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While on the way back from a guided tour of Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef National Park, we stopped at Goblin Valley State Park. In Utah, the State Parks are every bit as spectacular as the National Parks, with fewer crowds.
Goblin Valley State Park features thousands of mushroom-shaped hoodoo rocks, referred to as “goblins.” Goblin Valley has as many of these hoodoos as Bryce National Park, but most of the ones we saw in Bryce were pointier.
Our guide didn’t know we were huge Sci-Fi fans and so didn’t anticipate the sheer delight we experienced at finding ourselves in the middle of the alien planet that Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver and crew landed on in the movie Galaxy Quest.
While we didn’t see any beryllium spheres, we did enjoy the paved roads into the park. The fees the state received for allowing the movie to be filmed there paid for the access road.
We spent at least an hour walking among the bizarre formations. Hubby found one that looked like an Easter Island head, there was another with a cool window. We saw very few people the whole time we were there.
Location: Goblin Valley Rd, Green River, UT 84525
Designation: State Park
Date designated or established: 8/24/1964
Date of my visit: 4/13/2017
Glad that you covered this state park. Some of our favorite sights are in the desert of Utah with incredible rock formations. Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef and Arches are obvious, but there’s also the nearby Colorado National Monument and others that you mention. And there have been many Hollywood movies that have used the scenery for their films from sci-fi to westerns to Thelma and Louise.
Thanks Don! Utah state parks are fabulous! This one was not originally on the itinerary…so glad we found it.
Love love love this park!!! What fabulous pictures, well done!
Thanks MB! Visiting this park was a last minute decision…so glad we found it!
We’re going there in April. Excited to see it in person.
Thanks for sharing
Great! The other State Parks we visited were Coral Pink Sand Dunes and Petrified Forest in Escalante. Those were great stops too, but Goblin Valley was our favorite 😊
Utah is an amazing state. Goblin Valley is still on my list of must see places. Thanks for the tour!
Thanks for commenting! Goblin Valley was a last minute add to our itinerary and we were so glad to see it!
Wow that place looks amazing. Very different than what I am used to. I hope I can see it in person 1 day. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! Yes the whole area was an alien kind of beauty to us being from the Northeast.
This park looks amazing! I’m going to add it to my list! Galaxy Quest 🙂 nice post!
Lol, Trekkie here. Once I heard the Galaxy Quest part, I had to add it to the itinerary 😂🖖
We sort of stumbled across this park while we were driving through the vicinity, and also had much fun exploring the whimsical rock formations, without too many other visitors. We hope to swing back by there one of these days.
Thanks! We are glad we found it…and I think there is another section where the wild horses hang out. I would love to go back for that
…I would, too!
I’ve got to add this one to my list. Great photos.
Thanks! We loved this last minute itinerary addition😊
We missed this park in 2017 but will definitely return. Great pics!
Thanks! We need to go back to Utah to see the parks we missed that trip. So many beautiful places in that state!
Wow! This is a good find. The National parks on the area are great. Thanks for finding state parks that are every bit as spectacular.
Thanks! We saw 3 of the state parks that trip and there are still more we’d like to get to next time
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