The crown jewel is Bear Lake. The lake is 20 miles long and eight miles wide. The lake is unlike any other in Utah. For starters, it has its own Loch Ness monster myth. Over the years, several locals have reported seeing a dinosaur-like creature swimming in the lake. Some have even suggested it really is the Loch Ness creature and that there's an underground channel connecting the two waters. For another, Bear Lake holds three fish that are found nowhere else in the world.

There are more than 1,760 acres of marsh, open water and grasslands, home to such species as the sandhill crane, herons, snowy egrets, white pelicans and a whole list of waterfowl.

A little to the south, en route to Salt Lake City via Evanston, Wyo., is the small town of Randolph, which is known for two things: 1) The territorial home of former LDS Church President Wilford Woodruff, which has been turned into a two-room museum in the summer and is a popular attraction with passers-by; 2) the cold temperatures in the winter.

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