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Cdash's avatar
Cdash
Explorer
Mar 21, 2017

Utah - planning advice

We are looking to do Utah this summer. We are National Park type of family, stay in the park sites with no hookups (35' fifth wheel), do some hiking, Ranger programs, and enjoy nature.

We are thinking about visiting at least Arches, Canyonland, Bryce and Zion. We'll have 16 days total. We'll likely push hard on the way there and back to make the trip in 2 days. That will give us 12 days in the parks. We are crossing places of the bucket list before the kids are done with school, so we do the best we can with the time we have.

How many days would you spend in each park? I know we'll never see it all, but will make the most out of what we have. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Anything not on the list that absolutely should be? If so, what and why?

Lastly, will July be too hot to enjoy anything? Should we wait until 2018 to try to do it in mid June?

12 Replies

  • And Arches and Zion are very hot. Bryce will be cooler and has excellent hiking. The CG is also good.

    Canyonlands is mainly a park you drive around, there are some fantastic overlooks. Ask at the ranger station. Camp at Deadhorse state park for Canyonlands and if you go to Arches.

    Zion CG is also very good, right on a river. Go hiking early in the day, the hikes can be strenuous. We really liked Hidden Canyon Trail but it is what climbers call exposed, you go part way on a hanging shelf maybe 6 ft wide. So fear of heights eliminates this one. Zion Narrows is probably one of the most famous hikes around, bring water shoes since it follows the river in the river. Don't go w/o checking with rangers about weather.