The reality of daily living, more often than not, puts most of us where we don’t want to be. Our jobs and daily commitments tend to absorb most of our time. Finances put a limit on our travel. For me, embarking upon a cross country trip to Utah was something that I could afford to do, at most, only once a year. The contrast between southern Utah and New York could not possibly have been more extreme. After a couple of weeks in pure wilderness, urban living can be a real nightmare. I lacked contact with anyone else of similar experience. I began to question the reality of what had actually happened in Southern Utah. Was I simply overreacting the excitement of seeing someplace new? Was I simply being too sensitive? Would my intense feelings fade with time? After many months had passed I began to realize that instead of fading away, my feelings had begun to intensify. The unearthly beauty of Red Rock Country was occupying more and more of my thoughts. The mystery that seemed to lurk behind the rock began to haunt me.

The Enchanted Wilderness by Ward J. RoylanceIn an effort to retain my sanity, I intensified my search for others who had experienced something similar. When one begins to question the reality of a situation, a shared thread of common experience with someone else can help immensely. Eventually, I turned to books.

The first book that I came across was a wonderful book called Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey. As it turns out, Desert Solitaire is a classic account on one man’s love affair with the desert. The book was wonderfully written, but more than anything, it showed me that at least one other person had, in Abbey’s words, "fallen in love with a pile of rock." For the first time since returning from Red Rock Country I realized that I was not alone!

In the many years since that time, I have discovered quite a few books that have helped to solidify my foundation in Red Rock Country. In fact, I can honestly state that The Enchanted Wilderness, by Ward Roylance, changed the course of my entire life. While I cannot guarantee that all of these books will shake your foundation, I do believe that most people interested in Red Rock Country will find many of them interesting. A few of these are quite easy to locate in any bookstore, the majority will take a bit of hunting, and the remainder have often made me wonder if perhaps I own the only copies in existence.

Coming up with a list of books to recommend about Utah was not an easy thing to do. More than anything else, personal taste plays a big part in what a person is willing to read. I have always been a nonfiction fan, so my own personal taste tends toward that category. But certainly, that is not, ahem, written in stone.

Note: This list is far from complete. Actually, it can never truly be complete. I will, however, add more books as time permits.

Book List

Southern Utah Books

UtahRedRocks.com Store