Utah National Parks and Monuments.

No reservations to get into parks with the exception of Yosemite, which I think has gone or is thinking about going to a ticket system for entry. I'm not sure how that works. Arches has been closing the gates when a certain number of cars have entered the park, so that's another reason to get in early.
These mobs in Arches and Zion have supposedly been caused by the state of Utah running an east coast advertising campaign with billboards.

Wonderful information, thank you. Based on what you all said, a couple questions popped up: Do we need reservations to get into the parks? We already have reservations at RV parks which are located very near the National Parks. We were thinking we could just drive the truck to see the parks during the day and return to the RV at the end of the day. We might also rent a motorcycle to tour the parks on, not sure on that idea yet.

klr650goldwing wrote:
These are fabulous tips and give us many places to research. So, thank you everyone.

Just be aware that the traffic up Angels Landing a solid mass, you will be 1 foot behind the fellow in front of you and the one behind you the same distance back. It is stop and go and the last section is acutely hazardous, a wrong step can kill you. If you want to climb it then get there on the trail by 7AM. The same applies to Arches get there very very early and you will have a much better time for two reasons, cooler and the mass mob is still in bed.

Oh and VERY important, carefully estimate how much water each member of the party needs then carry three or four times as much. Several liters each minimum even for the kids. maybe a gallon for adults.
If you haven't hiked out there then you have no idea how much water you will need.

These are fabulous tips and give us many places to research. So, thank you everyone.

Arches is magnificent, but you gotta do a lot of walking to see the best stuff. More than worth it. Goblin Valley doesn't seem to get a lot of mention, but it's like landing on another planet.

Zion is also a favorite of mine. Angel's landing is spectacular (understatement), and hiking the narrows is great, especially if you're lucky enough to get caught in a flash flood. When we got out of there the ranger that picked us up said it's extremely rare (and dangerous) to get to see that. They close the trail at the first hint of rain, but we headed in there just before the clouds showed up & emptied themselves.

TenOC wrote:
Zion -- all parking is full by 9:00 AM

Go there after 3pm....sunset views, less crowds.

Arches is definitely my favorite park in Utah. Beautiful! If you go there, Colorado National Monument is reasonably close and is worth driving through; it probably won't be nearly as crowded as Arches.

check out Mesa arch in the canyon lands.
bumpy

If you like animals, check out Best Friends Animal Shelter in Kanab, UT while is southern Utah. It is thousands of acres for many animals and they give nice tours. Lake Powell is also worth a stop, boat tour if they are running in April.

valhalla360 wrote:

TenOC wrote:
Zion -- all parking is full by 9:00 AM

More important, if you didn't sign up for shuttle tickets ahead of time, it doesn't matter when you get there if you want to go up the main canyon.

You can still walk in but when we were returning from the shuttle stop by the Narrows, a couple had lost their ticket and the staff was going to make them walk the 8 miles back to the entrance. Our shuttle pulled out before we saw the conclusion but the staff seemed pretty firm about it.

You can ride bicycles in, but you won't get a parking place to leave the car. Last time we went by, not in, I measured the length of the waiting lineup. It was two and a half miles long. IWe were on our way up to the other Zion unit. But don't bother it isn't worth the trip. Otherwise I have just marked Zion and Arches off our summer list. Maybe this spring tho. The are both hotter than Hades anyway.