Visitor to 38 states says Utah is the one she still thinks about

I grew up the opposite of outdoorsy—no camping or national-park trips, just cities, museums, and carefully planned dinners. After living in New York and traveling more for work, I started to appreciate wide-open space, and nowhere changed my perspective more than Utah.

I've now been to 38 states, but Utah is the one I still think about. I landed in St. George and saw red rock stretching endlessly from the plane window—shades of red, pink, and orange so different from the Northeast they barely felt real. Driving only deepened the impression: sandstone cliffs, high-desert plains, winding canyons, and vast open stretches that reset your sense of scale; Scenic Byway 12 turns the drive into the destination.

Utah's beauty goes beyond Zion, Bryce, and Arches. Snow Canyon State Park blends lava flows, sand dunes, and Navajo sandstone, and places like Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante feel otherworldly, with narrow beams of light and towering walls that make hiking feel like being absorbed into the landscape.

United States, Utah

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