Top 5 Utah
1. Salt Lake City
It’s not likely that the words “This is the place” – immortalised by Brigham Young, one of the original leaders of the Mormon church and founder of Salt Lake City – will be uttered by too many visitors to the city today. The natural attractions of Utah are far more of a drawcard to the state than its capital. However, those with an interest in the history of the Mormon religion will find plenty to fascinate them here. Salt Lake City is the centre of the Mormon Faith and boasts a well-preserved collection of original architecture. Most famously, the Temple Square occupies a 10-acre block, guarded by high white walls housing the Temple, Tabernacle and Assembly Hall. The Temple is closed to all but practising Mormons, however, its façade and soaring spires are in themselves impressive. If you know one thing about the Mormon faith, you will know about the traditional belief in polygamy (the taking of many wives). Beehive House,Brigham Young’s home, with its massive children’s playroom and additional wives’ quarters, provides an interesting insight into the manifestations of this belief. However, there is far more to the Mormon faith than this, so be sure to have a Mormon guide show you around the Temple Square.
The massive salt lake from which the city takes its name is the largest of the USA’s Great Lakes and has been declared a World Heritage bird sanctuary for the variety and abundance of winged life who nest and feed here. And in contrast to the broad, ponderously laid-out street plan of Salt Lake City, the Wasatch Mountains, at the base of which the city is located, provide a spectacular wilderness setting for hiking, camping and mountain biking, plus world-class skiing and snowboarding in the winter.
2. Dinosaur National Monument
It’s mildly surprising that there’s never been an episode of Friends set in Dinosaur National Monument, because this place has got to be geeky Ross Geller’s idea of heaven. The largest collection of fossilised dinosaur bones in the world have been excavated here, some forming full skeletons, although these are now housed in other museums. Geller gags aside, the Monument offers a fascinating glimpse into the near-mythical Jurassic era, with one wall of the visitor centres being formed by a sandstone quarry in which over 2000 bones belonging to 11 types of dinosaurs have been discovered, partially excavated and then left in place for visitors to examine and even, in some places, to touch. The Monument had its beginnings in the work of palaeontologist Earl Douglass in 1909, who discovered 8 brontosaurus tailbones protruding from the earth. The desolate surroundings of the monument add to the experience, with two moderately strenuous hikes taking in dramatic rock formations and petroglyphs.
3. Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument
A relatively new addition to the many national parks and monuments in the Southwest, the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument was created in 1996. Covering around 1.7 million rugged and remote acres, the area can be roughly divided into three sections. To the west, the monument contains most of the Grand Staircase, a series of sandstone terraces ascending in successive steps of vermilion, white, grey and pink; the infinite variations in these colours created by the changing light both magnificent and surreal. Occupying the vast middle section of the monument is the Kaiparowits Plateau, an isolated area of canyons, sheer cliffs, ancient trees and an abundance of wildlife. Finally, to the East are the Canyons of the Escalante, an expanse of sandstone carved into by the Escalante River and its tributaries, forming a riddle of countless canyons, some so deep and narrow that no sun reaches their depths – territory for experienced canyoneers only.
4. Arches National Park
A massive concentration of around 2,000 natural arches comprises the 115-square-mile Arches National Park. Magnificently bizarre and striking, the landscape is marked with towering pinnacles and spires, sheer, thrusting fins jutting upwards from the desert and gravity-defying rock formations, including the none-too-imaginatively named Balanced Rock, a 50ft boulder perched on top of a narrow 75ft pillar. These sandstone sculptures in gradated shades of red provide the setting for hiking, mountain biking, camping and rock climbing (although this is forbidden in specific areas). The arches themselves range from the miniscule (3 ft across) to the massive; don’t miss the grandeur of the Landscape Arch, soaring 100 ft high and 200 ft across. Balanced scenically on the rim of a canyon, The Delicate Arch, ubiquitous symbol of Utah (it is featured on Utah license plates) is well worth the trek to reach it, and the labyrinthine Fiery Furnaces, a complex maze of ridges and gullies, may be explored in a ranger-led hike.
5. Natural Bridges National Monument
At Natural Bridges National Monument, a graceful cluster of sandstone bridges marks the convergence of three canyons. Sipapu Bridge is the largest, rising 200ft high and 268ft thick; the youngest, Kachina Bridge, is almost as high but twice as broad and has Ancestral Puebloan pictographs and its base. The oldest, Owachomo, spans 180 ft across and 100 ft high, but is only a wafer thin 9 ft thick, giving the impression of aged, fragile grandeur. A 9 mile scenic loop drive has a number of lookouts and bays for taking the definitive photo; while a number of shorter trails in and around the canyons can be linked up into a strenuous, 8-mile hike, taking in spectacular views of all 3 bridges.
Guide by Sarah Rodrigues
