The gnats and mosquitos were out in force that mid-June evening at our campsite, as was the Indian paintbrush, the penstemon, globe mallow and other wildflowers whose names I don’t know. The long ...

CEDAR MESA, Utah — The fight over federal protections for this desert region has reached a critical stage. Republican lawmakers aim to roll out a bill soon, but President Obama could pre-empt them by ...

Hiking Owl Canyon in Cedar Mesa, Utah, I reach a dry waterfall too steep to descend, forcing me to explore both sides of the canyon in search of a path down. I find a route that funnels me back into ...

At Sen. Orrin Hatch’s urging, President Trump reorganizes Bears Ears and Grand Staircase into five monuments; proclamation strips out Cedar Mesa, other key sites. Where Utah once had two large ...

Andrew Skurka is a professional backpacker and author of The Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide. Cedar Mesa is an uninhabited 400-square-mile plateau with elevations ranging from 4,500 to 7,000 feet above ...

Well after nightfall on a recent Friday, I steered my sedan through a barren patch of desert in southeastern Utah. Outside the windows, juniper, pinon and sage jerked in the wind. No headlights lit ...

Delighting the state’s elected leaders, Trump trimmed nearly 2 million from southern Utah land preserves; proclamations stripped out Cedar Mesa, other key landscapes. Where Utah once had two large ...

CEDAR MESA, Utah — It was a balmy March morning, and I was speeding down a glorious stretch of Utah highway alongside soaring red-rock cliffs and the churning Colorado River. I cruised through ...