Best Places to Visit in Utah
Utah is truly an outdoor lover’s dream. With natural wonders – including five national parks – and small towns with outdoor activities galore, Utah offers ample opportunities to reconnect with nature. To help you decide where to go for your next getaway, U.S. News took into account factors like attractions, value and accessibility to determine the best places to visit in Utah.
Bryce National Park
Located in southwestern Utah, Bryce Canyon National Park occupies an otherworldly landscape composed of a dozen amphitheaters, or horseshoe-shaped canyons, on an eroded escarpment of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The whimsical formations of limestone rock, created by erosion and rain, are entrancing to visitors who love to explore the slot canyons, windows, fins and, most notably, the tall, skinny spires called hoodoos. In fact, Bryce Canyon National Park boasts more hoodoos than any other place in the world. With elevations reaching 9,115 feet, Bryce offers about 150 miles of visibility on a clear day. Plus, since it’s exposed to very little light pollution, the park offers optimal conditions for stargazing. In fact, in 2019 the International Dark-Sky Association designated Bryce Canyon an International Dark Sky Park.
Arches National Park
Traveling to Arches National Park is like visiting another planet, one with thousands of natural sandstone arches, red rocks and landforms in amazing configurations, and light that seems to change every moment. The way the shadows play across the arches makes the park especially intriguing for photographers, who are drawn to capturing its enchanting vistas at dawn and dusk in particular. But Arches National Park is not just a shutterbug’s paradise.Sitting 5 miles northwest of Moab, Utah, the park boasts 26 miles of scenic road and hikes for every level of fitness. Hikers can choose from a wide variety of trails, from short 20-minute walks to Balanced Rock and the Double Arch, to more remote and challenging treks through the Fiery Furnace and up to Delicate Arch. When you need to come back down to Earth, simply look up: the Colorado Plateau is home to some of the darkest skies in the contiguous United States, yielding impressive views of the Milky Way.
