This article originally appeared online in March 2019; it was updated on September 17, 2026, to include current information. Danielle Hallock contributed to the reporting of this article.
You likely know Utah’s big-name national parks: Arches, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef, together known as the Mighty Five. But 80 percent of the state is dedicated to public use, and even the most humble park in Utah often outshines plenty of other state and national lands. One local secret is to visit lesser-known monuments with mazes of slot canyons, deposits of dinosaur fossils, and lands largely free of modern-day footprints.
Some of these Utah monuments face the threat of losing their conservation status and Indigenous stewardship as government officials attempt to mine the land, so it’s more important than ever to understand what makes the landscapes and culture here so incredible and worth protecting.
Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument
Coyote Gulch is only one jaw-dropping part of Grand Staircase–Escalante.
Photo by Danita Delimont/Shutterstock
Grand Staircase–Escalante was the final frontier of the Lower 48: South-central Utah’s Escalante River was the last of its kind to be mapped and named. It remains one of the remotest areas in the country today. Here, there’s still room to explore rarely trafficked landscapes.
The antithesis of a dry, desolate wasteland, the Escalante Canyons area features active waterfalls, riparian corridors, and sculpted slickrock. Calf Creek Falls Recreation Area has two 100-foot-plus falls accessible via a six-mile, out-and-back trek, Coyote Gulch has a river winding through a narrow and verdant canyon below ground, and Peek-a-boo and Spooky Gulch slot canyons are fantastic for canyoneering.
Tip: The 2.8-mile trek to Buckskin Gulch, in the slot-canyon wonderland of Grand Staircase, is a canyoneering experience that rivals the famous Antelope Canyon in Arizona, but with fewer crowds and no guide required.
Where to stay
If you’re staying west of Escalante, consider a cabin or Airstream at Ofland Escalante. Head closer to Lake Powell and you can enjoy live acoustic music and complimentary s’mores at the nearby Under Canvas location.
Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument offers archaeological remains and memorable canyon views.
Photo by Zack Frank/Shutterstock
The 210,000-acre Dinosaur National Monument straddles the Colorado–Utah border, but if you’re here for fossils, stick to Utah. You can see over 1,500 dinosaur fossils in the Quarry Exhibit Hall alone. Located near the Quarry Visitor Center, the hall features a fossil-filled, exposed cliff face encased in glass, as well as 150-million-year-old specimens you can touch.
While it lacks archaeological remains, the Colorado side of the monument boasts spectacular canyon scenery. At the end of Harpers Corner Road Scenic Drive, a steep, unpaved road winds down to the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Here, sheer cliff faces cage the waters in Echo Park, the most dramatic point of the Yampa River Canyon.
Tip: On the Utah side, take the less-traveled Tour of Tilted Rocks, a 10-mile scenic drive along the Green River. Keep an ear out for yipping coyotes or prairie dogs rustling in the sagebrush.
Where to stay
Camping options are plentiful in the area, whether you decide to stay at a campground or go backcountry camping with a permit.
Bears Ears National Monument
Named for two twin buttes, Bears Ears has movie-like settings and the darkest night skies.
Photo by David Rajter/Shutterstock
This national monument in the southeast corner of Utah is full of cinematic buttes rising like orange pillars to the sky, ancient villages built into cliffs, and the first designated International Dark Sky Park in the world. Named after two buttes that look like giant animal ears rising from the earth, this BLM area is not far (about a 1.5-hour drive) from Monument Valley, which provided memorable landscapes in old western movies. Five Native American tribes today work to protect this area from government land grabs and mining threats.
One famous site in Bears Ears is House on Fire, where Ancestral Pueblo storages were built into rock walls. Thanks to iron oxide stains on the rock, there’s an appearance of flames rising from the roofs of the structures. A visit to Bears Ears is also a two-for-one deal, since within the middle of these protected lands is the arch-filled Natural Bridges National Monument, which was the first national monument in the state and the first designated international dark sky.
Tip: To understand the cultural significance here, follow a string of ancient villages throughout Bears Ears—from House on Fire to Mule Canyon Village, Butler Wash, and Monarch Cave—down to Monument Valley on Navajo Nation lands.
Where to stay
It’s at least an hour drive from any town with hotels, so your closest options include a few designated campsites or dispersed camping anywhere 150 feet from trails, as long as you leave no trace.
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Cedar Breaks National Monument is eroding at a much faster pace than Bryce Canyon.
Photo by K. Bradley Washburn/Shutterstock
Cedar Breaks National Monument appears to be a smaller-but-deeper Bryce Canyon National Park. But at 10,350 feet above sea level, this three-mile-wide, 2,000-foot-deep amphitheater tells a much different story: Not only are the exposed rocks distinctive and sometimes more colorful, but the factors that sculpt the land are also less kind. Cedar Breaks receives far more snow and rain than Bryce, so the landscape is eroding at a phenomenal rate. The parking barriers, right on the rim, have already been moved once.
Two main trails—Sunset and Spectra Point & Ramparts Overlook—offer memorable views of the amphitheater. Other paths meander through tranquil meadows and by small lakes, unlikely scenery near a half-mile-deep canyon. The shortage of trails seems like an argument against Cedar Breaks, but it’s perhaps one reason this park is blissfully crowd free.
Tip: If you dream of catching sunset alone at a stunning national park site, go to Cedar Breaks. You’ll get all the vista with none of the throngs of visitors.
Where to stay
Cedar Breaks Lodge in Brian Head is less than a 10-minute drive from the monument and offers amenities like an indoor pool, sauna, and steam room. It’s an especially welcome stay in the winter, as it’s also only a quick walk from the Brian Head Ski Resort.
Canyonlands National Park
In Canyonlands National Park, Mesa Arch is a popular spot for sunrise photographers.
Photo by Lucky-photographer/Shutterstock
Of course, you have to see Utah’s famous Mighty Five national parks, but it would be wise to start with one of the least visited. Southwest of Moab, Canyonlands National Park features the best aspects of your favorite Southwestern parks: canyons carved by the Colorado River, massive red-rock arches, and fields of hoodoos. Consider this “Utah Landscape 101.”
Chalk up the sparse crowds to a lack of accessibility, not a lack of grandeur: Canyonlands has four separate districts, and you can’t easily get from one to another. Island in the Sky is the most popular and easiest to reach. Head to Grand View Point for panoramas of the White Rim sandstone cliffs or hike the mile circumference of the impact crater, Upheaval Dome.
With one paved road, the Needles district is rugged and difficult to navigate, so its many trails are consistently quiet. The Maze district is harder still to access. The Colorado and Green rivers make up the fourth district; parts of both are calm enough for kayaking.
Tip: Mesa Arch is positioned perfectly for sunrise photography. No need to get up at dawn—the sun hangs beneath or behind the arch well into the morning.
Where to stay
For an alternative to the luxury safari-esque accommodations provided by Ulum, visitors can opt to camp in Canyonlands on their own.
Related: 16 Underrated U.S. National Parks You Really Should Visit This Year
Bryce Canyon National Park
The sculpted formations of Bryce Canyon were created by wind, rain, and water over millions of years.
Photo by evenfh/Shutterstock
At Bryce Canyon’s edge, the world drops off into a scene of geological carnage—the past 60 million years have done a number on this section of southern Utah, turning it into the world’s largest collection of hoodoos.
The park’s 18-mile scenic drive takes you by a slew of amphitheaters. But at 12 miles long, 3 miles wide, and 800 feet deep, Bryce Amphitheater steals the show. (The famous, bowl-shaped, sloping formation is actually an amphitheater.) You’ll find the best views at the first four main overlooks.
Hike down into the rocky landscape via the 2.9-mile Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop Trail, or pair it with the Peekaboo Loop to complete the comprehensive, 6.8-mile “Figure 8 Combination” across the theater’s floor.
Tip: From Yovimpa Viewpoint, you can see all the way to the Kaibab Plateau—the rim of the Grand Canyon.
Where to stay
Under Canvas Bryce Canyon offers 50 Deluxe and Suite tents—complete with wood floors and West Elm furniture 15 minutes from the park’s entrance.
Zion National Park
Nearly 5 million people visit Zion National Park annually, making it among the most visited national parks. Here in Utah’s southwest corner, the Virgin River carved through 2,000 feet of porous sandstone, forming a canyon so grand it needed a name equally majestic: In Hebrew, “Zion” means “promised land.” This is a rugged wilderness of vertical walls painted in oranges, reds, and greens.
The 2.7-mile vertiginous hike to Angels Landing isn’t for everyone due to steep cliff drops on both sides of the trail, but if you make it to the top, the awe-inspiring view makes it clear why paradisiacal names pervade here. Less dangerous hikes to the Narrows via Riverside Walk or the Upper and Lower Emerald Pools are similarly dramatic. The seasons drastically change Zion’s landscape; cottonwood trees glow gold in the fall, the ridges shine with snow in winter, and ephemeral waterfalls and pools spring to life when warm weather hits. But check for thunderstorms before hiking, since dangerous flash floods are not uncommon in late summer.
Tip: Private vehicles are prohibited along Zion Canyon Scenic Drive during high season. Bicycle the 17.2-mile main drag as an alternative to using the shuttles. Permits aren’t required; just be sure to yield to buses.
Where to stay
Glamping company AutoCamp has a 16-acre hub (which includes a communal Clubhouse) 14 miles from Zion’s main entrance.
Arches National Park
Delicate Arch, located in Arches National Park, is depicted on some Utah license plates.
Photo by John A Davis
More than 2,000 natural arches dot east-central Utah, an impressive number unequaled anywhere in the world. But if you’ve been to Arches National Park years ago, you haven’t seen it as it is today; the forces that shaped the landscape continue carving, elongating, and widening each formation until its inevitable collapse.
Most visitors’ first stop is Delicate Arch, the largest freestanding arch in the park. There’s a lack of shade and challenging slickrock terrain along the three-mile, round-trip hike to the solitary arch; still, expect crowds in summer—especially at sunset.
Other notable (and easier to access) landmarks include Landscape Arch, the North and South Windows, and Balanced Rock, all of which can be reached via two-mile or shorter hikes. They’re by no means unworthy of their delicate cousin—the 306-foot-long Landscape is one of the longest arches in the world.
Tip: Arches appears lifeless, but most animals here—which include mule deer and porcupines—are nocturnal. Stay to stargaze from the Garden of Eden viewpoint or Balanced Rock picnic area, and the cosmos won’t be the only stars of the show.
Where to stay
Try one of 50 suite-style tents with Ulum, a high-end glamping brand from Under Canvas.
Capitol Reef National Park
Near the Gifford Homestead, farmland among the rocks of Capitol Reef
Photo by JKO Photos/Shutterstock
The Waterpocket Fold is the through line of Capitol Reef National Park, a nearly 100-mile wrinkle of central Utah replete with colorful canyons, tortured desert, and numerous bridges and arches. The 25-mile round-trip Capitol Reef Scenic Drive is a good introduction to this stark, twisted landscape, but you’ll want to get out of the car for the two-mile trek to the natural, 133-foot Hickman Natural Bridge and for the views at Panorama Point.
The unforgiving desert softens into farmland near the visitor center. There, pick fruit in active, open orchards or simply get a pie from Gifford Homestead between hikes. Mormon pioneers farmed these orchards as early as 1880, although the area’s human history dates back 9,000 years. Spot Fremont-culture pictographs and petroglyphs throughout the park, and enjoy up close views along the one-mile Capitol Gorge Trail.
Tip: Take the Capitol Gorge spur at the end of the scenic drive. From its terminus, hike one mile into a slot canyon where you’ll find the Pioneer Register—names of settlers who traveled here starting in 1871—etched neatly into the rock.
Where to stay
While luxury stays are a comfortable option, the park’s Fruita Campground offers the unique experience of staying in a fruit orchard amid canyon land.
