Readers' choice: A Utah guide for international visitors
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A hiker walks through the Subway at Zion National Park. Photo: Erin Alberty/Axios
We recently asked you for Utah experiences, adventures and destinations that international visitors would enjoy.
- Our favorites aren’t always the same as what fascinates folks from afar.
High places: Mirror Lake Highway impressed reader Karen B.'s visitors, with a stop at Provo River Falls and a walk around Mirror Lake.
- Erin's sister-in-law from China loved hiking around Albion Basin during wildflower season.
- If your guests live close to the Alps or Andes or Himalayas, our mountains may not wow them — but folks from flatlands and warmer climes will probably love 'em.
Orange places: Goblin Valley and nearby slot canyons like Little Wild Horse were big hits with an Italian teenager whom reader Margo K. hosted.
- Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks are can't-miss stops, Andy M. said.
- Erin's thought bubble: There's nowhere on Earth like Utah's red rock country — and it has that cowboy-movie look. Whether you pick Moab, Escalante, Torey or St. George, this should be at the top of your agenda.
Close to town: Antelope Island is where the buffalo roam and the antelope play, noted Nick P. It would be a crime to skip America's most iconic wildlife.
Things to do: Among the rodeos, demolition derbies, trail rides, baseball games and drive-in movies that people suggested, one idea from Margo stood out as potentially controversial, but certainly memorable: Visit a shooting range.
- "That was a big hit," she wrote of her Italian guest. It's not for everyone, but the world is mystified by American gun culture — and for better or worse, it's a story they'll probably tell everyone back home.
Be smart: Utah has lots of unique chances to learn about science, history and culture.
- There are Diné-led tours of Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon at Navajo Nation — a great chance to learn Indigenous perspectives on Utah.
- Despite ongoing construction, Temple Square remains a worthy stop to learn about a major religion.
- We have the best dinos; if you can't make it to Vernal, at least see the Natural History Museum's fossil collection.