What To Pack for Your First Zion National Park Trip: 17 Useful Items

As national parks look for ways to better serve travelers with disabilities, here are the top parks doing it right.

Be forewarned: Utah is a state of mind, and the state of mind you adopt will determine the books you will want to read. As Brigham Young, the Mormon colonizer, said, “This is the place.” That invites the follow-up question: The place for what?

Completely Clear Structure Thrums with People Watching, Food, Libations and Music! 

The start of a new year is often the time people resolve to tackle bucketlist travel goals: rafting the Colorado River, scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef, exploring the poles. But how does an entry- to intermediate-level adventurer start preparing to make those big dreams a reality?

America's national parks continue to draw big crowds. In fact, attendance has bounced back almost to pre-pandemic levels, with nearly 312 million visitors in 2022, according to the National Park Service. Visiting one of the U.S. park sites remains an incredibly popular travel choice for many people.

Unforgettable history lessons, cultural connections and precious family time are just some of the reasons to consider a big trip in 2024. Stretch your children’s imaginations with these meaningful getaways, mixing nature time with once-in-a-lifetime city breaks, unique accommodations and long-distance rail travel. It might just change the way your family looks at the world.

On January 1, 2024, more than 1,000 hikes will be available in state parks throughout the county. The distance and rigor of the hikes vary from park to park, but they all aim to create a fun experience for the whole family. Savor the beauty of our state parks’ natural, cultural, and historical resources, and be inspired to take advantage of these local treasures all year long.

In a move that showed both countries’ keenness to expand air travel after the COVID-19 pandemic, in turn reflecting an implicit eagerness to up mutually beneficial cooperation, China and the United States increased the number of direct regular passenger flights from 48 to 70 per week in the 2023-24 winter and spring seasons. This year marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S. and the two countries have had extensive cooperation in many fields. Their cooperative efforts serve the common interests of both sides and contribute to the overall wellbeing of people worldwide.

America’s State Parks are once again making it easy and enjoyable to get a head start on those New Year’s Resolutions and wellness goals by facilitating “First Day Hikes” all across the country come January 1.

Sometimes you need a break from reality and the fast-paced lifestyle so many of us live. That reset and breath of fresh air is exactly what I found in central Wisconsin this fall as the weather started to change. Looking out of the plane window on my flight in, all I could see were changing leaves and greenery for miles. In Wisconsin, nature and wellness experiences are readily available for all, whether you’re after adventure, relaxation, or just reconnecting with yourself.

It’s that time of year again: the season for plotting out where to travel in the New Year. Staying closer to home is just as on-trend as venturing to faraway destinations for 2024. This skips the hassle of passport renewal and paves the way for spontaneous getaways to storybook cabins under unpolluted skies and lodges near national parks, part of Airbnb’s predicted trends for the year. Here’s a taste of what these trending and wish-listed Airbnbs in the United States offer for 2024.

Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy recently relaunched its Curated Collections – hand-picked selections of incredible homes and destinations from around the world – to inspire travelers as they begin planning their 2024 journeys. For the nearly four out of 10 prospective travelers for leisure in the next 12 months who are still deciding where they want to travel 1 in 2024, according to a recent YouGov study (conducted on behalf of Marriott), Curated Collections will spark and satisfy wanderlust for travelers with their new collections.