• To reach the Noah's Ark Trail, go south on I-15 to Parowan (Exit 75) and go through town, turning left (east) off Main Street onto state Route 143. Turn left after about one mile and go east into First Left Hand Canyon, which heads to Yankee Meadows. (This is a paved, narrow road with 13 percent grades, if you continue past Vermilion.)

Watch the signs and turn into Vermilion Picnic Area and drive the dirt road loop, looking for the signed trailhead. There are restrooms in the picnic area.

• The Parowan Canyon area is also home to a slew of other oddly shaped features. For example, there's Free Thought Canyon; Valentine Peak (where the sun rises each Feb. 14 perfectly lined with its summit); Squaw Hollow; Hole in the Rock; Billy West Canyon; and Yankee Meadows.

• Zion National Park also has some biblically and religiously named features, like the Three Patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — and Kolob Canyons and Kolob Arch. Statewide, there are many other religious place names, too.

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E-mail: lynn@desnews.com