Joshua Tree, Zion and Bryce National Parks

We visited 3 Southwest National Parks on vacation - I can't get enough of our country's natural beauty.
The first was Joshua Tree in California.

As the park radio said, the joshua trees look like they belong in a Dr Seuss book.

There were a lot of rock formations, but I only took a couple pics of the rocks.

And for perspective of the last shot.

The first third of the park had the most joshua trees, a view from the top.

I really like these trees.

Snow capped mountains in the distance.

The middle of the park was filled with cholla cacti.

Another view in the cholla cactus garden.

And the last portion of the park was covered in blankets of wildflowers.

Mostly purple and yellow.

They smelled wonderful.

And this blue one was my favorite.

This is a section of I -15 through the northwest corner of Arizona.

Zion was the second park of our trip.

It was a little cool this time of year.

I liked the patterns in the rocks.

This was one of my favorites.

Kolob Canyon just before sunset - I don't have a panoramic lens, I pieced 4 pictures together, so it's not perfect.

A close up of the same area.

The rocks get a brighter, glowing red in the sun.

And the last park, and my favorite was Bryce Canyon, also in Utah. This was along the drive on the way to the park.

It was fairly early morning.

We drove through 2 of these arches.

And now in the park, it was cold.

Beautiful, but cold.

Unfortunatley it was too icy to hike as much as we would have liked to.

The park ranger suggested hiking boots with chains attached on the bottoms for traction.

It was in the mid 30's and windy.

We're already planning to go back during warmer weather to hike more.

But I'm glad to have seen it in the snow.

The views were breathtaking.

The Natural Bridge - which is actually an arch. Arches are formed by the wind wearing away the rocks, and bridges are formed by water wearing away the rocks.

And my favorite, Bryce Point.

Debilu, wonderful pics! I haven't been to Bryce since 1996. It was August and so different, but I still remembered some of the views. Thanks so much for posting!

Thanks for looking booj, glad you enjoyed them. I would like to see the difference in summer too.

Beautiful absolutely beautiful! Great pics, thanks so much for posting them. Warms me up on a cold rainy day in March I'll tell ya.

Deb, those are wonderful pictures of such gorgeous places!! I just loved Zion and Bryce.....and have never been to Joshua Tree, so your shots of it were also very interesting to me. I really loved that blue flower that was your favorite. The color is so pretty! We went to the Utah parks in 1994 in June.........one of the best vacations I've ever taken. The natural beauty of that whole area is so majestic! Thanks very much for taking the time to post those lovely shots!! I'm glad to see you had a nice vacation!!

Thanks, it was a beautiful vacation, I love seeing any National or State Park.

Beautiful, Deb!! Thanks.