Lee's Ferry Lodge

Description:

• Some of the world's best porch-sitting can be enjoyed on the patios outside of this 1929 lodge's low sandstone buildings (a popular stopping place for trout fishers trying their luck above Lees Ferry). The patios, like those at nearby Cliff Dwellers, afford stunning views south across the highway toward the greenish-pink Marble Platform or north to the Vermilion Cliffs. Though the motel sits close to the road, traffic is slow at night.

  The older rooms, which are small and rustic, have been redecorated in themes ranging from cowboy to -- yes -- fish. Double rooms in newer, prefab style buildings are available for groups of up to four people.

  After rigging boats for trips down the Colorado, many river guides come to the restaurant here, the Vermilion Cliffs Bar & Grill, and not just because it stocks roughly 85 types of domestic and imported beers. The specialty baby back ribs with homemade barbecue sauce taste fabulous, and the chef also prepares excellent hand-cut steaks, including filet mignon. The staff provides low-key, if sometimes slow, service in a dining room whose wood walls, tables, chairs, and bar all seem to have been hewn from the same tree. The restaurant can be very crowded at dinnertime during peak fishing periods (generally fall and spring). Hearty breakfasts are also served.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010