Arizona - Nevada - Utah
In this page, I will propose different National Parks to visit in either Arizona, Utah, or Nevada during a four or more day trip. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the United States that I have seen due to the incredible and unique-colored landscapes, and deserves months to be fully explored. If you would like to learn more about this area, you can visit the pages “Las Vegas and the surrounding Parks”.
From Stanford, you will first fly to Las Vegas, Salt Lake city or Moab and then rent a car. Tickets to Las Vegas or Salt Lake City are generally quite cheap (~$100), and so is renting a car, which costs about $30 per day. If you are on a small budget, this trip is certainly doable.
From Las Vegas, you have to drive three hours to reach the part of the country where you have the National Parks. If you want, you can even pass by Zion National Park on your way to Orderville from Las Vegas, so be prepared to be impressed.
From Salt Lake City, you have to drive three hours to reach Moab, where you have the National Parks.
If you visit all three national parks in this area, I would advise purchasing a National Parks Annual Pass, which is only $80 for an entire year. Without the annual pass, the entrance fee to each park is about $30 per vehicle, so the annual pass is definitely worth it for this trip. Also, with the annual pass, you will have access to all national parks in the US, as well as many state parks, and this pass supports efforts that protect America's national treasures.
When to go
I think the best time to go is during the summer when it is not too hot, such as June or September. Even though the contrast of the snow on the red rocks is certainly stunning, if you go during the winter you run the risk of having the parks, or certain parts of the parks, being closed.
Where to stay
I stayed at an Airbnb in Orderville, Utah (around $70 per night), since this town is located right at the intersection of Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the Grand Canyon, which is perfect if you want to visit all three parks in one trip. You can stay in any town or city that is situated within driving distance of Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the Grand Canyon (Mt Carmel Junction, Glendale, Kanab…).
Moab and Torrey are also good destination to visit Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Park.
Of course, it is also always possible to camp in the National Parks.
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon National Park is one of my favorite parks that I have visited in the United States. A lot of people prefer Zion National Park, but I liked Bryce Canyon more due to the incredibly rare and unique hoodoos, which are spires of rock that appear to defy gravity. The landscape is so jaw-droppingly strange that you feel like you must be on an unknown planet as you take in the scenery.
The park is not huge, so I think one day is enough time to spend there. As I always say, if you have the time, you can certainly stay longer and still have an enjoyable experience.
Also, the sunrise and sunsets are absolutely amazing.
There are numerous viewpoints in the park that offer spectacular views, and there are many hikes as well.
Descriptions of all the hikes can be found on the Bryce Canyon National Park website.
My advice is to go to the visitor center and speak with the rangers about what type of hike you want to do and how difficult you want it to be so that they can suggest hikes that would fit your needs.
This is generally the best way to find a great hike in a national park, especially since the enjoyment of a hike can vary depending on the season.
Queen’s/Navajo trail is the most famous, but since I prefer non-crowded hikes, I did not do this one. Believe me, the other hikes are very beautiful and allow you to avoid the crowds.
Zion National Park
Zion National Park deserves at least two days. This park has plenty of great hikes and a lot of different areas to explore.
As mentioned above, it is best to speak with a ranger for advice on what hikes you should do, but you can also check out the park’s website to see all the different trails here to start dreaming about it.
The most famous hike is Angels Landing (avoid if you have vertigo). When I went there, this trail was closed due to storm damage, so one of the hikes we did instead was the trail to Observation Point. It was a great trail and the view from the top was absolutely incredible. You not only have a view of the immense, picturesque valley, but you can also see Angels Landing far below.
Another well-known hike is The Narrows via Riverside Walk. It is a really fun hike where, at one point, you walk through water between the canyon’s beautiful red-golden walls. Be careful, if you do not have good shoes to hike in the water, it will be much less fun and you won’t be able to go very far.
Grand Canyon National Park
In this part of Utah, you are not far from the world-famous Grand Canyon National Park. Many people dream of seeing the Grand Canyon, so it is well worth the trip from southern Utah. However, if you do not plan on going to Utah’s national parks, you can plan a shorter weekend trip where you go directly from Las Vegas.
You can see the Grand Canyon from many different places, but the closest to Utah is the North Rim, which is a 2-hour drive. From Las Vegas, you can go to Grand Canyon West (2-hour drive) or the South Rim (4-hour drive). I have been to the North and South Rim and they are both beautiful. They are quite different, but I can’t advise on choosing one over the other since I really enjoyed both of these parts of the Grand Canyon.
Antelope Canyon
This canyon is an unbelievably wonderful place that I highly recommend visiting. It is accessible by guided tours only. There are multiple companies to choose from, but be sure to book your tour a few weeks or months in advance. You also have to decide whether you want to visit Lower or Upper Antelope Canyon. Upper Antelope is most popular so it is more difficult to get tickets. I did the lower tour and it was amazing. I can’t compare the two, but no matter what you choose, it will surely be worth it.
Horseshoe Bend and Lake Powell
Close to Antelope Canyon, you have a view of Horseshoe Bend, which is a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River. It is quite magnificent and it is only a 10-minute hike to see it, so you should definitely give it a shot.
On the way back to Utah, you will see Lake Powell on your right. It is a great place to relax, have lunch, or even do a boat tour.
The Wave
The Wave is incredible, but I did not have a chance to go there. Access limited to protect this ecologically vulnerable area, so you must have a permit to visit. You can find more information here.
Arches National Park
This National Park is the most famous close to Moab. Therefore, you need to reserve your entrance in advance here from April to October.
One day is enough to visit this park.
After the entrance of the park, you will go up and then arrive in an already nice landscape around the road. These enormous walls of red rocks are really beautiful. You can also make a stop at the Park Avenue Viewpoint to take the time to enjoy the scenery.
Arches is not the best National Park for long hike but it offers several nice small hikes and a ~3hrs hike to the Delicate Arch. Which could actually be good as the temperature is often high in Utah and this National Park does not offer a lot of shadow.
The most famous is the Delicate Arch Viewpoint trails (~3hrs, distance: 3mi/5km, elevation: 538ft/164m). This hike will lead you to the most famous Arches of the park surrounding by a really nice landscape. Right before arriving in the viewpoint, you can climb on the right of the trail to a small hidden Arche that offer a nice view on the delicate arch and the landscape but also of all the tourist queuing to take a picture in front of the arch...
Double Arch Viewpoint and Trail is a small easy hike that bring you a beautiful double arches (15-30min, distance: 0.6mi/1km, elevation: 30ft/10m).
You will also admire the Balanced rock on your way as well as the parade of Elephants, the Pothole Arch, …
Don’t miss the Ute Indian Petroglyphs close to the Wolfe Range.
There is also a natural labyrinth in the Arches National Park: the Fiery Furnace. However, to enter the Fiery Furnace you must accompany a ranger-guided hike or obtain a self-guided exploration permit. I have not done it but it seems like a nice experience.
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park comprises 3 different parts: Island in the sky, The Needles and the Maze. They are accessible by three different entrance so you can’t visit more than one part in one day. I think that one day in the Needles part and one day in the Island in the sky part is the minimum time you should stay in that National Park.
The Maze is accessible only with a four-wheels car so it is the least accessible part of the park.
On your way to reach the Island in the sky part, I would advise to make a stop at the Dead Horse Point State Park. In this state park you have amazing view on the hairpin curve of the Colorado River, it is really beautiful.
You can also admire the Colorado river from Island in the sky at the White Rim overlook for example (1.5hr, elevation: 159ft/49m, 1.8mi/2.9km). The Mesa Arch trail (30min) is one the easy trail that you can do in this part of the park as well as the Aztec Butte (1.5hr, 1.4mi/2.3km, elevation: 222ft/68m) that will bring you back in time. If you are looking for a longer hike, I would advise the Syncline loop with the Upheaval Canyon spur trail (~4 hrs, elevation: 400ft/122m, 7mi/11.2km) because it will lead you to Colorado River and, on your way, you can make a small detour to go to admire the Upheaval Dome from the first and/or the second overlook.
The Needles is a really beautiful part of Canyonlands thanks to the numerous hoodoos that shape the landscape. Depending on how long you would like to hike there, I would advise either the Slickrock Trail (1.5hrs, 2.4mi/3.9km), the Chesler Park Viewpoint trail (3-4hrs, 5.8mi/9.3km) or the Confluence Overlook trail (5-6hrs, 11mi/17.7km).
Capitol Reef National Park
If you come from Moab to go to Capitol Reef National Park you can visit the Goblin Valley State park (see below) as well as the Mars Station on your way. The Mars Station is almost a non-referred place in the middle of Utah. It is not easy to find where it is and to access it but the landscape is really really beautiful. It is even better if you have a drone because the colors of the rocks change in circles. We even saw an antelope there. J You can find the location of this station here.
The Capitol Reef National Park also comprises three different parts: The Cathedral District, the Fruita area and the Waterpocket District.
The Cathedral District is accessible only with unpaved road. It seems to be really beautiful but I have not been there.
The Fruita area is the most accessible part of the park and it offers a lot of beautiful hikes. The Sunset Point is the perfect spot to see the sunset, the colors are just blazing. The Goosenecks trail (<15min) lead to really beautiful canyon view. I recommend the hikes that allows to see the Cassidy Arch because this Arch is really dramatic. You can either take the Cassidy Arch trail (4.2mi/6.2km, 670ft/204m) or the Frying Pan (5.8mi/9.2km, 810ft/247m) to reach this arch. The Rim Overlook trail (4.6mi/7.2km, 1,110ft/338m) and the Navajo Knobs trail (9.4mi/15.2km, 1620/494m) are more difficult trails but they offer an incredible view on the Fruita district, it is worst it.
You can go the Waterpocket district from Boulder through the Burr trail road. When you will reach the first viewpoint of the park you won’t believe your eyes! The magnificent endless landscape is absolutely beautiful. This part of the part is often close because of flooding so most of the time people don’t go there. It was close when I was there but the viewpoint was actually accessible with no issues.
If you like Hummingbird, you should definitely take a break at the Hell’s Backbone Grill & Farm. There, you will be surrounded by this little adorable birds. :)
Goblin Valley State Park
On your way between Moab and Capitol Reef there is the Goblin Valley State Park ($20 per vehicle). It is nice stop on the way. This park is maze of “Goblin” rocks with a mushroom shaped, there are called also hoodoos. You can walk in the middle of these goblins and enjoy the force of natural erosion.
