Dixie National Forest

Utah's largest national forest at nearly two million acres, Dixie stretches 170 miles across southern Utah's spectacular high plateaus, serving as the scenic connective tissue between Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Cedar Breaks National Monument. Red Canyon along Highway 12 features brilliant crimson hoodoos rivaling those in Bryce Canyon but with far fewer visitors, while the Aquarius Plateau rises above 11,000 feet as the highest timbered plateau in North America. The forest's location in one of the least light-polluted regions of the country provides some of the darkest skies in the United States, making it exceptional for stargazing. Blue spruce, ponderosa pine, and aspen forests blanket the plateaus above vast expanses of red-rock canyon country, creating dramatic elevation-driven contrasts. Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness, Boulder Mountain, and the Powell Point area offer outstanding backcountry hiking, while Panguitch Lake and wide Hollow Reservoir provide trout fishing at elevation. The forest's diverse terrain supports mule deer, elk, mountain lions, and pronghorn, along with reintroduced California condors that soar above the Vermilion Cliffs.