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Slot machines, high-rollers, and sold-out shows are the first thoughts that go through many people’s minds when the topic of Las Vegas comes up in conversation. It’s a town of secrets; what happens in Vegas, well, you know the rest, or do you? Maybe the best-kept secret of all is that Las Vegas is an excellent jumping off point for visiting some incredible outdoor venues.
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The largest National Park in the lower 48 states, Death Valley, is 3.4 million acres of rugged wilderness with a variety of bizarre landscapes: sand dunes, salt flats, mountains, slot canyons, and spring-fed oases. One of the most unusual places we’ve explored in the park is the Racetrack, a dry lakebed where rocks move mysteriously across the surface.
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Canyonlands National Park is one reason why Moab, Utah has exploded in popularity in recent years. With almost 800,000 visitors annually, its Island in the Sky Visitor Center is less than an hour drive from town. At the center of the park is the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. Looking at a map, you’ll see the two rivers form a “Y,” dividing the park into three distinct districts. For practical purposes, it’s three parks in one: the wedge at the top of the Y is the Island in the Sky District, the southeast section is the Needles District, and the southwest is The Maze.
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Zion National Park had over 4.5 million visitors in 2017, making it the most visited of the Utah national parks, and the third-most-visited national park in the US. behind Great Smoky Mountains and Grand Canyon National Parks. At 229 square miles, the most prominent feature of the park is its 15-mile-long Zion Canyon, where the reddish-brown walls rise over 2,000 feet in places above the valley floor. Carved by the north fork of the Virgin River, the canyon is the starting point for some of the most spectacular hikes in Southern Utah.
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Arches National Park is a place to see sweeping views of a pristine Southern Utah desert landscape. The park’s main attraction is its over 2,000 natural arches, the largest concentration in the world, but it contains other wonders in the shapes of pinnacles, spires, hoodoos, and balanced rocks, all of which are stunning to look at and even more fun to explore. The allure of Arches is amplified by what’s around it: Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, the town of Moab, and numerous other outdoor activities. The entire area has become a destination for adventure seekers, and Arches National Park is one of the top attractions.
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Don’t let the name fool you; Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park is not a water park. It’s the site of a nearly 100-mile long uplift in the ground—called a waterpocket fold—that has eroded over the last 50 million years creating a spectacular ridge of cliffs in south-central Utah. Visitors come to the park to marvel at the bluffs along its 8-mile Scenic Drive, hike secluded desert trails, and get a glimpse of what life was like for the settlers who made a home along the Fremont River a hundred years ago. In the past, the other Utah national parks often overshadowed Capitol Reef; now, it has a reputation of its own as a world-class outdoor destination with over one million people visiting each year.
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