Utah is home to five popular National Parks each are known for their unique landscapes, the Big 5 attract millions of visitors each year. These are Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and Arches National Park.
For this road trip we started in Las Vegas and ended in Denver. The bulk of this time was spent in Utah. The drive is long, but it is beautiful and well worth your time.
Sample road trip image of the Utah Big 5 by flying into Las Vegas, NV and out of Denver, CO
HOW TO GET THERE
Our recommendation is to travel west to east - start by flying into Las Vegas, NV and then driving west to conclude your road trip at Arches National Park. From there you can either fly out at a small nearby airport 18 miles north called Canyonlands Field Airport. Or, you can take the drive north 236 miles (3.5 hours) to the closest major airport nearby in Salt Lake City, UT. And of course, you can reverse this route if you want.
WHERE TO STAY
You may consider grouping your trip into segments so that you can stay multiple nights at an AirBnB or hotel so you are not checking in and out each night. If you want to stay between Las Vegas and Zion National Park there's a popular town called St. George that's a great place to stay. If you want to stay between Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park there is the town of Kanab, UT which provides a great hub for day trips to both. Then, we'd recommend making the trek to Moab, UT for the second half of your trip to enjoy Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park.
TIPS FOR VISITING
Consider purchasing the America the Beautiful annual park pass rather than purchasing entry to each park separately. It's more convenient and cheaper.
Fill up on gas whenever possible - during the large stretches of countryside driving convenient stores can be rare to come by. You don't want to end up in a poor situation.
Although a AWD vehicle was recommended, we did this road trip in a sedan and were fine. Some roads require 4x4 vehicles, so we were just aware to avoid those areas.
Prepare for the weather and pack accordingly. It's critical to have good sun protection and good shoes to prevent slipping, blisters, etc.
Bring snacks and water - you can easily a spend a full day in these parks and there are limited food options within the parks.
ITINERARY
Day 1: Fly into Las Vegas, NV and head to Zion National Park
We started our trip by flying from Michigan on a direct flight to Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas is a great location to fly into and start due to the relatively inexpensive flights and proximity to Zion National Park. About 45 minutes outside Las Vegas is a state park called Valley of Fire State Park. Often overlooked due to the national parks in the state, Valley of Fire State Park provide an up close experience with large red rock formations. Most notably, it also has petroglyphs that are over 2,000 years old. Driving through the park, you're able to see these symbols carved into the side of the rock and within the remains of small villages that have been preserved. The park is a straight drive through and well worth your time.
Petroglyphs carved into the rock.
Up next was Zion National Park, we entered into the park via the East Rim Trailhead, parked our vehicle, then headed to the shuttle for the scenic drive. Due to our limited amount of time, we were only able to make one stop on the shuttle but were able to see Lower Emerald Pools and the Zion Lodge. We of course had to leave the part through the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway to take in those scenic views.
We set off on the 1.5 hour drive to Bryce Canyon City to spend the night before setting off for a full day in Bryce Canyon.
Route from Las Vegas to Valley of Fire State Park to Zion Canyon to Bryce Canyon City
Day 2: Explore Bryce Canyon National Park
Sunset at the Bryce Amphitheater
Arriving to Bryce Canyon National Park from Bryce Canyon City is fairly easy - from the Best Western Plus it took us about 5 minutes to get to the park entrance, and we breezed right in. Inside the park there are paved roads and large parking lots making it easier for visitors to drive around and find a good spot. There are also quite a few bathrooms which were a nice bonus.
We started our day by hiking the Sunset to Sunrise trail along the Rim Trail. As alluded to above, visitors can ark right at the sunset point parking lot and take the low impact 1.0mile walk to sunrise point. From there, the Queens Garden-Navajo Trailhead begins. This is the most popular hike at Bryce, be prepared for a route full of visitors. You start at sunrise point and hike down into the canyon until you reach the Queen Victoria rock formation. The Queens Garden portion is 1.8 miles and directly connects to the Navajo Loop which is another 1.3miles. Popular stops on the Navajo Loop are Thor's Hammer, Wall Street, and Two Bridges. Eventually, you'll make the 550ft hike back up and out of the canyon. On a hot day, this hike up can be exhausting. Be considerate of the time of the day you're visiting and the appropriate gear required.
Left to right: Hike down Queens Garden Trail, Two Bridges, and Queen Victoria rock formation
After dinner, we came back to see the Bryce Amphitheater at sunset. The sunlight over the hoodoos created the dreamiest colors of reds, pinks, and blues. If you're able to catch the sunrise or sunset over the amphitheater, we highly recommend.
Sunset over Bryce Canyon Amphitheater.
Day 3: Drive from Kanab to Moab and hit 2 more National Parks
Day 3 was the trek from being on the east side of Utah to the west side. Originally, we set off straight to Moab, but quickly realized we could stop at Capitol Reef along the way. We merely drove through Capitol Reef, but would have loved to explore more if we could have.
Driving through Capitol Reef
Route from Bryce Canyon City to Capitol Reef National Park to Moab
Day 4: Spend the day in Arches National Park
Arches National Park was the park we were most excited for when mapping out this trip - neither of us had been and Delicate Arch is iconic. When we got there we decided to drive to the furthest point we wanted to reach that day, then worked backwards to the front of the parking (hoping to avoid some morning crowds). Therefore, we began our day doing the Delicate Arch hike. It's approximately a 3 mile roundtrip hike to reach the arch. You start by walking along a paved path, then it's a steep hike up before leveling off again. The ground can get dusty and slippery, so we recommend good traction shoes for best safety. When you reach the bowl area where Delicate Arch is, proceed with caution. Again, it's slippery and could be dangerous if you fell. (While we were there someone's water bottle fell and it just rolled straight down into the bowl - no one dared to grab it.) People tend to sit on the upper part of the bowl and walk gingerly, sometimes on all fours, until the reach the Delicate Arch photo spot. Unfortunately with a lot of visitors it's challenging to get an unobstructed view of Delicate Arch, so be considerate of what time you go.
Delicate Arch - on the right hand side you can see the bowl shape we're referring to.
Fun Tip: When you head back, there's a great window shot to the Delicate Arch alongside the trail.
Hidden photo spot of Delicate Arch peeping through some rocks.
On our way out of the park we saw Balance Rock and Three Gossips from our vehicle, but got out to hike The Windows section. The windows was an easy hike with many paved walking trails to reach Double Arch, North Window, and South Window. These were some of the biggest arches we were able to see and it was not over crowded so there were plenty of places to take your time and enjoy the views. Originally, we were unsure if we were going to stop, but in hindsight it turned out to be a great spot.
Left to right: Balance Rock, standing below the South Window arch, The Windows from the parking lot
Day 5: Spend the day in Canyonlands & Arches National Park
We got up on day 5 bright and early and set off on the 45 minute drive to Canyonlands National Park. The park is divided into four districts - Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze, and the rivers that cut these areas into sections. We only allocate a morning to visiting, so we chose to visit Island in the Sky. At this point, we realized we needed gas, but figured we could get it when we got closer, but we were wrong and were not able to get gas and had to track how many miles we drove versus how much gas we had left all day. Take our advice and fill up your gas tank in Moab. At the Island in the Sky National Park we stopped to at Shafer Trail Viewpoint, but did not head down the famous White Rim Road since we did not have a 4x4. We took the quick less than mile in-and-out trail to Mesa Arch for a few good photos and views. Then, we drove to Grand View Point Overlook. Those were our 3 main stops, but we pulled off at nearly every pull out area along the way. If we had a 4x4 vehicle and more time, we'd recommend driving down Shafer Trail and doing some of the longer hikes. In general, Canyonlands far exceeded our expectations and ended up being one of our favorite stops on the trip.
Left to right: Overlook into the Canyon, Mesa Arch, view of Shafer Trail
To close out our trip, and the day, we went back to Arches National Park. At this point, there was an hour wait to enter. Now, reservations are required, but then, we just waited in line for a long time until we got in. We headed to the very far back of the park and did part of the Devil's Garden Trailhead. The trail was easy and accessible with wide paved paths starting at the parking lot. Since it was getting late we went to Tunnel Arch, Navajo Arch, and Double O Arch. These were all really cool as they were way high up and extremely big arches.
Route from Moab to Denver.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
The Utah National Parks are unbelievable. Each one presents its own unique sense of wonder. Although we went with high hopes of a few parks, each park surprised us in their own right of how much beauty there is to explore. This route felt fast, and we were exhausted by the time we reached Denver. It's doable, but if you can squeeze a few more days in, you'd really be able to get off the main spots and take a good hike or simply relax.
It's so hard to choose, but if we had to... Justin's favorite park was Canyonlands because it felt more relaxing and laid back with the most amazing views. Ashley's favorite was Zion because it feels like a different world when you enter the park and being on the ground looking up you can appreciate how massive these rock formations really are.
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