Red Rock Country and the Mighty Five
Utah is a state in the western United States, known for red-rock desert landscapes, five national parks and some of the most celebrated ski snow in North America. Its so-called Mighty Five, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands, sit within a few hours of one another across the south of the state, forming one of the great road-trip circuits. Statehood came in 1896, and the capital, Salt Lake City, lies beside the Great Salt Lake with the Wasatch Mountains rising behind it.
Each park has its own signature. Zion offers sheer canyon walls and the Virgin River, Bryce Canyon is filled with amber hoodoos that glow at sunrise, and Arches holds more than two thousand natural sandstone arches. Moab, the adventure town nearby, is the base for rafting, mountain biking and desert hikes. Many travellers begin in Las Vegas, a few hours from Zion, and continue east through scenery that feels like a succession of film sets.
Ski Resorts, Salt Lake and Monument Valley
Winter transforms the north. Park City, Deer Valley and Snowbird sit close to Salt Lake City, giving skiers famously light, dry snow only a short drive from an international airport. The 2002 Winter Olympics left a legacy of venues and enthusiasm that the region still celebrates. Salt Lake City itself offers museums, mountain trails and a growing restaurant scene beneath the skyline of the Wasatch Front.
To the south-east, Monument Valley, on the Navajo Nation and straddling the line with Arizona, gives the American West its most recognisable silhouette, a landscape long associated with classic Western films. Further north, the Bonneville Salt Flats stretch white and flat to the horizon, a place famed for land-speed racing. For a tourist board, Utah's range, from powder days to red-rock sunsets, is a compelling reason to market the state across all four seasons.
Read the full Utah guide on Visit Travel Group, or see VisitUtah.co.uk on Visit Travel Group.