Utah's Mighty Five: Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands

Arrive in Las Vegas

Harry Reid International Airport to your hotel in Las Vegas

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Las Vegas
• Environ 18 min de route

Soir

Plan to land by about 4 pm so you are settled before the evening briefing; the exact time comes with your final itinerary. The afternoon is yours: sleep off the flight, walk the Strip, or look at the fountains in front of the Bellagio. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the hotel to talk through the week: the day-by-day drives, what to pack for the trails, how park entries and the Angels Landing lottery work, and how hot or cold each park is likely to be on your dates. Then we walk to a welcome dinner together. Tomorrow we leave the city after breakfast, so it is an early night for most.

Compris

• Pick-up at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner

Into Utah and Zion

Las Vegas to Springdale at the gate of Zion National Park

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Springdale
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

We leave Las Vegas after breakfast and drive about 265 km north-east on Interstate 15, through the Virgin River Gorge in the corner of Arizona and into Utah, where the clocks go forward an hour. The desert turns red past St George and Hurricane, and by lunchtime we are in Springdale, the small town at the south gate of Zion, where we stay two nights.

Après-midi

After a sit-down lunch in town we walk into the park. The Pa'rus Trail is a paved, nearly flat path along the Virgin River, with the Watchman behind you and cottonwoods along the water. We ride the shuttle to the Zion Human History Museum for its exhibits and the view up the canyon, so you know what you are looking at tomorrow.

Soir

Before dinner, the Watchman catches the evening light from the bridge at Canyon Junction. Dinner is your choice in Springdale, a short walk from the hotel.

Compris

• Drive from Las Vegas to Springdale with your guide
• Sit-down lunch in Springdale
• The Pa'rus Trail along the Virgin River
• Zion Human History Museum
• The Watchman in evening light from Canyon Junction

Zion Canyon on the first shuttles

Up Zion Canyon by park shuttle, from the Grotto to the Temple of Sinawava

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Springdale

Matin

Private cars are kept out of Zion Canyon for most of the year, so we ride the park shuttle, and we are on one of the first buses of the morning while the canyon is cool and the trails are quiet. The day splits two ways. The active group climbs from the Grotto up the West Rim Trail and the 21 tight switchbacks of Walter's Wiggles to Scout Lookout, about 6 km return with about 360 m of climb, where Angels Landing rises above and the canyon floor drops far below. Anyone who won a permit in the lottery can carry on along the chains to Angels Landing with the guide's advice. The easy group walks to the Lower and Middle Emerald Pools under a seeping cliff.

Après-midi

We meet for a sit-down lunch at Zion Lodge, then ride to the Temple of Sinawava for the Riverside Walk, where the canyon narrows to the start of the Narrows. If the river is open and safe, wade in for as far as you like.

Compris

• Zion Canyon shuttle from first buses
• Guided walk to Scout Lookout, or to the Lower and Middle Emerald Pools
• Sit-down lunch at Zion Lodge
• The Riverside Walk and a paddle into the Narrows when conditions allow
• Angels Landing day-before lottery entry for guests who want to try

Activités en option

• Narrows gear rental (water shoes, neoprene socks, walking pole), booked through us

Over the tunnel to Bryce Canyon

Springdale on the Zion to Mount Carmel Highway, then to Bryce Canyon

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Bryce Canyon City
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

We leave Springdale after breakfast and climb the Zion to Mount Carmel Highway in switchbacks to the 1.8 km tunnel through the cliff, completed in 1930. On the far side we stop for the Canyon Overlook Trail, a short walk along a ledge to a view straight down Pine Creek into Zion Canyon, and again at Checkerboard Mesa, cross-hatched like a waffle. The road then runs north on US 89 and east on Scenic Byway 12 through the red rock tunnels of Red Canyon, about two hours of driving in all.

Soir

After a sit-down lunch near the park we walk the rim from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point, then drop below it on the Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop trails among the hoodoos, the orange spires the park is known for. The climb back is the hard part, at about 2,400 m. In the evening we watch the light go from Inspiration Point, then dinner is your choice.

Compris

• The Zion to Mount Carmel Highway and tunnel
• Canyon Overlook Trail and Checkerboard Mesa
• Red Canyon on Scenic Byway 12
• Sit-down lunch near Bryce Canyon
• Rim walk from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point
• Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop among the hoodoos
• Evening light at Inspiration Point

Bryce at sunrise, then Scenic Byway 12

Bryce Canyon to Escalante, Boulder and over Boulder Mountain to Torrey

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Torrey
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

The Bryce amphitheatre faces east, so this is the morning to be up early. We drive the short way to Bryce Point for sunrise, when the first light turns the hoodoos orange one row at a time, and are back for breakfast. Then we take Scenic Byway 12 east, about three hours of driving with stops: down through Tropic into the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, to the Head of the Rocks viewpoint over the slickrock, and across the Hogback, a narrow ridge between Escalante and Boulder with drops on both sides.

Après-midi

Lunch is sit-down in Boulder, then a visit to the Anasazi State Park Museum, where the Coombs Site preserves part of an Ancestral Puebloan village lived in some 800 to 900 years ago; if the museum is closed, we stop instead at a Boulder Mountain viewpoint and the Escalante River trailhead. The road then climbs over Boulder Mountain through aspen and pine, with views east across Capitol Reef, and drops to Torrey, where we stay two nights.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Sunrise at Bryce Point
• Scenic Byway 12 through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
• Head of the Rocks viewpoint and the Hogback
• Sit-down lunch in Boulder
• Anasazi State Park Museum and the Coombs Site (when open)
• Boulder Mountain viewpoints

A full day in Capitol Reef

Torrey to Fruita, the Scenic Drive and Capitol Gorge, then back to Torrey

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Torrey
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Après-midi

After a sit-down lunch in Torrey we drive the Scenic Drive south to Capitol Gorge and walk between its walls to the Pioneer Register, where settlers scratched their names in the rock. Late afternoon is free. Capitol Reef is an International Dark Sky Park, and after dark your guide takes anyone who wants to go out to see the stars.

Compris

• Hickman Bridge Trail
• Fremont petroglyph panel
• Fruita historic orchards and the Gifford Homestead
• Sit-down lunch in Torrey
• The Scenic Drive and the walk to the Pioneer Register in Capitol Gorge
• Stargazing with your guide

Through the badlands to Moab and Arches

Torrey to Hanksville and Goblin Valley, then Moab and Arches National Park

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Moab
• Environ 4 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down stop on the way, then it is north to Interstate 70 and south to Moab, about three and a half hours of driving in all, where we stay two nights. We enter Arches by the main entrance in the afternoon, with a timed entry booked if the park requires one, and drive in to Balanced Rock and the Windows, where North and South Window frame the sky, and walk under Double Arch.

Soir

As the sun goes down we hike to Delicate Arch, the free-standing arch on the Utah licence plate, and watch it turn red; if the road runs late, we see it from the Lower Viewpoint and move the Windows to tomorrow evening. Dinner tonight is your choice in Moab.

Compris

• Highway 24 past the Caineville badlands
• Goblin Valley State Park
• Sit-down lunch on the way
• Arches National Park: Balanced Rock, the Windows and Double Arch
• Delicate Arch at sunset

Sunrise at Mesa Arch, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point

Moab to Island in the Sky in Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point and back to Moab

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Moab
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

We leave Moab about an hour and a half before sunrise with coffee and a packed breakfast, and drive about 50 minutes up to the Island in the Sky, the high mesa of Canyonlands. A short loop trail leads to Mesa Arch, on the cliff edge, facing east. When the sun clears the La Sal Mountains, it lights the underside of the arch red, with the canyons spread out below. Photographers line up for it, so we arrive while it is still dark to find space. After the crowd leaves we drive to Grand View Point, where the White Rim and the canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers open up, and walk out along it. On the way back we stop at Dead Horse Point State Park, 600 m above a gooseneck bend of the Colorado.

Après-midi

We are back in Moab for a sit-down lunch and a free afternoon: rest, browse Main Street, or book a half-day rafting trip or a 4x4 tour.

Soir

In the late afternoon your guide takes anyone who wants to go back to Arches, about 30 km each way, for Landscape Arch in Devils Garden, then we meet for a farewell dinner.

Compris

• Sunrise at Mesa Arch, with a packed breakfast
• Grand View Point in Canyonlands
• Dead Horse Point State Park
• Sit-down lunch in Moab
• Late-afternoon walk to Landscape Arch in Devils Garden, for those who want it
• Farewell dinner in Moab

Activités en option

• A rafting trip on the Colorado River, a 4x4 tour or a scenic flight in the free afternoon, priced when you book

Moab to Salt Lake City

Moab north through Price to Salt Lake City International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 4 h de route

Après-midi

After breakfast we leave Moab at about 8 am and drive about 380 km north to Salt Lake City, four hours of driving broken by a stop for coffee and a bite to eat (lunch is on you today). The road runs north past the cliffs of the Book Cliffs to Interstate 70, then on US 6 through Price, over Soldier Summit and down Spanish Fork Canyon into the Utah Valley, with the Wasatch Mountains rising beside the road as you near the city. Running the trip one way saves a seven-hour return to Las Vegas, and it means you fly home from a large hub with plenty of connections. We reach Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) at about 12:30 to 1 pm. Book flights leaving after about 3:30 pm. Your guide sees you to departures and checks your flight before saying goodbye.

Soir

If you want to stay on, we can drop you in downtown Salt Lake City instead and book an extra night for you.

Compris

• Drive from Moab to Salt Lake City with your guide
• Drop-off at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)

Activités en option

• Extra nights in Salt Lake City, booked on request