Show UTAH TO nn ton AUTO TOURISTS with the opening of the touring season but a few weeks away motorists are beginning to plan their trips for the coming summer in the past tour years the popularity ot utah as a mecca for automobile tourists has been ever inci easing last season atai the biggest from this standpoint velch the state has witnessed an estimated total of foreign auto ests from outside of the state spending days within its boundaries having passed through alt lake ot this number one fourth or persons coming in from the lincoln highway dikea peak highway midland trail and the arrowhead trail registered at the touring bureau of the utah state automobile association in the commercial club building salt lake statistics prove that since its inauguration two ears ago the bureau has grown into one of the largest in point of people served in the united states while in salt lake on a recent trip of inspection to alon canyon in the southern part of the state which has recently been created alon national park stephen T mather director of the bureau of national parks in washington made the statement that salt lake city Is the center of scenic america this Is literally true radiating from salt lake are six highways of national prominence which take the motor tourist to many of the scenic wonder spots ot the united states four of the best known national parks in america yellowstone yo rocky mountain national park in colorado and the grand canyon ot the colorado are easily accessible ces sible from salt lake in addition to these a hundred lesser known but in no wise inferior scenic spots may be reached from salt lake in two or three days easy driving the vast majority of these arc with in the states boundaries in the days when the only modes of travel available were the railroad and horse myriads of attractive spots were unnoticed the ua to mobile and good roads have chang ed all this utah is now ready to take advantage of what director mather terms its greatest asset perhaps the best known ot wonderlands wonder lands Is alon national park which is a drive of a little more than miles from salt lake on the arrowhead trail since alon national monument was created national park but two months ago it has received national publicity and judging by the interest created bids fair to become one 0 americas popular playgrounds the park includes square miles ot beauty alon canyon which has been termed the rainbow of the desert Is the main attraction of the park and by some is considered more marvelous and beautiful than the grand canyon it Is more than fifteen miles long and varies in width from fitly to 2600 feet the early cormons mormons this valley for a refuge and called it little alon to distinguish it from alon by which name salt lake city was then known each national park has its own individual characteristics alons Is diversity every angle and turn presents a new picture a calm green vista or a riot of color in fanciful outline within the park ara several canyons spectacular and different from each other there are lofty mountains sheltering fertile valleys cliff dwelling ruins telling of a by gone phase of civilization altes where heathen deities were worshiped hid den trails unexplored regions and unreal geological volumes and walla covering thousands of square feet of smooth surface on which are sometimes found fantastic designs such as domes temples columns and even animals and birds other walls appear as vastly striped satin hung up against the sky it was this region which major powell the famous explorer of the grand canyon sighted in the and which the famous artist moran and others tried to picture on canvas so weird and brilliant were both the work and oil paintings that tor many years it was thought that powell and morans enthusiasm ran away with their veracity in the territory close to zion park in the southern part of the state aro found many other attractive spots becee canyon which was not discovered until six years ago is one ot these the people living in the vicinity knew of it but automobile travelers by the score on their way to the grand canyon passed within six miles of the place without hearing of it it Is claimed that for color bryce s canyon Is unrivaled the bureau of national parks in a recent report on southern utah says the colors of this canyon which Is eight miles long range from a light tan and buff to chocolate cho clate and from a pale pink and salmon to brilliant red there is a movement on toot at present to include braces canyon in the national park system also in this section are found natural bridges which are unsurpassed the largest of these which aro found in san juan county range from to feet high and to feet long in the uintah basin six miles from the town of jenson and reached by a splendid automobile road is located ne of the worlds few dinosaur quarries fossils and petrified remains of the monsters of prehistoric ages are found in a state of splendid preservation during the six years five or six perfect specimens of giant skeletons have been shipped from the quarry salt lako herald |