Some wonders can only be seen on the roads that wander maps like curious children. These roads meander among the bolder blue lines of more serious highways, their paths represented by lines that grow thinner and more fractured and uncertain until they end in a series of dashes.
On these roads, travelers are often startled by the suddenness of open space that appears after a tunnel or a turn. Eyes weary of the claustrophobic margins of computer and television screens reflexively relax, seduced by the sheer vastness of a wide-angle world.

Some people find these large-scale landscapes intoxicating; others feel diminished or disoriented. How people react "depends on what their normal perspectives are, especially if they live in a city, where their horizons are so small," said Paul Henderson, public information officer for the National Park Service at Arches National Park near Moab, Utah.

When she started working at Grand Canyon National Park 21 years ago, park spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge felt dizzy standing at the edge of the mile-deep chasm. "I was very uncomfortable," she said. "Being around it has changed my feelings. I've lost my fear."

In most corners of the Four Corners, it's possible to gorge on gorgeousness without spending long stretches inside a car. In two days, a person can absorb nearly 2 billion years of Earth's history.

The Grand Staircase

The Grand Staircase is an immense work of earth artistry. This series of cliffs and plateaus sprawls 150 miles from the Grand Canyon's north rim to the Paunsaugunt Plateau above Bryce Canyon, but seen from the LaFevre Overlook on U.S. 89A in northern Arizona, it looks like one formation.

In the 1880s, geologist Clarence Dutton saw it as a "great stairway," with each cliff forming a riser and each plateau representing a tread. From the lowest tread, the Kaibab Plateau, the staircase rises more than 6,000 vertical feet, according to a Utah Geological Survey fact sheet. Named for their colors, the risers from bottom to top are the Chocolate (or Shinarump), Vermilion, White, Gray and Pink cliffs.

To reach the LaFevre Overlook, take U.S. 89 north from Flagstaff, Ariz., to Bitter Springs, where the highway splits. Follow 89A past Jacob Lake another 13 miles. The well-marked overlook is on the right side of the highway.

Grand Canyon's north rim

The Grand Canyon is too conspicuous and too exquisite for its own good. Yet most of the
5 million people who swarm the national park every year never wander far from the parking lots along the south rim's Desert View Drive, which stretches 25 miles between the Desert View observation area and Grand Canyon Village. Even a limited experience of such wall-to-wall wow can be overwhelming.

Only 10 percent of these visitors see the canyon's north rim — perhaps because its distance from a superhighway requires more commitment. The actual rim lies 43 miles from the North Rim Visitors Center in Jacob Lake, where Arizona 67 (North Rim Parkway) begins its journey through the meadows and forests of the Kaibab Plateau.

The road dead-ends at Grand Canyon Lodge, where a short walk to Bright Angel Point affords cross-canyon views of the distant San Francisco Peaks. Three miles north of the lodge, Cape Royal Road leads to the Point Imperial and Cape Royal observation sites.

Different perspectives are found at the end of numerous roads and trails that originate along the main parkway. Much farther west, the Toroweap (or Tuweep) Overlook lies at the end of a 70-mile-long unpaved road that begins as Mount Trumbull Loop nine miles west of Fredonia on Arizona 389 before merging with the equally primitive Toroweap Road. A decent topographical map and sturdy vehicle with spare tires are advised.

It costs $25 per vehicle to enter Grand Canyon National Park (or $12 for hikers, cyclists or motorcyclists). The pass is good for a week and admits visitors to all parts of the park.

Valley of the Gods

This red-rock expanse reminds visitors of the more famous Monument Valley that's just across the Utah-Arizona border. But here, at the southern edge of Grand Gulch Plateau, it's possible to spend hours without seeing another soul.

The Valley of the Gods runs between Cedar Mesa and Comb Ridge and is reached by a packed dirt and gravel road. From the tops or shoulders of the area's many buttes and mesas, people can appreciate the artful aspects of erosion even if they don't comprehend the science of their surroundings.

One end of Valley of the Gods Road begins on U.S. 163 about 15 miles west of Bluff, Utah. The other entrance begins on Utah 261 about 10 miles north of Mexican Hat. Admission is free.

Abajo Mountains overlook

Canyonlands National Park is one of the most spectacular national parks in the Southwest, but travelers on tight schedules never see it because each of its three main entrances requires a long trek from the nearest highway.

From the Abajo Mountains in Monticello, Utah, it's possible to see part of the Needles District of Canyonlands and its next-door neighbor, the Canyon Rims Recreation Area, without entering the park. To reach the access road, turn right, or west, onto 200 South from U.S. 191 in Monticello (it's two blocks south of the U.S. 191/491 intersection).

An immense, multihued sandstone wilderness appears to the north as the road crosses the northern flank of Abajo Peak. The contrast could hardly be more dramatic, with aspen and pine forests gradually giving way to slickrock desert.

Those who find the view irresistible can follow the road north along Hart's Draw and turn left onto Utah 211 to reach Newspaper Rock State Park and Canyonlands.