13 Elite Utah Attractions

Utah is home to an endless number of parks and tourist spots, and it offers tons of outdoor activities. The most favorite travel destination for Utah is known to be the nation’s great outdoor state.

It has magnificent ski resorts, natural wonders, national and state parks, road trips, and many more amazing things that Utah offers you.

The wide range of attractions of Utah can move you greatly. You can experience hiking trails, mountain biking, camping, motorcycle riding, and off-road pursuits.

This state of America has five national parks, and even though it is very hot out here in Utah, it has many things you can do. It will give you endless opportunities for outdoor activities, boulder-strewn escapes, and also flat desert oases.

The national parks are one of the main Utah attractions, but due to the varying elevation in Utah, it’s quite hot in some areas. However, some areas of Utah also snow at some time of the year.

This is why most of the national parks in Utah have only limited access in winter, and some of the towns in Utah also shut down during this season.

Some Of The Best Utah Attractions

You will get plenty of options to do things in Utah. This state has some of the best attractions that you can’t find in some other states.

Let us see some of the best attractions in Utah, where you can see many amazing things and explore the vast, beautiful areas.

1. Bryce Canyon National Park

Tourists and locals look for hoodoos in the Bryce Canyon National Park. These are odd-shaped rock pillars resulting from erosion that frequently occurs over here.

April to October is the best time to pay a visit to Canyon National Park if you wish to stay in one of the campgrounds in this area.

However, you can spend as much time as you want in this park. You can even engage with hiking trails. The Bryce Canyon National Park service gives you three levels of hiking: easy trails and moderate trails, and for strong hearts, they have strenuous levels.

You can also enjoy horseback riding on some trails, depending on the time of the year. If you visit this park at a suitable time for horse riding in the trials, you can enjoy scenic nature while riding on horseback. You can also spend your night in a camp with your family.

They provide telescope stargazing, guided moonlight hikes, and other exciting programs you can enjoy at night.

2. Canyonlands National Park

This park is Utah’s Grand Canyon which is called Canyonlands National Park. You will find three portions of Canyonlands National Park. The main portion of the Canyonlands National Park attracts most of the tourists.

The Island in the Sky is a place where most visitors end up for their sightseeing in Canyonland National Park.

This area has some of the best-looking spots ranging from carved canyons to snow-capped mountains. The Grand Canyon is a unique place on its way, less visited than any other park in Utah.

The Mesa Arch is one of the main attractions in the areas of Island in the Sky. The stone arch in this place looks stunning, especially during the morning hours and the late afternoons when the sun’s rays fall directly on them.

It is seen to form a window to the buttes, canyons, and torn landscapes that are just below it.

You can even go down the road of White Rim Road, which runs down to the valley park. It then follows a dirt road that is only meant for brave hearts. If you go down this path, you can see a glimpse of the White Rim Road which crosses across the road from the Island in the Sky visitors center.

The two other sections of the Canyonlands National Park are the Needles District and The Maze. These places offer a different landscape than the Island in the Sky, but these two spots are also magnificent and unique in their own way.

If you want to get the best hiking experience, then The Needles is the most recommended place. Also, to get the feel of 4*4 road trips, you should visit The Maze. Though these places are remote, you will surely find great enjoyment in these places.

The main access point of Canyonlands Island in the Sky is heading north along Highway 191. This highway is just behind the Arches National Park. The Needles District can be located in the opposite direction of the highways.

3. Zion National Park

The Zion National Park is the first-ever national park in Utah and the most visited national park in Utah. This place is known to have some of the best cliffs, which are made up of red and pink sandstones, and also a narrow slot canyon.

The plants and animals in Zion National park are also unique. If you want to get involved in some exercises, you have plenty of options. Climbing, hiking, horseback riding, and boating are some options you will get in Zion National Park.

You can even help yourself with the most relaxing trip by watching birds or attending a ranger-led activity, including walking or a talk.

You can reach this park in less than 3 hour’s drive from Las Vegas. You will find major impressive sites along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, which later follows the valley floor.

If you visit this park in the spring, you can avail yourself of the travel bus, which will give you a round view of the park. It will stop at all the major sites and trailheads.

Traveling with the tour bus to this park is the best way to enjoy Utah’s scenic parks.

You can go above the valley through the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway and witness an incredible view of this park. It is a must-do drive.

At times, it is also known as the vertical park because of its sheer vertical walls, which is a paradise for the Zion hikers.

This park is famous for its camping, horseback riding facility, and canyoneering. You can even help yourself with a relaxing trip to Zion National Park by taking a stroll to Weeping Rock and taking some breathtaking views from Canyon Overlook Trail.

The Emerald Pool Trails of this park are also the best option for viewing the iconic spots at this legendary national park.

4. Bonneville Salt Flats

It is one of Utah’s most fascinating sights that you can see. You can enjoy the view of this place best during the early morning hours when there is the least precipitation.

The Bonneville Salt Flats can provide you with the best fishing, hiking, and photography opportunities. The Salt Flats are best seen from a drive from a distance or see the sight from an airplane window.

The areal views that you can see from the airplane window will prove how beautiful this place looks with its white salt line across the horizon. There are green hills at the back of these Flats, and they are again framed with dark purple mountains.

5. Arches National Park

The Arches National Park has the best stone arches rolled with petrified dunes and then backed up by snow-canned peaks from the La Sal Mountains.

It makes this place one of the most scenic parks in Utah. More than 2000 natural stone arches can be found in the Arches National Park.

The famous and best arches are the Delicate Arch which stands like a horseshoe jutting from the ground. Walking through the trails and the hikes, you can find the popular arches and some other interesting rock formations.

However, if you want to see the iconic rock formations, you can see them in the scenic drives in the park that are easily accessible from the parking areas.

If you want to know about the best places in this park in Utah, you should head for Devil’s Garden, Fiery Furnace, Doubel Arch, Park Avenue, Delicate Arch, the Windows, and Broken Arch.

Arches National Park is just outside Moab, a well-known town for mountain biking and other outdoor activities. The altitude of this place is comparatively much higher and can reach from a winding road with some other interesting views.

6. Salt Lake City

The Salt Lake City of Utah is associated with skiing and other winter activities. If you wish to go to some of the best ski resorts in Utah, it is only an hour’s drive from this place.

Unlike other areas of Utah, this city doesn’t require a specific season to visit. It offers numerous things you can do to kill your time in Utah besides hiking.

The Temple Square in Salt Lake City was once the largest church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints.

Though you cannot have a look inside the temple since it can be entered only by the Church members, it is definitely worth visiting. You can also check out the Salt Lake Tabernacle, a popular place in Utah.

The complex is now in renovation and revitalization, and other buildings are also getting constructed at different times of the year.

7. Park City

Park City is a beautiful town in Utah which is just an hour’s drive if you come from the Salt Lake City airport. Park City is one of the best ski resorts in the world and is quite familiar with hosting the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

In this place, you can find great monuments and history from the great games played at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City.

If you want the best experience of the ski resort and Utah, you should visit Park City during the summer season. Park City is also lively during the winter, especially when the Park City Mountain Resort slopes are fully packed with skiers and snowsports personalities.

During the summer, the pleasant weather and less crowded can give you a better and calm environment in this city. During this time, you can engage yourself in biking, fishing, horseback riding, hot air ballooning, river rafting, golf, and swimming.

Out of all these, you can find more enjoyment in Salt Lake City through a ride on the thrilling bobsled run down the Olympic Sliding Center, which was made famous in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

If you love to watch the race, then Park City is the perfect city for you. Here, in the summer, you can watch the bikers riding their machines from the mountaintop. You can even try it yourself and check out how amazing it is.

There are more than 400 miles of trails through the woods where you can ride your bike or hike. Walking round the Historic Main Street and having some native dishes is another best thing you can do here.

There is also another famous event that is held every January. During the Annual Sundance Film Festival, this historical town starts buzzing with creative energy. Even celebrities love to come to this town and enjoy the festival.

8. Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

The national monument of Utah covers more than 1.7 million acres of land, and it is the first monument that the Bureau of Land Management administered.

This national monument is not under the National Park Service. The park’s main areas are the Canyons of the Escalante, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Grand Staircase.

If you move inside the monument, you can see several geological formations with world-class paleontological sites. Other than this, all the major sites of this national monument have difficult terrain and a feeling of remoteness.

You will even witness this area’s key features, including Pink Cliffs within the Grand Staircase White Gray, Bucksin Glutch, and Boulder Mountain. The Buckskin Gulch is the longest of all the slot canyons worldwide, and Boulder Mountain is about 11,000 feet tall.

9. Snow Canyon State Park

The Snow Canyon State Park is mostly carved from red and white Navajo sandstone over time. These sandstones migrated from the Red Mountains.

The state park here in Utah is settled in southwestern Utah, which is close to the largest city of St.George. You can find numerous outdoor activities here in this state park.

The activities range from biking along the park to hiking, camping, watching the ancient lava flows, and many more things that will keep you amazed. Once you visit this park, you will never forget it for the rest of your life. The place is worth visiting.

Even if you are going to Zion National Park, this state park will make a great stopover spot for you from Las Vegas. You can get your outdoor backpack set here in Sin City. This state will give you many experiences with its sand dunes, lava flows, and lava tubes.

The Utah State Park has more than 16 miles of hiking trails and has a technical rock with some great horseback riding opportunities.

The Snow Canyon State Park also features some lovely campgrounds. The tourist here can study nature and wildlife, and they can also do photography. This place is a wonderland for nature photographers due to its natural beauty.

10. Dinosaur National Monument

The first national park, the Dinosaur National Park, was established in 1915 to protect ancient cultures, pictographs, the finest petroglyphs, and archeological sites. You will get many things to explore and experience in the Dinosaur National Monument.

Like every other Utah attraction, hiking trails, rafting, and camping are also available in this monument. The Dinosaur National Monument has earned its cultural heritage importance from the UNESCO World Heritage Center.

It is home to thousands of fossilized dinosaur bones safely preserved 160 million years ago.

You will get the best evidence of pre-human evolution in these cultural heritage sites that have now been recognized for their extraordinary testimony.

11. Capitol Reef National Park

Due to the popular Arches National Park and Zion National Park, this national park which is known as Capitol Reef National Park has been out shadowed. This park is best known for the resemblance of its colorful layers and beautiful domes.

It also features some brilliantly colored orange hoodoos that typically form near the watercourse of Fremont Creek. If you want to explore this area with a scenic drive and get the best experience, you should take a car or travel to the area on foot to visit the best national parks.

There are numerous hiking trails available in this area, which offers amazing views of cliffs, vistas, some Native American rock art, and slot canyons. If you wish to know about the cultural history of the state, then you should definitely visit the Capitol Reef National Park.

12. Natural Bridges National Monument

In the US, the national monument has been protected since 1908. The Natural Bridges National Monument is located 50 miles from the northwest of the four corners of Southern Utah, which is the western United States.

Massive natural bridges were built more than 5000 years ago and were engraved using the powers of frost, time, wind, and water. The Natural Bridges National Monument is also known to be the world’s highest natural bridge.

There are three bridges here in this national monument, and they were named after Hopi Indian names, which were an honor to the ancestral Puebloans. The Puebloans are mainly responsible for making this national monument their home.

The name of the three bridges is Kachina, which means dancer or rock art, Sipapu, which came from the word Quechuan which means place of the emergence of an entrance and third is Owachomo which refers to the ancient bridge mounds.

If you reach this spot early, you can spend your night among the natural bridges that used to serve as home to some of the nation’s darkest skies. The camps near the bridges are also ideal for stargazing at night.

13. Natural History Museum Of Utah

If you want to learn about the prehistoric natural history of the world, then this museum will be perfect for you. The National History Of Museum of Utah has more than 1.5 million relics.

This museum also has a children’s program that offers educational classes and different sorts of fun activities for all age groups. This is why the National History Of Museum is the best place to visit in Utah, especially for kids.

This place will let you witness 1.5 million years of human history, and you can even get to see the vertebrate zoology section. Here, you can find reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and birds.

Other Famous Spots That You Can Visit In Utah

There are many famous spots that you can visit in Utah. However, you will have to give some time to your trip to visit all the famous attractions in Utah.

1. Red Canyon Arch.

2. Cedar Breaks National Monument.

3. San Rafael Reef View Area.

4. Great Salt Lake.

5. Arches National Park.

6. Monument Valley.

7. Mystic Hot Springs.

Bottom-Line

When you are in Utah, you should look for special attractions, including Zion National Park and Red Canyon Arch-like places. Indulge yourself in activities like dead horse points, walking trails, biking, and other outdoor activities.

You should check the nearby parks and soft sand mountains, take photographs in a scenic park, and go sandboarding. So, this was all about Utah attractions, enjoy and explore!

Also check places to visit in Utah, click here.

Suggested reading: Closest National Park to Salt Lake City.

FAQs

1. Which is the number 1 Utah attraction?

The #1 Utah attraction is Zion National Park, which is less than three hours from Las Vegas and has some of Utah’s most breathtaking scenery.

2. Why is Utah so well-known?

The state is renowned for its excellent standard of living, low crime rate, and stunning scenery. While Colorado, a neighboring state, is more expensive, Utah is more accessible to beautiful mountains and has a similar temperature.

3. What are the top 5 things Utah is recognized for?

The “Great Five” national parks of Utah are Capitol Reef, Arches, Bryce Canyon, and Canyonlands is what Utah is recognized for.

Last Updated on June 11, 2023 by somya909