We just got back from an 11 day Utah/AZ National Park road trip tour of the “Mighty Five” National Parks in Utah plus the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It would be possible to take this trip in 7 days, but we gave ourselves some extra time in Salt Lake City after we flew in and in Las Vegas before we flew out.
After our trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, we knew we wanted to take the girls to visit as many national parks we could this Summer before our annual National Park Pass expired.
Jonathan had a lot of Marriott Rewards points banked from work travel, so we chose our accommodations around hotels we could stay for free and then chose a VRBO in the middle of our trip to be able to spread out and wash clothes.
Thursday, June 2 – 5:30 pm Southwest flight to Salt Lake City.
I was able to book one way tickets for around $200/per person.
Friday, June 3 – Salt Lake City – SpringHill Suites Sugar House
We didn’t get to hotel till 1:30 am, so we slept in and then hit a couple thrift stores looking for dresses for Bonneville Salt Flat pictures. We drove around downtown and spent some time walking through the Mormon Church History Museum before going back to hotel to rest and get ready for salt flat pictures.
Saturday, June 4 – Salt Lake City
We had a day to explore Salt Lake City with the Connect Pass.
Sunday, June 5 – Salt Lake City
We left our hotel and visited a local church in Kaysville before beginning our drive to Moab. It is about a 4 hour drive from Salt Lake City to Moab. We got checked into our hotel and had enough time to grab some food at the local City Market grocery store before driving out to Dead Horse State Park to catch the sunset.
Monday, June 6 – Moab – SpringHill Suites Moab
Our hotel was less than 5 minutes from the Arches National Park entrance. We left at 4:30 am to drive into the park and be able to hike the Delicate Arch Trail to watch the sunrise. We began the trail around 5:00 am in the dark with flashlights and a Father/Son group navigating alongside us. It was well worth the early wake up call to beat the heat and the crowds typically found at the Delicate Arch!
After hiking back down the mountain, we drove around the roads and checked out the Windows Arches and Turret Arch before heading back to the hotel to catch breakfast. After resting, we walked around in the local shops of Moab and enjoyed an afternoon meal at the local food truck park.
Tuesday, June 7 – Moab
We got up early again to watch the sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. It was about a 45 minute drive into the park from our hotel, but we didn’t have to hike too far to get to the Mesa Arch. This is a very popular spot for photographers and tourist to capture the sun’s rays peaking over the mountain and through the thin arch.
We hiked a few other short trails like the Whale Trail and the Upheavel Dome Trail before heading back to the hotel. Our hotel had a really nice outdoor patio and pool area, so the girls enjoyed resting and swimming for the afternoon. That evening we went back into the Arches park to take some portraits before sunset.
Wednesday, June 8 – Moab
We left our hotel and drove 2.5 hours to Capital Reef National Park. We were surprised by the different looking mountains and rock formations as we drove into this park. The green orchards were a pleasant oasis amount the mountains. We hiked the Cohab Canyon Trail. We had a later start in the day, so we definitely felt the heat more while hiking. There is a cute little bakery by the barn and the Cohab Canyon Trail. We got 2 small pies to enjoy as we drove the scenic drives before we left the park.
There really aren’t many hotels built up around Capital Reef, so it is no surprise it isn’t as popular the other 4 Utah parks.
From here we had about 4.5 hour drive to get to our next destination in Page, Arizona. Page is right on the Utah/Arizona border, and not too far from the parks in Utah, but the few roads have to route around mountains.
Along the way we found Henrie’s Drive In restaurant and tried their famous “Chubby Cheese Burgers”.
We had just enough time before dark to stop and hike up to the Sand Caves just outside Kanab, Utah. These caves are easy to access just off Highway 89 and a fairly easy hike up to.
Thursday, June 9 – Page – VRBO
There are plenty of hotels in this tourist/crossroads town, but we chose a VRBO to have a little more space to spread out and be able to do laundry half way through our trip. Page is famous for its local Antelope slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend. Page is on Arizona time, which in the Summer is 1 hour behind Utah time, so that messed with us a little with sunrise and sunset times.
We did a Kayak and Canyon tour in the morning. This was a lot of fun and we got some amazing pictures in the lower Antelope slot canyon that can only be accessed by boat.
We enjoyed Birdhouse for lunch in town after that physical activity in the sun.
We were able to able to check out the famous Horseshoe Bend at sunset along with hundreds of other people!
Friday, June 10 – Page
We drove 2.5 hours to the Grand Canyon North Rim National Park. This was one of the most scenic drives of the week, driving to and from the park.
Make sure to stop at the Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center and walk out on the bridge to see the Colorado River below.
Jacob’s Inn is a fun pit stop before you enter the drive to the park. They have a great gift shop with tshirts that are cheaper than the park visitor center. They have some amazing cookie choices also that you don’t want to miss!
We drove around to the lookout vista points at the Grand Canyon and didn’t take on any hikes. Before we left, we did see a rain storm brewing to the south. We were told it had been 70 days since the southern Utah region had gotten any rain!
For dinner, we stopped back at Jacob’s Inn to try the Fry Bread food truck. It didn’t disappoint!
Saturday, June 11 – Cedar City – Courtyard Cedar City
We packed up and left our VRBO and drove 2.5 hours to Bryce Canyon. We booked an afternoon horse trail ride through Bryce Canyon. We are all new to horseback riding, but everyone said this may have been their favorite activity of the week! We did the 3 hour tour that takes you 8 miles into the canyon and around the Peek-A-Boo trail and back. Once we got over the fears of going downhill on switchbacks on the edge of cliffs on a horse, it was smooth riding.
The views from the top and from below were amazing!
It was another amazing scenic drive from Bryce Canyon to our next hotel in Cedar City. We stopped at Aunt Sue’s Chalet for dinner along the drive. The the food was ok, but the homemade pie was pretty fantastic!
Sunday, June 12 – Cedar City
Our last National Park to visit was Zion National Park. I know this is a favorite park for many, and I wish we had more time and energy to devote to exploring it. We came prepared and geared up to hike the famous Narrows hike along the Virgin River. We got to the park early to beat the crowds and heat and catch the 6:00 shuttle bus to the Narrows hike. At Zion, everyone has to park at the visitor center and ride a bus to 1 of 9 stops to reach different trails.
Recommendations for Narrows Hike
- Water Shoes – Shoes have a good grip on the bottom.
- Water Socks – This shoe and sock combo were comfortable for hiking in and out of water.
- Hiking stick or dowel to keep balance on rocks – we picked up 4 dowels at a local Ace Hardware and left at the end of the trail for someone else to use when we were done.
You walk along a paved 1 mile path to get to the entrance on the river and then you are hiking through the river and along the shore back and forth to go up the canyon. We didn’t hike all the way to the end of the trail, and turned around at the Wall Street area. It took us a good 5 hours to complete the trail. It was well worth an early start after we saw the crowds that had increased on the hike back!
We were tired and hungry when we got back so we stopped for lunch at the restaurant at the lodge.
When you leave the park don’t miss the gem of a local coffee shop, FeelLove Coffee just outside the park. They had an extensive menu and was a nice treat for the drive back to Cedar City.
There was a Golden Corral across the street from our hotel, so the girls were excited to try that buffet for the first time.
Monday, June 13 – Las Vegas – Marriott Grand Chateau
We packed up and left Cedar City and stopped in St. George for lunch and one last cup of FeelLove Coffee before heading to Las Vegas. Once we got to Las Vegas we had a few hours before we could check into our hotel, so we drove down and checked out Hoover Dam. We were impressed with the size and magnitude of this dam as we walked across it! Like Lake Powell in Page, you could see where the water lines on Lake Mead was hundreds of feet below where it once was.
After checking into our amazing villa room, we wouldn’t get to enjoy long, we toured the strip checking out the shopping and restaurants tucked into the grand hotels.
Sarah Beth loves Flamingos, so we made sure to check out the flamingo habitat at the Flamingo Resort.
With children, make sure to check out the huge M&M store, but a tip for you. When you are suddenly craving M&M’s you can get a bag for a lot cheaper next door at Target.
Las Vegas may not be somewhere I want to spend a lot of time, but it was fun seeing some of the famous sites before our early morning flight.
Tuesday, June 14 – 5:20 am flight on Southwest from Las Vegas to Birmingham
Thanks for sticking around while we shared our 11 Day Utah/AZ National Park Tour. Let me know if you love any of these places we visited or if you need help planning a future trip for your family!
