Take an Epic Road Trip through The Mighty 5 National Parks of Utah
If you are craving an epic desert road trip through the Southwest U.S. then you should really consider traveling through The Mighty 5 of Utah.
Utah is known for its incredible desert scenery complete with vast canyons, massive sandstone arches, and towering rock walls. All of these varying landscapes can be found across Utah’s top 5 national parks, making this one of the most epic road trips you can take in the U.S.
Ideally, you can complete the Mighty 5 Utah in the course of a week. Although, this only allows about a day per national park. If you would like more time to explore each park, then we would recommend a 2-week road trip.
No matter the duration of time to travel, visiting any of these parks is worth the drive! For us, we had to make two separate week long trips to see the Mighty 5. One trip during winter and the other during summer.
Even with 2 weeks, we barely scratched the surface of each park.
Below is the list of the Mighty 5 Utah in order of best timed route starting from Salt Lake City (going clockwise):
1. Arches National Park
Arches National Park has the most condensed collection of natural sandstone arches in the entire world.
A mind blowing total of about 2,000 arches!
The arches in this park range from small to massive, with Landscape Arch (the largest arch in the world!) residing here.
During our trip to Arches National Park we had just enough time in a day to see Balanced Rock and hike Devil’s Garden Trail, which contained 3 magnificent arches.
The unique arch-filled landscape is unlike any other we’ve roamed before. It’s no shock that this is considered one of the top National Parks in America.
You can choose to spend the day hiking or simply driving the scenic route stopping at view points along the way.
If you have time, be sure to check out the little desert oasis of Swasey’s Beach about an hour away from Arches.
2. Canyonlands National Park
Conveniently located 30 min away from Arches National Park is the epic Canyonlands National Park.
Despite being neighboring parks just across the highway, the landscapes are incredibly different. You are met with enormous canyons, gigantic mesas, and sky scraping cliffs. All of this spanning almost 550 square miles!
Upon arrival, we were immediately greeted with the incredible view of Shafer Canyon! One of the 5 most popular sweeping views you can enjoy from within the park.
Time stops here. It’s easy to lose track of the minutes when looking out onto each of these gorgeous landscapes. We instantly felt all our worries wash away.
*OPTIONAL – Monument Valley and/or Natural Bridges National Monument
If you have the time, we would highly recommend driving further south to see Monument Valley after Canyonlands.
This adds on a few hours to your route and does involve a little bit of back tracking, but the drive is worth the view!
Despite the extra miles, enjoy one of the countries more iconic road trip locations in the Southwest. Massive sandstone rock formations tower above the vast, flat desert landscape.
You can also visit Natural Bridges National Monument which is home to 3 huge natural sandstone bridges. Conveniently on the way to your next location of…
3. Capitol Reef National Park
The middle park of the Mighty 5 Utah is Capitol Reef National Park. This park is located more towards the center of the state.
Although one of the lesser visited parks in Utah, Capitol Reef does not disappoint. You can expect enormous multi-colored cliff sides, a few secret arches, and wide canyons. Capitol Reef holds some of the main perks of both Bryce and Zion, but with fewer crowds.
We visited during winter so the park was nearly empty, which we loved! Don’t let winter stop you from visiting the parks!
Travel blogger, Wanderlust and Lipstick, explains more on why you should hike Utah’s parks during wintertime.
Capitol Reef is your go to place if you’re looking for a less crowded park with equally infinite beauty.
4. Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park, like Arches NP, is one of the more unique parks of the Mighty 5 Utah.
Scattered across Bryce are both small and gigantic orange hoodoos!
Before Bryce we have never even heard of a hoodoo, and man, we were not expecting to see so many! These hoodoo’s really made us feel like we were exploring a different planet.
Alongside the endless hoodoo’s are narrow fins and more natural bridges. We were also surprised to see Bristlecone Pines growing throughout the landscape.
During our time here we completed the short 1.4 mile Navajo Loop Trail. This trail took us along the iconic Wall Street, Twin Bridges, and Thor’s Hammer. Perfect little hike which shows you both views from the rim and from down below on the floors of Bryce Canyon.
Just like the rest, everything about Bryce Canyon was epic.
5. Zion National Park
Last, but not least, of the Mighty 5 Utah is Zion National Park. This park is loaded with things to do and see. As with everywhere else, we wish we had more time here!
Zion’s beauty comes from the colossal multi-colored rock and massive canyon walls spread across the land. The orange and black walls are iconic to Zion’s overall personality.
Like Bryce, Zion National Park is one of the more crowded parks of the state so make sure you plan beforehand what exactly you want to do. It takes more time than usual to navigate around the park with the crowds.
We highly recommend hiking The Narrows in the summertime which takes you through knee high water, deep into the canyons.
Our other favorite hike was Emerald Pools Trail which we completed in the winter.
If you’re up for it you can also take on the strenuous Angel’s Landing trail. This takes you to the top of the peak overlooking an incredible view of the park. Not for anyone who is faint of heart or scared of heights!
Zion National Park has so many activities, we recommend spending at least a couple days here to take in the magical scenery. Read more on Zion National Park in our detailed Zion Travel Guide.
The Mighty 5 of Utah is One of our Best Road Trips to Date
Out of all the National Parks we’ve seen throughout the United States, the ones that make up The Mighty 5 Utah are some of our absolute favorites. (We can stack this up to the fact we’re in love with desert scenery.) Each park is unique in its own way and it’s impossible to favor one over another within this list.
Visiting both in summer and winter were equally amazing. These parks boast unique personalities in every season.
To us though, we would honestly choose visiting national parks in the winter. You basically have the whole park to yourself along with numerous other perks. The experience is unlike any other. Just know that if you visit in winter some local amenities may be unavailable. Be sure to plan accordingly.
Discover The Best Locations Among the Mighty 5 with a Guided Tour
With so many parks to explore, it may be difficult to find the best locations all on your own. One of our favorite ways to discover the top (and sometimes hidden) spots of an area is through a guided tour. You can find a list of tours among the Mighty 5 (including price and reviews) here at GetYourGuide.
I use GetYourGuide when I want to find new things to do at my chosen destination. They’re extremely easy to use and book.
We hope you have a chance to take an unforgettable road trip through Utah to experience these incredible parks!
Have you visited any of the Mighty 5 in Utah? Which was your favorite? Share with us in the comments below!
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Wow! Utah is beautiful. We only spent about 2 weeks there but we loved it. For Me I’ll never forget driving through the tunnel and popping out into the canyon in Zion. We also spent a few days riding our motorcycles down the Pony Express out of Salt Lake City and into Nevada. Probably some of the most spectacular riding and free camping we did in the US was in that area. Great post guys and there’s a few more parks to add to our every expanding bucket list.
Sounds like you experienced some great variety during your travels in Utah! The parks in the US often do feel like portals into different realities. Nathan always talks about how cool it would be to ride motorcycles through the country. Keep it up! And as long as our bucket lists are expanding we’ll never run out of adventure. Cheers to that!
One of the best things about living in Utah is the national parks. I’ve been to all five, though not in one trip. We are going to Monument Valley next month. Natural Bridges is on my wishlist. If you ever have a chance, Goblin Valley State Park is worth a visit and you can combine it with a hike through Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon.
That’s amazing that you have seen all 5! They are incredible parks. Fitting all in one trip is a little challenging. We haven’t heard of Goblin Valley State Park before but we would love to visit next time we are in Utah! Thank you so much for the recommendation!