How to Visit 4 Utah National Parks in One Long Weekend
Traveled in October 2018
Utah is home to some of the most stunning national parks in the United States. If you want to make the most of your PTO but still want to experience some of the best scenery in the US, this Utah national parks long weekend is the perfect itinerary. We maximized a four day weekend and experienced the awe-inspiring beauty of Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, and Arches. From towering red rock cliffs to stunning desert landscapes, we were able to get a taste of the beauty of the area by tackling some of the iconic hikes and sights in these national parks in this short trip. Whether you’re interested in hiking, taking photos, or just soaking in the views, this Utah national parks long weekend itinerary will help you make the most of your weekend getaway.
I would highly recommend getting the America the Beautiful National Parks annual pass for this trip because it is more cost effective. Paying the separate entrance fees to the four national parks will cost more than the annual pass. We ended up making it the “year of the national parks” and took advantage of the annual pass to explore other national parks near us that we normally would not have visited. The America the Beautiful National Parks annual pass is free for members of the military and 4th grade students, and steeply discounted for seniors 62+.
Utah National Parks Long Weekend Itinerary
When to Go
We did this Utah national parks long weekend road trip in October, and the weather was perfect. It was chilly at night, but comfortable during the day for hikes out in the desert. Summer is a popular time to visit the Utah national parks, but we are not used to the heat and definitely not used to hiking in the heat. Keep in mind that there is little to no shade on these hikes. For cooler weather (but before the snow starts) and less crowds, I would recommend visiting in the late spring (May) or early fall (late September/early October).
How to Get There
Although all four of these national parks are located in Utah, they are on opposite sides of the state so there is quite a bit of driving between them. Zion and Bryce Canyon are on the west side of Utah closer to Nevada while Canyonlands and Arches are on the east side of Utah near the border with Colorado. The biggest airport near Zion and Bryce Canyon is in Las Vegas (airport code LAS), which is still a 2.5-3 hour drive away.
From Canyonlands and Arches, the closest airport is the Salt Lake City airport (airport code SLC), which is a 4 hour drive away. While you could drive from Canyonlands/Arches back to the Las Vegas airport, that drive would take about 7 hours and is not worth the extra time on this short Utah national parks long weekend trip.
Where to Stay
For this itinerary, we stayed one night near the Las Vegas airport, one night in Hatch, and two nights in Moab. We flew into Las Vegas at night to avoid taking too much PTO, but if you fly into Vegas earlier in the afternoon you could drive straight to Zion after arriving and spend the night there to get an earlier start at Zion national park the next day.
Where to Stay by Las Vegas Airport
There are many chain hotels around the Las Vegas airport. I recommend staying by highway 15 to reduce driving time since that is the highway to Zion. Since we were just going to be sleeping at the hotel and getting an early start the next morning, we decided to save on our hotel budget for this stop and picked the Tru by Hilton Las Vegas Airport. It’s no frills, but clean and close to the freeway.
Or consider these highly rated options:
Where to Stay near Bryce Canyon National Park
The only lodging inside Bryce Canyon National Park is the Bryce Canyon Lodge, but obviously it is also going to be the most expensive option since you’re paying for convenience. Bryce Canyon City is located right next to the national park, and is just as convenient for beating the crowds to the national park. Ruby’s Inn is the most popular because it is right next to the entrance. However, lodging in Bryce Canyon City book up quickly.
We chose to stay in Hatch, which is on the way between Zion and Bryce Canyon. Because we wanted to maximize our time in Zion, we left Zion later in the evening and did not want to drive too long to our lodgings after a long day of hiking. Hatch is about 1.5 hours from Zion and 30 minutes to Bryce. Staying in Hatch allowed us to still get to Bryce early enough in the morning to beat the crowds, without having to drive so long after our tiring hikes in Zion. We stayed at the Mountain Ridge Cabins in Hatch and loved the privacy of our little cabin under the stars. I felt it was more peaceful to stay away from the hustle of Bryce Canyon City, but it does require getting up a little earlier to get to the park because of the drive.
Where to Stay in Moab
Moab is the town closest to Arches National Park and Canyonlands, so almost everyone stays in Moab when visiting these national parks. As you can imagine, accommodations book up quickly, so book early. There are many chain hotels in Moab, so there are plenty of options. We really enjoyed our stay at the Hyatt Place in Moab, which included breakfast to fill us up before a long day at the national parks. It was perfectly located close to the freeway to the national parks, but also close to the restaurants downtown.
I definitely recommend staying in Moab for the most convenient travel to Arches and Canyonlands. Check out these other great options in downtown Moab:
How to Get Around
You will definitely need to rent a car for this road trip. Because you will be flying into one airport and out of another to maximize time, make sure that you pick up your car rental at the Las Vegas airport and return it at the Salt Lake City airport. You may have to pay an additional fee for returning it at a different airport, but the cost is worth the driving time saved.
The Las Vegas airport has a rent-a-car center 3 miles away from the airport. There are no car rental agencies on site at the airport and all of the car rental agencies are located in the rent-a-car center. So choose whichever car rental agency has the best deal or you have most loyalty to, since they will all be equally convenient. There is a free shuttle that takes you to the rent-a-car center that runs approximately every 15 minutes.
Booking tip: if the car rental agency has a free membership program, sign up for it! Members usually get extra perks like a free additional driver, discounts, or faster reservation check ins.
Itinerary at a Glance
| Day | Activity | Sleep In |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Night flight into LAS | Las Vegas Airport area |
| 1 | Las Vegas to Zion (2.5-3 hr drive) Hike The Narrows or Angel’s Landing Hike Lower Emerald Pool Trail Zion to Hatch (1.5 hr drive) | Hatch |
| 2 | Hatch to Bryce (30 min drive) Bryce Viewpoints Hike Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop Trail Bryce to Moab (4.5 hr drive) | Moab |
| 3 | Moab to Arches (35 min) Delicate Arch, Devils Garden, Windows Section, Balanced Rock | Moab |
| 4 | Moab to Canyonlands Islands in the Sky District Canyonlands to SLC (4 hr drive) Night flight home |
Day 1: Zion
The drive from Las Vegas to Zion takes 2.5-3 hours so we made sure to get an early start. If you want to do more than one hike, then I suggest getting there as early as possible to avoid the crowds. Check the Zion National Parks website for estimates on how long each hike will take and which hikes are open. The Narrows, especially, is weather-dependent because of the risk of flash flooding.
Fees and Parking: The entrance fee to Zion National Park is $35 per vehicle (I would highly recommend getting the Annual National Parks Pass for this Utah National Parks long weekend trip to be more cost effective). The parking lot at Zion is first come first serve and fills up quickly. If that lot is full then there are multiple paid parking lots all along the main road in the town of Springdale right outside Zion, and there is a free shuttle that takes you from the parking lots in Springdale to the park entrance.
Getting around Zion: There is a convenient free shuttle line within Zion that stops at each hike and sight in the national park. If you don’t want to do any hikes, you could just ride this shuttle from stop to stop to check out the viewpoints
Hikes in Zion
The Narrows (Strenuous)
The Narrows hike is one of the most popular hikes in Zion, made famous by social media. It is basically a hike up the Virgin River through a narrow slot canyon. It’s a truly unique hike because you are wading through a river for most of the hike surrounded by the soaring sandstone slot canyon. However, because slot canyons are subject to flash flooding, this hike is the most likely hike in Zion to be closed due to inclement weather. When we visited, there was a chance of flash flooding and the park ranger standing duty recommended that visitors avoid the hike, although we did see some intrepid souls setting out on the hike anyway. We are not strong swimmers, so we just waded in near the entrance of the hike for some photos before heading to our plan B hike.
Angel’s Landing (Strenuous)
Angel’s Landing is a steep trail up to a spectacular viewpoint over Zion. But be warned, it is not for the faint of heart – there are some steep switchback climbs on the way, and long drop offs. The Zion hiking guide explicitly states that it is not for young children or those afraid of heights. We did this trail instead when we were turned away from The Narrows, so I was not mentally prepared for the climb, but we made it! Permits are now required for Angel’s Landing, and are lottery based. Use the QR code on the hiking guide to apply – you can pick lottery dates ahead of time or do the day-before lotto.
Kayenta Trail to Emerald Pools (Moderate)
The Kayenta Trail to the Emerald Pools is an easier hike to a series of emerald-colored pools and waterfalls. The trail is pretty flat, and the trail to the Lower Pool is a quick 1.2 mile hike. After the Lower Pool, the trail continues to the Middle and Upper Pools. This part of the trail is a bit steeper, but the nice part is that you can turn back at any time. We finished our day at Zion with this easy hike.
The drive from Zion to Hatch takes about 1.5 hours, and the roads can be very dark at night. Make sure to factor in the drive time when you decide how many hikes you have time for in Zion and when you want to leave Zion by. You don’t want to be stuck in the road in the pitch dark if you’re not used to driving at night.
Day 2: Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park is about 30 minutes away from Hatch. Bryce was one of my favorite national parks on this Utah National Parks long weekend trip. Those hoodoos have me under their voodoo! The hoodoos are unlike any geological formation I’ve seen before and are something you have to see once in your lifetime. When you look at these landscapes and realize how long it took to create these unique formations and nature’s power, it’s pretty humbling and makes you realize that you are just a small part of this world. And that helped me enjoy the moment more and forget all my little worries for a moment. I suppose that’s why humans are drawn to nature.
Fees and Parking: The entrance fee to Bryce Canyon National Park is $35 per vehicle (I would highly recommend getting the Annual National Parks Pass for this Utah National Parks long weekend trip to be more cost effective). While there are parking lots within Bryce at the most popular viewpoints, those parking lots are small and fill up quickly. To avoid wasting time looking for parking within the park, we parked at the shuttle station in Bryce Canyon City and used the free shuttle.
Getting around Bryce: There is a convenient free shuttle line within Bryce that stops at each viewpoint in the national park. If you don’t want to do any hikes, you could just ride this shuttle from stop to stop to check out the viewpoints. The shuttle makes a loop around the national park, including the visitor’s center, then exits the park and makes stops at the shuttle station parking lot and some of the nearby hotels in Bryce Canyon City.
Bryce Canyon Viewpoints
I get a thrill from finding the most efficient way to do things, and that includes travel so I always try to find the best route to maximize time. To avoid backtracking and to try to beat the crowds, we rode the shuttle to the furthest viewpoint (Bryce Point) first and worked our way back to the visitor’s center.
Bryce Point
Bryce Point is one of the iconic viewpoints in Bryce Canyon National Park. This viewpoint gives you a panoramic view of the rows of red rock spires in the Bryce Amphitheater. It’s a breathtaking introduction to the hoodoos.
Inspiration Point
Inspiration Point is down the road from Bryce Point. You can take the shuttle here from Bryce Point or walk along the Rim Trail, which is what we chose to do. The Rim Trail is a relatively flat trail that stretches along the ridge connecting the four viewpoints of Bryce Amphitheater. Inspiration Point gives a different perspective to enjoying the hoodoos in the Bryce Amphitheater. There is a lower, middle, and upper observation point and we made sure to check out all three.
Sunset Point
Sunset Point is the next stop on the shuttle line. The observation point itself gives another view of the Bryce Amphitheater, but the other big draw of stopping at this point is the opportunity to hike down into the hoodoos. Rather than doing out and back hikes in both Sunset Point and Sunrise Point, you can save time by connecting two of the hikes and basically hiking from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point by traversing the valley while seeing some amazing hoodoos on the way. To do this, we hiked down Navajo Trail from Sunset Point and then connected to the Queen’s Garden trail and hiked up to Sunrise Point (2.9 miles, 3 hours). There are some switchbacks and steep parts of the hike, but you also get to see some of the iconic hoodoos like Thor’s hammer.
Sunrise Point
Sunrise Point is such a rewarding end to a hike through the hoodoos. You get a 360 degree view of the Bryce Amphitheater from this viewpoint and there’s really no better place to stop and catch your breath.
Visitors’ Center
We ended our trip to the national park by stopping at the visitors’ center to find our Bryce Canyon postcard as our souvenir. I love souvenirs that we can use to decorate our home so we have daily reminders of our vacations all around us. We have a little collection of national parks postcards on the wall that always spark great conversations when friends come to visit.
The drive from Bryce Canyon National Park to Moab takes 4.5 hours, so definitely factor that in when planning how much time to spend in Bryce. The drive itself is normally not that challenging because it is on easy freeways, but 4.5 hours is a long time to drive after a day of hiking.
Day 3: Arches National Park
Arches National Park is an easy 35 minute drive from Moab. The longest part of the drive is actually waiting in the long line of cars to enter the park itself because the entrance gets so congested with visitors. Once past the park entrance, you still have to drive at least 30 minutes to get to the arches. So definitely try to get an early entry ticket to maximize time.
The arches that the national park is named for are another geologic wonder. I love the imagination involved with the naming behind each of the arches. It brings me back to childhood when we used to imagine shapes in the clouds.
Fees and Parking: The entrance fee to Arches National Park is $30 per vehicle (I would highly recommend getting the Annual National Parks Pass for this Utah National Parks long weekend trip to be more cost effective). Arches National Park is piloting a reservation system now, and you now also need to book a Timed Entry Ticket (which costs $2) in addition to paying the entrance fee.
Getting around Arches: Each viewpoint in Arches has its own parking lot. There are no shuttles in Arches, so we did end up spending more time stuck in traffic on the way to each arch and waiting for parking.
Arches Viewpoints and Hikes
Delicate Arch
The iconic Delicate Arch is one of the symbols for the Utah National Parks, so you can bet that it is crowded. You can see the Delicate Arch at the Lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint (views from a mile away, flat 100 yard walk), the Upper Viewpoint (0.5 mile walk with stairs), or take the 3 mile roundtrip (with elevation gain) trail to get up close to the Delicate Arch. The trailhead starts at the Wolfe Ranch parking lot. The Wolfe Ranch parking lot fills up quickly, so we made that our first stop. It takes about 30-35 minutes to drive from the park entrance to the Wolfe Ranch parking lot.
Getting to stand at the base of the Delicate Arch was a bucket list experience and I thought it was worth the hike. But be warned that the hike to get close to Delicate Arch is uphill, relatively steep, and there is not a lot of shade. So keep in mind that it can be a very hot and dehydrating hike if it is sunny, and bring plenty of water.
Devils Garden (Landscape Arch, Partition Arch, Pine Tree Arch)
The Devils Garden area is the furthest area from the park entrance, located at the end of the park road. It is about a 15 minute drive from Delicate Arch. There are a cluster of arches sprinkled along the Devils Garden trail. You can’t see any of the arches from the parking lot, so you do need to do some hiking here to earn these views.
The most famous arch on this trail is the Landscape Arch, which is an easy, relatively flat, 2 mile round trip hike. A little further past Landscape Arch is the Partition Arch, on the way to the Double O Arch. But be warned that the trail past Landscape Arch gets much more difficult. It’s not really a trail and more like scrambling up slippery rock faces. We were going to attempt to make it all the way to Double O Arch, but it started raining and it was just too dangerous to be slipping and sliding on these steep sandstone fins. So we turned back after seeing Partition Arch, and detoured to the Pine Tree Arch on the way back to the parking lot.
Skyline Arch
Skyline Arch is just outside the Devils Garden area. It was an easy roadside stop for us to take in the panoramic arch from the parking lot.
The Windows Section (Double Arch, North Window, Turret Arch)
The Windows Section is another hugely popular area of Arches because it has a large concentration of easily accessible arches in one area. There are short, relatively flat trails leading off of the parking lot towards the popular arches in the area.
The Double Arch trail to Double Arch is 0.25 miles one way. On the other side of the parking lot, the Windows Trail to North Window, South Window, and a spur trail to Turret Arch, is about 1 mile total.
We saved the Windows Section for the end of our day because we wanted to get the more strenuous hikes at Delicate Arch and Devils Garden done first.
Balanced Rock
Balanced Rock looks exactly like the name implies, like a rock precariously balanced on top of a spire. It’s one of those things you want to see in your lifetime because who knows how long it will be until that connection between the boulder and the pedestal finally erodes away! While you can actually see Balanced Rock from the parking lot, we enjoyed the short 0.5 mile roundtrip hike that goes around the base of Balanced Rock to appreciate it from different perspectives.
We read that the sunsets here are pretty spectacular (second only to sunsets at Delicate Arch), so we planned to visit at the end of our day. Unfortunately, it was raining when we visited so we didn’t get to see the sunset. But it was still a great easy way to end our day of hiking to see these amazing arches!
Day 4: Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park is huge and actually covers a vast area comprised of canyons, mesas, buttes, and other geologic formations you read about in elementary school. The national park is made up of four districts, and since there are no roads that directly connect the four districts, most visitors usually pick one district for their trip. Since we were heading to the airport at the end of our day, we picked the Island in the Sky district because it is the most easily accessible. Most of the viewpoints in Island in the Sky are located in parking lots right off the main road, so it’s easy to see a lot in a short time. Island in the Sky is about a 40 minute drive from Moab.
Fees and Parking: The entrance fee to Canyonlands National Park is $30 per vehicle (I would highly recommend getting the Annual National Parks Pass for this Utah National Parks long weekend trip to be more cost effective). Each viewpoint in Island in the Sky has its own parking lot.
Getting around Canyonlands: There are no shuttles within the park, so you do have to drive between each viewpoint and find parking on your own. However, this park did seem to be the least crowded of all the parks we visited on this Utah National Parks long weekend trip. We did not have trouble finding parking in any of the lots, nor did we get stuck in much road traffic within the park.
Island in the Sky Viewpoints
Mesa Arch
Mesa Arch is an arch on the edge of a cliff that perfectly frames the views of the canyon below. The 0.6 mile hike takes about 30 minutes and isn’t super steep or difficult, although there are some stairs. We came here first thing in the morning but the canyon was socked in with fog so we couldn’t see much. We came back a couple hours later when the fog was starting to burn off so we could actually appreciate the views of the canyon.
Buck Canyon Overlook
The Buck Canyon Overlook gives a sweeping view of the canyons below. It’s a short walk from the parking lot to the overlook, so you get a lot of views with very little effort. It’s just off the main road so makes for a quick stop.
Grand View Point Overlook and Trail
The Grand View Point Overlook is just a short walk from the parking lot. To get away from the crowds, you can hike an additional mile to a second viewpoint. The hike is not that difficult, and it was worth the effort to enjoy the views with less crowds.
The drive from Canyonlands to Salt Lake City airport takes about 4 hours, so make sure you leave with plenty of time to return your rental car at the airport before your flight. We did run into some traffic as we got closer to Salt Lake City, so make sure that you factor that in to your schedule as well. We looked up how long the drive would take the day before at the time we were planning on leaving to get an estimate of how much traffic to expect.
