Utah : Itinerary
ABOUT
After road-tripping through a section of the Southwest US two years prior, we wanted to return to see some of the spots we had missed. Even after two trips there are still SO MANY places we want to visit in this area. You really could spend months traveling in just the Southwest US. Unfortunately we both work full-time, so we’re breaking it up over the years instead.
We visited Utah Oct 18-24, 2020. It was a gorgeous time of year and still in the high 70’s each day without rain. If we had more time on this trip I would add:
Utah: Arches National Park, BuckSkin Gulch, Sand hollow reservoir, Peek-A-Boo Canyon, Alstrom point (where AZ meets UT at Lake Powell)
Arizona: Grand Canyon, North Coyote Buttes “The Wave”
DAY 1: Vegas to Zion
Fly into Vegas
Pick up rental car, butane, water and some food
Drive to Zion National Park Visitor Center for Maps/Info (~3hours)
- You MUST book Zion Park Shuttle Tickets or find a private shuttle company to take you into the park. You CANNOT drive private vehicles into the main area of the park. Alt option is to walk or bike. Set a reminder- park shuttle tickets sell out within a couple minutes. Book Here.
Stop at ZionGuru or ZionOutfitter to pick up waterproof shoes rentals
Dinner in Springdale (town outside the park). Options open until 9pm include:
- Anthera
Drive to campsite outside park (~35min)
Spend the night at Zion Wright Family Ranch-eco camping
DAY 2: Zion, The NARROWS
Drive To Visitor Center (~40min)
- Some parking is available at the visitor center. When that is full, you need to park in town outside the park and walk in.
Take Park Shuttle from Visitor Center to “Temple of Sinawava” the last shuttle stop.
Hike the Narrows
- Don’t need a permit to day hike from bottom-up. You do need a permit to hike from top-down.
- Reserve the first shuttle of the day to avoid crowds (7:00am - 8:00am time slot).
- Hike at least two hours in. The narrowest part of the slot canyon, known as “Wall Street” is the heart of the Narrows, where the 2,000-foot vertical walls of orange-red sandstone constrict to 20 or 30 feet across.
Hike back to shuttle, shuttle to car, drop waterproof shoe rentals off
Dinner in Springdale (town outside the park)
Drive to campsite outside park (~35min)
Spend the night at Zion Wright Family Ranch-eco camping
DAy 3: ZION, WEST RIM TRAIL
Drive to Zion Visitor Center (~40min)
Take Shuttle into Park
Hike West Rim Trail from the Grotto
Hike Emerald Pools Loop from “The Grotto” to “Zion Lodge”
Dinner in Springdale (town outside the park)
Spend the night at Zion Wildflower Glamping (~20min)
DAy 4: BRYCE CANYON
Drive to the Wave Lottery need to be there by 8am mountain time (~1hr 17min)
- Address: Kanab Center gymnasium, 20 North 100 East, Kanab, Utah 84741. Follow directional signs and park on the east side of the building, in rear parking lot (More info).
Breakfast in Kanab at Kanab Creek Bakery
Drive to Bryce Canyon Visitor Center (~1hr 30min)
Hike around Bryce (Map Here)
- Park at Sunrise Point. If sunrise Point parking is full take the shuttle
- Do the Figure 8 Combination Trail (6.4 miles ~4 hours). Includes Queens Garden, Navajo Loop and Peek-a-boo Loop.
- Alt: Fairyland Loop (8 miles). Starts from Fairyland Point or Sunrise Point.
Drive back to Zion Wildflower (~1hr 52min)
Dinner in town outside park
Spend the night at Zion Wildflower Glamping
Day 5: OBSERVATION POINT
If you win the lottery, hike The Wave (6.4 mile round-trip hike) - unfortunately we did not win. There were 99 people who entered the lottery the day we went so chances of winning were slim.
Instead we did our back-up hike, Observation Point.
- The normal Observation Point hike starting from Zion is closed due to rockfall so instead you have to drive to the East Mesa Trailhead to get there.
- Directions: Drive to Zion Ponderosa Ranch. Take Dirt Road until it ends (it gets very bumpy at the end) to East Mesa Trailhead.
- Hike to Observation Point on East Mesa Trail (~7mile out and back)
Dinner at infamous Thunderbird Restaurant (the food was surprisingly good).
Drive to Apple Hollow Tiny House for the night
Day 6: CoraL PINK SAND DUNES + VALLEY OF FIRE
Drive from Apply Hollow Tiny House to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park (~40mins)
- We were the first people to arrive at 9am so we had the whole area to ourselves
- Walk Coral Pink Sand Dunes Trail (.8mi) but you can really walk wherever you want
Drive to the Valley of Fire State Park (~3 hr, 30min)
- Hike Mouse Tank to see Petroglyphs
Continue driving to Vegas (~1hr, 16min)
- Spend the night in Vegas
Day 7: FLY HOME
Wake up and return rental car
Fly home from Vegas