USA's Southwest National Parks

The Southwest has some of the most striking scenery in the world.  Peregrine copywriter Erin Aldersea gives you the facts and highlights four unmissable national parks:

How to get there
To get started on the path to the great national parks it’s best to fly into Las Vegas. From Vegas it’s only a short drive to start the loop of these great national parks.

Best time to travel
It gets hot in Arizona between May and September so the months of March, April and October and November are more comfortable for travel.

What to take
Of course there are the obvious travel tools like a decent camera, good quality walking shoes and a decent set of binoculars, which would be a real asset in these parks too

Also check out…
If you like to get amongst nature, have a look at our Africa safaris. Some of our Europe tours explore areas of great natural beauty on foot

National Parks

Grand Canyon National Park
‘Grand’ is quite the understatement when it comes to describing this 446 kilometre-long and 1.6 kilometre deep canyon carved over the past six million years by the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon is impressive, to say the least. See it in all its grandeur on a hike to the canyon floor.

Monument Valley
This is a unique sight to be amongst, with rock spires sticking up from all throughout the valley. It will be hard not to take a great shot here!

Zion National Park
Utah's first national park is characterised by high plateaus, a maze of narrow, deep sandstone canyons and striking rock towers and mesas. The park's unique sandstone cliffs range in color from cream, to pink to red. Legend has it the Paiute Indians were superstitious about Zion Canyon and refused to stay there after dark. To the Mormon pioneers it was a haven of beauty resembling natural temples, and they called it "Little Zion". 

Arches National Park
This is one of the most amazing national parks on the planet, boasting more than 1,500 sandstone arches.  Sections of the rocks were gradually worn away over millions of years creating these arches, which range in size from 3ft to the huge Landscape Arch, which is 306ft from base to base and 105ft high. 

Which park would you like to see the most? Tell us about it in the comments section below. If you've been, why not share some photos and stories on Facebook and twitter? We love hearing from the Peregrine community!

If you'd like to see these natural wonders with your own eyes, why not check out our trips to USA. Then sign up to our monthly eNews for trip updates, competitions and more inspirational images.

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