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Utah's National Parks and Monuments

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Utah's National Parks and Monuments The sheer beauty of Utah's National Parks and Monuments are, "we'll let you decide!" The following websites are from the National Park Service's website. Enjoy yourself and when you visit, don't forget your camera and plently of film. Arches National Park Arches National Park preserves over two thousand natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations. In some areas, faulting has exposed millions of years of geologic history.The extraordinary features of the park, including balanced rocks, fins and pinnacles, are highlighted by a striking environment of contrasting colors, landforms and textures. Arches National Park Bryce Canyon National Park Bryce Canyon, famous for its worldly unique geology, consists of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. The erosional force of frost-wedging and the dissolving power of rainwater have shaped the colorful limestone rock of the Claron Formation into bizarre shapes including slot canyons, windows, fins, and spires called "hoodoos." Bryce Canyon National Park Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park preserves a colorful landscape of sedimentary sandstones eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes by the Colorado River and its tributaries. The Colorado and Green rivers divide the park into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze and the rivers themselves. While the districts share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character and offers different opportunities for exploration and learning. Canyonlands National Park Capitol Reef National Park The Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth's crust known as a monocline, extends from nearby Thousand Lakes Mountain to the Colorado River (now Lake Powell). Capitol Reef National Park was established to protect this grand and colorful geologic feature, as well as the unique historical and cultural history found in the area. Capitol Reef National Park Cedar Breaks National Park A huge natural amphitheater has been eroded out of the variegated Pink Cliffs (Claron Formation) near Cedar City, Utah. Millions of years of sedimentation, uplift and erosion have created a deep canyon of rock walls, fins, spires and columns, that spans some three miles, and is over 2,000 feet deep. The rim of the canyon is over 10,000 feet above sea level, and is forested with islands of Englemann spruce, subalpine fir and aspen; separated by broad meadows of brilliant summertime wild flowers. Cedar Breaks National Park Dinosaur National Monument This is Echo Park, named by John Wesley Powell in 1869 during his first scientific expedition into the Colorado Plateau. It is here that the Yampa River, the last natural flowing river in the Colorado River System, joins the Green River. This is home and critical habitat for the endangered peregrine falcon, bald eagle, Colorado pikeminnow, and razorback sucker. Indian rock art in Echo Park testifies to the allure these canyons and rivers had for prehistoric people. In 1825, William H. Ashley and his fur trappers were the first Europeans to enter Echo Park. In 1883, Patrick Lynch, a hermit, was the first to homestead in this canyon. Dinosaur National Monument Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Lake Powell at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (NRA) offers unparalleled opportunities for water-based & backcountry recreation. The recreation area stretches for hundreds of miles from Lees Ferry in Arizona to the Orange Cliffs of southern Utah, encompassing scenic vistas, geologic wonders, and a panorama of human history. Additionally, the controversy surrounding the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and the creation of Lake Powell contributed to the birth of the modern day environmental movement. The park offers opportunities for boating, fishing, swimming, backcountry hiking and four-wheel drive trips. Lake Powell at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Golden Spike National Historic Site Completion of the world's first transcontinental railroad was celebrated here where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads met on May 10, 1869. Golden Spike was designated as a national historic site in nonfederal ownership on April 2, 1957, and authorized for federal ownership and administration by an act of Congress on July 30, 1965. Golden Spike National Historic Site Rainbow Bridge National Monument Rainbow Bridge is the world's largest natural bridge. The span has undoubtedly inspired people throughout time--from the neighboring American Indian tribes who consider Rainbow Bridge sacred, to the 300,000 people from around the world who visit it each year. Please visit Rainbow Bridge in a spirit that honors and respects the cultures to whom it is sacred. While Rainbow Bridge is a separate unit of the National Park Service, it is proximate to and administered by Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Rainbow Bridge National Monument Timpanogos Cave National Monument Timpanogos Cave National Monument sits high in the Wasatch Mountains. The cave system consists of three spectacularly decorated caverns. Each cavern has unique colors and formations. Helictites and anthodites are just a few of the many dazzling formations to be found in the many chambers. As visitors climb to the cave entrance, on a hike gaining over 1,000 feet in elevation, they are offered incredible views of American Fork Canyon. Timpanogos Cave National Monument Zion National Park Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning a place of refuge or sanctuary. Protected within the park's 229 square miles is a dramatic landscape of sculptured canyons and soaring cliffs. Zion is located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert provinces. This unique geography and the variety of life zones within the park make Zion significant as a place of unusual plant and animal diversity. Zion National Park Grand Canyon Skywalk The image above is an artist's rendering of a glass-bottomed skywalk being constructed over the south rim of the Grand Canyon in the Hualapai Indian Reservation by the tribal-owned Grand Canyon Resort Corporation. The walkway will jut 70 feet out from the rim, offering paying visitors the opportunity to safely peer 4,000 feet down to the bottom of the Canyon. The skywalk is part of a larger attraction to be called Grand Canyon West, which will also feature an Indian village and "western-themed town." Grand Canyon Skywalk Utah Travel Guides, Free Coupons & Hot Deals Visitors Visit Utah would like to thank you for visiting our on-line guide and please feel free to contact us for personal assistance. Copyright © 1998 - 2010 Visit Utah.