Two months ago, I packed my bags, dusted off my hiking boots after a long winter in storage, and headed out on a 6,437-kilometer round-trip to visit some of the United States’ natural wonders. 

Utah is home to five National Parks: Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion, all coined with the title “Utah’s Mighty 5.” As someone born and raised in the Midwest of the United States, I’ve always been fascinated by the stark differences in ecosystems and terrain that can be found in places like Utah. Although with our national parks now under threat from development and resource extraction due to the current political landscape, I knew my time to visit was now, before our parks become potentially unrecognizable. 

Over 2 weeks, I traversed sunkissed rock formations, snow-covered desert sage, dry riverbeds engulfed by towering canyon walls, forest floors, and the rare “hoodoo” rock formations. I slept along the Colorado riverbank, at the bottom of towering canyons on all sides, and across our nation’s public lands. I cooked my meals in the rain, snow, and sunshine, and reconnected with nature.

Being immersed in nature, with no phone reception, no noise pollution from bustling towns, and no light pollution, leaving the night sky bright enough to guide you through the dark, you forget the internal noise and urgency of everyday life. You lose track of time and allow yourself to move intentionally through the environment around you. There’s this feeling of serenity as you seek out the innate and natural tendency to connect with nature.

Yet, here in America, our parks are actively being attacked, and the fight to protect them, and keep public lands in public hands is upon us.

From preserving and protecting both our natural and historical resources, these parks are known as living laboratories for learning about the history, cultures, and the environment that surrounds us. Protecting these parks is more than just keeping our outdoor recreation hotspots; it’s about preserving our landscapes and history for generations to come.

Join me on this journey through the lens of my camera and experience the beauty and awe of some of our nation’s most iconic national parks, as well as the reason behind the desire to keep these lands as they are.

Image credit: Marley Wolff

Arches National Park, the “Double Arch”: 

Referring to the North and South windows in the Windows area of the park, which holds the largest concentration of natural arches in the entire world. Made of two large arches stemming from the same sandstone fin, this double arch was formed by downward water erosion from atop the sandstone, rather than the typical side-to-side erosion.

Image credit: Marley Wolff

Canyonlands National Park, “Rock Shelters”:

People have visited and lived within the lands of what is now Canyonlands National Park for over 10,000 years, all leaving their mark which allows us to learn about the history of the land and its inhabitants today. These rock shelters were built and used by many, including Archaic foragers, Ancestral Puebloans, and Fremont people as homes and shelters where food, medicine, and other essential items were stored for those passing by on hunting or migration routes.

Image credit: Marley Wolff

Bryce Canyon National Park, “The Hoodoos”:

These are distinctive spire-shaped rock formations that are created by an ongoing erosion cycle. When the surrounding plateau erodes, it creates fins of rock. As water seeps into the cracks of these rocks, they experience a freeze and thaw cycle over seasons, which puts pressure on the rocks, ultimately widening the cracks. As acidic rainwater falls, it dissolves the calcium carbonate that binds the rocks together. This process continues in a cycle, creating individual hoodoos that appear on the landscape.

Image credit: Marley Wolff

Captiol Reef National Park, “Petroglyphs”:

This national park has preserved thousands of years of human presence, including archaeological evidence of the Fremont people, who inhabited the area from approximately 300-1300 CE. They were known for their distinctive rock art or petroglyphs, depicting human and animal-like figures, resource locations, and routes still present throughout the park, allowing us to learn and reflect on the history of human interactions well before our time. It’s still unclear why the Fremont people largely disappeared from the area by 1300 CE, but there’s strong evidence that it may be linked to either climate change or the arrival of other groups.