Lytle Preserve is an excellent place to spend a spring morning strolling through the fruit orchards, walking along the water course -- perhaps admiring the engineering marvel of a small beaver dam -- birdwatching, or just spreading a picnic under a big shade tree.

The preserve, a former ranch, lies well off the beaten path in the southwestern corner of Utah, northwest of Mesquite, encompassing more than 600 acres along Beaver Dam Wash. The wash is a perennial stream running through the Arizona strip to join the Virgin River, which in turn drains into Lake Mead.