Utah Adventure Travel: Bryce and Zion Tours, Rafting, Hiking, Cycling, and More

Explore the spectacular desert southwest on one of our Bryce and Zion tours, NOLS courses, OARS Green River rafting trips, or a Backroads bicycle tour.

It’s said that Utah is a Native American Ute word for “home on mountaintop.” But a more popular nickname today is “rooftop of the United States.”

Indeed, most of Utah sits high on the American continent. It rests on a plateau 4,000 feet above sea level. The average elevation of the tallest peaks in each of Utah’s counties is 11,222 feet, which is higher than the same average in any other state. Such heights make even more of a statement when paired with Utah’s deep river canyons.

Southern Utah has five breathtaking national parks — including Bryce Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands, and Arches — along with the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. In Bryce Canyon National Park, you can hike amid fantastical hoodoos, crooked stone spires, and striking monoliths in brilliant hues of orange, pink, and red. Walk the Queen’s Garden Trail — where you’ll meet “Queen Victoria” at the end of a short spur — or take the Bristlecone Loop, pausing next to pines that could be up to 1,800 years old.

On your Utah tour, you’ll be able to admire the expansive, high-desert views of the Grand Staircase en route to Zion National Park, a place often called a “hiker’s paradise.” Strap on your water shoes for an exhilarating river trek through the Narrows, one of the most renowned slot canyons in the world. Follow the inner gorge of the Virgin River as it pushes through 1,000-foot rock walls, draped with small waterfalls and hanging gardens.

In Canyonlands National Park, created in the wake of the 1869 John Wesley Powell expedition, acquire a taste for the wild waters of the Colorado River from the deck of an O.A.R.S. paddle raft. Or in a red, arid desert, see the world’s largest concentration of natural stone arches at Arches National Park.

And at the end of every day of your outdoors Utah adventure, the night skies will fill with so many stars that it will seem like you can reach out and touch them.

Fitting, for such a lofty place.

Scroll down to learn more about Utah adventure travel and peruse our Bryce and Zion Tours, OARS Utah rafting trips