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From settlement days forward, Utahans have actively supported the performing arts as opportunities for entertainment, education, and enlightenment. Nearly every city and community has amateur performing companies, or access to performances through the state's colleges and universities. Though based in Salt Lake City, Ballet West and Utah Symphony and Opera perform throughout the state. Elsewhere, the popular Utah Shakespearean Festival has put Cedar City on the "cultural map." The following is just a sampling of what Utah has to offer.
From majestic alpine mountains to rugged redrock canyons, Utah typifies the classic Old West. Some of the most colorful figures and outlaws of the Old West have claimed Utah as home. Utah's prime location between California and the middle of nowhere created a sparsely populated landscape from which cattle rustlers and bandits could steal their way into western legend. The wide-open area sheltered some of the West's most reviled and revered cowboys. Old West outlaws including Butch Cassidy, Billy the Kid, and the Rough Riders all set up camp within Utah's borders. Most of the territory once dominated by the great cowboys is still untouched and can be conveniently visited today. It's here where you can experience the living history of the Old West!
The Utah scenic byways are well known to travelers around the world. The beaten paths get you from one amazing site to another. But for those to whom the reward is in the journey, there are paths less trodden. Panoramas reserved for the adventurous, worlds away from the mainstream. As Robert Frost once said, "And I took the road less traveled, and that made all the difference." Utah offers a unique combination of these recreational adventures, cultural attractions and, most of all, widely varied landscapes. The state's wild beauty ranges from rugged mountains and forests in northern Utah and the stark vistas of the Great Salt Lake Desert to the dramatic sprawl of southern Utah's red rock canyons.
Pleasant and friendly Salt Lake City makes a great stopover for weary travelers between Denver and San Francisco. Although its name derives from the undrinkable alkaline Great Salt Lake that spreads to the west, the city actually has abundant fresh water, thanks to the rain and snowmelt of the Wasatch Range, which rises to the east. Great Salt Lake is the largest salt lake in North America and is a shallow remnant of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville.
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Arches National Park has the highest concentration of natural sandstone arches in the world. More than 80 of these natural wonders have formed over millions of years. The park "floats" on a salt bed, which once liquefied under the pressure exerted by the rock above it.
Zion National Park is another major attraction. At the heart of this beautiful national park lies Zion Canyon, perhaps the most popular of all Utah's wonders. Its majestic walls raise 2,000 ft and are shaped into jagged peaks and formations of red and white.
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