Utah Guide

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Parks
Rating Park Links (site) Notes
9 Mile Canyon BLM A 78 mile long canyon with many Indian ruins. The road is dirt but very passable. The brochure was terrible. The mileages were wrong and in the wrong order. Still, we enjoyed ourselves. Allows 4 to 12 hours (depending on how far and slow you go).
    Utah  
Anasazi Village SP State of UT South by Boulder. Ancient Indian village and museum, largely unexcavated. Allow 30 minutes to 3 hours.
Arches NP American Park Network East by Moab. Arches galore, rock formations, hoodoos; one of our favorite parks. If you go here, don't miss Dead Horse State Park and the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands NP. Allow 2 to 4 days.
    American Southwest  
    National Park Service  
    Outdoor Places  
    Utah  
  Box-Death Hollow Wilderness GORP South by Escalante. Steep walled canyons with gray-orange cross-bedded Navajo sandstone, mesas, and plateaus are the major landforms. The major vegetation includes open stands of over-mature ponderosa pine and pinyon-juniper.
Bryce Canyon NP American Southwest Southwest by Ruby's Inn. Erosion has shaped colorful Claron limestones, sandstones, and mudstones into thousands of spires, fins, pinnacles, and mazes. Unique and unusual, Bryce Canyon is a must see!
    National Park Service  
    Info West  
    Great Outdoors  
  Calf Creek BLM Utah South by Escalante. 126 ft. waterfall, 5.5 mile round trip. Flat but sandy trail.
Canyonlands NP American Park Network East by Moab. A colorful landscape of sedimentary sandstones eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes. The premier four wheel drive place in the country. Make sure you stop at Dead Horse Point State Park for a great view. You can get nice views of the park from 3 or 4 access roads.
    National Park Service  
    Utah  
Capitol Reef NP American Park Network Center by Torrey. Contains multicolored cliffs, narrow canyons, ridges, arches, spires and domes. If you have a high clearance vehicle, don't miss Cathedral Valley (a 50 mile drive). Allow 1 to 3 days.
    National Park Service  
    Utah  
  Cedar Breaks NM American Southwest Southwest by Cedar City. A steep bowl-shaped cliff face, quite similar to Bryce Canyon, with colorful rock strata and many strange rock shapes. Open late May to mid October. Allow 1 to 4 hours.
Coral Pink Sand Dune SP State of UT Southwest by Mt. Carmel. Sand dunes. 4 or 5 stars if you have an ATV but skip if you don't.
  Dark Canyon Wilderness Area SUWA Southeast by Blanding. Narrow, steep walls that block the light. Once home to a small segment of the widespread Anasazi Indians
    Wilderness  
Dead Horse Point SP Go-Utah East by Moab. Sweeping vista of Colorado River & Canyonlands. A fantastic view that was featured in many old western movies. Allow 1-3 hours.
Dinosaur National Park Outdoor Places Northeast by Jensen. Dinosaur quarry, Petroglyphs, and pictographs. Includes over 325 square miles of beautiful land. Here's your chance to see how dinosaur bones look in the ground and how they excavate them. Don't miss the drive into the back country. Not busy. Allow 3 hours to 2 days.
    National Park Service  
    Utah  
  Edge of the Cedars SP State of UT Southeast by Blanding. Pre-Colombian Pueblo Indian ruin and a modern museum.
Escalante SP American Southwest South by Escalante. Colorful deposits of mineralized wood and dinosaur bones. Allow 1-3 hours.
Flaming Gorge NRA Utah Northeast. Large lake. Features boating, camping, dam tours, beautiful views, pronghorn. Good camping. Allow 3 hours to 2 days.
  Four Corners Monument Utah Southeast. This is the only place where you can stand in 4 states at once. Allow 1 to 3 hours.
  Fremont Indian SP State of UT Center by Richfield. Rock art and archaeological sites. 12 interpretive trails.
  Glen Canyon NRA American Park Network South. A wonderland of deep gorges, rock formation and deep canyons. Main access by boat or backpacking.
    American Southwest  
    National Park Service  
    Utah  
Goblin Valley SP American Southwest Center by Green River. Eroded rock formations in haunting coves. Allow 3-6 hours.
Goosenecks SP Utah Southeast by Mexican Hat. Spectacular entrenched river meanders back and forth. Very impressive. Don't miss it if you're in the area. Allow 1-3 hours.
  Grand Gulch Plateau Primitive Area BLM Southeast by Mexican Hat. Well known for its extraordinary ancient Anasazi dwellings. There are many, few visitors, and the ruins are in excellent shape.
    Fortune City  
    Utah  
Grand Staircase - Escalante NM BLM South by Escalante. Great expanse of scenic wilderness, with narrow canyons and countless rock formations. Don't miss Devil's Garden which is a collection of hoodoos and the Burr Trail. Grosvenor Arch, Hell's Backbone Road, ghost town of Paria are nearby. Allow 4 hours to 3 days.
    Utah  
Highway 12 Scenic Byway, Junction of US-89 to Torrey Byways One of the most scenic highways in the United States. Highway 12 passes through Red Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and over Boulder Mountain in the Dixie National Forest to its conclusion near the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park on U-24.
    Utah  
  Hovenweep NM Desert USA Southeast. Six archaeological sites.
    National Park Service  
  Joshua Tree NL Public Lands Southwest by St. George. Furthest extent of the Mojave Desert. Joshua trees, desert. In the spring this drive features spectacular wildflower displays, but all year round this drive is exceptional. Also nearby is the Joshua Tree Road Scenic Backway.
    Recreation  
Kodachrome Basin SP American Southwest South by Cannonville. Eroded, multicolored rock formations in various shades of red, yellow, pink, white and brown. Allow 2 hours to 1 day.
  Little Sahara RA American Southwest West by Delta. Extensive sand dunes.
Mexican Hat American Southwest Southeast. A town with a rock formation that look like a Mexican hat (what else). Surrounding scenery is exceptional: Valley of the Gods, Goosenecks SP, more. Allow 15 to 30 minutes.
Monument Valley American Southwest Southeast. Isolated red mesas and buttes. To hike in the park, you must hire a guide. Allow 3 hours to 2 days.
Natural Bridges NM National Park Service Southeast. 3 large natural bridges, Indian ruins. For the best views of the bridges and to see just how massive they are, hike down and under the bridges. Allow 1 hour to 1 day.
    Utah  
Newspaper Rock SHP Desert USA Southeast by Blanding. A large Petroglyph panel. It's worth seeing. Allow 30 to 45 minutes.
  Rainbow Bridge NM Utah South in Glen Canyon . Largest natural bridge, must take boat tour to get there. Allow 4 hours.
  San Rafael Swell American Southwest Center by Green River. Scenic, with mesas, cliffs, buttes, springs and canyons.
  Slot canyons, Bucksin Gulch American Southwest By Paria River. Longest and deepest slot canyon in the Southwest. Wire Pass Trailhead gives shortest access.
  Slot Canyons, Paria Wilderness American West Travelogue  
  Slot canyons, Bull Valley Gorge American Southwest By Paria River. Hard to negotiate.
  Slot canyons, Cottonwood Wash Narrows American Southwest By Paria River. Easily explored and quite popular. 3 miles round trip.
  Slot canyons, Dry Fork Coyote Gulch BLM South by Escalante. 4 trails featuring convoluted high walls and superb slots.
    Utah  
Slot canyons, Little Wild Horse Canyon American Southwest Center by Green River. A narrow slot canyon that you can walk through. In places the canyon is less than 2 feet wide. In many places the walls are over 50 feet tall. Be sure to check the weather forecast before you go. Easy to access and free. Can be very busy. Allow 3-7 hours.
  Slot canyons, Paria River American Southwest By Paria River. Considered one of the two best extended narrow canyon hikes in the Southwest. Requires 2-3 day hike.
  Slot canyons, Round Valley Draw American Southwest By Paria River. About a half mile of deep, cool narrows with the light-colored, narrow layered Navajo sandstone rocks. There are a couple of dryfalls to overcome but no major obstacles and the most interesting section can be explored in just 2 hours.
  Slot canyons, Willis Creek American Southwest By Paria River. Very easy to explore, with no obstacles of any kind, just a flat, stony streambed enclosed by delicately colored shaped sandstone walls. Usually, 1-2 inches of water.
  Slot canyons, Wire Pass American Southwest By Paria River. From the trailhead, the stream way is 1.75 miles long of which about half a mile is through a slot canyon, parts of which are less than 1 meter wide; narrower than Buckskin although not nearly as deep. Because of this, the sun illuminates the curving sandstone walls more extensively, sometimes reaching all the way to the floor and often producing nice reflected effects - so photographs are good and somewhat different to those taken of Buckskin.
  Snow Canyon SP American Southwest Southwest by St. George. Canyon with red rocks, white cliffs and black lava. About 3-4 hours including 2 hikes.
    State of UT  
Valley of the Gods American Southwest Southeast by Mexican Hat. A smaller scale version of Monument Valley, with huge isolated red sandstone rocks standing above the level valley floor. 17 miles of dirt road. Very few people. Allow 2-5 hours.
Zion NP National Park Service Southwest by Springdale. Sheer red and white sandstone cliffs tower up to 2,500 feet above the North Fork of the Virgin River. One of the busier parks.
    Zion Canyon  


What Not To Miss:

Arches

Rating Location Description
Broken and Sandstone Arch If you have a few extra hours, take a look at these. Sandstone Arch is well worth the short hike. You approach it by walking between two slices of rock jutting up. The arch has sand all around its base and looks like it should be in the water.
Delicate Arch A delicate, beautiful arch sitting high on a hill. The hike to the top is very strenuous in high temperatures. It's best to go early in the morning to avoid the heat. Also the lighting is good then. Photographers might want to go in the evening to catch the arch at sunset. If you do, make sure that you take a flashlight. If you can't make the hike (or even if you do), go to the Delicate Arch Viewpoint for a very nice view.
Devils Garden trail A very nice hike with views of many arches. The trail is about 6 miles and hard if the temperature is in the 90s or 100s. If it's hot, at least go up to Landscape Arch. It is a very large, narrow arch that is truly impressive. If you can, go a little further to see a few more arches that are close.
Park Avenue Trail A nice 1 mile hike (one way) with beautiful views of very thin stone walls and a valley with sand and stones. Extremely colorful after a rain but nice any time. One of my favorite short hikes.
Windows Section Two massive arches plus a great double arch make this an area that you shouldn't miss.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Rating Location Description
pull outs They're all great. Stop at all that you can.
trails If you're in good shape, hike down to the bottom and take one of the trails. The spires look fantastic from the bottom. Be careful! During the summer, the temperate at the bottom of the canyon is often 10-15 hotter than at the top! Be sure to take water with you.

Canyonlands National Park

Rating Location Description
general To really see Canyonlands, you need a 4-wheel drive vehicle. It's the only way that you can get into the interior of the park.
Dead Horse Point State Park Interestingly, probably the best view of Canyonlands is actual from a State Park. Provides a view of the Colorado river doubling back on itself from high above. If you go to Arches, be sure to visit here. I believe it's about a 50 mile drive from Arches.
Island in the Sky This section is close to Dead Horse Point State Park and provides some good views of Canyonlands. If you go to Arches, be sure to visit here.

Capitol Reef

Rating Location Description
Capitol Gorge A gorge with high sides.
Cathedral Valley A fifty mile drive through the back country of Capitol Reef. You should have a high clearance vehicle for the river crossing (although any car could have made it when we were there). However, you can access the area by taking the other entrance (east most). Ask the ranger how the road is before taking it.
Highway 24 Beautiful rock formations with various shades of red.
Orchards In the morning and evening, you will see many deer here.
Sunset Point True to its name, Sunset Point is a great place to see the setting sun.

Dinosaur National Park

Rating Location Description
Quarry You've got to see the dinosaur bones in the hill side. Be warned, the quarry closes early (5:00 PM when we were there) much of the year.
back roads Most people go to the quarry and then leave the park. We arrived late and only had a few minutes in the quarry and decided to see the rest of the park. It's great. The Indian pictographs are everywhere and there is no one else around. We looked for over 4 hours and enjoyed every minute. After the first 5 miles, we never saw another person!

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument

Rating Location Description
Burr Trail An asphalt and dirt road that winds through canyons and hills to Capitol Reef NP. Very scenic.
Devil's Garden A collection of colorful hoo-doos that are very nice.
Hole-In-The-Rock Road A dirt road that cuts deep into the park. In the spring, you will see thousands of wildflowers and cactus in bloom. When we were there (May, 2003), the road was badly wash-boarded and very bumpy. Cars were only going about 5 miles per hour through many sections.

Natural Bridges National Monument

Rating Location Description
bridges If you can, hike down and under several of the bridges. Only from the bottom can you really appreciate how massive the bridges are.
Indian ruins Take the short trails to see the ruins. Take binoculars if you have them.

Zion National Park

Rating Location Description
Angels Landing A steep trail that leads from the valley to a high overlook. The view from the top is fantastic. If the hike doesn't take your breath away, the view will. I base the rest of this on the time I climbed it about 30 years ago. You need to be in good shape and not too afraid of heights for this one. Also, I wouldn't take any kids to the end. Back then, there was a section of the trail less than 10 feet wide that was steeply climbing upward with drop offs on each side of over 800 feet.
Checkerboard Meza A mesa with checkerboard-like lines in it. When you see it, you will remember seeing pictures of it before.
The Narrows The canyon eventually narrows  until only the Virgin River cuts through. You can walk up the river and admire the beautiful scenery. Make sure that you wear some type of shoe.

Phone Numbers:

  • Arches National Park (435) 259-8161
  • Bryce Canyon National Park (435) 834-5322
  • Canyonlands National Park (435) 259-7164
  • Capitol Reef National Park (435) 425-3791
  • Cedar Breaks National Monument (435) 586-9451
  • Dinosaur National Monument (970) 374-3000
  • Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area (435) 784-3445
  • Glen Canyon (Lake Powell) National Recreation Area (520) 608-6404
  • Golden Spike National Historic Site (435) 471-2209
  • Hovenweep National Monument (303) 749-0510
  • Natural Bridges National Monument (435) 692-1234
  • Rainbow Bridge National Monument (520) 608-6404
  • Timpanogos Cave National Monument (801) 756-5238
  • Zion National Park (435) 772-3256

Books:

 
Rating Book
Photographing the Southwest: A Guide to the Natural Landmarks of Southern Utah & Southwest Colorado, Volume 1 by Laurent Martres. This is a great book for anyone planning a trip to southern Utah or Colorado. It's not just for photographers; he covers what to see better than any guide book I've seen. We visited and enjoyed many place that weren't mentioned in other guide books.

Maps:

 

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Roger & Marian's Web Site, last modified 09/27/07