Utah is home to five national parks, several national monuments and two national recreation areas. Go Utah Travel provides extensive, accurate coverage with lots of photos, maps and coverage of hiking, mountain biking, scenic drives, etc.

Presented below are summary descriptions of each of Utah's national parks and other treasures with links for more information.

National Parks

Arches National Park is home to the largest concentration of sandstone arches in the world, some 2,000 in all. There is a great scenic drive and numerous good short hikes through the desert landscape for close looks at its most impressive rock formations.

Bryce Canyon National Park is home to a series of spectacularly colorful and intricate rock forms carved by erosion from the edge of the Pausaugunt Plateau. An easy scenic drive runs along the top of the plateau to wonderful lookouts over the park. Numerous hiking trails run along the rim and down among the rock forms.

Capitol Reef National Park consists of a 100 mile long ridge of marvelously colored and wildly-varied red-, orange-, tan-, cream- rock. The park is rather isolated and is relatively lightly visited. Some of the most outstanding features of the park and its best short hikes can be accessed from Hwy 24 and the park's short scenic drive. The more adventurous can backpack or 4wd to exceedingly rugged and remote areas.

Canyonlands National Park is home to an immense expanse of deep orange-red canyons carved by the Colorado and Green Rivers and a wonderful array of superlative red rock formations. In addition to being a feast for the eyes, it provides great opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, 4wd adventuring, and white water rafting.

Zion National Park is the most popular. The massive cliff walls of granite that tower above the canyon floor are truly inspiring. Great day hikes and good backpacking opportunities are numerous. Easy scenic drives take you to the best views.

National Monuments

Cedar Breaks National Monument is a condensed version of Bryce Canyon, featuring one wonderful large amphitheater of eroded rock forms along the edge of the Markagunt Plateau. A short scenic drive along the rim takes you to good lookouts. There are also a few short hikes along the rim looking over the amphitheater.

Dinosaur National Monument is two parks in one. It was originally established to protect an area that was one of the most productive sources of dinosaur bones in the world. This area contains an enclosed quarry with some 1,600 exposed bones from 11 different dinosaur species. The park was later expanded to include 300 square miles of great, high desert canyon country through which the Green and Yampa Rivers flow. This area offers wonderful scenery and some good hiking and whitewater rafting opportunities.

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is the nation's newest national monument. It encompasses a huge area of rugged desert and remote canyons. It has some great scenic drives and challenging hiking opportunities.

National Recreation Areas

Flaming Gorge Recreation Area consists of big, beautiful Flaming Gorge Lake, enclosed by brightly colored canyon walls and set amidst hundreds of thousands of acres of forested hills. It is a wonderful setting in which to boat, fish, hike, mountain bike or just soak in the beauty.

Glen Canyon Recreation Area is home to Lake Powell, a vast body of clear blue water beautifully contained within tall orange-red cliff walls. Thousands of snaking finger canyons run from the main canyon and beg exploration. Houseboating, power boating, water skiing and fishing are all popular, as is camping along its nearly 2,000 miles of shoreline.