Walk through glorious Zion National Park, whether your athletic ability dictates a short jaunt or you're fit for a strenuous adventure. Zion, named after an ancient Hebrew word meaning "sanctuary," offers 229 square miles of brilliantly colored wildflowers and the amazing texture and light showcasing the park's unique geography.

Join a park ranger presentation to learn more about Zion National Park, with talks on indigenous animals, geology, plants, human history, and more. For bird-watchers, Zion is home to 271 species of birds; checklists are available at the visitor centers.

Gooseberry Mesa
Mount up for a half-day guided mountain bike excursion to Gooseberry Mesa, one of the West's coolest places to ride. You'll be amazed at the unparalleled views into Zion National Park. Ride a sea of slickrock domes along twisty singletrack rim trails that biking magazines are calling "Better than Moab."

Head out this morning for a scenic farewell drive through Zion, and proceed up Highway 89 to Red Canyon and Bryce Canyon National Park (115 miles). Check into Ruby's Inn, the closest accommodations to the park, and experience charming Western hospitality.

The "hoodoos" at Bryce Canyon will astonish and delight you. These colorful and whimsical formations are Claron limestone, sandstone, and mudstone shaped by millions of years of erosion into thousands of spires, fins, pinnacles, and mazes.

Start your day with a three-hour horseback excursion through Bryce and Red canyons. In Bryce, orange and pink spires and hoodoos create a maze of narrow passages that are exciting to explore on horseback. In Red Canyon, you'll ride under towering pine trees and past Bryce-like rock formations, following a small stream or pushing up the canyon wall.

Return to Ruby's Inn and enjoy the rest of the day on your own. Visit Bryce Canyon's horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters, carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. World-famous for its unique geology and tinted with an astonishing array of colors, these whimsically arranged rocks create the most exciting and memorable walks and hikes imaginable.

Next exciting stop: Capital Reef National Park, a beautiful, 125-mile drive from Bryce Canyon. Spend the night at Austin's Chuckwagon Resort, in the heart of the trees in Torrey, Utah, minutes from the park entrance.

Capitol Reef National Park, the second largest in Utah, was established to protect a grand and colorful geologic feature called "The Waterpocket Fold." It's a 100-mile-long wrinkle in the earth's crust known as a monocline, extending from Thousand Lakes Mountain to Lake Powell. Named for the resemblance of its great white domes of Navajo sandstone to the U. S. Capitol building, it also contains multicolored cliffs, narrow canyons, ridges, arches, and spires.

Hike just 1.2 miles to see its most famous feature: Hickman Bridge, a large, elegant natural arch in a scenic side canyon high above the Freemont River. Continue up the Rim Overlook Trail, a steeper, 2-mile path that climbs westward to a summit of 6,900 feet with panoramic views over the reef and river valley.

Depart this morning for Moab (144 miles), and enjoy touring Arches National Park in the afternoon.

The extraordinary Arches National Park preserves over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including balanced rocks, fins, and pinnacles, highlighted by a striking environment of contrasting colors, landforms, and textures. In addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations, in some areas, faulting has exposed millions of years of geologic history.

Spend the night at Aarchway Inn in Moab, nestled between the picturesque red rock cliffs and buttes of the Colorado River just 2 miles from Arches National Park.

Explore the Colorado River by jet boat! Take an exciting ride on the majestic river, and keep an eye out for the abundant wildlife: raptors, deer, song birds, and perhaps even bighorn sheep. There are several possible stops for short walks in a forest of petrified wood, Native American ruins, or Dead Horse Point.

This afternoon, go for a Jeep excursion through the extensive off-road trails in Canyonlands National Park. Rough, slick rock, loose shale, deep sand, and steep switchbacks characterize these intermediate-to-difficult trails.

Spend a full day exploring Moab and Canyonlands National Park, a colorful landscape of sedimentary sandstones eroded into countless canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River.

The park is divided into four districts by the Colorado and Green rivers: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the rivers themselves. While the districts share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character and offers different opportunities for exploration and learning.

Enjoy dinner at the Bar M Chuckwagon with an authentic, high-energy Western dinner show full of folklore, humor, and audience participation. Join in the fun! Come early and enjoy the gunfights, games, Western village, gift shop, and saloon.

Morning drive to Monument Valley (155 miles) deep in the heart of the American Southwest, for a stay at Goulding's Lodge.

Monument Valley is Navajo land, full of mystery and wonder. Take a 3˝-hour tour which includes a Navajo rug weaving demonstration and a visit to the area's unique sandstone formations. Home to many classic Western movies, Monument Valley personifies the Old West of Butch Cassidy, outlaws, pioneers, and Native American people.

Drive to the scenic setting of the Lake Powell Resort. The second largest reservoir in North America, Lake Powell is 186 miles long with 1,960 miles of shoreline, a paradise for house-boating, photography, water sports, and general exploring. Hundreds of side canyons, inlets, and coves shelter Indian ruins and natural wonders.

One of the seven natural wonders of the world, Rainbow Bridge is the largest natural bridge in the world at 290 feet tall and 270 feet across. Higher than the U.S. Capitol Building and nearly as long as a football field, it was formed by erosion of sandstone by water flowing down from Navajo Mountain. It is sacred to the Navajo culture as a symbol of deities responsible for creating clouds, rainbows, and rain—the essence of life in the desert.

In the evening, relax during a sunset dinner cruise on lovely Lake Powell.

Drive to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park (153 miles), the higher, less crowded, more breathtaking outlook on this incredible natural wonder.

Take a walk on the quiet side. Only about 10 percent of the Grand Canyon's annual four million visitors come to the North Rim, so this area is far less congested than its southern counterpart.

Spectacular views are available from several easily accessible points, including Cape Royal (7,685-ft. elevation), Point Imperial (8,803-ft. elevation), and Bright Angel Point (8,255-ft. elevation). Bright Angel is also the location of the historic Grand Canyon Lodge and North Rim Visitor Center.