A crowd of people sit and watch the sunset at delicate arch.

Exploration awaits at Arches

Arches

Discover a landscape of contrasting colors, land forms, and textures unlike any other. The park has over 2,000 natural stone arches, hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive rock fins, and giant balanced rocks. This red-rock wonderland will amaze you w

A red rock landscape and plateau forest glows with the morning sun

Viewpoints of the iconic Bryce Amphitheater are located along the first 3 miles of the park road and are a popular destination at sunrise.

Bryce Canyon

Hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) exist on every continent, but here is the largest concentration found anywhere on Earth. Situated along a high plateau at the top of the Grand Staircase, the park's high elevations include numerous life communities

A white canvas wagon sits in front of a large rock buttress with mountains in the distance.

Wagon at Register Rock in City of Rocks National Reserve

California

Follow in the footsteps of over 250,000 emigrants who traveled to the gold fields and rich farmlands of California during the 1840s and 1850s: the greatest mass migration in American history. The California National Historic Trail is over 5,000 miles

a broad stone arch with rock pinnacles in the distance

Mesa Arch, at Island in the Sky, is a great spot for photographers.

Canyonlands

Canyonlands invites you to explore a wilderness of countless canyons and fantastically formed buttes carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Rivers divide the park into four districts: Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze, and the river

Wingate Sandstone cliffs behind historic barn and farmhouse

Windgate sandstone towers above historic Fruita farms and homes

Capitol Reef

Located in south-central Utah in the heart of red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park is a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges in the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic monocline (a wrinkle on the earth) extending almost 10

The ground falls away from the viewer creating brilliant rock formations of pink, red, and orange.

Cedar Breaks Amphitheater

Cedar Breaks

Crowning the grand staircase, Cedar Breaks sits at over 10,000 feet and looks down into a half-mile deep geologic amphitheater. Come wander among timeless bristlecone pines, stand in lush meadows of wildflower, ponder crystal-clear night skies and ex

the fossilized skull of camarasaurus dinosaur

Over 1500 fossilized bones of various dinosaurs are still embedded in the cliff face including a skull and several neck vertebrae of a camarasaurus

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs once roamed here. Their fantastic remains are still visibly embedded in the rocks. Today, the mountains, desert, and untamed rivers flowing in deep canyons support an array of life. Petroglyphs hint at earlier cultures. Later, homesteaders

Woman raises her arms while standing in front of a sandstone butte

Spending time on Lake Powell near Tower Butte can make anyone excited.

Glen Canyon

Encompassing over 1.25 million acres, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area offers unparalleled opportunities for water-based & backcountry recreation. The recreation area stretches for hundreds of miles from Lees Ferry in Arizona to the Orange Cliffs

Two locomotives the 119 and Jupiter facing each other on a track.

Each day the locomotives are moved to the last spike site to recreate the marriage of the rails.

Golden Spike

One of the greatest technological achievements of the 19th century is the completion of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States. Visitors to the park can see the location of the Last Spike Site, 1869 railroad construction feature

a stone structure at night with the Milky Way arcing overhead

Hovenweep National Monument was designated an International Dark Sky Park in 2014.

Hovenweep

Once home to over 2,500 people, Hovenweep includes six prehistoric villages built between A.D. 1200 and 1300. Explore a variety of structures, including multistory towers perched on canyon rims and balanced on boulders. The construction and attention

Red cliffs line a highway as seen from a high point with grass in the foreground.

Echo Canyon on the way from Wyoming to Salt Lake City, Utah is both beautiful and historic.

Mormon Pioneer

Explore the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail across five states to see the 1,300-mile route traveled by Mormons who fled Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1846-1847.

a natural bridge at night with the Milky Way arcing overhead

Natural Bridges National Monument was designated the world's first International Dark Sky Park in 2007

Natural Bridges

Three majestic natural bridges invite you to ponder the power of water in a landscape usually defined by its absence. View them from an overlook, or hit the trails and experience their grandeur from below. Declared a National Monument in 1908, the br

crumbling adobe structure with blue sky

Santa Rosa de Lima de Abiquiú provided a way station for travelers along the Old Spanish Trail in the 1800s. It is privately owned by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

Old Spanish

Follow the routes of mule pack trains across the Southwest on the Old Spanish National Historic Trail between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California. New Mexican traders moved locally produced merchandise across what are now six states to

A rider in a red vest on a horse in a grassy patch surrounded by sagebrush with clouds in the sky.

A National Pony Express Association rider poses at Simpson Springs in Utah.

Pony Express

It is hard to believe that young men once rode horses to carry mail from Missouri to California in the unprecedented time of only 10 days. This relay system along the Pony Express National Historic Trail in eight states was the most direct and practi

A large sandstone arch - a natural bridge.

Stand here and take in the majesty of Rainbow Bridge - the largest natural bridge in the National Park Service.

Rainbow Bridge

Rainbow Bridge is one of the world's largest known natural bridges. The span has undoubtedly inspired people throughout time--from the neighboring Native American tribes who consider Rainbow Bridge sacred, to the thousands of visitors from around the

Twisty helictites growing off a stalactite

Timpanogos Cave is filled with twisting helictites and other beautiful formations

Timpanogos Cave

The 2024 opening date for cave tours will be posted once it has been determined. Hike your way past stunning vistas to explore a hidden underground world. Taste the thrill of caving as you twist and bend to enter beautifully decorated rooms. Learn th

A triangular sandstone mountain overlooks green and yellow foliage. A cloudy blue sky is overhead.

The Watchman in Zion Canyon

Zion

Follow the paths where people have walked for thousands of years. Gaze up at massive sandstone cliffs of cream, pink, and red that soar into a brilliant blue sky. Experience wilderness in a narrow slot canyon. Zion’s unique array of plants and animal