Utah: National Parks, The Great Salt Lake & More
Happy Friday and welcome back to the blog! Last week ended with my trip through the Monument Valley, so now we’re heading on north, so let’s start with getting right back into the topic. Welcome to this week’s US state: Utah!
While Arizona had lots of red rocks, in Utah the predominant colour was orange. I decided to use Moab as a home base for my next trips as its location is perfectly situated in between national parks. My first night in Moab was pretty rough, as there was a power shortage and the whole town was out of power for several hours. Definitely not something you enjoy when getting to a strange city, but that’s just how life is, and the next day everything was back to normal.
My first day trip was to the Canyonlands National Park.
Getting there from Moab takes you only a few minutes, and within a few minutes, you were in the middle of nowhere. Canyonlands became a national park in 1964 and is definitely not comparable to other national parks.
While parts of Canyonlands look very similar to the Grand Canyon, what’s unique about Canyonlands is the way you can take a look at the veins of the canyon from above. You can see the way the river has carved into the rocks, and there are way fewer people than there are in more famous national parks. It feels like a mixture of several different national parks. Of course, nothing compares to the Grand Canyon, but if you want to hike through no man’s land, this is your place to be.
Canyonlands National Park is often overlooked as it’s located right next to one of the most famous national parks of the US, Arches National Parks. It is fascinating how two national parks that are located so close – we’re speaking of less than 10 minutes distance – are so different.
Arches National Park
This is definitely one of the most photographed national parks of the western US. Arches is fascinating, and the name definitely fits. Over centuries, nature has formed arches into the sandstone. The most famous ones are for sure Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch. This park contains the highest density of natural arches in the whole world.
This, sadly, means that there are millions of tourists every year who want to visit this special place. For me, this was the reason why I didn’t want to hike to the most famous arches and then share my picture with tons of other people. I opted for the lesser-known, such as Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch, while to those arches the hiking time was less than half an hour, most people skip them and head right on the most famous ones. I was waiting in a queue to enter the national park. Still, at Broken Arch, I had about 20 minutes completely alone. Yes, maybe I missed the “most special” ones, but, I prefer to enjoy nature’s wonders in a calm surrounding, then with millions of other people, but of course, this is just my personal preference.
Speaking of queues, traffic can get really crazy at Arches. If it does, park rangers close the park for visitors until others leave, so if you’re waiting in line to enter, I really suggest coming back another time. I don’t think you’ll enjoy much of the park if you’re angry and stressed about the waiting time.
While heading on north, I decided to stop for 2 nights in Salt Lake City. To enjoy a bit of civilization, yes, but also to rest for a bit. National parks are fun, but driving around them, planning on food and break, hiking and all that is more stressful than I imagines, so I was glad to be back in a city for a short period of time.
I did not see that much of Salt Lake City, as I was mostly relaxing, but of course, I visited the Utah State Capitol and the Temple Square. Salt Lake City is famous for its Mormon population, and it was really interesting to see them go to church and definitely different than church at home. One, a bit strange, place I visited in SLC was the This Is The Place Heritage Park, a park filled with statues and monuments. It is lovely, but I did not have the time to properly research the place before visiting, so to me, it was just an ordinary park, dedicated to ancient culture and history.
But if you ever come to Salt Lake City, I highly suggest you escape the city for a few hours and head on to the Antelope Island State Park.
Antelope Island is the peninsula located on the Great Salt Lake, and it is populated by free-roaming bison and antelopes. While I did not see an antelope, I was able to watch a bison for the first time in my life. I was definitely amazed by that experience, not knowing what kind of wildlife I would see continuing my trip. But more on that next week.
I don’t want to lie, the smell of the Great Salt Lake can be quite harsh at some times and places, but the views are definitely worth it. The prairie grass, the hills, the endless views over the lake, all that combined makes for an impressive scenery and views you won’t forget for the rest of your life.
As you might have realized, by that time of the trip, cities did not amaze me that much anymore. It was the nature and the national and state parks that were fascinating and full of adventures and places to discover. Therefore, you maybe already know what is coming next week: the oldest national park in the world! Stay tuned for amazing stories about wildlife encounters, nature that looks as if it were on another planet, and lots of adventures!
