Explore Utah
Discover Utah's national parks, red rock landscapes, and diverse recreation areas. Explore Bryce, Zion, Arches, and more with expert guides. Book today!
Utah has it all. Utah has 5 National Parks, 8 National Monuments, 2 National Recreation Areas (e.g., Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge), and 43 State Parks, plus mountains, deserts, and everything in between. And don't forget all the red rock. From the Great Basin to the Colorado Plateau and the Wasatch Mountains, there is so much diversity in the outdoors that it has something for everyone.
Let us take you on a tour through the beautiful landscapes of Utah. Utah is our home state and we love to show it off! Whether it be one of our one-day sampler tours of Bryce and Zion, our week-long Mighty 5 tour (goes to all 5 National Parks) or take one of our tours that takes a deeper dive into Utah's fascinating geology, you'll be impressed beyond belief no matter your tour choice. Explore, challenge yourself, and enrich your life for the better.
With Utah, adventure awaits!
Explore Utah in photographs
Trips that go here
Nothing in the published catalogue reaches Explore Utah on a scheduled departure yet. Browse every trip.
Planning a trip to Explore Utah
Utah has five national parks and they run in a rough arc across the south of the state: Zion and Bryce Canyon in the west, Capitol Reef in the middle, Arches and Canyonlands together in the east at Moab. Driving the whole arc is around eight hours of road end to end, which is why it is normally done over a week rather than a long weekend.
They are not interchangeable. Zion is a canyon walked from the bottom, Bryce an amphitheatre looked into from the rim at 8,000 feet, Capitol Reef a hundred-mile fold in the earth with an orchard in the middle of it, and Arches and Canyonlands are high desert plateau cut open by two rivers. The elevation spread between them is more than 5,000 feet, so the same week can need shorts and a down jacket.
Season is the single biggest planning decision. April to May and September to October are the working seasons — warm enough to walk all day, cool enough to do it safely. July and August are hot enough in the east of the state to make a midday hike genuinely dangerous, and they are also when the parks are fullest. Winter empties them, and Bryce under snow is one of the better sights in the country.
Two things routinely catch people out: flash floods, which come from storms far outside the canyon you are standing in, and timed-entry reservations, which have applied at some parks in peak months in recent seasons and are re-set every year.
Beyond the five there is a second tier that is quieter and often better for it — Grand Staircase-Escalante, Cedar Breaks, Goblin Valley, the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island in the north.