Arches National Park is home to the largest concentration of sandstone arches in the world, some 2,000 in all. The park offers 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.

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.

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 of the park.

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.

Dark Canyon is a beautiful and isolated wilderness/primitive area offering great backpacking opportunities.

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 white water rafting opportunities.

Flaming Gorge National 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.

The Four Corners are where the state lines of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico meet at a single point in the desert on the Navajo Indian Reservation.

On July 30, 1965 Golden Spike National Historic Site was created "for the purpose of establishing a national historic site commemorating the completion of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States...

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.

Hovenweep National Monument features some impressive ancient Indian ruins in an very remote area along the Utah/Colorado border.

Monument Valley is an area of exceptional free standing red rock monoliths that rise up to 1,000 above the desert floor. The landscape they create is truly majestic, a fact documented by the numerous Westerns that have used it as a backdrop.

Natural Bridges National Monument is a pleasant small park featuring three large sandstone bridges at the bottom of adjacent canyons. It has a good scenic drive overlooking the bridges and excellent trails down into the canyons to the bridges.

The Ouray National Wildlife Refuge surrounds the Green River for some 12 miles providing habitat for hundreds of species of migratory birds in spring and fall.

Timpanogos Cave National Monument sits high in the Wasatch Mountains near Provo in Northern Utah. The cave system consists of three spectacularly decorated caverns.

Zion National Park is Utah's most popular park. 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.