I spent two weeks road tripping through Southern Utah’s magical landscapes with a group of friends. I recommend spending as much time as possible in this area; only visiting one of the national parks isn’t enough! The drives and parks feel as though you are visiting another planet. The landscape is truly unique.
Separate detailed blog posts are available for each section of this trip. They are linked below as well as throughout this post. This post expands on how to put all of the stops together and includes recommended stops on the driving days.
If you need a slightly shorter trip, I recommend skipping the day one activities or the day fourteen activities. Those stops are easy to eliminate logistically and were slightly less exciting than the other places we visited. If you want an even longer trip, adding the Grand Canyon to this trip is also easy. It is a short drive from Paige, Arizona (days four through seven).
Jump to specific blog posts here:
Day One through Three: Moab, Arches and Canyonlands
Day Four through Seven: Lake Powell
Day Seven through Eleven: Zion and Bryce National Parks
Day Eleven through Fourteen: Grand Staircase Escalante and Capitol Reef National Park
Day One
Daytime: Canyonlands National Park
Overnight in Moab, Utah
See post for more details here.
Day Two
Daytime: Arches National Park- Hike the Devil's Garden Loop Trail
Evening: Arches National Park-Watch the Sunset in the Windows Section
Overnight in Moab, Utah
See post for more details here.
Day Three
Morning: Arches National Park- Hike to Delicate Arch
Afternoon: Arches National Park-Hike the Windows Section
Evening: Dead Horse Point State Park
Overnight in: Moab, Utah
See post for more details here.
Day Four
Morning: Drive 4 hours to Page Arizona
Afternoon: Visit Monument Valley
Overnight: Lake Powell
For the drive to Page, Arizona, take historic highway US Route 163. It is a jaw dropping drive and has many options for stops along it. I’ve outlined potential stops below:
Valley of the Gods
This is a backcountry park that has similar scenery and sandstone buttes to Monument Valley. We drove through a portion of it on our trip. The road going through the area isn’t paved, but our 4-wheel drive SUV handled it fine. It’s located directly off of the highway so it’s an easy stop.
Mile marker 13 on US Highway 163, the end of Forrest Gump’s Cross Country Run
Take a quick stop here to take a fun picture, or to try Frybread.
Monument Valley
If Monument Valley is open I recommend prioritizing your time to spend most of the day there. Once in the Valley, drive the scenic drive to see the sandstone buttes in the area, take a guided hike (a guide is required), or book a tour to see Puebloan ruins.
National Bridges Monument
This is a park with three naturally former stone bridges to see.
Mexican Hat National Monument
This park’s main attraction is a balancing rock formation that looks like a sombrero.
Along this route be sure to try Native American Fry Bread. There are numerous small stands selling it as you drive closer to Monument Valley. It is a flat dough bread that is deep fried. It can be eaten by itself or with honey, jam, powdered sugar or beef. Navajo tacos are also popular in the area and are made with Fry Bread.
Day Five
Morning: Kayak to Antelope Canyon
Afternoon; Hike in Antelope Canyon
Overnight in: Lake Powell
See post for more details here.
Day Six
Morning: Mountain bike in Page, AZ
Afternoon: Visit Horseshoe Bend
Overnight in: Lake Powell
See post for more details here.
Day Seven
Morning: Kayak to Lone Rock Canyon
Afternoon: Drive to Kanab or Springdale
Overnight in: Kanab or Springdale
See post for more details here.
Day Eight
Daytime: Zion–Hike the Narrows
Overnight in Kanab or Springdale
See post for more details here.
Day Nine
Morning: Zion–Hike Angel’s Landing
Afternoon: Zion–Hike the Emerald Pools Trail
Overnight in Kanab or Springdale
See post for more details here.
Day Ten
Morning: Zion–Hike to Observation Point
Overnight in Kanab or Springdale
See post for more details here.
Day Eleven
Early Morning: Drive to 1-2 hours to Bryce Canyon
Morning: Bryce Canyon– Hike the Figure Eight Combination Trail
Afternoon: Drive 1 hour to Escalante.
Overnight in Escalante
Note that staying in Kanab instead of Springdale will make the drive to Bryce Canyon shorter by about 30 minutes. If you take the route from Kanab, stop at the Cave Cafe along the way. They sell smoothies, juices and Acai bowls.
See post for more details here.
Day Twelve
Morning:Grand Staircase Escalante–Peek-a-boo, and Spooky Slot Canyons
Afternoon:Grand Staircase Escalante–Zebra Canyon
Overnight in Escalante
See the blog post for more details here.
Note that for the Escalante portion of this two week trip, I removed the day hikes mentioned on day one of the detailed blog post. If you have room for a 15 day trip, feel free to add it back in! Day one of the Escalante post gave options for longer, more difficult hikes. Those trails add significant hiking mileage, especially as part of a 2-week road trip with lots of other hiking.
Day Thirteen
Morning: Grand Staircase Escalante–Lower Calf Creek Falls Trail
Afternoon:Drive 40 minutes to Boulder
Overnight in Boulder
The total drive to Boulder is 40 minutes, but the trailhead for the hike is along the route.
The drive to Boulder is along Scenic Byway 12 and is appropriately described as scenic! Be sure to pull over at viewpoints to take it in.
Kiva Koffeehouse is a perfect halfway point and pre-hike stop on the drive. The restaurant offers a wide selection of coffee and tea drinks but also serves house-made baked goods and breakfast and lunch options like quiche and soups. It is built up on a ledge overlooking the surrounding rock formations with lots of outdoor seating to take in the panoramic views.
See the blog post for more details here.
Day Fourteen
Morning: Drive one hour to Capitol Reef National Park
Afternoon: Capitol Reef National Park
Overnight in Boulder
See the blog post for more details here.
