fabmab08

Hello! My husband and I want to do something out west this summer for our 10 year anniversary. We would like to hike, horseback ride, eat good food, relax, and look at beautiful scenery! We were thinking either Montana or Utah. We have done Yellowstone and Grand Teton before, but have never been to Arches/Zion/Bryce and have never been to Montana. ANY and all suggestions are welcome. We would have 1 full week INCLUDING travel so probably 5 full nights to enjoy! Thank you for any and all opinions, suggestions, and comments

Michael

I do not recall seeing horses and mules in the parks you mention, only in the Grand Canyon. However they do offer hiking opportunities.

Arches:

https://flic.kr/p/7usgCk
Bryce:

https://flic.kr/p/7uskKD
from the top of Zion:

https://flic.kr/p/7usitk
As for good food, maybe Moab has some decent restaurants.

StantonHyde

For summer travel, you need to head north, not to the Utah Parks. Bryce is the only one that I would visit in the summer--southern Utah in the summer is beyond hot. Anything you do will have to be at 6 am and done by 10 am unless you are rafting. I live in Utah and you couldn't pay me to do those parks in summer!! Try Glacier National park and Waterton in Canada--which is just north of Glacier. My DH and I had a great week long trip there. You have to go mid July-end of August to make sure all of the roads are open. It's not much of a foodie trip, most national park trips aren't. But it really is beautiful.

janisj

StantonHyde beat me to it -- when I was reading your OP I was thinking . . . southern Utah . . . summer . . . heck no.

SusieQQ

Be aware that many National Parks are requiring registrations for certain trails, etc. this year.

tomfuller

There are several places in the Columbia Falls/West Glacier area to ride horses in or near Glacier NP. (Swan Mountain and Lake McDonald). You will want to delay your summer trip until at least the second week of July to make sure the Going to the Sun Road is open all the way through. The road is often closed by snow above Lake McDonald until late June.
My favorite lodging in this area is the Meadow Lake Resort and Condos just west of Columbia Falls.
There are over 700 miles of hiking trails in Glacier NP. Every year there seems to be at least one group of hikers that encounter a bear on a Glicier trail. Plan on buying a can of bear spray locally and passing it on to another group of hikes when you are headed back home.
My favorite time to visit the "big 5" Utah National Parks is in October or early November. One of the best hikes I ever did with my wife was out through open territory to Delicate Arch in Arches NP.

PrairieHikerII

Yes, you could go to Glacier NP and see the glaciers before they all melt (many have already melted). You can horseback-ride in the park. The best home base would be Whitefish. Make reservations now.

fabmab08

thank you all! so funny because after i wrote that i also thought about the heat lol. we were also toying with the idea of Banff....we are okay with any food doesn't need to be gourmet! just need a beautiful view and some stuff to do outdoors! thank you so so much!!!!!!

PrairieHikerII

Banff is supposed to be a great place but order your passports now and make your reservations now as well.

KarenWoo

I also recommend Glacier National Park in Montana. We were there this past September and absolutely love GNP. The scenery is spectacular and rivals the Alps IMO. You can click on my name to read my trip report. In Glacier, there are horseback rides, boat rides, and easy to difficult hikes. We spent 5 nights there: 3 nights at St. Mary's Village and 2 nights at the Tamarack Lodge in Hungry Horse. I recommend St. Mary's Village, but I probably would not recommend Tamarack Lodge especially for an anniversary trip. It was the lowest end of all our lodgings, a good choice if you want to save money but I wouldn't rave about it. We also spent 5 nights in Whitefish attending a family wedding. Whitefish is where you can find good food.

If you go to Glacier, I highly recommend visiting the Many Glacier area of the park. Many Glacier has the most stunning and awesome scenery IMO. Two Medicine is another beautiful area, and these two locations are the least crowded of GNP.

It's too late to get lodgings inside the park, but you should be able to find places outside the park. St. Mary's Village is literally just outside the St. Mary's entrance to GNP. You should make your lodging reservations NOW. If you have time, be sure to visit Polebridge Mercantile and have their delicious huckleberry bearpaws. And be sure to purchase bear spray at the park or in Whitefish. When we were there, several trails were closed due to grizzly bear activity.

Also want to add that 2021 was the first year that GNP required passes for the Going to the Sun Road. I forgot what the start date for the pass is but the end date is Labor Day. So we didn't need the pass but you will since you are going in the summer.

sunbum1944

I visited Glacier in July 2020. It was very beautiful but so crowded. There are no parking spots left at many places by 8AM. We never found a parking place at Logan Pass. It was suggested by locals that instead of going to park early, try going later in the day when visitors are leaving. It stays light until late in the day so might be a good time to get around.
One thing I regret not doing is kayaking on Lake McDonald. What a beautiful spot.
I was at Bryce and Zion in October of this year. Still crowded and was thankful for shuttles to get us around. It was nice time to visit but did have a couple of days of rain and snow was predicted the day after we left. But we had several nice days too.
They were all beautiful.

PrairieHikerII

I think that eventually nearly all national parks will no longer allow private vehicles (except for those who are actually staying in the park). Visitors will have to take electric shuttles (except for the off-season). It's not much fun when it's bumper to bumper traffic and all of the parking places are full up as I found out in Rock Mt. National Park three years ago last August. Plus, it will reduce air and noise pollution.

HotWheels

You could also consider the Black Hills of South Dakota. There's lots of hiking, horseback riding, ATV or pontoon rentals, bison jeep rides, etc. for activities. In addition, there are several cave tours, wildlife/scenic drives, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument/museum, and other assorted things to do just in that area. Very easy day drives (few hours to/from) would be SD Badlands to the east; Devil's Tower in WY to the northwest. Black Hills has several small towns to stay with food, lodging and shops (our favorites are Custer & Hill City) which are easily centrally located to everything. You won't run out of things to do!

PrairieHikerII

I second the Black Hills which are actually small mountains. (7,242 feet is the highest point). There are lots of things to see and do there: Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park (a state park of national park quality with bighorn sheep and bison) and Roughlock Falls Nature Area is located in Spearfish Canyon. You can bike the George S. Mickelson Trail which runs through the heart of the Black Hills, connecting Deadwood with Edgemont 114 miles to the south. The trail incorporates nearly 100 converted railroad bridges and 4 tunnels, and goes through ponderosa pines and along a rushing stream. Go view Bridal Veil Falls which is the easiest of the three waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon. East of the Black Hills is Badlands National Park. Custer is supposed to be a good base.