If you could stand at the edge of the great Valles Marineris canyon on Mars, would the view would look something like this? I think it just might.

I spent last week in and around Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah. I grew up in this region, but that’s not the only reason the place had a familiar feel to it. For someone who spends (probably too much) mental time on the planet Mars, the desert landscape of southern Utah is unmistakably Mars-like. See for yourself.

On the left, layers of sandstone in Victoria Crater on the Meridian Plains of Mars. The robotic space geologist Opportunity took this shot. On the right, a picture I took showing layers of sandstone at the side of the “Park Avenue” trail in Arches National Park:

On the left, a Martian mesa seen from orbit by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. On the right, my view looking down from Dead Horse Point, Utah (I think the two images are even at roughly the same scale):

On the left, another section of the wall in Victoria Crater. On the right, layers I found in the backcountry of Canyonlands National Park:

On the left, the edge of Victoria. On the right, an overlook of Shafer Canyon:

On the left, an orbital view into Becquerel Crater. On the right, Shafer Canyon again:

In some ways, Mars is not so different from the Earth, and vice versa. They are both very real places. The same laws of light and stone and wind are at work on both worlds, resulting in portraits of recognizable siblings.

On the other hand, the trip also reminded me of the singular beauty and priceless shelter offered by the Earth. Everywhere you look on Earth—even in the desert—there is water, air…and life.

The first afternoon on the trip, a cloudburst descended on the mesas and unleashed torrential rain for about ten minutes before it swept on. Then the flash floods came. Dust-red water surged suddenly through every dry channel. We followed it down to the edge of the canyon, and watched it spill over the cliffsides. A few minutes later the entire event ended as fast as it began…but the countryside bloomed for days afterward.

Mars is nice to visit. But there’s no place like home.

Mars image credits: NASA/JPL/Cornell University/University of Arizona. Earth image credits: Bill Dunford.