Make the most of your trip to Utah
Utah is an outdoor adventurist’s playground. The majority of Utah is vast and sparsely populated land. In these wide-open spaces, you’ll find some of the most stunning views and geographic formations on the planet.
In Salt Lake City visitors can explore the most important city and buildings. Stepping away from the big city you’ll find natural wonders like sharply etched canyons. Rugged natural spires and towers, and artfully swooping arches. All products of Mother Nature, preserved in Utah’s amazing National Parks.
Arches National Park
Arches National Park is home to over 2000 natural sandstone arches that attract visitors by the thousands. The arches and other unique geological formations. Known for their bizarre and spectacular formations. You can see arches, towers, pinnacles, and balanced rocks from the paved park roads. Take a hike, and you can see even more.
Start your visit at Arches Visitor Center, located just one mile inside the entrance. Park Avenue and the Courthouse Towers area. You can walk among massive monoliths and towering walls. Balanced Rock one of the most iconic features in the park, stands a staggering 128 feet.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon formed by features called hoodoos created thanks to frost weathering and erosion. The most popular activity at Bryce Canyon National Park is viewpoints found all along the park’s 18-mile main road which travels from the park’s only entrance in the north along the plateau rim to its highest elevations in the south.
Bryce Canyon is not a single canyon, but a series of natural amphitheaters or bowls, carved into the edge of a high plateau. The most famous of these is the Bryce Amphitheater, which is filled with irregularly eroded spires of rocks called hoodoos. Various hiking trails also lead hikers to viewpoints, caves, and geologic formations.
Natural History Museum of Utah
The Natural History Museum of Utah twelve permanent exhibitions filling four levels at the Museum. Explore billions of years of Utah’s incredible natural history. The museum shows exhibit of natural history subjects. With engaging exhibits and thousands of artifacts on display. the Museum features Utah’s paleontology discoveries, fascinating gems and minerals found world-wide.
The Museum’s paleontology collections comprise nearly 30,000 catalogued specimens, including over 20,000 vertebrate, 5,000 paleobotanical, and 2,000 invertebrate fossils. Mineralogy Collection includes natural crystals, ore samples, and faceted gemstone specimens.
Zion National Park
Zion National Park is a 232 square mile area surrounding the 15-mile-long Zion Canyon. The spectacular canyon is known for its deep red colored sandstone. It’s sheer walls at some places dropping a half mile to the valley floor. Within its 232 square miles are high plateaus, a maze of narrow, deep, sandstone canyons, and the Virgin River.
Zion also has 2,000-foot Navajo Sandstone cliffs, pine- and juniper-clad slopes, and seeps, springs, and waterfalls supporting lush and colorful hanging gardens. Zion is also known for its excellent long hiking trails and rock climbing.
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park a beautiful landscape. Scenic views of canyons, mesas, and buttes surrounding the Colorado River. Rivers divide the park into four districts: Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze, and the rivers themselves. Rivers have distinct characteristics which fascinate visitors of all types.
Canyonlands has many trails making it a popular destination. These areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, but each offers different opportunities for sightseeing and adventure. Both Island in the Sky and The Needles provide opportunities for short walks, day hikes and backpacking trips. Due to its remoteness, The Maze is primarily a backpacking destination.
Temple Square
Temple Square as the name implies, is the location of several Mormon churches and other religious buildings. The square is home to congregational worship spaces such as the Salt Lake Tabernacle, the Salt Lake Assembly Hall, and the Conference Center. It provides access to libraries and museums such as the Church History Museum, the Family History Library, and the Church History Library.
The most visited site in Temple Square is the Salt Lake Temple, the largest and most well-known Mormon church in the world. In addition to viewing the square and the temple it is also enjoyable to explore the Church History Museum.
Clark Planetarium
Located in downtown Salt Lake City, Clark Planetarium offers an experience that is for all ages. Clark features 10,000 square feet of exhibit space, as well as the breathtaking full-dome theatre and IMAX® theatre.
Features three floors of free, hands-on, interactive exhibits. Indulge your curiosity as you experiment and play with the exhibits. Earth, Near Earth and Beyond. Clark Planetarium’s impressive meteorite collection, including the second-largest meteorite on display west of the Mississippi a 1700 lb. Nantan that you can touch.
Hogle Zoo
Utah’s Hogle Zoo a wide variety of species and exhibits. Its terrain covers 42 acres where visitors can view over 800 animals. African Savanna exhibit featuring the giraffe, zebra, nyala and ostrich, while African lions look on from Lions’ Hill. The popular Zoofari Express train features a new eco-friendly engine, wider seats, and is handicapped accessible.
Don’t miss Asian Highlands, an amazing re-creation of a Himalayan village and houses five endangered species of Asian cat, including the largest big cat, the Amur tiger. Also on your must-see list is the Elephant Encounter exhibit which features African elephants and white rhinos.
Red Butte Garden
Red Butte Garden operated by the University of Utah. The Garden is renowned for its plant collections, themed gardens, over 500,000 springtime blooming bulbs, a world-class outdoor concert series, and award-winning horticulture-based educational programs.
Consists of over 21 acres of developed gardens and five miles of hiking trails winding through an extensive Natural Area. Themed garden areas include: Four Seasons Garden, Herb Garden, Children’s Garden, Fragrance Garden, Floral Walk, Medicinal Garden, Water Pavilion Garden, Rose Garden, Canyon Meadow, Water Conservation Garden, Six Bridges Trail, and more.
Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument in the southeastern side of Utah, near the Colorado border covers a region where some of the country’s most impressive dinosaur fossils have been found. The area called the Dinosaur Quarry has a “Dinosaur Wall” a steep rock layer where hundreds of dinosaur fossils have been discovered.
Visitors can see over 1,500 dinosaur fossils exposed on the cliff face inside the Quarry Exhibit Hall. Places to see Harper’s Corner and Echo Park sits at the heart of Dinosaur National Monument. The Green River winds around the monolith known as Steamboat Rock.
Things to Do in Utah
Your packing list for your trip to Utah should start with the word camera, after that, you might also consider putting hiking shoes high on the list. Utah is one of the country’s foremost destinations for sightseeing and outdoor adventure.