SE Washington to Phoenix by way of Salt Lake City
 

My husband and I are traveling to Salt Lake City in August and then on to Phoenix. I'm planning for our little road trip and am looking for interesting things to see along the way such as the Grand Canyon, etc. Any ideas?

Hi OCaTG,

How long do you have for this trip?

From Salt Lake City take I-15 south to Scipio, Utah and then take Hwy 50 and Hwy 24 south to Torrey, Utah. Eleven miles east of Torrey, Utah is Capitol Reef National Park. Wonderful place to do a little hiking.


From Torrey, Utah head south on Scenic Byway Hwy 12 over the Boulder Mountain and though Escalante-Staircase National Monument. From Boulder, Utah you can take a side trip on the Burr Trail and back. Calf Creek has a 5 mile round trip hike to a waterfall. Very nice hike. Continue down Hwy 12 to Bryce Canyon National Park.

From Bryce continue on Hwy 12 to Hwy 89 and go south to Hwy 9 and take a side trip to Zion National Park, Utah. Go back to Hwy 89 and continue to Lake Powell National Recreational Area and then down to Cameron, AZ to enter into Grand Canyon National Park.

South of Flagstaff you might want to visit Sedona by taking Alt 89 and when you get back on on I-17 check out Montezuma's Castle National Monument.

If you do all of these parks you will want to get the $80 Annual National Park Pass or if you are over age 62 get the Senior National Park Pass for a one time fee of $10

Let me know if you have questions about these stops.

Utahtea

Utahtea,

What great ideas! Thanks so much!

Prescott is a fun little town rich in history. It's just north of Phoenix (US69/I-17) Prescott was the original capitol of Arizona and has the original courthouse/capital building. In that square there are fun restaurants and shops, and often times a festival is going on. Lots of fun cabins in the Prescott Valley and hiking, horseback riding, and even panning for gold.

Also, don't under estimate things to do and see in the Salt Lake City area. There are some beautiful resorts that are open year round, where you can see wild life and hike. Just outside of Salt lake is Park City where the Winter Olympics were a few years back. There are fun things to do there as well!