We invite you on an adventure through Utah’s Mighty 5 National Parks: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonland, Capitol Reef, and Zion. This Ultimate Utah National Parks Itinerary is the result of our experiences. We visited each of Utah’s national parks several times, and we have prepared an optimal travel plan. This is an intense 7 day...
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Hi, we are Agnes & Chris! Welcome to The Van Escape! We are travelers, photographers, and bloggers. Our goal is to share travel & photo experience and inspire you to outdoor adventures through America. We love wildlife, off the beaten path places, soaking in hot springs, and van life. We also like cities by night and tasting local food & wine. We give you ready itineraries, hints, and essential tools to prepare you for your unforgettable lifetime journey. We only describe the places we have been, which we know and recommend without hesitation. All photos are also ours. We are so glad you’re here!
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Ok, I think I learnt more about the national parks of Utah in this post than anywhere else. I am still yet to get to Utah but its on the cards and I know some of the places mentioned on here but this post is really really detailed and probably made my planning for the trip (when I get round to it) a lot easier. So I have bookmarked this page. A lot of people have said you need a 1-2 week plan just to get to see the top places, but as I do a lot of hiking, hopefully I might be here longer than that. 😀
Utah is such a stunning state for a road trip, I’ve been a couple of times but really want to revisit and see more. I agree with you that LV is a great place to start the itinerary, we did the same last time, and the other time we started in LA, which meant a long drive through fairly dull suburbs of LA to get out to the beautiful landscapes. Loving your photos, beautiful light and colour, really shows off the beauty of Utah. We hit the same places you recommend and agree with all of them, I particularly loved the folding landscapes at Zion!
I have been working on an itinerary
through this area for the upcoming spring. I hadn’t thought about the water
levels being high and might switch things around and go in the fall now that
you mentioned it. I wish it was easier to explore Capitol Reef National Park without a 4×4, I
see such gorgeous images of the park.
I just got back from a Utah road trip and I have to say it was one of my favorite places in the US. I agree with your itinerary in terms of being able to explore Arches and Canyonlands each in one day, but we spent 2 days in Zion and I wish we had one more! There are so many different hikes that show so many different landscapes that I think they are all a must-see. Hope you loved it as much as I did!
So amazing!!! This post was so informative. Utah has always been our dream to go to for a roadtrip. The sheer beauty of the state with all its natural landscapes and rock formation. Zion in particular is the national park we’d love to see but it’s nice to know that there’s so much more to Utah than that. Plus, your pictures are so beautiful. Definitely bookmarking this for when we get to campervan over there!
Wow! This itinerary idea is definitely pretty intense. Between the hikes and the drives, I think my husband and I will end up go to bed the moment we arrive in the bedroom. No time for massaging. Haha… I’ve been to Arches and Canyonlands, so I made some notes for hiking trails and interesting spots in the other three parks. I like the idea of taking the shuttle from Springdale though because as of now, summer is the only time we can go there.
I have been reading so much of late about Utah National Park and seeing the pictures. Sometimes I feel I have already visited although I haven’t. But your post is the perfect one to follow for a 7 day trip. I am a great fan of wildlife and nature and hence trip would be the perfect way to experience natural beauty. I hope I am able to visit Utah next time we are in US.
We absolutely love Utah! And it’s because of all the national parks they have there. I will never get tired of them and there are so many new trail we discover everytime we visit. This itinerary is great! And when visiting for the first time it is very helpful to hear about how other people did it. I can’t wait to go there again!
Utah National Park is high on my wishlist and great you have given a perfect road trip itinerary for this wonderful place. I loved RV camping near Zion and though I have never stayed in RV, but would love to do it now. Good you have given perfect road trip tips for example about Narrow Hikes, routes and other staying options. Saving your post.
I’ve commented on these fantastic places before. Awesome is all I can say and that I hope to visit these places one day. I’ve saved my name and email address for future comments but dont know why its not saved – I need to add it every time I comment?
Okay, this is awesome! I think you’re right, that you should give it more time. I wouldn’t want to have to cram stuff in or not really explore as much as I know I would want to. I know that they increased the number of lottery permits for The Wave, so there are slightly better chances you could see it. I would LOVE to see that!
One of our favourite trips of 2019 was our travels around the Utah National Parks. So it was great to be taken back by your blog post. We started in Salt Lake City and drove all the way to Tucson where we dumped our rental car. But we really wanted to do a camper trip. Next time we will do a circle in Utah and enjoy some camping. And we will definitely plan to stay inside the parks for a few days. One trip was definitely not enough! We would love to see the parks looking so very different in winter. A great planning post.
I did this in September and loved it. My trip was broken up and I didn’t go to Bryce due to altitude sickness. So looking forward to going again.