From Natural Bridges and the Grand Gulch area, Hwy-261 runs south for some 25 miles before coming to what looks like a dead end at the edge of Cedar Mesa. From here, high above the eerie sandstone towers of the Valley of the Gods (where much of Thelma and Louise was filmed), the road turns to gravel before dropping over a thousand feet in little over two twisting, hairpin-turning miles down the " Moki Dugway ." Six miles from the foot of the switchbacks, the barely marked Hwy-316 shoots across what seems like a flat valley floor to yet another overlook, this time high above the SAN JUAN RIVER at the extraordinary and aptly named Goosenecks State Reserve (open 24hr; free). A textbook example of what geologists call an entrenched meander, the river, a thousand feet below, snakes around in such convoluted twists and turns that it flows six miles in total for every one mile west.

Back on Hwy-261 and just south, sleepy MEXICAN HAT , briefly a frenzied gold-mining camp, takes its name from a riverside sandstone hoodoo , just north of town, that looks more than a little like a south-of-the-border sombrero. More of a cluster of buildings on the banks of the river than a town, it's good fun and makes a good base for visiting Monument Valley, twenty miles south. The best place to stay is the San Juan Inn (tel 435/683-2220 or 1-800/447-2022; $50-75), right on the river, which has its own grocery store and trading post, where the amiable Olde Bridge Bar and Grill offers cold beers and Navajo tacos. Just up the road, Mexican Hat Lodge (tel 435/683-2222; $50-75) has an atmospheric steakhouse.

The rafts you may see emerging from the water at Mexican Hat went in at BLUFF , twenty miles upstream. US-163, the road between, doesn't follow the river very closely but is still an enthralling drive, and when you get there the town itself has a number of Mormon pioneer houses along its backstreets. Places to eat in Bluff include the Twin Rocks Café (tel 435/672-2341) and the Cottonwood Steakhouse (tel 435/672-2282), while an excellent new motel at the south end of town, the Desert Rose Inn , 701 W Hwy-191 (tel 435/672-2303 or 1-888/475-7673, ; $50-75), holds thirty attractively designed and well furnished rooms.

San Juan River, Mexican Hat and Bluff

• San Juan River, Mexican Hat and Bluff

Utah cities


All U.S. city guides