Goosenecks State Park

When I hear the word meander, I think of wandering slowly or aimlessly.  Rivers meander, too.  In Colorado, I have seen slowly meandering streams that are good places to catch trout and that eventually smooth out a meadow.  But water doesn't always meander slowly; it often makes major changes in the landscape--like when it forms the Grand Canyon.

In the far south edge of Utah, near the eastern border with Colorado, the San Juan River has meandered for millions of years, resulting in a twisting, curving river that advances only 1.5 miles west over a distance of over six miles.  This is what we saw when we visited Goosenecks State Park.

The close view above shows how the river cut out layer after layer of rock over the years. The water is dark red because there had been a heavy rain the day before, washing lots of the nearby red soil into the river. Below, you can see more canyons toward the horizon.

In this photo, the meander to the right is visible. 

We walked along a point of land to the left till we came to a point where the river meandered further to our left. Looking across the area, we could see many canyons formed by the power of San Juan River water.

Years ago, we camped in Dead Horse Point State Park near Moab, Utah. There, we could look down on similar views made by the meandering Colorado River.

There is a campground at Goosenecks SP. Some of the sites overlook the river. But they are just barren spots on the ground with picnic tables and fire rings and a few trash cans. There are no hookups and you have to bring your water from somewhere else. No campsites were occupied when we were they, but it looks like your neighbors would be very close if it was full. We enjoyed the view but wouldn't be interested in camping there. You might see great sunrises and sunsets, I imagine.