Utah’s Mighty 5 Road Trip Guide

Utah is quite literally the most underrated state in the USA. You are going to spend 8 days in this beautiful place and visit 5 National Parks along the way. Are you ready?

Here are three tips I want to give you before hitting the road.

1- Download Google maps and AllTrails because you will lose service on your phone for long periods when driving and when you are hiking on trails.

2- Click here to buy your National Parks annual pass. This pass is $80 and is your ticket to over 2,000 federal recreation sites. Entrance to get into most National Parks is anywhere from $20-$35 so this pass is definitely going to be worth it on your Utah road trip. Click here to read more about this pass.

3- Always have water bottles and something to snack on in the car.

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Day 1 – Fly to McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. Take the Rent-a-car shuttle (they come every 15 minutes) to McCarran Rental Car Center. I rented my car from Enterprise. As soon as I got my car I went to In-and-out burger for food then went to the Seven Magic Mountains. This is an art installation in Las Vegas, each mountain is 30-35 feet tall, it took 5 years to make and cost 3.5 million dollars. They will be taken down in May of 2021 so get there soon. After this, hit the road because you are going to Zion National Park. The drive will take about 3 hours from Las Vegas. I stayed at the Bumbleberry Inn and it was wonderful. It’s only a 6 minute drive to Zion, the view from my room was amazing and the people who worked there were wonderful!

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Day 2 – You wake up in Utah at the Bumbleberry Inn, watch sunrise from the balcony if you can. Since I went in January, which is off season, the shuttles in Zion weren’t running so you could drive your car and park at whatever trail you were going. I drove to Riverside Walk, this trail was 1.9 miles which is a fairly level, paved, out and back trail.

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After Riverside Walk you will probably be hungry. Head out of the park and go to Memes Cafe to get some food. This Cafe is right next to the Bumbleberry Inn so if you need to stop by the hotel to charge your devices or get anything it will be convenient. Head back to Zion and go to Lower Emerald Pool Trail. This hike is rated easy and is 1.4 miles out and back. It features a beautiful waterfall and is good for all skill levels. There are three Emerald Pools – Upper, Middle and Lower – in Zion National Park. If you enjoyed the Lower pool as much as I did you’ll want to continue to do all three and this will be 2.5 miles round trip. Warning – the hike does get more difficult once you pass the Lower pool.

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When you are done here, drive to Canyon Overlook Trail. The parking to get here was packed and the parking lot was very small, I ended up just parking alongside the road on some dirt and walked a bit to get to the trailhead. This trail is only 1 mile but it is rated moderate and was the hardest trail of the day. It had some pretty far drops and there were a lot of people on the trail. On the drive back I ended up stopping on the side of the road and taking some great pictures of the sunset. Stop at Sol Foods to grab dinner and then head back to your hotel for a much needed shower and sleep. Zion will forever have a special place in my heart as being the first national park I ever visited.

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Below are two other trails at Zion that I didn’t do but were highly recommended!

• Angels Landing – this is a 5 miles trail heavily trafficked, out and back, rated as difficult. I tried going to the trail midday and there was a line to park the car and I didn’t end up being able to do it. I highly suggest getting there at 7am if you’re planning on going.

• Observation Point – the most popular way of getting here is by the hike that starts at Weeping Rock and is 4 miles. Unfortunately Weeping Rock was closed when I went due to landslide.

Day 3 – Sleep in you deserve it. Today you are going to drive from Bumbleberry Inn to Best Western Plus in Bryce Canyon, this drive is about two hours. On the way stop at Walmart and pick up some waters and food, this is going to be the last Walmart you see in a few days. So on the way here my car actually broke down and getting towed/getting a new car from Enterprise took an hour or two so it derailed me a little. Things will happen and you will overcome! Rubys Inn was a great place to get some lunch/dinner when I arrived. Some highly recommended hikes are Navajo Loop and Queens Garden trail. You start at Sunrise Point and is 3.5 miles rated moderate. If you are going in the winter I highly suggest getting spikes for your hiking boots and poles, I wasn’t able to do this hike because I didn’t have them and I was slipping everywhere – pretty upsetting! Set your alarm because you are going to be waking up for sunrise.

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Day 4 – Wake up early and head to Inspiration Point for sunrise. You’re going to want to be there at least 30 min before estimated sunrise time. Most people go to sunrise point, obviously because of the name, but inspiration point is the place to be! Hopefully you’ll have the place to yourself like I did. You don’t have to walk far to get the amazing views you see below. Since I did not have the proper gear to hike on ice and snow this was pretty much all I got to do at Bryce Canyon. Download AllTrails to look up more hikes and read reviews, this app was super helpful for me on the trip.

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Day 5 – Head to Capitol Reef National Park. This park always gets overlooked but it is beautiful and I suggest you take the time to visit it. Its part of Utah’s mighty 5! Its about 2.5 hour drive and the drive alone is insane. Make sure you have food and water with you because this is a very remote part of Utah with not much around at all. On the drive there I saw cows, horses, a dog herding sheep, acres of open land, abandoned houses/trailers in the middle of no where, people ice fishing on a lake and barely had service on my phone – it was sorta cool being so disconnected. Some hotels I saw along the way were The Noor Hotel, Capitol Reef Resort and Red Sands Hotel. I stopped to get a coffee and cinnamon roll at Paizlee’s and it was possibly the best cinnamon roll to ever exist and everyone needs to get one when visiting.

Once you get to the park make sure to do the scenic drive. Its about a 14 miles round trip. Its a beautiful drive, with scenic pull-offs and parking lots with access to short hiking trails. Make sure you stop and see the Petroglyphs – there is a small parking lot on Highway 24 located between the Hickman Bridge and Fruita trailhead. Its a very short walk till you see figures carved onto the rock wall.

Below are some trails at Capitol Reef that were highly recommended!

• Frying Pan trail.
• Cassidy Arch.
• Hickman Bridge.

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Day 6 – Get up early because you have a long day of driving ahead of you. I decided to go an nontraditional route to get to Moab, Utah so I could stop at Monument Valley and get an iconic picture at Forrest Gump Hill. In normal times I would’ve wanted to stay a night here, but Monument Valley was actually closed due to Covid at this time. I drove 3.5 hours to Forrest Gump Hill, look below to see the pictures! Click here to read more about Monument Valley from someone who has been multiple times.

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Once your done here get back in the car and drive another 2 hrs 20 min to Aarchway Inn in Moab, Utah. This hotel was so convenient during my stay in Moab. It is so close to town and was easy to stop and get food at the Walmart down the block. The bathrooms in Arches National Park were closed so if needed I went back to the hotel, which was never more then 20 min away from where I was in the park. When I finally got to the hotel I was starving so I asked them where to get food and they suggested Zax Restaurant, they will give you a 10% discount if you’re staying at Aarchway Inn, also the food was great. If you have time, try and go catch the sunset at the Corona Arch Trail. This is a 2.3 mile trail good for all skill levels, dogs are also allowed on this trail I met some pretty cute ones along the way. Get a good nights sleep because tomorrow you have a long day!

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Day 7- The hotel serves a decent breakfast and you can take it to go if you’d like. You are going to spend the whole day at Arches National Park. This place was not even on my radar until I decided to take this trip and I was blown away by the beauty, its amazing what nature can do. I decided to do the Delicate Arch trail first and I got to the trailhead around 9am. This trail is 3.4 miles round trip and is rated moderate. Not going to lie, I was dying towards the end. Make sure to bring layers that you can strip off because you’ll start out cold and then the hike will get more and more difficult and you’ll end up being super hot. When I finally got to to the top I was so happy, look at these views! You might notice this arch from the Utah license plate.

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After this hike I decided to stop back at the hotel and use the bathroom, freshen up and grab something to eat and then I headed right back to the park. I went and saw Balanced Rock, North Window Arch, South Window Arch, Turret Arch, Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch – I decided to write a whole blog about these, for more details click here. Head over to Moab Brewery for some food and a drink. Head back to Aarchway Inn for another good nights sleep.

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Day 8 – Sleep in you deserve it! Go to the Moab Diner for breakfast it was very good and quick. Then drive to Canyonlands National Park, it is about 50 minutes away from town. Watch out for cows in the road they seem to come out of no where. First do the Neck Spring Trail, I ended up only walking about a mile before heading back up but the full trail is 5.3 mile loop and rated moderate. At the entrance there is a great viewpoint so even if you don’t want to complete the full thing, definitely stop off there for some pictures. Then go to the Shafer Trail Viewpoint it is gorgeous. Last but not least hike the Mesa Arch Trail, it is .7 mile loop and rated easy, plus you get to see a cool arch with great viewpoint. I also heard this is a great place to catch the sunrise as it comes up right under the arch. Head back to Moab and walk up and down main street they have great little shops and tons for restaurants for dinner.

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Congratulations, you’ve now completed Utah’s Mighty 5. Time to check off your bucket list. If you are thinking of continuing this journey click here.

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