SLCVB 01750SLCVB/Jason MathisWith so much to offer it is tough to pick THE best places in Utah. Based solely on visitation numbers, here are the top 15 favourites:

1. Temple Square and the surrounding Salt Lake City attractions include a conference centre, the world’s largest genealogical library and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building with large-screen theatre showing films related to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) history and religious concepts. The Museum of Church History and Art houses historic displays as well as works of modern L.D.S. and two visitor centres interpret L.D.S. history and faith.

2. Zion National Park, features soaring monoliths, an interpretive centre, hiking and the Virgin River.

3. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area includes Lake Powell, which boasts nearly 3,200 kilometres of shoreline with hundreds of side canyons, inlets and coves.

4. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, features fishing, hiking, mountain biking, wildlife watching and access to the neighbouring Ashley National Forest.

5. Bryce Canyon National Park, is a series of amphitheatres and bowls filled with massive and delicate pillars of stone eroded into hoodoos.

6. Wasatch Mountain State Park, has two excellent 36-hole golf courses, and Soldier Hollow is open year-round. Winter activities include cross-country skiing, tubing and snowshoeing.

7. Arches National Park features hundreds of sandstone arch spans, including Utah icon Delicate Arch.

8. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is divided into three areas: the canyons of the Escalante River, the Grand Staircase and the Kaiparowits Plateau.

9. Capitol Reef National Park features huge dome-like formations and historic sites that range from evidence of the ancient Fremont Culture to orchards planted by 19th-century settlers.

10. Cedar Breaks National Monument is an amphitheatre filled with pillars, columns and hoodoos surrounded by Dixie National Forest.

11. This Is The Place Heritage Park features the Heritage Village Living History Experience, with 40 original and replica homes and businesses featuring demonstrations of crafts, trades and home-making skills typical of 19th-century Utah.

12. Canyonlands National Park is divided into distinct districts: The River; Island in the Sky; The Needles; and The Maze.

13. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park’s Goulding’s Trading Post and Museum recreate life in the 1920s and document the roles of Monument Valley’s formations in movies and television.

14. Snow Canyon State Park is known for its enjoyable hiking through vibrant red Navajo sandstone capped by an overlay of black lava rock.

15. Antelope Island State Park offers stunning views of the Wasatch Mountain range, plus free-roaming bison, bighorn sheep, deer, pronghorn antelope and shore and wading birds.