Which UTAH State & National Parks Should Not Be Missed

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

With limited time in the area (a little flexibility to add an extra day here or there but not weeks!), and so much choice from what google information we've managed to source can you share what would be your "must see" for the day/half day or when passing enroute, versus "should camp overnight" or two nights. We are not sure if we should be buying the $75 annual SP pass as well as the $80 America The Beautiful annual pass or just Pay as we arrive at each and every SP, as some state you don't pay the day entrance fee if you are booked into the CG overnight.

We enjoy walking, but we are not strenuous hikers by any means. We enjoy anything water related such as rafting/kayaking, fishing for hubby (albeit depends on what's available versus price of non-resident license!), and of course general WOW sightings whilst enjoying our picnics. We are set up well and prefer dry camping and boon docking so happy for any tips on where to stay.

We've done Zion NP overnights very briefly 3 or 4 times years ago , but we'd like to save that for a more in depth stay for a few days in the future at maybe Watchman CG so not including on this trip.

We will be crossing the Sweetgrass border early in the morning on the 3rd May, and intend to head to Yellowstone NP North side (Gardiner) and then amble our way around and down towards and through Tetons, and eventually be at Antelope State Park on 6th or 7th May for an O/N - day and half in that SP. Is this an OK time of year to do this?

We have to head directly over the next couple of days down to Yuma (not ideal time of year to do that but schedules and need dictates!) for dental work, the main reason for this trip, and will hang around for a good couple of weeks plus doing a loop of things in AZ

We will be coming North through the VRG from LV, and working out way North back to Canada at the very end of May taking about two to three weeks to get home around mid June and here is where we wanted to get a good taste of Utah's SPs and NPs which we've passed by so very many times over the years but never experienced. Here and more or less in order are our thoughts, and where we look to you experienced RVers as to what is worth staying at overnight for the ambience/visiting for the day or as passing by, or maybe even "don't waste our time as xxxx is much better". Likewise is there any "must see/do" we've missed maybe, and please any boon docking tips always welcome.

Gunlock SP and/or Sand Hollow SP
Otter Creek SP
Bryce Canyon NP
Kodachrome (Check out as passing enroute?)
Capital Reef State Park
Goblin SP
Arches NP
Moab (where best to stay O/N here, ideally boon docking but ..... and how long to explore?)
Canyonlands NP
Dead Horse Point SP (Is this worthy compared to what else we'll be doing?)
Huntington SP - ?worth a look see enroute or ?
Starvation SP - ?worth detouring a little to check out?
Deer Creek SP - ?look see or worth staying at O/N?

Then amble having a look see enroute over the next week or so up through part of Idaho & Montana, to Twin Falls, Hagerman, Sun Valley, Ketchum, Stanley, Salmon, Hamilton, Missoula, Anaconda.

In a nutshell we are trying to get off the I15 Hwy, and get a little taster of different areas we've not been to, that we can maybe add into our spreadsheet of places we'd like to spend more time at when that time permits us to do so in the future.

Thanks for sharing your valuable input regarding the general plan for this trip so we can make the absolute best of our time. Likewise any "boon docking/dry camping tips" so very very much appreciated.

[GordonThree]

Here's my 5 cents, humble opinions 🙂

Can't comment on a lot of your State Park choices, don't have enough knowledge of them.

FULLTIMEWANABE wrote:

Bryce Canyon NP <- Stay at Kodachrome, full hookups for cheap
Kodachrome (Check out as passing enroute?) <- Driving to Bryce isn't that bad
Capital Reef State Park <- Good stopping point between Kodachrome and Valley of the Gods / Natural Bridges
Arches NP <- Stay in the park if you can, it's a LONG ways from the entrance to anything interesting, including the rustic campground
Canyonlands NP <-- This park is two or three separate parks, that are far for each other. Islands in the Sky is most popular, but Needles is interesting too.
Dead Horse Point SP <- Stay here to explore Canyonlands Islands in the Sky

If you're driving to/from Bryce (or Kodachrome) to Moab, don't miss Natural Bridges National Monument (awesome rustic campground there and cheap). Also Valley of the Gods and Horseshoe Bend State Park (cheap, very remote)

[Old-Biscuit]

IF 62 yrs or older.....$10 America the Beautiful Senior Pass LIFETIME....currently!
Price increase coming

https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm

Bryce, Arches, Canyonland-----most definitely. Overnighters for each

Dead Horse Point SP..great place to stay

Spend more time at fewer places to fully enjoy.

[4runnerguy]

FULLTIMEWANABE wrote:
We are not sure if we should be buying the $75 annual SP pass as well as the $80 America The Beautiful annual pass Buy the America the Beautiful Passor just Pay as we arrive at each and every SP, as some state you don't pay the day entrance fee if you are booked into the CG overnight. I believe this is true in Utah - CG fees include entry fee.

We will be crossing the Sweetgrass border early in the morning on the 3rd May, and intend to head to Yellowstone NP North side (Gardiner) and then amble our way around and down towards and through Tetons The roads through YNP to the Tetons may not be open that early., and eventually be at Antelope State Park on 6th or 7th May for an O/N - day and half in that SP. Don't know that I'd even bother visiting there, let alone spend a day and a half. If you want to be near the GSL, how about Willard Bay up north of Ogden? Is this an OK time of year to do this?

Gunlock SP and/or Sand Hollow SP
Otter Creek SP
Bryce Canyon NP Yes
Kodachrome (Check out as passing enroute?) Yes
Capital Reef State Park Yes
Goblin SP

Arches NP
Moab (where best to stay O/N here, ideally boon docking but ..... and how long to explore?)
Canyonlands NP Yes to all three. One can easily spend a week in the Moab area and be rushed. Be warned that there's construction in Arches so some trail heads and parking areas will be closed, plus lots of slow downs.
Dead Horse Point SP (Is this worthy compared to what else we'll be doing?) Nice CG, but a little late to get a site now. Good views, but you'll see similar from overlooks on the Island in the Sky at Canyonlands. Of course if you already bought a SP pass, go on in.
Huntington SP - ?worth a look see enroute or ?
Starvation SP - ?worth detouring a little to check out?
Deer Creek SP - ?look see or worth staying at O/N?
I take it some of these SP's are because of the lakes? Many you have listed are in pretty desolate areas with pretty open campsites and little shade. Deer Creek is the exception.

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Thank you so very much 2gypsies, I always heed everything you write and follow Paul and Nina's website a lot. Over many years made lots of notes from many but for some strange reason don't have much on Southern Utah, and it's one of those places we've mentioned since the 90's about doing "someday", but like all things we sometimes let "life" get in the way and before we know it .........

Appreciate the comments especially on Dead Horse Pt SP.

[2gypsies1]

FULLTIMEWANABE wrote:

Gunlock SP and/or Sand Hollow SP
Otter Creek SP
Bryce Canyon NP - would recommend an overnight
Kodachrome (Check out as passing enroute?) similar to Bryce - don't go if short on time
Capital Reef State Park recommend for an overnight
Goblin SP - Skip because of your short time
Arches NP - See the below link of BLM campsites for both Arches and Canyonlands areas
Moab (where best to stay O/N here, ideally boon docking but ..... and how long to explore?)
Canyonlands NP
Dead Horse Point SP (Is this worthy compared to what else we'll be doing?) It's beautiful for exploring both Canyonlands and Arches
Huntington SP - ?worth a look see enroute or ?
Starvation SP - ?worth detouring a little to check out?
Deer Creek SP - ?look see or worth staying at O/N?

Here is an excellent review of Antelope State Park, Utah visited in May, as you have planned. This RVer loves public parks and boondocking so you might do a search for other parks they have done reviews on - the 'search' is in the top right corner. There's also a tab at the top for the different states:

http://wheelingit.us/?s=antelope+state+park

For Moab, here is good information on BLM land boondocking. We like Ken's Lake but the Hwy 128 river sites are nice, too:

http://www.discovermoab.com/campgrounds_blm.htm

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Thanks Shadowboss, that's just the kind of information and on the ground experience feedback I am looking for. Appreciate you taking the time 🙂

[shawdowboss]

I would definitely recommend Arches and Canyonlands NP. Canyonlands is actually 3 segments (Island in the Sky, Needles & The Maze) with independent entrances (you cannot drive across Canyonlands). Arches is at least a day minimum by itself since some of the Arches you have to walk to (a lot of short 15 minute hikes on good ground).

Spend time if you can taking some of the shorter easy walks in both parks, you'll be surprised what you find in both parks for views and history.

We just had time for Canyonlands - Island in the Sky, but did take the Mesa Arch walk - spectacular views. Spend some time on the drive at a lot of the vista points, some very interesting history and ranger talks. You can see a lot of Canyonlands on the paved roads, unless you like long 4x4 trips (some of the 4x4 roads are one-way for safety).

Just find a place in Moab as a home base to visit Arches and Canyonlands. The town of Moab is interesting, but we just used it for home base to go to the parks. Good town services.

Also, go to NPS.gov for information on all the national parks in Utah. There's a lot more parks, etc in Utah that are also very interesting.

Watch Yellowstone NP website, currently the road won't be open through to the Tetons till around May 12th (west side of the loop past Old Faithful). You may want to consider reversing your route - go directly south, THEN back through the Tetons & YNP. Then all the roads in YNP will most likely all be open later in May, especially if they find avalanche damage after they remove the snow.

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Thank you TexasChaps, will look into that and the cost of license etc. Appreciate the recommendation.

[TexasChaps]

if you are heading to Bryce then you might like to check out Pangiutch lake to fish.. there is a forest service campground ( north site not the south site ) there $10 or $12 a night. no free dispersed though..

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

No we are not intending to drive 8 or 10 hours "just" to spend an hour or two in a major interest park. Ironically as I've already mapped out what we "think" we'd like to cover, most of it has anywhere from an hour to 4 hours generally between points, so I'm totally confused how you'd think we'd just flat out be driving 8 or 10 hours a day to spend a couple of hours in a park?????

As I mentioned we are taking two or three weeks to cover the return from roughly St George UT area to home (if we were just going direct up I15, that would typically be 16 to 18 hours actual driving time), and we have the flexibility to add an extra day or so here and there, just sadly unlike already full-timers or snowbirds, we don't have the luxury right now of taking an extra several weeks.

Nonetheless, thanks for your input agesilaus thus far!

[agesilaus]

First thing you need to do is check the snow condition at YNP unless you intend to do snowshoeing

The rest of your itinerary is based on wild dreams, these parks are -far- apart. If you think driving for 8 or 10 hours in order to do a hour or two in the park is worth it then have at it.