Time to get away: A look at Utah attractions county-by-county

There are also a number of popular reservoirs, including Gunlock, Quail Creek and the new Sand Hollow reservoir and recreation area.

Grand County

Available are a range of activities, including floating rivers, hiking and biking over slick rock.

Four of Utah's most noted white-water river adventures are tied into Grand County — Cataract, Westwater, The Daily and Desolation Canyon.

A short drive outside of Moab is the entrance to Arches National Park, one of Utah's more spectacular landscapes and home to the largest concentration of natural sandstone arches in the world.

Dead Horse State Park is north of town. From the deck of the new visitors center, people can get great views of the Colorado River, including one of its most famous points — Goose Neck — which is 2,000 feet below the rim of the park.

There are three scenic byways in the county — the Upper Colorado River drive, which follows the river northeast from Moab to I-70; the Potash-Lower Colorado River drive, which also follows the river but goes southwest; and the Dead Horse Point Mesa, which goes from U.S. 163 to the state park.

There are also three scenic backways — LaSal Mountain Loop, Needles/Anticline Overlook Road and Lockhart Basin Road.

Weber County

On a section of the Weber River is the state's only kayak rodeo park — a playground for kayakers, canoers and tubers.

Near the river is Fort Buenaventura, 2450 A Ave., once a state park but now run by the city of Ogden. The fort was the first permanent Anglo settlement in the Great Basin, back in the 1840s. The reconstructed fort includes a stockade, replicas of old cabins, camping areas and a pond.

Pineview Reservoir is east of Ogden and has become a center for summer water sports, including wakeboarding, water skiing, boating and swimming.

In Ogden is the Salomon Center, which offers a range of activities, including bowling, indoor surfing, flying in an air tunnel and a large indoor climbing wall.

San Juan County

Within the county are some of Utah's most extraordinary historic markers, some dating back millions of years and some linked to Utah's more recent past.

The calendar of time can start with Canyonlands National Park and Natural Bridges National Monument and can race forward to more recent recordings such as Hovenweep National Monument and the early American writings on Newspaper Rock.