The Ultimate Utah National Park Itinerary

The five national parks of Utah (Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reef) and Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument have been bucket list items for me for several years.  So why not combine them into one epic Utah national park itinerary?  That is exactly what I did, and what a whirlwind it was!  I am so happy with how this Utah road trip turned out, and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to see the best parts of outdoor Utah.

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How to Get Here

The two closest, large cities that you can fly into are Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.  Our journey began at Capitol Reef National Park, which is 3.5 hours from Salt Lake City and 5.25 hours from Las Vegas.  With this Utah road trip ending in Zion National Park, the drive back to Salt Lake City is 5.25 hours and to Las Vegas is 2.75 hours.  You could shave a few hours off your total driving if you fly into Salt Lake City and fly out of Las Vegas, but you will have extra rental car expenses for not returning the car from where you got it.  For this trip, we flew in and out of Las Vegas.

The one necessity for any road trip is a car.  We rented a Jeep Wrangler from Alamo for the week just in case we wanted to do some off-roading.  Note that you should not let your gas tank get too low on the Utah roads.  Gas stations are few and far between.  Also, cell service is limited, so I advise buying or printing out maps and directions.

Where to Stay

Capitol Reef Resort

We stayed the first four nights in this Utah national parks itinerary at Capitol Reef Resort near the town of Torrey, Utah.  The room came with a refrigerator, microwave, and a beautiful view of Utah rock formations.  This resort also offers stays in teepees or cabins. Swimming in the pool, relaxing in the hot tub, or making smores by the pit fire are fun activities in the evening after a full day of exploring Utah.  Capitol Reef Resort is located about a mile from Capitol Reef National Park.

La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham

The last three nights were spent at La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham at Zion Park/Springdale.  Our room also had a refrigerator and microwave and serves complimentary breakfast.  This hotel is walking distance to the shops and restaurants on Zion Park Boulevard.  You can unwind from your days of hiking by enjoying the heated pool and hot tub with a view of the Zion mountains. La Quinta is located 1 mile from the Zion National Park entrance.

What to Eat

As I do for many of my hiking vacations, I carried a soft RTIC cooler to keep sandwich stuff and drinks cold.  Most of this Utah national park itinerary is in the middle of nowhere, so we prepared by having sandwiches handy for lunch time.  Also, what few restaurants are around are only open for breakfast and dinner.  If driving in from Las Vegas, you should stop in Las Vegas or St. George for groceries because there is not much else on the way.  Buy more water than you think you need if you are getting bottled water

What Time of Year to Drive This Utah Road Trip

The Spring or Fall seasons are the best times to visit Utah if you want to avoid the crowds and the extreme temperatures of the Summer and Winter.  Water levels of the rivers and creeks could high during the Spring months causing trail closures, so have backup hikes planned if you are traveling in the Spring season.  Our Utah road trip happened the first week of September.  Within that week temperatures ranged from the 100s to the 30s!  Make sure to check the weather a couple days before your departure to make sure you packed weather-appropriate clothing.

Zion National Park uses a shuttle system for the Scenic Drive.  This system is typically in place from mid-February through Thanksgiving and over the Christmas/New Year’s holidays.  The shuttle system is very quick and easy to use, so I would not let it deter you from visiting when the shuttle is in operation.

How Much for Entrance Fees

You will need to purchase a park pass to enter each of the national parks as well as day passes for Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument. It is imperative that you purchase an America the Beautiful park pass, which will allow you into all national parks for a year.  If you paid for each park entrance fee separately, you would pay $150.  The American the Beautiful Interagency pass is $80 plus a $9 shipping fee.

Also, if you have a 4th grader in your household, you can get a family pass to the national parks that is good for a year. Find out more about that benefit here. 

DAY 1 – Begin Utah National Park Itinerary from Las Vegas to Capitol Reef

Depending on where you are beginning your Utah national park itinerary, the first day could be a big travel day.  For us, it was.  We began with the first flight that left for the day to Las Vegas.  After renting our Jeep, we began driving towards Capitol Reef.  This beautiful drive will take you over mountains and through expansive valleys.  This drive is worth doing during the daylight hours.

After checking into the hotel and unloading our luggage, we ate dinner at the Rim Rock Patio located across the street from the resort.  We shared a pizza that was large enough to take leftover slices back to the hotel for breakfast the next morning.  Before calling it a night, we went into Capitol Reef NP for a quick sunset hike to see Hickman Bridge.  This hike is 1.8 miles.  I would recommend beginning this trail at least 2 hours before sunset, so you are not caught hiking in the dark.

DAY 2 – Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument

After waking up early, we set off for Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument.  This park is huge.  Depending on what trails you plan on hiking, your drive to this park can vary from 1-3 hours.  A common theme with this Utah national park itinerary is the drive is gorgeous.  Just before dawn on both days, we pulled off on a scenic overlook to watch the sun rise on the horizon.

As you approach the park, you will drive on the top of a canyon on a 2-lane road with steep drop-offs on both sides of the road.  This part of the drive is not for the feint of heart, but it is short-lived.  As you drive on this part of the road, make sure to look at your right and left for layers of canyons as far as you can see.

Shortly after entering the park, turn into the entrance of the Lower Calf Creek Falls Trail.  Make sure to get here early as the parking lot fills up.  This is the most popular hike in the park, and it is easy to see why.  As you walk through a canyon flanked by red rock formations, take note of the beautiful wildflowers along the path.  After walking 3.3 miles, you will get to the end of the trail which is an amazing waterfall into a swimmable pool.  We spent an hour and a half here eating our packed lunch and swimming in the frigid waters before making the trek back to the parking area.

We were exhausted after the long hike and swimming, so we spent the rest of the afternoon meandering around the resort and eating dinner at the Capitol Reed Resort restaurant.

DAY 3 – Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park

The drive to Grand Staircase – Escalante was a little longer this morning as we headed to Hole in the Rock road.  Both hikes we did are on this road, which is a rough, rutted, dirt-packed road.  I would highly recommend a 4×4 vehicle to access this road.  We did see regular vehicles driving it, but they were struggling and driving less than 10 mph.  After heavy rains, this road is completely impassable even with a 4×4.

The first stop on Hole in the Rock road is Devil’s Garden, which is a small area filled with natural bridges, arches, and hoodoos.  We spent about an hour walking around this area and crawling on the structures.

The second stop, which is about 30 miles down Hole in the Rock road, was the Peek-a-boo and Spooky Slot Canyon hike in the Dry Fork area.  This hike is a moderately strenuous 4.5-mile hike along a canyon rim, down steep slick rock, up a 12-foot rock wall, and through two slot canyons.  If you are claustrophobic or cannot scale a 12-foot wall, do not attempt these slot canyons.

If you do not have a 4×4 or do not feel like you can hike through the slot canyons, another option is to drive the Cottonwood Canyon drive.

After driving back towards the resort, we drove through Capitol Reef stopping at the scenic pullouts for views of Fruita, Chimney Rock, The Castle, and Petroglyphs before watching the sunset at Panorama Point.

DAY 4 – Arches and Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park

The original plan for this day was to continue exploring Capitol Reef.  Last minute, we decided to make the 2.5-hour drive to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks for the day.  This was a very long and eventful day squeezing two parks in, but I am so glad we did!

We arrived at Arches National Park around 8am and were able to hike the Windows trail to see North, South, and Turret Windows. 

After the Windows hike, we walked across the parking lot for the short jaunt to Double Arch, which was my favorite arch of the park. 

We then drove to Devil’s Garden and hiked to Pine Tree, Tunnel, and Landscape Arches.  On the drive out of the park, we stopped at the scenic pullouts for Balancing Rock, the Organ, Three Gossips, and Courthouse Towers.

Canyonlands National Park

Just a short 30-minute drive from Arches is Canyonlands National Park.  Our first stop was the Grand View Point Trail, which is an easy 1.8-mile hike beside a canyon wall.  This hike offers views of the incredibly deep canyons below.  Unfortunately, the canyons were difficult to see due to haze from a nearby forest fire.

Our next stop was the Green River scenic overlook before continuing our Utah road trip to the iconic Mesa Arch.  The hike to this arch is a short, easy 0.5-mile loop.  We left this park around 6pm and got back around 9pm for our last night at the Capitol Reef Resort.

DAY 5 – Bryce Canyon National Park

After loading up, we continued our Utah national park itinerary to Bryce Canyon National Park.  The hoodoos in this park were unbelievable.  I have seen pictures of the Bryce Canyon hoodoos, but none of them did this park justice.  Needing a break from hiking (plus a cold front caused temperatures to drop to the 30s), we decided to make this a scenic drive day. 

We began the drive at the furthest point, Rainbow Point, which is at an elevation of 9,115 feet.  We stopped at all the scenic pullouts before reaching the amphitheater.  The Natural Bridge pullout was my favorite until we began the part of the drive along the amphitheater. 

It is worth stopping at all the stops, but the best view of the hoodoos is at Inspiration Point.  After eating lunch at the Cowboy Ranch House just outside the park, we went back into the park for one more look from Inspiration Point before driving to Springdale.

If you do choose to hike, you could hike the Rim Trail or Navajo Loop to Queen’s Garden, as recommended by the ranger we spoke to at the Visitor Center.  As a side note, the souvenir selection at the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center was far more expansive than that of the previous Utah national parks visitor centers.

Drive Through Red Canyon State Park on the Way to Zion

The drive to Springdale was full of surprises.  We drove through Red Canyon State Park 14 miles from Bryce Canyon where we drove through two natural arches!

Also, on the drive, we entered the East Entrance of Zion National Park.  Along the drive, we stopped at the Checkerboard Mesa, saw bighorn sheep on the side of the road, and drove through the 1.1-mile Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel.  We stopped at the Visitor Center to get park information and to shop before exiting the park into Springdale.  After checking into the La Quinta hotel, we ate dinner at Oscar’s Café.  Then we relaxed in the hot tub giving our sore muscles some relief.

DAY 6 – Zion National Park

I usually like to begin hiking early in the day.  However, we completed our Utah road trip during the COVID-19 pandemic when Zion implemented a temporary timed shuttle ticket system.  (The timed shuttle reservation system has been suspended as of May 2022.) Also, Laquinta’s continental breakfast was reduced to a grab-and-go breakfast consisting of a muffin and granola bar.  Since our entry time was 10am, we opted to eat a heartier breakfast prior to hiking in the park at Meme’s Cafe.

We hiked a combination of a few trails that took us to Lower and Upper Emerald Falls and across the Kayenta Trail.  Our hike started at the Zion Lodge shuttle stop and ended at the Grotto stop.  The entire walk had remarkable views of the Zion canyon.  We hopped on the shuttle at the Grotto stop and rode to the end of the road at the Temple of Sinawava stop and back to the Visitor Center where we parked.  On the shuttle ride, we gawked at the legendary Angel’s Landing.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at the cute boutique shops along Zion Park Boulevard before eating dinner at Zion Pizza and Noodle Co.

DAY 7 – Zion National Park

Before our 10am shuttle time, we ate breakfast at Oscar’s Café.  We had time to hike the Zion Canyon Overlook, a 1-mile trail, on the Zion-Mount Carmel road.

Today’s big event in Zion was the Narrows, which is an epic hike in the Virgin River that carved a narrow canyon.  The walk through the ice-cold, flowing river over a bed of rocks makes this hike a strenuous one.  We hiked this in water shoes and with hiking poles.  If you do not have water shoes and hiking poles, it is highly recommended that you rent water boots and a walking stick from an outfitter.  This hike can be up to 9 miles long, depending on how far you go before you turn back.  We hiked approximately 5 miles total.  Even though this hike is difficult and requires special gear, it is an absolute must-do!  This was one of my favorite hikes of the entire Utah road trip.

After finishing this hike, we did some last-minute souvenir shopping before enjoying dinner at Switchback Jack’s Sports Grill.  We stayed the night in Springdale before completing our Utah national park itinerary with a 3-hour drive back to Las Vegas. If you have a couple extra days, explore Las Vegas with Girls Weekend in Las Vegas itinerary.

Things I Did Not Know Before this Utah Road Trip

1. Most trails are sand, not gravel, not paved, which is exponentially harder to walk on.
2. Bryce Canyon is not a desert or just red rock formations like I expected.  It is a mountainous forest with forest creatures such as bears, elk, deer, etc.
3. The difference between a National Park and a National Monument – A national park is appointed by Congress and a national monument is appointed by the President.  If an area needs immediate protection, a president can declare it a national monument quicker than Congress could make it a national park.

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