time recognizing shapes in the goblins and generally playing around. The park is definitely unique and very accessible, and a recommended place to visit for just about anyone.