Home Destinations USA Utah Utah Canyon Country Driving Tour

Utah Canyon Country Driving Tour

The Plan

Distance:

750-850 mi

Time:

9-10 days

Overnight in:

Springdale, Bryce, Torrey, Moab, Bluff, and Monument Valley

Zion & Bryce Canyon

Days 1 & 2

From Las Vegas, head up I15, and take the Route 9 exit to Zion National Park. Spend your afternoon in the parkif it's April to October, take the National Park Service bus down Zion Canyon Scenic Drive (in fact, when the bus is "in season," cars are not allowed in the canyon). Overnight in Springdale, the bustling town right next to the park. The Best Western Zion Park Inn is your best bet for getting a room in the high season. Its Switchback Grille is excellent and open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Spend the next morning in Zion. For a nice hike, try the short and easy (read: family-friendly) Canyon Overlook Trail, where you can gaze at the massive rock formations, such as East and West Temples. It won't take very long, even if you linger with your camera, so follow it with a stroll along the Emerald Pools Trail in Zion Canyon itself, where you might come across tame wild turkeys and ravens looking for handouts.

Depart the area via Route 9, the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. You'll pass through a 1-mi-long tunnel that is so narrow, RVs and towed vehicles must pay for an escort through. When you emerge, you are in slickrock country, where huge, petrified sandstone dunes are etched by ancient waters. Stay on Route 9 for 23 mi and then turn north onto U.S. 89. After 42 mi, you will reach Route 12, where you should turn east and drive 14 mi to the entrance of Bryce Canyon National Park. The overall trip from Zion to Bryce Canyon is about 90 minutes.

Central to your tour of Bryce Canyon is the 18-mi main park road, from which numerous scenic turnouts reveal vistas of bright red-orange rock (we recommend starting with the view at Sunrise Point). You'll notice that the air is a little cooler here than it was at Zion, so get out and enjoy it. Trails most worth checking out include the Bristlecone Loop Trail and the Navajo Loop Trail, both of which you can easily fit into a day trip and will get you into the heart of the park with minimum effort. Listen for peregrine falcons deep in the side canyons, and keep an eye out for the species of prairie dog that only lives in these parts. Overnight in the park or at Ruby's Inn, near the junction of routes 12 and 63.

Capitol Reef

Day 3

Head out this morning on the spectacular Utah Scenic BywayRoute 12. If the views don't take your breath away, the narrow, winding road with little margin for error will. Route 12 winds over and through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The views from the narrow hogback are nothing short of incredible. About 14 mi past the town of Escalante on Route 12 you can stop at Calf Creek Recreation Area to stretch your legs or make a 5-mi round-trip hike to a gorgeous backcountry waterfall. Route 12 continues to gain elevation as you pass over Boulder Mountain.

At the intersection of routes 12 and 24, turn east onto Route 24. You have traveled 112 mi from Bryce Canyon to reach Capitol Reef National Park. The crowds are smaller here than at other national parks in the state, and the scenery is stunning. Orchards in the small enclave of Fruita produce fruit—peaches, pears, and apples—in the late summer and early fall, and are close by ancient Indian rock art. If it's still daylight when you arrive, hike the 1-mi Hickman Bridge Trail if you want to explore a little, or stop in at the visitor center until 4:30 PM (later in the summer) and view pioneer and Native American exhibits, talk with rangers about geography or geology, or watch a film. Nearby Torrey is your best bet for lodging, and be sure to eat at the seasonal Cafe Diablo, serving some of Utah's finest Southwest cuisine from mid-April to mid-October. Enjoy freshly brewed coffee and baked goods at Robber's Roost Books and Beverages while perusing a selection of regionally themed books, viewing local artisan jewelry, or even browsing the Internet.

Arches & Canyonlands

Days 4-6

Explore Capitol Reef more the next morning. When you leave, travel east and north for 75 mi on Route 24. If you want a break after about an hour, stop at the small Goblin Valley State Park, 12 mi west off Route 24 on Goblin Valley Road. Youngsters love to run around the sandstone formations known as "goblins." Return to Route 24 and take it to I70, turn east and continue your journey.

Take exit 182 south onto U.S. 191, going about 27 mi toward Arches National Park, which holds the world's largest concentration of natural rock windows or "arches." Plan on spending three nights in Moab while you explore the area. Adventurous types, note that the Colorado River runs near Moab. If you can squeeze in a raft trip on this legendary Western waterway, do it. Otherwise, dedicate Day 5 to Arches, perhaps including a guided hike in the Fiery Furnace, a maze of sandstone canyons and fins that is considered one of the most spectacular hikes in the park. Then on Day 6, launch your Canyonlands National Park experience with the Island in the Sky District—but first take a detour to the mesa top at Dead Horse Point State Park for magnificent views of the Colorado River as it goosenecks through the canyons below. To reach the state park, go 10 mi north of Moab on U.S. 191 to Route 313. Drive west for 15 mi, then turn right onto the unnamed road; continue for 6 mi to the Dead Horse fee station. To get from Dead Horse to Islands in the Sky, return to Route 313 and drive 7 mi past the Dead Horse turnoff to reach the park visitor center.

On your way back to Moab, enjoy the natural scenery on the Colorado River Scenic Byway (Route 128), which runs for about 44 mi along the river, or view man-made art by traveling down Route 279 (Potash Road), where ancient Native American rock-art panels pop up after 4 8/10 mi from the U.S. 191 turnoff.

The Four Corners & Monument Valley

Day 7

On Day 7, travel 42 mi south of Moab on U.S. 191. At this point, you have a choice to make. Either turn onto Route 211 and drive 34 mi to Canyonlands' Needles District, which is distinctly different from Island in the Sky, or skip this part of the park and continue south to the town of Bluff. It's about 100 mi from Moab to Bluff, so if you want to break up the drive, stop en route for a bite to eat in Monticello or at the first-rate museum of the Ancestral Puebloan Indians in Edge of the Cedars State Park in Blanding . Stay the night in Bluff at the Desert Rose Inn and Cabins.

Day 8

This morning, detour to the southeast for a fun photo-op at Four Corners National Monument, which straddles Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The easiest route from Bluff is to take U.S. 191 for about 35 mi, to its junction with U.S. 160. (The U.S. 191U.S. 160 junction is south of the UtahArizona border in the Navajo Nation.) Drive east on U.S. 160 for about 30 mi to Four Corners. When you've finished standing in four states at the same time, backtrack west along on U.S. 160 for the spectacular, deep-red desert of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, whose buttes and spires you will recognize from countless movie westerns and television commercials—if you want to do the 17-mi self-guided drive here, give yourself a couple of hours, or take a tram tour. Call it a night at Gouldings Lodge in Monument Valley.

Day 9

From Monument Valley, take U.S. 163 north about 25 mi toward Mexican Hat, then follow Route 261 north to Route 95 west and the Natural Bridges National Monument. A scenic 9-mi drive takes you to all three of the large river-carved bridges here, or you can get out of the car for some hiking. Then it's time to begin wrapping up your driving tour, continuing northwest on Route 95 toward the town of Hanksville (back near Capitol Reef National Park). From there, the fastest way back to Las Vegas is to go north on Route 24 to I70 west to I15 south.

Tips

U.S. 6, the most direct route from Southeastern Utah to Salt Lake City, is unfortunately one of the most accident-prone roads in the country, though improvements are being made. Drive with extreme caution and patience, especially through Price and Spanish Fork canyons.

Don't despair if it starts to rain in Southern Utah; showers rarely last long, and they always seem to be followed by spectacular sunsets.

Bring old sneakers or sandals to enjoy rafting or other water sports in the Moab area.

Gas isn't difficult to find, but it's always smart to top off the tank whenever you can just in case.