National Park Utah

The name Edge of the Cedars come from the park’s location between the densely forested Manti-La Sal national forest and the treeless desert to the east, a prime habitat for early human settlement. The Bears Ears area, situated around two rounded humps of rock shaped like a bear’s ears, inspires many mysteries and local legends.

In geologic terms, the difference between an arch and a natural bridge is water. The former is carved by wind and ice, while the latter is sculpted by a waterway. Three of the most spectacular examples of natural bridges can be found in south-east Utah, just west of Blanding at Natural Bridges national monument.

Here, three majestic bridges, named Kachina, Owachomo and Sipapu, span the White and Anderson canyons. Sipapu, a Hopi name that celebrates the traditional portal through which the First People emerged into the present world, is the largest of the three and one of the longest natural bridges in the world. Evidence for at least two collapsed bridges are found within the park.

All three spans can be viewed from overlooks, with trails leading down to each bridge. The trail to Owachomo is an easy half-mile round trip, while the climb down to Sipapu is considerably steeper and negotiates stairs and three ladders. Camping is available inside the park.

With a name like Kodachrome, you know this is a place that begs to be photographed. Named by the members of a National Geographic expedition in 1949, Kodachrome Basin looks a bit what Yellowstone national park might look like if all its thermal water features dried up. Here, ancient hot springs and geysers have solidified into an array of beautiful and bizarre rock features called sand pipes.

Capitol Reef is a narrow park, less than 20 miles wide, but over 100 miles long, which protects the Waterpocket Fold, an awesome S-shaped warp in the Earth’s crust that was created over 65 million years ago by the same forces that built the Rocky Mountains. It’s the longest exposed “monocline” in the world, but you don’t have to be a geologist to appreciate Capitol Reef‘s amazing rocks.

The south-west desert is known for out-of-this-world landscapes – some places look like the moon, others like Mars – but Utah’s Canyonlands is an otherworldly place like no other. Here countless canyons, buttes and mesas are carved into a topography so intricate that you find yourself wandering through places with names such as the Maze, the Needles and Island in the Sky.

Utah is a place for all seasons, except summer. From June through August, Utah’s famous canyon country is hot and crowded, but visit in the autumn, winter or spring and you’ll find pockets of desert solitude among the sunny yellow cottonwoods, snow-covered red rocks and colourful spring wildflowers.