3 Best Sights in Southwestern Utah, Utah

Cedar Breaks is a 3-mile-long natural amphitheater that plunges a half-mile into the Markagunt Plateau, offering spectacular scenery and fewer crowds than at the area's better known national parks. Mostly short alpine hiking trails trace the rim, meandering past wildflowers in summer. You can get a nice view of these distinctive red-rock formations that bear a strong resemblance to those of Bryce Canyon at the handful of overlooks along Highway 148—which means hikers, skiers, and snowshoers can usually find solitude along the trails.

Winter is one of the best times to visit, when snow drapes the red-orange formations. As of this writing, the park service was constructing an attractive and much-needed new visitor center by the Sunset Trailhead parking area—it's slated to open in late summer 2023. From here, you can hike the 1-mile round-trip Sunset Trail, which is paved and wheelchair accessible, or embark on the most memorable of the park's hikes, the 5-mile round-trip South Rim Trail. This latter trek is moderately challenging, but if time is short, just hike the first mile to the Spectra Point viewpoint for an eye-popping panorama. Across Highway 148, the easy 0.6-mile round-trip Nature Trail connects with the Point Supreme Campground, which has 25 tent and RV sites. In winter, call ahead for conditions (the road is sometimes closed due to heavy snowfall), and keep in mind that visitor facilities are closed from October through late May.

This breathtaking, immense, and often difficult-to-access wilderness became a national monument in 1996. And although its federal status continues to generate controversy that has led to reductions and subsequent restorations of its boundaries, this nearly 1.9-million-acre tract of red-rock canyons, stepped escarpments (the Grand Staircase), sheer rock ridges, and sweeping mesas continues to beguile hikers, canyoneers, and other outdoors enthusiasts. Unlike parks and monuments operated by the National Park Service, Grand Staircase–Escalante is administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and visiting its key attractions requires a bit more research and effort than, for example, Bryce or Capitol Reef, which are relatively more compact and accessible.

The best way to plan your adventures within the park is by stopping by one of the four visitor centers in the area, the best of these being the stunning Escalante Interagency Visitor Center in downtown Escalante. The smaller BLM Visitor Center in Cannonville is also helpful, or if you're entering the monument from the south, check out the BLM Visitor Centers in Kanab and Big Water. Given that many of the monument's top attractions are in remote areas with limited signage and access via unpaved (and sometimes very rough) roads, many visitors hire one of the area's many experienced outfitters and guides—this is an especially smart strategy if it's your first time in the area. Some of the monument's top attractions are big draws—including Calf Creek Recreation Area and the several hikes and vistas along Hole-in-the-Rock Road ( see Escalante), the Burr Trail ( see Boulder), and the Paria Movie Set and Paria Canyon–Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness ( see Kanab).

A 20-minute drive southwest of Kanab, this 40-acre plot of stone buildings and sagebrush- and red rock–dotted hillsides with a pond and gardens preserves a site where indigenous Kaibab Paiute people thrived for a thousand years, followed by Spanish missionaries and Mormon pioneers in the mid-19th century. A modern visitor center contains artifacts and interactive exhibits and presents a short video detailing the history of this community and its reliance on the natural springs that run beneath it. Rangers give guided tours and crafts demonstrations during the summer months, but any time of year you can explore the grounds, buildings, orchards, and horse and cattle corrals on your own and hike the ½-mile Ridge Trail for an astounding view of the Arizona Strip, as this region is known.