Places to Visit in Utah

1. Arches National Park

Arches National Park has more than 2,000 stone arches that range from thin cracks in the rock to the magnificent 300-foot long Landscape Arch. They are the result of millions of years of erosion, deposition, and other geological events that have affected the soft sandstone.

For a short visit, you can take the 18-mile long scenic road, but you will see much more by hiking one of the narrow unmarked trails. Walk with care, as the surrounding desert plants are fragile. Humans have been living in the area for 10,000 years and you can see colorful, large pictographs a few miles north of Moab.

Arches National Park is one of the most famous places to visit in Utah. The best times to go are early spring and fall. Park rangers offer very informative tours, from a one-mile easy interpretative hike to the adrenaline-pumping Fiery Furnace Hike that includes some serious rock scrambling.

The seemingly lifeless desert is home to a surprising number of animals such as desert rodents, ringtails, skunks, foxes, mountain lions, bobcats, bats, owls, and many others.

2. Zion National Park

The oldest and the most popular Utah National Park, Zion means “heavenly mountain” and the majesty of the surrounding nature inspires reverence.

Nature has carved a fantastic geological conglomeration for visitors to admire: slot canyons, colorful sandstone cliffs, towers, monoliths, rivers, and waterfalls.

Located in southwest Utah, the park is best known for its magnificent Zion Canyon red cliffs.

You can get a fairly good idea of the park’s rare beauty while driving through Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. The drive leads to many scenic forest trails along the fast and unpredictable Virgin River.

As you following the river, you will reach the Emerald Pools with spectacular waterfalls and natural hanging gardens created from plants sprouting from tiny cracks in the steep cliffs.

There is also the popular Zion Narrows wading hike that winds along the river, passing in some parts through shady deep chasms. Zion is a true hikers’ paradise and one of the top Utah attractions.

3. Monument Valley

Monument Valley looks today the same way it looked thousands of years ago – you will see an endless horizon with an expansive skyline and enormous otherworldly buttes sticking out and separated by deep canyons. Created by millennia of relentless work on behalf of wind and water, the buttes (Video) can be seen in comfort from the 14-mile long dirt road that crosses the Valley. Hikers will find many easy and some not so easy trails through the canyons, under natural bridges, and to the site of some spectacular Anasazi ruins.

Look for a native Navajo guide to take you to the places not easily accessible and you will also hear some wonderful legends and the history of the Navajo Nation that still lives in the area.

More ideas: watch this unique video of Buckskin Gulch, Utah

4. Great Salt Lake

The Great Salt Lake, which borders the state's capital, Salt Lake City, is salty because its tributary rivers are constantly transporting small amounts of salt dissolved from the surrounding rocks in their water. The lake is one of the top Utah points of interest.

Once the water comes to the Great Salt Lake, the water evaporates in heat, leaving the salt behind. Additionally, the lake does not have any outlets to let some of the salty water out.

The lake is 75 miles long and 35 miles wide, and it is spread over a number of flat basins. It is all that remains from the last ice age lake, Lake Bonneville.

Reminders of the ancient lake can be seen in the terraces etched into the former lake’s shoreline. The climate change brought the ancient lake’s level to that of today’s Salt Lake.

The lake is too salty for fish, and only some algae and brine shrimp can live in it.

5. Canyonlands National Park

About 35 miles from Moab in southeast Utah, Canyonlands National Park is divided into three segments that are separated by the Colorado and Green Rivers, which flow through Canyonlands.

Canyonlands National Park is world-famous and one of the best places to visit in Utah. You can barely get a glimpse of the rivers from the rim, but you will see many sandstone pillars, canyon mazes, and unbroken scarp on the canyon sides.

One segment or district is a high mesa called the Island in the Sky, a headland about 2,000 feet above the rivers. South of this area, you can find the Needles with pinnacles stripped in red and white bands that tower over sheer-walled valleys and grassy parks, 400 feet up.

The third segment is the Maze, a remote, pristine area of narrow clefts and tall spires across the river. Canyonlands were home to the Ancient Pueblo people, who built kivas, round rooms that are still standing all around the park.

6. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is not the kind of place you can visit in one day.

The area features 3,000 square miles of the most awe-inspiring and spectacular sun-baked landscape, and it is so enormous and so magnificent that it takes time to absorb and process it all.

Nature has been shaping the ancient rock here for millions of years. Brilliant red sandstone cliffs throw shadows over narrow slot canyons, and visitors can admire and explore endless slickrock, picturesque washes, prehistoric human habitation sites, and ghost cowboy towns looking like abandoned movie sets.

Hike the Escalante Canyon, cool off under thundering waterfalls, climb the Grand Staircase, or just enjoy the vast wilderness and soul-healing solitude. If you are looking for places to see in Utah for outdoor enthusiasts, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a must-see. There are some nice fishing spots, picturesque camping sites, and trails you can take on horseback or by ATV.

7. Homestead Crater

Scuba diving or swimming in Homestead Crater is one adventure you can do in style. Privately owned, the Crater, actually a caldera, is located in Midway, Utah and is part of the Homestead Resort, which is located nearby and features all the amenities of a luxurious vacation.

The Crater is a natural geothermal spring covered by a 55-foot tall dome made of limestone. The dome is 400 feet wide and the water in the crater pool is almost 65 feet deep.

There are also about 14 feet of silt at the bottom, which has been accumulating for the last 10,000 years since the crater started its formation.

The opening at the top of the dome is a natural access to the pool, but in 1996 the owners dug a 110-feet long dry tunnel for easy entrance.

The crater is a very popular tourist destination, especially among divers, since it is the only warm water diving site in the continental US.

8. Bear Lake

Located on the border between Utah and Idaho, Bear Lake is a natural freshwater lake that covers an area of approximately 109 square miles and one of the top Utah attractions.

The lake’s nickname is the “Caribbean of the Rockies” because of its unique and beautiful turquoise color which is the result of the abundance of calcium carbonate deposits in the water.

Over 250,000 years old, the properties of the water in the lake have produced several species of animals that can’t be found in any other place in the world.

Discovered in 1819 by an explorer for the North West Fur Company, the lake, originally named “Black Bear Lake,” is a popular place today for fishing, jet skiing, and sailing.

9. Capitol Reef National Park

Established in 1971, Capitol Reef National Park in south-central Utah covers an area of 241,904 acres: at 100 miles (160 km) in length, it is a long park, but it is narrow.

Native Americans lived in the area from the 11th century to the 13th century when a long drought forced them to move. Later, explorers surveyed the area and in the 1880s Mormons began to settle here. One of the most amazing features of the park is the Waterpocket Fold which is a surface warp that dates back 65 million years.

Over many years of erosion, the fold now displays layers of rocks and fossils.

10. Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwestern Utah. Although it is called a canyon, it is not a canyon but rather a series of enormous natural amphitheaters located along the eastern side of the Pausaugunt Plateau. The park is also known for its hoodoos: these are tall thin spires of rock that are also sometimes called earth pyramids, fairy chimneys, and tent rocks.

Visitors to the park are amazed at the orange, red, and white colors of the hoodoos and the natural amphitheaters.

In the 1850s the area was settled by Mormon pioneers and the park was named after a homesteader named Ebenezer Bryce. Bryce Canyon became a national park in 1928.

If you love hiking, watch this spectacular Coyote Gulch video.