Zion National Park, UT

 Place: Zion National Park, UT

Weather: Mainly sunny, 65/100F.

Route: From Salt Lake City 308 miles south on I-15 S, UT-17 S, UT-9 E.

Significance: Southern Utah and Northern Arizona is like nowhere else I've been. According to the National Park Service - Bryce Canyon, Zion, and the Grand Canyon are part of the Colorado Plateau - which stair steps down from Bryce to Zion to Grand Canyon being the lowest.  All of these parks have the brilliant red, pink, and white cliffs - but each is very different in it's own way.  Zion is maybe the most diverse of the three.  It has all the desert animals you would expect - lizards, birds, mountain lions, deer, foxes - and some you might not expect like frogs. Elevation varies within the park from 3,700 to 8,700 feet - so there are many types of plants and animals. In the valleys there are even hanging gardens and wetlands.  As you move up in elevation there are desert shrubs, pinyon-juniper trees, ponderosa pine and even conifer and Aspen groves.

Images:

Zion Canyon (from outsideonline.com)

The Narrows (from utah.com)