Without question, the Canyonlands region of southeastern Utah is home to some of the most stunning and unique geological features on the face on the planet. It’s where millions of acres of red rock desert canyons, mesas, and spires layered with junipers, sagebrush, rabbit bush, and prickly pear cactus intersect with 11,000 foot peaks covered in alpine forests rich in conifers and aspen. In the heart of this country is the 337,000-acre Canyonlands National Park, first designated in the early 1960s.

This is also where the Durango-based Great Old Broads for Wilderness held their annual “Broads Walk” the last week of September. Attendees at the four-day event, including a few husbands (referred to as “bros”), joined with the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, which was also hosting an outing to the same region. Together the groups celebrated this landscape, learned about old and new threats to the region, and discussed what many hope will be a future designated national monument of the Greater Canyonlands.

The event included camp-based information sessions and field trips to witness impacts from decades of mismanaged grazing, unprotected historic Indian ruins, and newly proposed off-road vehicle routes through sensitive areas. The highlight for many of ...

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