The Big 5 National Parks in Utah; Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyonlands and Arches.

All five National Parks are located in Southern Utah, making these destinations all achievable in a short period of time, if you wanted to do it all in one trip. For an appropriate amount of time in each park, I would give yourself about ten days or more to explore all five.

If you’re only going to do one or two, it’s hard to say which park is the best. They are all great, all unique and all so very differnet. I will say Capital Reef is the least popular of all, but after visiting there, I don’t understand why. This park I belive is underrated. This park is absolutely breath-taking! It may be because Arches and Canyonlands are about a half hour to 45 minute drive from eachother and thats the same for Zion and Bryce. These two parks are a 45 minute drive from each other. Whereas Capital Reef is in the middle of these parks, kind of out in the middle of no where.

As far as the must-do’s in each park, we’ll start with the parks going from west to east; Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyonlands and Arches. I have all individual articles of each park going into more detail of each park, but here are the must-do’s I recommend of each park.

Zion-

The most popular hike of this park is Angels Landing, bringing you up these steep switchbacks, to the top of these cliffs on each side of you, overlooking the beautiful canyon of Zion. It’s this point where you see all the gorgeous views of Zion. A hike that is a must. But, it is very difficult, scary, and a few people have fallen to their deaths on this hike. If you want pretty much the same viewpoint with a hike that is still difficult but not as scary, you can do Observation Point. It’s the highest point in all of Zion, with a maintained trail and gives you that breath-taking view as well.

Bryce-

My favorite trail of this park is Sunset to Sunrise Point. It’s one you don’t want to miss. This trail is moderate, only a few miles long and your expereince in Bryce will be much more memorable with this hike included. Most people just go to Bryce and see it from the top looking down at all the rock formations, which is of course beautiful, but take an extra couple hours out of your day and don’t miss this hike! This hike will take you down into all the formations, weaving in and out of them, giving you more perspectives on this beautiful area. You will feel so much more connected to Bryce after completing this hike! It doesn’t matter which end you start from. It starts and ends at two different trail heads but there is a great bus system in the park that will bring you right back to your car. Or you can just take the half-mile rim hike back to your car, which is way more exciting.

Capital Reef-

The hike I would most recommend is called Cassidy Arch, located off the ten mile scenic drive in the park at the Grand Wash trail head. This trail is maybe four miles round-trip, an out and back trail, giving you a fun and exciting trail with gorgeous views of the landscape. The trail itself reminded me of Angels Landing in Zion, but not as scary. You are walking next to a drop off, a sheer cliff, walking over rocks, sand, and boulders. It’s a fun hike! Then, ending with a view of this huge arch, plus overlooking the views of the park.

Canyonlands-

My favorite hike in this park was the Grand View Trail, located at the very end of the drive into the park, in the Island in the Sky district. This park has three different districts, Island in the Sky being the most visited and the most accessible. The enterance only being about a half-hour drive from Arches National Park. The scenic drive in the park only being 12 miles long. At the very end of this drive, lies this hike only being 3 miles round-trip. This hike is so special because you are also walking on the side of a cliff. I’m starting to get the feeling I like trails with cliffs. It’s just so dramatic, exciting, memorable and beautiful! Anyway, the whole hike is breath-taking and I very much recommend it.

Arches-

I thought the double arch was my favorite. This park, is probably the most accessible park when it comes to small easy hikes. There are arches all throughout the park, with easy short hiking trails leading to them. Of course there will be longer hikes in the park, like Delicate Arch, the most photographed arch of the park. But Double Arch, unfortunately has tons of people that visit it so it is hard to get a shot with out people in your photo, but I thought this Arch was the most memorable for me. It was huge, and so pretty.

Just a quick generalization of each park is right below…

I also have each park in individual articles if you want to read up on them more. Click on the names of the park for more info. 

With Zion, you can only drive to a certain point. At this point, you have to park and take a bus to see the rest of the park. The bus system is great, giving you an opportunity to travel through the whole park with an automated voice telling you all about the geologic features and history of the park. There are quite a few trails that range in all difficulites. One could easily spend a week here. It’s one of the most beautiful of the Big 5 for a reason. It’s a long road to get into the park. My advice would be to get a campground site here. If you were going to camp in one of the “Big 5,” this would be the place to do so. It’s a long drive to any other accommodation.

As far as Bryce goes, this is not a big park. With doing the trail I recommended, Sunrise to Sunset, you still can be in and out of this Park in half a day, if you are pressed for time. This park is pretty small compared to the rest of the parks. It also has a pretty good bus system and there is a National Forest in the surrounding areas so it would be easy to get a free campsite or any other accommodations not far from the entrance.

Capital Reef is the most least accessible as far as closeness goes to any other of the Big 5. It’s kind of in the middle of no where but this park is not to be missed. It is worth going to! There is a campground located right in the park, but also free camping in the near-by areas as well. This park is worth driving to the end of the scenic drive, which is only a ten mile scenic route. Definitly drive on the dirt road that will take you to the trail-head, even if you are not planning on going to any hikes.

Canyonlands is huge! They have this park splitted into three different districts because the park is so big. Island in the Sky being the most accessible and the Needles and the Maze being very inaccessible. Needing a lifted Jeep or any other capeable lifted 4×4 to see these districts. There are even vehicle checkpoints to see if your vehicle can even handle the terrain. As far as Island in the Sky goes, where most people go, there is a 12 mile scenic drive through the heart of the district, giving you hiking opportunities which gives you incredible viewpoints of the park. There is also a dirt road, which is much longer, that will head down into the canyon, weaving with the Green River around the circumfrence of the park. Very cool!

Last but not least Arches being a relatively small park. One could see most of this park in one day. Most of the trails here are really short and flat, giving you an opportunity to do many trails in a short period of time. Just make sure you start early to try and beat the crowds as much as possible because the parking gets excessively bad throughout the day.

I also have each park in its own individual article if you would like more information. Click on the names of the park for more. Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches. 

Hope this article helps! Loved all of these parks so much!!!! They are all worth seeing, even if it takes you several years to see all of them. It took me about five years to see all of them, Capital Reef being the last one I visited and it ended up being one of my favorites!

Thank you for reading!

Sincerely,

Livingonthedirt/Shelly