Utah National Parks

Between nursing contract 2 and 3, I took a week off to meet up with a friend and visit all 5 national parks in Utah. Here is how we did it!

Important things before you get started:

If you are planning on seeing all five National Parks, get a National Parks Annual Pass. It is $80 for a one-year membership and you will then get into National Parks for free. Even if you are only taking this trip in Utah, you will already get your money's worth, as it's more expensive to visit all five parks on their own.

I also have loved my National Parks Passport. They are sold at most National Parks visitor centers and are only $10. Every National Park that I go to I get a stamp that has the date that I went. It has been fun to look back and see what national parks I have been to and how many more I have left to do.

Upon arrival in SLC we used Turo to rent a jeep so we would have transportation for the week. Our first stop would be Mystic Hot Springs which was about halfway between SLC and Zion National Park. It’s a great way to split up the 4.5 hour drive. We arrived just before sunset and we had the whole place to ourselves! It was so peaceful and beautiful. There were individual tubs that you can relax in as well two large pool-like springs that you can also enjoy. We spent about an hour or two here, which I thought was plenty of time to visit and enjoy the hot springs.

After the hot springs, we drove the rest of the way to Zion National Park. We stopped near our lodge to get groceries for the week and then we arrived at Gooseberry Lodges. I cannot suggest the lodges enough! The lodge we chose was the standard bunkhouse, with a shared bathroom. There was a desk, mini fridge, and a pullout futon on the floor with a loft bed over top of the couch. It was small, but it was all we needed. Everything was clean and every cabin had their own fire pit.

One important thing to know about Zion is that you will likely need a shuttle pass to actually get to the park. Cars are only allowed a few months of the year and even then availability is limited. Due to Covid, we had to reserve the pass beforehand but you’ll want to verify that for your trip as rules may change. Info for shuttle tickets can be found here. You’ll need to reserve a time slot on the shuttle every day you are visiting Zion.

Once at Zion we chose to do one of the famous hikes, called the narrows. I had done the Angels Landing hike on a previous trip which I also highly suggest. For hiking the narrows, it is important to be as prepared as possible, since you will be hiking in and out of water for the entire hike. I recommend stopping at Zion Outfitters first, which is located right outside of the South entrance near Springdale and is about 2 minutes away from the Zion visitor center.

Zion outfitters rents gear to hike the narrow and it’s important to be prepared for this hike because it can be cold, slippery and the rocks under the water make the ground uneven to walk on. We rented walking sticks from the outfitters. Nearly everyone on the hike had these so plan to bring your own or rent them. Many other people rent gear such as boots with neoprene socks and waterproof overalls. If I did this hike again, I would rent the boots. I didn't care to get wet, but my feet were very cold for the first half of the day.

We started our hike around 8:00am so we wore layers! That early in the day, the water was 55 degrees and the temperature outside was about 65. By the end of the day it was 90 degrees in the park, so wear layers and bring a change of clothes.

You can hike the narrows two different ways. The bottom-up and the top-down. The top-down hike is 16 miles one-way and you are required to have a permit, so we chose the bottom-up hike. We took the shuttle all the way from the visitor center to the last stop on the shuttle, which is the Temple of Sinawava trailhead. This hike can be moderate to strenuous, depending on the water level of the day and can be anywhere from 3-10 miles long. You can turn around at any point you want. It starts out wide, and the walls get narrower with higher water levels the longer you hike.

We finished around 3pm and rode the shuttle back to the visitor center. Be aware that when you ride the shuttle back to the Visitor Center you WILL NOT be able to get back on, so make sure you are done for the day when you go back. Outside of the Zion entrance there are plenty of restaurant options if you are hungry. We decided to sit outside and eat at Oscars Cafe, which was only about a mile away from the park. We also love stopping to get coffee, so before we went back to the lodge, we stopped at Feel Love Coffee for a coffee.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes

After relaxing at the lodges for a few hours, we decided to go to Coral Pink Sand Dunes for sunset. These Dunes are located about 30 minutes from Zion. Once we arrived we rented sand boards as there are options to rent sand sleds, boards, and ATVs. The sand dunes are all different sizes, so you can choose one to climb or slide down them, whatever matches your bravery. The sand dunes were one of my favorite stops during this trip!

We woke up and started driving at around 8am and stopped about 15 minutes away from the lodge to get breakfast and coffee at River Rock Roasting Company. This coffee shop was such a surprise with how cool it was! They had a lot of different options of food and drinks, but if you wanted to stay and eat, stepping out back on the patio is actually on the side of a mountain! The views were so amazing I forgot to get a picture. We then got back on the road and headed to Bryce National Park about 2 hours away.

We parked at shuttle station #1, which was actually right outside the park entrance and across from Ruby's Inn. Parking and the shuttle itself were free, as long as you have a National Parks Pass to enter the park. The shuttle runs every 15 minutes and it was a really easy option to leave our car here for the day. You do not have to reserve the shuttle pass like at Zion.

We decided we wanted to see as much of Bryce as we could, because Bryce was one of the stops we were most excited to see. We decided to do more of a figure-eight hike, which actually combined multiple different trails.

To do this trail, take the shuttle to Sunrise Point, which was the last shuttle stop before the Visitor Center (Stop #13). First start your hike with the Queens Garden Trail (1.7mi). You will eventually reach the middle stretch between Queens Garden and the Peekaboo Loop Trail (~0.5mi). After hiking the short middle stretch, do the whole peekaboo loop trail, whichever direction you choose to go(3mi). This was definitely the most challenging part of the whole day, as the peekaboo trail is very hilly, but also had the BEST views of all of the hoodoos throughout the park. After you complete the Peekaboo Loop and then the middle stretch between the loops again, finish the hike off with hiking half of the Navajo loop trail to end at Wall Street.

If you don’t have a ton of time, whatever you do, do not skip Wall Street. It is probably the most common thing to see while visiting Bryce, but for good reason. It is the famous wall of short switchbacks. After climbing Wall Street, you will be at Sunset Point (Stop #11). If you are not much of a hiker, take the shuttle to this stop and you can see Wall Street from the top down. From here, we rode the shuttle to the Visitor center to get our stamps for our National Park books. We then got back on the shuttle to ride back to the car outside the park entrance.

Overall, Bryce was one of my favorite hikes I have ever done, but it can be a HOT and LONG day. Start as early as possible if it is going to be a hot day, as there is very little shade at Bryce. All together, we hiked around 7 miles doing this figure 8 hike.

After hiking Bryce, there were again multiple restaurants right outside the park, where we ate before heading to Wander Camps, where we slept this night.

Wander Camp is only about 15 minutes away from Bryce. It was suggested to arrive before sunset, because the road to the campsite is hard to find in the dark. The Wander Camp was an adventure in itself. There were dozens of tents spread across a large open area with mountains surrounding you. The tent had cot-like beds that were very comfortable! The tents are also supplied with thick comforters and extra blankets, as nights can get cold. There were other tents around the site that housed the bathrooms, which had a sink, toilet, and shower head to share with the rest of the campsite residents.

The next morning we had an early start and left around 7am for Capitol reef National Park (~2 hours drive). On the way to Capitol Reef, we found Kiva Koffeehouse, which was another surprising gem coffee shop. They sell a variety of different drinks and breakfast. It is not visible from the road, and was actually hidden on the side of a mountain.

We didn’t have much of a plan upon arriving at Capitol Reef, but after checking in at the Visitor Center we decided to go with the scenic driving trail. The dirt roads are rough, rocky and anything but straight. The views were amazing and I was pleasantly surprised with the driving trail as we were surrounded by boulders and mountains the whole time. At the end of the scenic trail, we decided to get a bit of fresh air and hiked part of Golden Throne.

After we were done at Capitol Reef, we drove two hours to Moab, Utah, where we stayed for the next couple days. This was a lot of driving in one day, but we wanted to make sure we saw everything on our list while in Utah for a limited amount of time. If you have one more day, I suggest staying the night near Capitol Reef and add the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument on your list. This is one of the things we really wish we could've had time to see while we were here.

We arrived at Moab and stayed at the Motel 6. This was a very popular hotel in Moab, and centrally located. I would highly suggest staying here as we didn't have much luck looking on airbnb, which is normally my go-to. After much needed rest for a couple hours, we decided to go to Dead Horse State Park for sunset. Although it isn't a national park, It had unbelievable views. It is also known as a dark park, which means it is a great place to stargaze.

After leaving Dead Horse, we ate dinner at Moab at Antica Forma and went back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast and coffee at theMoab Garage before heading to Canyonlands National Park, which is actually the largest National Park in Utah. We started at Island in the Sky Visitor center, which is the closest visitor center from Moab, about 30 minutes away.

For hiking Canyonlands, there are three districts of the park to choose from; Island in the Sky, The Maze and the Needles. Since Island in the Sky was the closest and the easiest to get to, we decided to start here. We hiked the Grand View Trail, located at the end of the Scenic Drive. The Grand View Overlook is only about 100 feet from the parking lot, and the overall hike is an easy 1.8 mile hike down and back. We also hiked Mesa Arch Trail. This trail is a popular hike and is only about a mile long, with the end being the Mesa Arch, which you can take pictures in front of. There is also a big open area at the end of this hike, if you want to relax and take in the views.

After hiking Canyonlands, we went back to Moab to eat lunch, and found the Moab Food Truck Park, which had a variety of foods, smoothies and drinks in a large parking lot, which had plenty of seating available to sit and eat.

Later in the day we made our way to Arches National Park to hike and decided we wanted to hike Delicate Arch for sunset. This is the most popular hike in Arches, and for good reason. This arch is the largest free-standing arch in the park, but to get here is a 1.5 mile hike, and 3-mile round trip from the Delicate Arch Trailhead. It is said to be a "moderate" trail, but it is actually pretty steep at some points. You definitely do not skip this trail and while it can be pretty busy, the trail is wide and there is plenty of room for people to visit and take pictures.

We stayed until after sunset and even saw a proposal! After sunset we walked back to the car and head back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning we woke up early to hike more of Arches National Park, starting with Double Arch. To get here from the Arches Scenic Drive, turn onto Windows Road and follow this until the very end. The end of the loop includes trailheads to Double Arch, the North and South Arches, and much more. We chose to do Double Arch. This was an amazing way to start the day! It is a very short hike (~0.5mi) to get to the arch.

Next, we went back on Arches Scenic Drive and parked at the Devils Garden trailhead. From here, we hiked all the way to the Double O Arch. From there, we passed multiple arches that you can break off and do if you are feeling up to it! After you pass Landscape arch, the trail is steep and gets much harder. We hiked for a couple more miles and finally reached Double O arch. This trail was unmarked in multiple areas, so we followed other hikers to find Double O. From the parking lot to this arch was about 4 miles down and back, plus whatever arches you want to break off and see along the way. We decided to break off a couple times to see Pine Tree Arch, Tunnel Arch, Landscape arch, and Navajo arch on the way to Double O. Although it felt like a long hike, I was so happy to have seen Double O arch and we mostly had the place to ourselves after making it to the arch. We probably hiked close to 6 miles all together on this day.

After a long day of hiking, we went back to Moab and stopped to get coffee and lunch, before heading back to Salt Lake City. We went to Moab Coffee Roasters and then we stumbled upon Sweet Cravings Bakery and Bistro, which had multiple different options of sandwiches, salads, as well as bakery items. It was a perfect lunch spot!

From Moab to Salt Lake City, it took about 3.5 hours. I found an airbnb in an artistic part of Salt Lake City, and it was perfect! I wish we could have stayed here longer. From here, we ate dinner and tried to see some of the city before went back to the airbnb to reminisce on everything we were able to see over the past 5 days. The next morning we packed and relaxed until it was time to fly out of the Salt Lake City Airport.