Travelogue

Bentonite Hills on the way to the MDRSWe left Hanksville and drove west on Utah 24 for about 3.5 miles before turning right onto Cow Dung Road. From there we drove about 7 miles through the incredible red and white bentonite hills before coming to the Mars Desert Research Station.

These colorful hills are formed of mud, silt, sand and volcanic ash deposited in swamps and lakes in the Jurassic Period. Their surface is like popcorn and becomes an impassible, sticky mess when rained on, so we had to be sure we kept our eyes on the weather.

It felt like we were on Mars. In fact, it was chosen for field research because of its similarities to the red planet. So much so that it was used as the setting of the fictional planet Vulcan in the 2009 film Star Trek.

Mars Desert Research StationBuilt and managed by the Mars Society, it is one of only four simulated Mars habitats in the words being used to simulate the hardships and challenges that pioneers would face in a potential colonization of Mars.

Although not allowed on the grounds, we could see several of the buildings. The two-story, eight-meter cylindrical one is called the “Habitat,” also known as “Hab.”

Astronauts and research crews spend two weeks at a time living in Hab. To most realistically simulate the Martian environment, they wear space suits and carry walkie talkies whenever they step outside Hab.

Painted Hills beyond the MDRSIt would have been so cool to see astronauts wandering around the bentonite hills, but I later learned that they are only here from October to May - I guess because of the heat.

From the MDRS, we continued driving north on Cow Dung Road for 4 miles to an area called the Painted Hills, marked on Google with a photo icon meaning it’s photogenic. It certainly was.

I don’t know how to describe it other than to say there were white rock pedestals topped with a slanted golden rock boulder. I wish I knew how they were formed and what kind of rock they were, but I don’t. They were beautiful to look at though.