Want to make the most of your southern Utah national park road trip? Here’s the perfect itinerary for a great road trip.
We took a road trip through southern Utah this year to visit the national parks and a couple of other stops along the way. Everyone in our family loved the road trip and exploring southern Utah so much! It’s in our top favorite trips that we have taken!
In case you would like to take your own road trip through southern Utah, I am sharing below our route. You can start at either side of Utachand work your way across the state. You could add more sites and destinations as your road trip allows.
Arches National Park
Arches National Park is located near Moab close to the Utah/Colorado border. The park features over 2,000 naturally occurring stone arches. The combination of the beautiful red rocks, fins, pinnacles, and arches with the beautiful blue sky makes for picturesque views.
If you would like to read more about visiting Arches National Park and tips for your trip, click here.
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park – Island in the Sky is located about 30 minutes from Arches National Park. There are four districts that make up Canyonlands National Park and the Colorado River and its tributaries divide the park, so you cannot easily go from area to area. Canyonlands National Park – Island in the Sky reminded me a lot of Grand Canyon National Park with its countless canyons and beautiful buttes.
If you would like to read more about visiting Canyonlands National Park and tips for your trip, click here.
If time: When traveling from Canyonlands or Arches National Park towards Capitol Reef National Park, I highly recommend that you stop at Little Wild Horse Canyon (Slot Canyon). It is an 8-mile loop trail, however, you can choose to do only part of the canyon and then turn back. If you would like to read more about visiting Little Wild Horse Canyon and tips for your trip, click here.
Located right next to Little Wild Horse (Slot) Canyon is Goblin Valley State Park. It makes the perfect place to visit if you are also visiting the slot canyon. Goblin Valley State Park offers a look at unique hoodoo-like formations. These ‘goblins’ were formed as soft sandstone was eroded leaving a valley full of mushroom-shaped formations. If you would like to read more about visiting Goblin Valley State Park and tips for your trip, click here.
Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef National Park is located about halfway between Arches National Park and Zion National Park. It is filled with cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges in the Waterpocket Fold (like a wrinkle on the earth). The national park is large with lots to explore especially in the backcountry area/along 4-wheel drive roadways. However, the Fruita area of the park offers a variety of things to see and do and the scenic drive is accessible for all vehicles.
If you would like to read more about visiting Capitol Reef National Park and tips for your trip, click here.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Unfortunately during our trip, Bryce Canyon National Park got hit with a lot of snow over a period of several days so we were not able to visit. It was one of the national parks I was most excited to see and really want to go back to experience the largest concentration of hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) found anywhere on Earth.
Zion National Park
Zion National Park is located near the border of Utah/Nevada. This picturesque national park is filled with massive cream, pink, and red sandstone cliffs reaching up to the bright blue sky. Zion is an amazing national park with lots of hiking trails and is well known for Angels Landing and the Narrows.
If you would like to read more about visiting Zion National Park and tips for your trip, click here.
If time: I would highly recommend stopping at Valley of Fire State Park in southern Nevada. It is filled with stunning red rock formations, beautiful panoramic views, hiking trails, and petroglyphs. It is located about 50 minutes from Las Vegas and 2 hours 20 minutes from Zion National Park. The park has red rock formations that are made from Aztec sandstone and on a sunny day, these red, orange, and pink formations look like they are on fire, giving the park its name. If you would like to read more about visiting Valley of Fire State Park and tips for your trip, click here.
Have you visited the national parks in southern Utah?
