It will be a full day, but if you want to get away for a day or two,  a trip to Utah's Grosvenor Arch is going to be worth the drive.

A six-hour drive southwest of Grand Junction will take you to the northwestern corner of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. What you will find is the amazing Grosvenor Arch, which is actually two sandstone arches reaching more than 150 feet above the ground and 92 feet across.

Don't Forget Your Camera

From the parking lot, you take a short paved trail right up to the base of the arch where you can look straight up at this majestic formation. Pictures certainly don't do it justice. I was in complete awe of this thing when I first saw it. The Grosvenor Arch is huge, beautiful, and very impressive.

Check Out the Nearby Scenery

Once you arrive and have finished taking scores of photos, you may want to enjoy a picnic. If you aren't in a big rush to hit the road, continue driving south deeper into the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. You'll find a myriad of unique rock formations and scenic landscapes all along the road, which continues for another 35 miles or so. A word of caution. It's a dirt road, travel will be very slow and there are signs indicating the road may be impassable when wet.

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What to Know If You Go

If you are approaching the arch from the north, you'll have about 10 miles of unpaved road that really isn't bad at all. It's a little off the beaten path so it's a great way to get away from the crowds of people flocking to Bryce and Zion National Parks and Goblin Valley State Park.

You could do this trip in a day from Grand Junction, but with 12 hours of total drive time, you would want to leave early in the morning. The best plan is probably to find a place to camp for the night and make the return trip the next day.

Utah's Magnificent Grosvenor Arch

It will be a full day, but if you want to get away for a day or two, a trip to Utah's Grosvenor Arch is going to be worth the drive. A six-hour drive southwest of Grand Junction will take you to the northwestern corner of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. What you will find is the amazing Grosvenor Arch, which is actually two sandstone arches reaching more than 150 feet above the ground and 92 feet across.

LOOK: Stunning vintage photos capture the beauty of America's national parks

Today these parks are located throughout the country in 25 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The land encompassing them was either purchased or donated, though much of it had been inhabited by native people for thousands of years before the founding of the United States. These areas are protected and revered as educational resources about the natural world, and as spaces for exploration.

Keep scrolling for 50 vintage photos that show the beauty of America's national parks.

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