Utah’s Mighty 5 Road trip
After work on Thursday evening, we packed all of our stuff and set out for a week-long road trip to see Utah’s Mighty 5 National Parks. We made the 5-hour journey to Colby Kansas on Thursday evening. Day 2 of our trip was a full day of driving from Colby Kansas to Moab Utah. The adventure really started once we hit Summit County Colorado and navigated through heavy fog and snow . Luckily we made it through the snow and the weather was much nicer as we got closer to Utah.
Our first destination once we arrived in Utah was Canyonlands National Park, south of Moab. We have a tradition of getting National Park stamps at the visitor centers of all parks we go to. We were under the impression, from google maps, that the Canyonlands Visitor Center closed at 4 pm and we were estimated to arrive with 2 minutes to spare. As we spead to the parking lot and sprinted to the front door, we saw that the visitor center did not in fact close until 5 pm. So in the end, we got our stamp. Our first stop after the visitor center was the Grand Viewpoint Overlook. At this point, Brit’s camera decided to stop working and would not turn back on. Luckily, by our next hike, it was able to turn on and work again so he didn’t totally miss out on capturing our first National Park of the trip. Our main hike of Canyonlands was the Grand View Point Trail which walked along the rim of the canyon. We hiked about a mile out and back and took in some amazing views. This is a pretty easy trail and can be as short as you like as the views are similar throughout the duration of the hike. We then drove a few miles down the road to Mesa Arch. This is about a half-mile total round trip to see an arch with amazing canyon and mountain views in the background. We went late enough in the evening that we had the arch essentially to ourselves. After enjoying the views, we started our journey back to Moab Utah, which was about an hour's drive away. On the drive, we had an exciting cow crossing hold up waiting for several cows and their calves to cross the road. Once we arrived in Moab, our first stop was downtown to find a dinner spot. Dowton Moab is a cute spot with lots of shops and restaurants to check out. We decided on Trail Head Public House and Eatery. It was a cool spot with good food and atmosphere. We decided to camp at a campground the nights we would be in Moab due to the high hotel costs at the time. So our next challenge was to set up camp, in the dark, and cold. We were rethinking our decision to camp after setting up a brand new tent that we were unfamiliar with, wearing headlamps, and winter coats. But once we got it settled we made a pretty cozy spot, string lights and all. The campsite itself was a little to be desired, but we made the best of it and made some memories.
The first morning in Moab, we set out for our second National Park of the trip, Arches. This ended up being our favorite National Park of the trip. It was like setting foot on another planet with the towering and delicate arches and red rock formations. The drive into the entrance of the park was jaw-dropping as you meandor through the impressive landscapes. Luckily we didn’t have a long wait to enter the park. Reservations are required to enter this park and can be found on the NPS website. Make sure to get your reservation ahead of time for this park as it is pretty popular and can get crowded quickly.
Our first hike was to the famous Delicate Arch, about 3.1 miles round trip. There is a relatively steep incline at the start of the hike which left us huffing and puffing as we were still adjusting to the higher elevations. We were lucky that the hike was relatively quiet and we were able to get photos and views of the arch without swarms of people. This hike turned out to be one of our favorites on the trip and would be the hike we recommend prioritizing if you are visiting with limited time. We went on several more hikes in Arches and ended up with about 9 miles of hiking seeing 9 arches. The views were breathtaking and otherworldly with the contrast of the dark orange and red rocks with the distant snowcapped mountains. A few other arches we’d recommend seeing include Landscape arch and Sand Dune arch.
When we were done exloring Arches National Park we drove a few miles outsdie of the park to Cornoa and Bowtie arch. The trail is 3 miles and features ladders and steep steps with cables to hold onto for support. You can walk right underneath of Corona arch, which makes you feel very small indeed. The grand size of the arch is breathtaking and amazing to experience. This arch is just as grand as any of the arches in the National Park so definitely add this hike to your list!
After a long day of hiking, we headed back to downtown Moab for dinner. We found a great Mexican restaurant, Miguel’s Baja Grill. With large portions, this was a great spot to refuel and relax. After eating way too much food, we made our way back to the campsite for our last night of camping. The next morning we packed up the campsite and made the mandatory stop for coffee and donuts. We found a great donut shop called Doghbirds who specialize in salted carmel cronuts. This was just about the most delicious thing we have ever eaten. If you want to treat yourself plan a trip to Doubirds! We also found a really cool coffee shop called Moab Garage Co with a speakeasy vibe sitting area that we essentially had to ourselves. Great coffee and other breakfast dishes are offered here. Since we got filled up on cronuts, we just enjoyed coffees.
We then set off for our third National Park of the trip, Capitol Reef, which is a little over a two-hour drive from Moab. A very highly recommended detour that we made along the way was Goblin Valley State Park. At this park, we could freely roam and climb on some of the thousands of hoodoos scattered across the landscape. We had a blast exploring this otherworldly park and could have easily spent several hours exploring.
We continued our journey to our fourth national park, Capitol Reef. This was the only park we visited with no entrance fee. Our first stop was to the visitor center for a stamp. We then attempted to navigate to our first hike but were struggling due to the poor cell service and GPS signal. In the end, we ended up driving down a narrow, remote, and scenic drive for several miles on gravel roads before realizing we were going the wrong way. After about 45 minutes of aimless driving and backtracking, we finally made it to the trailhead. At this point, we were a little grumpy and tired but we tried to make the best of it. We started our hike on the Cassidy Arch Trail, about 3 miles roundtrip. Our moods brightened as we were surrounded by beautiful sites. This hike was particularly cool in that once you arrived at Cassidy Arch at the end of the trail, you can actually walk on it. Standing on the arch and seeing the depths below made us feel very small yet again. The arch had a very wide surface to walk on, but I would not recommend it to anyone scared of heights. Due to our navigation difficulties, we only had time for this one hike as we planned to drive further on to our Airbnb near Bryce Canyon later that evening.
The drive to Bryce Canyon from Capitol Reef is about 2 hours. This turned out to be one of our favorite drives of the trip as we traversed through vastly different landscapes from the snowy forests of Dixie National Forest to rocky landscapes that made us feel like we were driving on another planet. Although this drive was beautiful, it was slightly overshadowed by phone calls with Airbnb support due to us not receiving our passcode to enter the room that we were supposed to be staying in for that night. We arrived at our destination with still no passcode in hand. We headed to dinner and franticly searched for alternative hotel options. We ended up stumbling upon a great restaurant for dinner that was one of the only places still open as we were in a more remote area. Showdowns restaurant in Tropic Utah near Bryce Canyon turned out to be an unexpectedly great spot with good food accomponied by live music. At dinner, we finally recieved our passcode for our room so that was a relief. We settled in and got some rest before exploring our fourth national park the next day.
The next morning we made our way over to Bryce Canyon National Park. The park sits at about 8,000 feet of elevation and was quite a bit chillier than Moab had been. The crimson and orange hoodoos were covered in snow which made for a beautiful contrast. We only planned to stay at the park for one morning before moving on to our next destination, so we chose one hike to do. We hiked about 3.5 miles on the Wall Street/Queens Garden Loop. It was an exciting trail with great viewpoints of the hoodoos, switchbacks, and archways to pass through. The only downside was that the famous wall street switchbacks were closed due to the extremely muddy conditions with all the snow melt. Despite not seeing wall street, this was one of our favorite hikes of the trip. On our way out of the park, we were able to spot some prairie dogs playing in the snow. Today, about 200 Utah prairie dogs are found in the meadows of Bryce Canyon National Park. The only National Park Service where they exist.
We then made the 1 hour and 20 minute journey from Bryce Canyon to Zion National Park, the fifth and final national park of our trip. On our way to our Airb&b in Hurricane Utah, we passed through the eastern entrance to Zion National Park. As we entered the park there were long lines of cars waiting to enter the Mount Carmel tunnel. This tunnel is 1.1 miles long and is typically a one-way route to allow for RVs and other taller cars to be able to pass through the center of the tunnel. After a little bit of a wait we were able to enter the tunnel and enjoy the impressive engineering it took many years ago to carve the tunnel out of the mountain. It was a fairly short drive from the southern exit of Zion to our Airbnb. After checking into our Airbnb, our first stop was of course coffee. We found a great spot called Feel Love Coffee in Springdale, right outside of Zion. We sat on the patio and enjoyed our lattes with majestic views of the red Zion mountains in the distance. Springdale Utah is a cute town right at the southern entrance of Zion with many restaurants and shops to explore. We found a few great spots to wind down after long days of hiking. On our first night, we went to Camp Outpost Co for dinner and sat on the patio for more great views of Zion. This restaurant has a casual menu and is good for quick meals. The next afternoon we checked out Zion Canyon Brew Pub where we relaxed in Adirondack chairs while playing games and sipping sours with Zion mountains directly in front of us. This is a great spot to hang out and relax in their beer garden after a day of hiking. For dinner that night we split some amazing appetizers at Oscars Cafe. This is a great option if you want a lot of food for good value.
As for hiking, we get many of the hikes at Zion accomplished apart from the narrows and Angles Landing. Since we went in April, the narrows were not open due to high water levels and the quick speed of the river. As for Angles Landing, you need a permit to hike due to the popularity of the hike. We applied twice for the permit and got denied twice to go. Though, after seeing the massive crowds in a single file line along the cliffside for this hike, we were happy we didn’t end up getting the permit. Due to its popularity, it has gotten a little too congested for our liking. Instead of Angles landing, we hiked scouts lookout. This hike essentially takes you on the entire trail of Angles Landing minus the iconic climb to the top of Angles Landing with the chain railing. We still got stunning views at Scout Lookout of the canyon below. And this was still a relatively challenging hike of about 5 miles and 1500 feet of elevation gain. There was one section with particularly steep switchbacks. Overall this trail is a great substitute for Angles Landing and offers spectacular views throughout.
Another great hike was the Upper and Lower Emerald Pools. We made a big loop to hit a few trails at once completing lower and upper emerald pools and came back via the Grotto Trail. Overall the combined trails were about 3.5 miles and only about 450 feet of elevation gain. So, it was an easy hike with great views. The emerald pools were really flowing due to all the snow melt from the winter.
We then attempted to hike a supposedly “secret” waterfall hike. It was essentially not as well known due to it not being listed on the National Parks website. It is called Lower Pine Creek Waterfall Trail. I forgot to mention that to get to the main areas of Zion and the major hikes, a shuttle is required. They provide a free shuttle into and out of the canyon with designated stops at the major hiking spots and Zion Lodge. Thus, since the “secret” waterfall hike was not listed, we had to get off at the closest shuttle stop and hike along the road for about half a mile before arriving at the trailhead. After hiking about another half mile on the trail, we came to an impassible rushing stream of water. We realized that the rest of the trail was submerged underwater due to the higher water levels from snow melt. So, disheartened from not getting to see the waterfall, we made our way back to the road and to the shuttle stop.
One of the coolest stops along the route was the Weeping Rock. This was about a 0.2-mile walk to a gushing flow of water down a cliff face. Due to the snow melt, the Weeping Rock was putting on quite the show for us.
The last hike we completed in Zion was Watchman Hike. Since we were hot and tired, we only completed about 2 miles of the hike. The trail is right at the entrance of the park and you do not need to go on the shuttles to complete this hike. Zion ended our adventure seeing the Mighty 5 National Parks. Of the parks we saw, our favorites were Arches and Zion. Though, all of the parks were beautiful and majestic in their own way.
Since our drive back to Kansas City from Zion would be about an 18-hour drive we decided to stay two nights in Colorado to split up the drive. We found an Airbnb condo in Keystone Colorado. Due to being in Colorado in the off-season and ski season just ending, we pretty much had the town to ourselves. The weather was predicted to be mild and no snow. And yet, when we arrived it was a high of 19 degrees and heavy snow. On our first night after exploring a bit through the snow, we found a great spot in Frisco Colorado called Prosit Fine Beers and Sausages. It was the coziest spot to warm up with a German beer, sausage sampler platter, warm pretzel, and even a folk band practicing in the background. It ended up being our favorite restaurant of the trip.
On our next day in Colorado, we explored Lake Dillon, Breckenridge, and Silverthorne outlets and even ventured through the magical frozen snowy pines to find the Breckenridge troll. On our last night, we ended up having a car mishap. As Brit was backing out of our parking garage he hit the front bumper on a pole and tore the front bumper almost completely off. Brit did some magic with zip ties and we were able to drive our car back home safely. It made it through the Colorado snow and Kansas winds. Zip ties for the win!
That’s a wrap on our Utah Mighty 5 road trip!