Fodor's Expert Review Escalante Petrified Forest State Park

This park just 2 miles outside Escalante protects a huge repository of petrified wood, easily spotted along two short but moderately taxing hiking trails (the shorter and steeper of the two, the Sleeping Rainbows Trail, requires some scrambling over boulders). Of equal interest is the park's Wide Hollow Reservoir, which has a swimming beach and is popular for kayaking, standup paddling, trout fishing, and birding.