Scenic Southern Utah
Utah has absolutely stunning views making it one of the country’s most epic landscapes. It makes sense that it has FIVE national parks to visit. The “Mighty 5” include Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches. All of these are located in southern Utah, making it one of the better road trips. You can easily see all five national parks in a week, but we chose to visit 2 of the 5 and head next door to Nevada to check out Great Basin National Park.
We highly suggest taking the opportunity to camp at each park if given the chance. Waking up in the middle of Zion’s massive sandstone cliffs with nature and wildlife surrounding you is a breathtaking experience. We spent a little over a week traveling to and from Utah with jam-packed moments of natural wonder. You can easily spend more time at each park if you are an avid hiker and up for some challenging paths.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon is best known for its red, pink, and orange pillars cutting across blue skies. It is home to the largest collection of Hoodoos in the world. As you wind your way through the immense canyons, you are constantly greeted by scenic vistas.
Of the three parks we visited, Bryce Canyon was our favorite. The picturesque scenery we saw in Southern Utah is just unimaginable. Bryce Canyon has multiple trails, but you can easily see it all in one day.
Things to do:
The Southern Scenic Drive is 18 miles up to Rainbow and Yovimpa Points. At the end of the road, you will have exceeded 9,000 ft elevation and gained exceptional views. The drive takes about 40 minutes one way. Drive to the end of the road first, then on your way back down you can stop at the 9 scenic overlooks.
If you want to immerse yourself in the beauty of Bryce Canyon, be sure you go on a hike or two. We decided to combine the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop into a 3-mile hike. This is the park’s most popular and recommended hike. You have views of the unique Hoodoos with the iconic switchbacks between the towering canyon walls. If you choose to do this hike as well, you will see a couple of signs for the Hike the Hoodoos Program. If you want a sticker for your accomplishments, you just need to hike 3 miles and take a picture with the benchmarks, then bring your photos to a visitor center ranger. Another easy hike we went on was the Mossy Cave trail. It is located at the northern end of the park and was less than a mile long. You can also go horseback riding with Canyon Trail Rides to get a different perspective of the park. We had no idea about this until we were and it was too late. When we make it back out here again, this will be on the top of our must-do list.
Planning on hiking a few different trails? Take advantage of the free shuttle and help reduce congestion. Maybe take the shuttle to the general store and grab a bite to eat before you set off again. They serve hot and cold foods, like pizza, sandwiches, and ice cream. The pizza was very popular among groups.
If you are camping in or staying close to Bryce Canyon, we highly suggest waking up to see the sunrise at Sunrise (or Sunset) Point. I absolutely hate mornings with a passion and dreaded going for sunrise but, I can guarantee you it is well worth it.
Now if you are looking for something unique to do one night, check out Bryce Canyon Country Rodeo. It is right outside the park. The event is small but, for what it is, there was a lot of excitement. They have competitors of all ages displaying their skills: bull riding, roping, barrel racing, and sheep riding.
Zion National Park
Zion was the third most visited park in 2022 with over a whopping 4 million visitors, so expect crowds on your trip. The campground and shuttle lines were not overly crowded like we expected after reading countless articles, even over the holiday weekend. Lots of people warned us about getting early to the shuttle line because the wait could be hours but, almost every time there were enough seats for us to get right on. If you do camp (which we HIGHLY suggest), you just walk right over to the shuttle and hop on! The other great thing about this campsite is right next door. If you walk out of the visitor center into Springdale there are pay showers at Zion Outfitter.
Things to do:
The Narrows
Most of your time will be spent hiking while at Zion. It can get congested in some areas of the park with large crowds. We found that during our visit, most crowds belonged to the hundreds of people walking the Narrows. Walking down to the trailhead was enough anxiety for me and that was just to get to the beginning. Unfortunately, when we went some of the shuttle stops and trailheads were closed/not accessible. We were able to hike the Emerald Pools Trail, which brought us to the lower, middle, and upper pools. You can extend your hike by starting at the Court of the Patriarchs or continuing along the Kayenta Trail to the Grotto shuttle stop. When we finally made it to the top, it was nice to pause and rest atop the giant boulders. There are some other trails along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, including Angels Landing. If you choose to be a daredevil and embark on that journey ensure you have a permit as they are now required. In between your hikes, stop by Zion Lodge to enjoy a snack, or just lie down, on the shady lawn.
Now, Zion Canyon was gorgeous, but the view from Kolob Canyons was stunning. If you drive out of the park to the second visitor center, you take a short drive along Kolob Canyons Road to Timber Creek Overlook Trail. The views at the top went on for miles; literally, you can see the north rim of the Grand Canyon 100 miles away. If you are staying 2 or more days, you need to add this to your list!
No matter where you are in the park or which trail you hike, every picture you take will be filled with vibrant hues of pink and red, the beautiful display of desert wildflowers, and towering canyons.
Great Basin National Park
Hidden along the Nevada-Utah Border lies the ending (or starting) point on the Loneliest Road in America (US-50): Baker, Nevada. This funky little town may be small, but its backyard has all the wonders Great Basin National Park offers. This is one of the least visited - and least crowded - national parks in the country. Although it is typically not as crowded as other surrounding parks, getting a camping reservation was more difficult than expected; granted, we did travel during the Fourth of July weekend. They open the camping sites a few months beforehand, so make sure you save the date of when you can make reservations. I had my browser open and ready for claiming my spot and within minutes everything was reserved.
Things to do:
For views and trailheads, take a drive 4,000 feet up on the twelve-mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. At the top, you can park and hike the Bristlecone Grove trail to learn more about these very ancient trees. The trail is listed as ‘moderate’ but, as a person who prefers being horizontal, this was probably one of the harder hikes I have done. I will say I was pretty mad to hike 1.5 miles and 1,200 feet up for some trees. Although, after it was all said and done, it was impressive to know that some bristlecone pines are nearly 5,000 years old - making them one of the oldest living things in the world. This trail also is continued by the Glacier Trail where you can see the only glacier in Nevada. At the same parking area, you can go on an easier hike, Alpine Lakes Loop, which passes two alpine lakes with stunning views of Wheeler Peak.
At the bottom of the scenic drive is the Lehman Caves Visitor Center. You can tour Lehman Caves and the 300+ unique shield formations. Tours do sell out fast and the staff HIGHLY encourage booking your tour tickets early. We opted for the Grand Palace Tour, which was about an hour and a half long. We visited several rooms within the cave and had a chance to view the famous “Parachute Shield” formation. There is a short nature trail that you can do before or after your tour that starts right by the visitor center.
Now the coolest thing about this national park is that half of the park experience is after dark. Great Basin has been designated as an International Dark Sky Park… meaning that on a clear night, you can literally see thousands of stars, numerous planets, meteors, the Milky Way, and more with just the naked eye. I have been amazed at the night sky camping in Missouri before but, this is actually breathtaking. I cannot even put into words how in awe I was that night as I searched in the sky pondering life. On your next trip here, make sure you attend one of the astronomy programs that includes a ranger-led telescope viewing.
