We are staying for a month near Kanab, Utah. We are 70 miles north of Grand Canyon and 25 miles east of Zion National Park. About 75 miles to the northeast lies Bryce Canyon.
There is incredibly rugged outdoor beauty in every direction, and the area has been the setting for more than 100 movies, about half of them westerns, including Stagecoach and the Outlaw Josie Wales. Several TV shows shot outdoor episodes there, including Wagon Train and Gunsmoke.
A dilapidated Gunsmoke set lies just a few miles up a nearby canyon, so Ellen and I chose to see if we could find it, and we did. You can see why they located it here. From the TV set, we headed up the canyon towards a state park called Kodachrome Basin. Once the pavement ended, we THOUGHT we would be on a reasonably good dirt road for another 25 miles. It turned out to be a marginal, and at times scary, dirt road for about 50 miles. But the scenery all along the way was spectacular, and it turned out to be a wonderful adventure — especially now that we are on the other side of it…
The old Gunsmoke set 
The main visitors are cows 
And a few lovely tourists 
A dream landscape for western movies 
Even Kodachrome State Park looks like it comes out of a western 
Sentinel Rock — which I think should be called Gandolf the Grey 
Chimney Rock, with our truck for size perspective 
This is why National Geographic renamed the park Kodachrome 
Another beautiful Kodachrome vista
Just absolutely WOW!! How beautiful!!! There is so much to see in our own country that I want to see and visit, that going overseas does not call me. Something about this territory just calls to my heart. Have you found yet an affinity to any particular place?
Thank you for sharing.
megan
Megan — Because Ellen and I met in Yellowstone, I have an affinity for Yellowstone and the Tetons. But I love this country as well!