SW Utah
We have been twice to Utah, in September of 2013 when major flooding was going on and also again in august of 2015 and again a lot of rain. So we have been to Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Arches and can...
Forum Discussion
Cathedral Valley drive is long but awesome.
I would recommend you decide if there are certain hikes you really want to do and then figure out the route more than focusing on the parks. For example, Zions has the Narrows, Angel's Landing and Arches has Devil's Garden.
If you want to shorten the travel time, you can find similar hikes but in closer proximity to your route or area. E.g. you can find narrows without going all the way to Zion. If you want hoodoos you can find those too. If you want rappelling, you can find places to do that. Petroglyps, etc, are all over Utah.
I would also recommend breaking it up and doing some non-hike things... rent a side-by-side in Moab. The Monitor and Merrimack trail is an easy beginner one. Do the horseback riding in Bryce Canyon as well as hiking there. Bryce and Capital Reef are known for star gazing if you're into that.
There's a bunch to do around I-70/Green River like Goblin Valley state park, San Rafael Swell, etc.
My BiL says Capital Reef has all that Zions does, just more rural, smaller, less crowds.
I would recommend you decide if there are certain hikes you really want to do and then figure out the route more than focusing on the parks. For example, Zions has the Narrows, Angel's Landing and Arches has Devil's Garden.
If you want to shorten the travel time, you can find similar hikes but in closer proximity to your route or area. E.g. you can find narrows without going all the way to Zion. If you want hoodoos you can find those too. If you want rappelling, you can find places to do that. Petroglyps, etc, are all over Utah.
I would also recommend breaking it up and doing some non-hike things... rent a side-by-side in Moab. The Monitor and Merrimack trail is an easy beginner one. Do the horseback riding in Bryce Canyon as well as hiking there. Bryce and Capital Reef are known for star gazing if you're into that.
There's a bunch to do around I-70/Green River like Goblin Valley state park, San Rafael Swell, etc.
My BiL says Capital Reef has all that Zions does, just more rural, smaller, less crowds.
