Zion National Park, less than a three-hour drive from Las Vegas, offers some of Utah’s most outstanding scenery. Red rock cliffs, waterfalls, and breathtaking views are some of the top attractions. If you’re here to really experience nature, you’ll find quality campgrounds and RV parks in and near Zion National Park. Breathtaking stone arches and rolling petrified dunes surrounded by the often snow-capped peaks of the La Sal Mountains make this one of Utah’s most picturesque parks.
Arches National Park is home to more than 2,000 natural stone arches. The most famous and most photographed is Delicate Arch, which stands like a horseshoe that rises from the ground and frames the distant mountains. Arches National Park is just outside Moab, a town known among mountain bikers and outdoor adventurers.. The park is significantly higher than the city and is accessible via a winding road with impressive views..
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several other picturesque parks nearby and a variety of good campgrounds in the area.. Like a scene from an old western movie, red rock stubs rise from the orange desert ground, and occasionally even a horse and a rider wander by. This is Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, which is located on the Navajo Indian Reservation on the Utah-Arizona border.. Famous for its spectacular red mesas and stone pinnacles, numerous films and commercials have been filmed in this picturesque area..
Within the park is Valley Drive, a 17-mile self-driving one-way street that runs between the Buttes and through the dramatic landscape. Excerpts along the entire route offer great opportunities to take pictures and enjoy the landscape. If you want to cross this one street to better explore the park, you’ll need to use a guide that can be arranged at the visitor center. If you don’t have time for the trip, which is usually at a snail’s pace due to the curves and sightseeing stops, the views from Monument Valley Visitor Center are spectacular and one of the best viewpoints in Monument Valley.
The other two parts of the park, the Needles District and The Maze, offer a slightly different type of landscape but are also impressive. The Needles area is one of the best places to hike in the park, and The Maze is a popular spot for 4×4 road trips.. The temple from the late 19th century is located in Temple Square. It is the largest church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and one of Salt Lake City’s most important landmarks.. Only church members are allowed to enter the temple, but it’s definitely worth stopping by to take a look.
Another place to visit in the area is the Salt Lake Tabernacle.. Utah Olympic Park, which is also nearby, was used as the venue for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Today, it offers year-round activities for kids and adults, from ziplining and hiking in summer to bobsledding in winter. For outdoor adventures in the southwest, the city of Moab is hard to beat.
As the closest community to Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dead Horse Point State Park, this area offers endless opportunities for hiking, biking, rafting, off-road adventures, and more. The rolling, petrified dunes and the surrounding mountains offer breathtaking scenery and a playground for numerous outdoor activities.. Dirt roads that allow you to travel long distances without ever passing another vehicle are part of the experience. With an area of 1.9 million acres, this is the largest national monument in the United States and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, not the National Park Service.
Dead Horse Point State Park, just outside Moab, offers one of the best viewpoints of any state park in Utah. The main viewpoint looks out over a swan neck in the Colorado River, which meanders through the colorful landscape.. Cliff walls that rise 2,000 feet and plateaus at different levels extend into the distance. The park is full of great activities, such as motorized off-road driving in the 15,000 hectare sand dunes, swimming in warm water, kayaking and pleasure boating.
The same forces of nature that shaped Bryce Canyon were at work in Cedar Breaks and created a smaller but equally dynamic amphitheater.. The amphitheater is dominated by colorful hoodoos and is more than 2,000 feet deep and has a diameter of three miles. If you only visit one, make it to Sipapu, the largest and most impressive of the three. The Walk In is a moderately strenuous 1.2-mile circular hike, which involves navigating steep sections and climbing a few stairs and ladders.
The Kachina Bridge is reached by a 1.5-mile circular hike, but the trail is easier although it still has some steep sections. The Dinosaur National Monument is known not only for the large number of fossils from the Jurassic period that were discovered here, but also for the surrounding terrain.. The highlight is the collection of more than 1,500 dinosaur fossils, which can be seen nestled in the rock face of Carnegie Quarry. Great Salt Lake, a half-hour drive northwest of Salt Lake City, is the largest lake west of the Mississippi and measures 72 miles long, 34 miles wide and up to 50 feet deep.
It is a remnant of a much larger freshwater lake, Lake Bonneville.. After a drop in groundwater levels, this lake had no outlet and shrank as a result of evaporation, leaving behind the Great Salt Lake Desert. The combination of evaporation with the inflow of mineral-rich surface waters led to a steady increase in the salinity of the lake and reached 27 percent at one point in time (eight times as high as the world’s oceans). Most of the time, it is completely empty, and you can try it yourself.
If you venture here when there’s no event taking place, you’ll find little more than a roadside sign and endless miles of salt flats.. Take exit 4 from I-80, turn right and drive past the bus stop. There is nothing else out here. Finally, you’ll come to a sign and an area where you can drive into the apartments at your own risk.
Bryce Canyon National Park is known for its hoodoos, rock pillars in strange shapes that are the result of erosion over time. It’s possible to spend as much or as little time in the park as you like. Arches National Park is home to more than 2,000 natural stone arches as well as large balanced rocks, massive fins and huge pinnacles. No matter where you look in this park, you’ll see unique textures, landforms, and colors that make it look almost like another planet.
Zion National Park also has unique plants and animals. Those who want to exercise during their visit can backpack, bike, canyoning, rock climbing, hiking, horseback riding, or boating. For a more relaxing trip, you can go birdwatching or join a ranger-led activity, such as taking a walk or having a chat. Top 5 places to visit in Arches National Park, Utah.
With over 2,000 sandstone arches within its borders, Arches National Park is definitely one of the most unique places in Utah — or even in the entire USA. Packed with hiking trails and desert views, a visit to Arches National Park feels a bit like visiting a playground big enough for adults.. Arches National Park is just outside Moab in southeastern Utah and is easy to combine with a visit to Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park — but more on that below. Despite its famous vantage point, there are other reasons to visit Dead Horse Point State Park.
There are hiking and mountain bike trails for outdoor recreation.. The trail to the summit of Angels Landing is 2.5 miles with an altitude difference of 1,500 feet. However, the hike is not for the faint hearted, as the trail has numerous narrow sections and sharp drops at the last push up.. Observation Point is a hike in Zion National Park that leads to arguably the most incredible viewpoint in the entire park..
This trail climbs almost 2,000 feet to the summit of the 6,521 foot summit of Mt Baldy and makes Angels Landing seem like a piece of cake. Under Canvas offers an exceptional accommodation experience and the opportunity for guests to experience camping in a more luxurious setting.. Located on almost 200 acres just twenty miles from the entrance to Zion National Park, this glamping destination is an oasis of solitude in the American Southwest. The 30-minute concerts take place every day of the week at 12:00 and are free of charge..
The tabernacle organ is considered one of the best in the world and consists of 11,623 pipes. The console has five keyboards. Take a trip back in time at the Pioneer Memorial Museum, where you can explore exhibits that display the belongings of pioneers who traveled 2,000 miles west of Illinois through the plains seeking religious freedom and settling down in the Salt Lake Valley.. Sundance, which began in 1978, was founded by Robert Redford’s company Wildwood to present American films and boost filmmaking in Utah. The two-week event is a great time to visit Park City because of the nightly screenings and the lively, fun atmosphere..
One of the most unique experiences you can have in Utah is taking a dip in Homestead Crater. What is the Homestead Crater, you might ask yourself? The Homestead Crater is a geothermal spring hidden in a 55-foot limestone rock that was formed over 10,000 years ago when melting snow seeped deep into the earth on the Wasatch Mountains.. This water was then heated through the earth’s interior and seeped upward to form the volcano-shaped limestone deposit.. The island in the sky is the main part of the park and is located on a huge 1,500 foot high Mesa, hence the name..
This island offers panoramic views however you look, and there is a scenic drive that leads to many turnouts, with one breathtaking view after another.. Other areas of the park that you shouldn’t miss include the Needles and the more remote canyons of Maze and Horseshoe Canyon.. Coyote Gulch’s main gorge can be reached via one of several starting points along Hole-in-the-Rock Road, an unpaved road that heads southeast into the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in front of Utah Scenic Byway 12. Great Salt Lake is a remnant of old Lake Bonneville, a huge ice age lake that was approximately 20,000 square miles in size and covered Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. At 75 miles long, Great Salt Lake is still the largest lake west of the Mississippi and the largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere..
The bison here were introduced in 1893 and now number around 600 animals.. The free-roaming herd can be seen as you drive around the island or hiking along the trails. However, be careful and keep a safe distance as they are unpredictable and can cause serious injuries.. The Bonneville Salt Flats are a huge flat area spread over 30,000 acres near the Utah-Nevada border..
These endless kilometers of salt works are the result of an old lake that has dried up and left behind nothing but salt deposits.. This old Lake Bonneville was spectacularly huge and filled most of the Great Basin.. Note, however, that the road to the falls is very uneven and should only be tried in a vehicle with a high ground clearance.. The other alternative way to reach this secret location is on foot..
If you choose the latter, the hike is 12 miles, so be prepared for a long distance.. However, it’s definitely worthwhile when you finally reach the hidden oasis in the desert. This free-standing arch is not only widely recognized as a symbol of Utah, but is also one of the world’s most famous geological features. Located along the Utah and Arizona border, Lake Powell is 200 miles long and has hundreds of winding bays to explore.
Since then, I’ve visited more than 50 countries on 5 continents and lived in Portugal. In doing so, I developed a particular love for traveling in Europe (especially Italy). As with the other Utah National Parks, this park also has several ranger-led programs, such as. B. guided tours for the whole family. From popular national parks in the desert to treasured ski towns high in the mountains, Utah is a year-round destination that deserves a very long bucket list. At one end, exposed sandstone cliffs descend into the clear water; at the other end, sand dunes stretch out to the water’s edge, forming wide and beautiful beaches that are among the best in Utah.
It is a popular hidden gem in Utah due to its backcountry location, where camping, backpacking, hiking, and biking are allowed with no fee or permit. Not only can you get up high in the air at Angel’s Landing, you can also go in the opposite direction by hiking right through the river at the bottom of a gorge in The Narrows. If you’re visiting Utah, a visit to the park is highly recommended for its incredible views and to learn more about its importance to the Navajo people.. The visitor center is open from June to October, and other parts of the site are closed to visitors in certain months due to weather conditions.
For many travelers, Hurricane, Utah is simply the gateway town to Zion National Park, but it’s actually an incredible area to explore.