Less than three weeks after returning from Italy, we were off again to see the Grand Circle of Utah’s National Parks, along with a few state parks and monuments.  This time, we did a small group tour with Road Scholar, although “small group” amounted to 24, instead of 16 like we had in Italy with Overseas Adventure Travel.

This was a completely different type of trip than Italy.  Instead of a focus on the culture, cultural connections with the locals, connections with our tour leaders, incredible food, and beautiful historic sites; Utah was all about the gorgeous scenery and photography.  If you would like to see more pictures and read less stories, join me for a tour of Utah’s most beautiful parks.

We arrived a day early ahead of the tour, so we could explore a little on our own and relax before joining what would be a busy tour.  The first flight out got us in early to St. George, so we checked in at our hotel (which, thankfully, was happy to accommodate us ahead of check-in time), and hopped on a bus to town.  From there, we walked up to Red Hills Desert Garden, which was ranked #1 on Trip Advisor as a “Traveler Favorites” for St. George.  It was a free attraction, the weather was gorgeous, the spring flowers were in bloom, and we were up for a walk after the flight; so, what could be better than that?

Trip Advisor rarely disappoints, and the reviews were spot-on this time.  It was gorgeous there!  It was such a beautiful and peaceful place to wander around or sit on a porch swing and relax.  I chose to put my camera in action:

(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)

Little did I know, the garden was on the program for the following afternoon with the group, so we returned for another visit.  These are my afternoon photos:

Coming up next: Snow Canyon State Park and Bloomington Petroglyph Park