Goblin

So, Goblin...its claim to fame is its hoodoos which as I understand it are also a key part of Bryce's appeal.  However, we saw not one hoodoo at Bryce so I would have felt remiss not showing my kids one single one, so we added a couple of hours to our trip to detour to Goblin instead of heading straight to Moab.  Worth. Every. Minute.  Its off the beaten trail but so cool.  Unlike in other places, at Goblin you can wander down among and onto the hoodoos-nothing is off limits.  We parked in the lot and just wandered and climbed and poked around for an hour and the kids really enjoyed it, as did I.  We hit the hot spots (the Three Sisters) and drove the whole park, then waited at the lot until full dark when the stars came out.  This park is officially one of the "darkest places on Earth" with no light pollution at all except what was generated by our car lights which we, of course, turned off.  At the end of the night it was just us and one other car parked in the pitch dark at the high point of this park staring up at an amazing array of stars.  I've never seen anything like it.  At the end of the trip we did a Best/Worst list and three of the six of us said Goblin was our favorite part of the trip.  If you are heading out to Utah, put this on your list, and try to hit it just before dark, and then stay for the show.  Its a sight to behold.

 the Valley of the Goblins (ie, hoodoos)

 The Three Sisters, one of the more distinct (and biggest) formations in the park...not quite in the valley with the others but just a short jaunt away from the road

 there is a frisbee golf course spread throughout the state park-would be a fun diversion if you were staying here...the campsite looked good too, with shaded overhangs at every site.

 Daniel leaping from hoodoo to hoodoo

 we walked to the "mountain" at the back of the valley and touched the wall

 Here you can see the valley of the hoodoos and the kids walking through it