Visit Utah's National Parks on your next Utah family vacation getaway.

My family has taken a Utah family vacation getaway for the last couple years and each year, we have been amazed by the beauty and splendor that Utah provides. We love the high desert beauty of the south and the gorgeous snow capped mountain beauty of the north. There is something for everyone in Utah!

For a family vacation getaway to be truly enjoyable in Utah, you have to enjoy the outdoors and want to get out and hike or ski a little. Yeah, some people may not be too keen on that, but I guarantee that your spouse and kids will thank you afterwards! You see, Utah is a unique place. It is home to Arches National Park

Visit the world famous Delicate Arch in Arches National Park

which has the world's largest concetration of sandstone arches-over 2,000 in all! It is home to The Great Salt Lake, formerly called Lake Bonneville, which used to cover portions of Utah, Idaho, and Nevada, but today covers a signifcantly smaller area in Utah only. You will also have a blast visiting Bryce Canyon National Park and taking a hike amongst the hoodoos, striving not to get lost. Enjoy the wild beauty of spires coming out of the earth to look like millions of red and orange needles poking their way out of the valley floor. For a truly breath-taking sight, your Utah family vacation must involve a stay and tour of Zion National Park. In Zion National Park, you will get to witness the awe inspiring beauty of sandstone mountains that have been shaped and formed by the weather into such magnificent behemoths that you can't help but sit on a park bench and just take in the sights.

For the Utah family vacation, which does not involve as much hiking and park visiting, there is still a lot to do. You can decide to take an all inclusive Utah family vacation getaway and visit some highly recommended Utah destinations. In the capital city of Salt Lake City, your family must make the stop at the Temple square, located in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City. Since the cost to visit is free, and the hours are friendly (9 to 9, daily and year round), you really don't have an excuse not to visit this historic building. The building is one large building that consists of 3 basic parts: the Mormon Temple (LDS members only, are permitted inside), the Mormon Tabernacle (where the world-famous choir sings and the impressive 12,000 pipe organ sits), and finally the Assembly Hall where you can often hear concerts on Friday and Saturday nights. Be sure to stop by the visitor center and get an itinerary for the events going on. While you are here, don't be surprised if you are approached by a Mormon who wants to share their faith with you, be polite, after all it is their church!

The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah

Located at South Temple and Main Street, is the Joseph Smith building. This building is worth a visit, because of the 200 personal computers they have that you can do a family search and attempt to trace your family ancestry. Since this is a Utah family vacation, what better time than to learn a little about those crazy ancestors no one in the family likes to talk about! We find it a little disconcerting that the Mormons have all this family information, kind of gives pause and makes the inner conspiracy theorist in you stop to think, huh?

If you are taking your Utah family vacation in the winter, Utah offers some of the best snow skiing around, after all it was chosen for the 2002 winter Olympics! If you are a beginner or intermediate skier, we recommend that you

head to Solitude Mountain resort. They have installed new lifts that are much easier to get on and off (a big problem for beginners) and the lifts go way up into the mountain so that you can take full advantage of the over 1200 acres of snow covered trails. If you are short on time for your Utah family vacation and you just want to fly in, ski and go home, then you would be best off heading to Snowbird. This is Utah's most well known ski resort since it is so close to the Salt Lake City resort and the snow powder is absolutely perfect for skiers and snowboarders alike.

There are more things to do on your Utah family vacation getaway, however most families that come to Utah for their vacation getaway, spend a little time in Salt Lake City visiting the tourist sites and then head on to the beautiful National Parks to do a little camping and hiking. These are the activities we have chosen to focus on and therefore we are going to encourage you to make your Utah family vacation one that involves camping and hiking and getting out to enjoy the great outdoors!

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