mermaid2020

We'd like to visit some Utah National Parks for a week in April. We've been to Zion and Bryce, but are interested in Canyonlands, Reef Capitol and Arches. Are all three doable in a week? Could any of you experienced road trippers suggest a good itinerary? Would Salt Lake City be the wisest place to fly into, or Las Vegas?
Thanks so much in advance!

tomfuller

10 days would be better. The rentals are a little cheaper in Las Vegas. Why April?

mermaid2020

I have a week off from work in April. I thought the weather wouldn't be too hot either. With only a week, would it be better to limit ourselves to only 2 parks? If so, which ones would people recommend? Our interests are spectacular scenery and good hikes.
Thanks!

Dayle

Yes I think you could enjoy all 3 in a week as long as its not Easter week. If you look at a map you will see that Arches and Canyonlands are right next to each other and can be visited from Moab lodging.

Moab is a rather long drive from LV. Easter week is the Jeep Safari in Moab and lodging will be booked up, as well as lodging everywhere else in the Utah parks. You are too late for Easter week. If not that week you may still find lodging.

If you choose to fly in to and out of SLC, Moab is a 4 hour drive. Its 3.5 to Capitol Reef. 2.5 between Moab and Capitol Reef with out stops, but there are some amazing places to visit on the way.

Check out some of the thousands of trip reports here for details.

Michael

You can see the essential of Arches in a full day. Same for Canyonlands Island in the Sky area. Hiking might be more interesting in the Needles of Canyonland, but it is a 1.5 hour drive from Moab. So a minimum of two days for Canyonlands.

Dayle

I would recommend 2 full days for Arches. There are many amazing hikes there and those help you enjoy the park without the crowds at the parking lot accessible sites.

emalloy

You can do the three in a week. Look at flying into Albuquerque, NM or Grand Junction, CO as well as Salt Lake City as has been suggested. Depending on what time your flight gets in, you could be in Moab from either on the first day.

I would want at least 3 full days for the Moab parks (Arches and Canyonlands).

If you click my name and scroll down you can find several TRs that we have done to the area. The 2013 trip and a couple others were from Albuquerque, 2015 was from Denver, others from Vegas. I usually look at the combination of airfare and car rental and what ever else we want to see to make the decision on where to fly into. Denver usually has the most expensive cars, Las Vegas the least.

If you don't already have lodging, you need to get it asap.

Have a great trip!

mermaid2020

Thanks so much for all your helpful replies.

db6040

How many total nights do you have to work with? Salt Lake City is a decent place to fly into for the parks you mention. Depending on the time you land, you may want to spend the first night close to the airport which takes away a "night" from somewhere else. We like 4 nights in Moab. You could probably get away with 3 but if you spent your whole trip in Moab you would not run out of things to do! 2 nights in Torrey would then allow you 1 day in Capitol Reef which is an underrated park that we really enjoy. I have not been there in May but was there last October and many hotels/restaurants were getting ready to close down for the season. Hopefully things are open when you want to go.

The day you drive between Moab and Torrey consider stopping at Goblin's Valley. This was actually a highlight for us out of a 17 day trip a couple of years ago. We weren't expecting to be as impressed by it as we were.

If you are able to get an early flight into SLC, I would probably just get on the road and drive straight to Moab. I would then spend 4 nights there. The morning leaving Moab, I would get an early start and enjoy the ride to Torrey - spending a few hours and maybe a picnic in Goblin's Valley. Then I would spend 2 nights in Torrey before heading back to Salt Lake City for the night and flying home the next day. If you have more days to work with, that is always better but I think you can make a really nice trip to these places with a week.

RVvagabond

There are too many option to relay for these parks.
Suggest purchasing some of these books


1. Hiking (family): Wow Utah Canyon Country -
3. Backroad 4-wheel driving: Canyonland National Park Favorite Jeep Roads and Hiking Trails. White Rim Trail (road) is the premier scenic area in Island In The Sky. This book has an excellent description of that 110 mile road.
4. Touring guide focusing exclusively on Utah Parks for driving, hiking and Mountain Biking: Zion to Escalante, Utah and its companion Escalante to Moab. This book gives a life-saving mile-by-mile driving guide.
5. As above, but less detailed for Utah: Fodor's Utah: with Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Capitol Reef & Canyonlands National Parks (Travel Guide)

All of above is less than one nights lodging - thus a value.
Some are e-book and/or print

Hint: You must hike into Bryce, Capitol Reef, Goblin Valley and up the Virgin River from Riverside in Zion.

Vaga

RVvagabond

Vaga is back

Another thread in Utah is from Kpereka where he describes his hike up Virgin River.

This is his web site describing his adventure

http://www.lifeasweexplore.com/home/...onal-park-utah

Vaga