Covering 1.9 million acres, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is one of the largest parks in the country. This multi-hued landscape can be divided into three regions: The Canyons of Escalante, The Grand Staircase and the Kaiparowits Plateau. A geologic sampler with a huge variety of formations, features, and world-class paleontological sites, visitors will be [...]

On the border of Utah and Wyoming, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area is filled with stunning scenery; green hills, red rock mountains and clear waters. Steep crimson-colored walls give the gorge its most appropriate name and capture the waters of the Green River into a Flaming Gorge Lake — a reservoir that extends for 91 [...]

[ad#Google Adsense]Atop the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah, sitting at 10,000 feet is a small national monument known as Cedar Breaks. The “breaks” are a series of precipitous, carved slopes and spires in the shape of an amphitheater, 3 miles across and over 2,000 feet deep. Because some of the rocks are softer than others, [...]

[ad#Google Adsense]The Paiute Indians call it Mukuntuweap, “straight up place.” An apt name considering massive canyon walls soar to enormous heights to be framed by a shockingly blue sky. Today, we call it Zion National Park. Amazingly, all the natural beauty and wonder in Zion National Park was carved by water! The North Fork of [...]

Hoodoo! Sound spooky? In truth, a hoodoo can have a spooky, eerie, yet whimsical, quality. What is a hoodoo? Hoodoo is the geologic term for the pillars of eroded rock that make Bryce Canyon National Park such a special place. Paiute history says the hoodoos are the Legend People who Coyote turned to stone for [...]

The sparkling blue waters of Lake Powell and Glen Canyon reflect the azure blue skies of the American Southwest, and provide a vivid contrast to the soaring red-rock cliffs that rise above it. In 1956, from his desk in the White House, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, pushed a button that set off the first blast [...]

Surrounding the confluence of the Green River and the Colorado River in Southern Utah is a mesmerizing stretch of remote wilderness called Canyonlands National Park. With more than 527 square miles, the park is huge and encompasses the two canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers. Wind and water (mostly water) have carved the amazing [...]

Swirled slickrock, towering arches, soaring pinnacles and painted rocks are what you will find in Arches National Park. Located a few miles north of Moab, Utah, Arches National Park offers some 2,000 natural arches, one of the greatest concentration of such structures anywhere in the world. The arches come in all shapes and sizes, from [...]