Bluff

Experience a world unlike anything you’ve ever imagined in the high desert mountains and plummeting canyons of south-central Utah. You’ll step into two national parks, three state parks, and all the scenic winding roads your heart could desire.

Timed perfectly for winter, this journey takes you to some of the finest mountain resorts in the world, then to the most spectacular vistas of the scarlet-hued desert.

When you visit this area, you’ll really get a feeling for what life was like as a pioneer. You can walk around the original Bluff Fort, that has been rebuilt and restored through the efforts of the local organization, the Hole in the Rock Foundation.

This desert is dramatic. In a really good way. Experience the towering heights of Zion, the depths of Buckskin Gulch, the dunes of Snow Canyon, the sunset over Gooseberry. Southern Utah’s wilds are wearing their winter splendor.

Handprints, horned animals, hunters and a Kokopelli playing a flute are some of the extraordinary petroglyphs on display at Sand Island, a significant and easily accessible archaeological site located just outside of Bluff, Utah.

Southern Utah is home to two high-elevation ski areas with generous helpings of what we call (with authority) The Greatest Snow on Earth®. Things can be a little quieter down here this time of year. Give yourself at least five days to combine the thrills of Southern Utah skiing and boarding with exploring the wintertime wonders to be found in Utah’s red rock country.

Find your sense of adventure and awe in the vast yet intricate swaths of desert from Arches National Park to Monument Valley. From delicate river-fed ecosystems to crimson-hued rock buttresses, this magical landscape is awash in history, dating back thousands of years to the original Native American settlers to whom these places were sacred.

There’s no better way to experience a bit of everything Utah offers. Ski its heavenly powder snow, then point your car southward to wind your way through the exquisite Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park and a series of crimson-hued state park gems along the way.