The United States is home to some incredible state and national parks, and each region of the country has something unique to offer travelers seeking adventure.
The Southwest is home to many fascinating destinations that anyone planning a trip should set aside some time to explore. Here are six road trip destinations to include in your next itinerary.
Valley of Fire State Park is located south of Overton, Nevada. It gets its name from the fiery red Aztec sandstone formations that were formed from shifting dunes over 150 million years ago.
The Valley of Fire is sometimes overlooked, but can be made into a day trip for visitors to Las Vegas. Various hiking trails offer visitors unique petroglyphs and various viewpoints in addition to the beautiful colored rocks.
Cathedral Gorge State Park in southeastern Nevada offers numerous amenities for visitors. Campgrounds and picnic areas are open daily, so you can plan your visit any time of year.
Adventurers will come across formations that give the feeling of exploring caves and towers that look like a cathedral (hence the name). Bentonite Clay offers several views and overlooks provide expanded views over the canyon.
Bryce Canyon National Park is located in the southern part of Utah. Tropic and Panguitch are the closest towns. What draws people to Bryce Canyon are the hoodoos, a type of rock formation that has the largest concentration of them in the world.
Bryce Amphitheater is the most popular stop in the park. Besides the hoodoos, Bryce Canyon is the only national park where you will find Utah prairie dogs, whose home they are.
Steep red cliffs will leave people in awe at Zion National Park. Located in Utah, the park offers hikers a diverse landscape as they trek through the forest along the Virgin River. The Emerald Pools are also a popular tourist destination.
The 232-square-mile park features high plateaus and stunning 2,000-foot cliffs of Navajo sandstone.
Also located in Utah, Arches National Park offers visitors the most picturesque setting a traveler could wish for. With more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, there are plenty of opportunities to pose and take photos.
To see everything the park has to offer, you’ll want to plan two days. Delicate Arch is arguably the most popular destination and even non-adventurers have probably seen photos of it.
What remains of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville is now the Bonneville Salt Flats. This is the largest of the salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. The area of over 30,000 hectares is located in Tooele County.
If you don’t want to do the physical work of hiking or cycling, you can drive across the salt flats in conditions that allow it. Speed races, archery and running competitions are held regularly, and photographers and videographers also love the scenery.
