Utah's "Magnificent" Five: Arches and Canyonlands
First, I know the quintet of stunning national parks in southern Utah is collectively referred to as the Mighty Five. However, as I was planning and then experiencing this bucket list road trip, I kept repeatedly making the mistake of calling them the Magnificent Five. I wasn’t wrong. Last August, my little family was fortunate to be able to explore all five of these truly magnificent parks on a 10-day road trip through the otherworldly landscapes of Southern Utah. In this series of blog posts, I’ll be sharing the perfect toddler/young child friendly itinerary to make the most of your trip, along with some of the tips I gleaned along the way. As usual, I’ll wrap things up with a post with all of the budget details and all the ways you could save money if you wanted to replicate our trip.
Day 1
Early: We began our trip with an oh-so-early non-stop flight from Eugene to Salt Lake City. If you’re planning to do all five parks or focus primarily on the eastern parks, this is probably the best airport for most folks. However, if you’re spending your time in the western parks - Zion and Bryce Canyon - or don’t mind one really long day of driving, you could fly into Las Vegas instead (it may offer less expensive flights and/or more options). For us, the non-stop flight to SLC was the best option.
Absolutely adore the confidence he is developing as a traveler
9:30 am: Thanks to the early flight, we were in Utah and driving south before mid-morning. Regardless of how you arrive, you will almost certainly want a car. To keep things simple, we rented from the airport location. Thanks to status with Hertz (#creditcardperk), I could just go to the correct row, pick a car, and be on my way. Our goal was to stop for lunch before noon.
11:30 am: We made good time and decided to stop for lunch at The Tangerine Eatery in Price. This was just about the halfway point between SLC and Moab, our first destination. The other spot I considered and that came highly recommended was Tamarisk a little further south in Green River. For us, the Tangerine was perfect - quick counter service, kid friendly food, healthy options (perfect after an early morning flight), and, best of all, fro-yo.
2:30 pm: We arrived in Moab and checked into the Hyatt Place Moab. We spent the afternoon resting, swimming, and doing grocery pickup at City Market. Not spending any of our precious vacation time grocery shopping and still having plenty of food for breakfast, lunch, and snacks was ideal. I had put in my order the day before and reserved a pickup time I was fairly confident would work.
5 pm: Dinner at Moab Food Truck Park. As the name suggests, this is a food truck park with a variety of options and a shaded seating area in the middle. We could all choose exactly what we wanted - I had sushi and yakisoba from AK Roll & Bowl, Harrison had pizza from Big Don’s, and Brandon had a complicated yet delicious hot dog from Street Dogs. There was peace in the land. Honestly, despite spending a lot of time researching the best food options and then going to those places, Moab didn’t impress. Except the food trucks. Don’t miss the food trucks.
6:15 pm: During the pandemic, several national parks implemented timed entry reservations for the busiest times of year, Arches among them. Because this proved to be a successful way to help manage the sometimes crushing crowds, it looks like this is a system that might continue. Always check the NPS site for any park you plan to visit well in advance. Although you need a reservation for most of the day, anyone can enter after 6 pm. However, you still technically need a parks pass, but cannot purchase one at this time of day. This is not really the type of vacation where you can just “wing it,” especially during the busy summer months. In addition to making any required reservations online, I also recommend buying your National Parks annual pass in advance (you can do it online, but Roseburg being Roseburg, there were multiple places to buy the $80 America the Beautiful Pass in person). I also printed off all of the junior ranger booklets for the parks we would be visiting, along with maps of each park (and had downloaded most of southern Utah into my offline Google Maps). You can pick them up at the visitor’s center, as well, but doing so didn’t really work with our desired schedule. So again, a little advance planning goes a long way.
Okay, that feels like a lot of words to say that after dinner, we could drive right into the notoriously busy Arches National Park without having to wait at all, parks pass, map, and junior ranger booklet in hand. After a long day of travel, we ended our first day in Utah with the Windows Loop hike (1 mile).
We would hike every single day of this trip, so a hiking vacation in southern Utah is entirely possible even with a little one in tow. There are some famous hikes that will be conspicuously missing, but the ones I share are ideal for families with young children. The rest will just have to wait for next time. We stopped at some of the viewpoints - Park Avenue and Balanced Rock - and were already overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. We were treated to the relatively rare site of a thunderstorm as we watched the sunset on the drive out of the park. Utah was already taking my breath away and we were just getting started.
Summary: We arrived on an early flight and made the four hour drive from SLC to Moab in our rental car, stopping for lunch at the Tangerine Eatery in Price. We checked into the Hyatt Place Moab, where we enjoyed the pool and settled in with a grocery order. It was a choose-your-own-adventure dinner at Moab Food Trucks before entering Arches National Park after 6 pm when we didn’t need a reservation, but did need a parks pass, which I had purchased in advance of our trip. We ended the day with a short hike and no shortage of stunning scenery.
Day 2
Early: As you will see, our strategy for making the most of our time in the parks and minimizing the risk of both physical and emotional meltdowns was to start each morning exceptionally early, hike through mid-morning, take the afternoon to rest, nap, and swim, and then enjoy more time in the parks in the evening. This generally worked like a charm, but also meant we had some unfortunate wake up times. Our first full day in Utah was also one of the earliest because we planned to make the one hour drive to the Mesa Arch Trailhead, located in the Islands in the Sky District of the enormous Canyonlands National Park. Once there, we wanted to make the 1/4 mile hike to Mesa Arch in time for the sunrise. Let me just say, this is ambitious even without a toddler. Thankfully, the complimentary breakfast at the Hyatt started early - although the full breakfast wasn’t quite available yet, we were able to grab coffee (sweet, sweet coffee) and some snacks for the drive.
He was just a little too young to really make use of the junior ranger booklets (or to do enough of the activities to earn a badge), but he still enjoyed the pictures and having something to color
We didn’t quite make it for sunrise thanks to an unnamed reluctant hiker, but the drive into the park (no reservation needed) was gorgeous and we found that the crowds were reduced just after sunrise with a no less stunning view. This was an all time favorite sunrise for me, even with 1-2 grumpy family members. We finished the remaining 1/4 mile of the loop hike and were back in our car by 7:30, ready to take on the rest of the day.
8 am: Our next stop was the Grand View Point Overlook and the start of the Grand View Point Trail (1.8 miles, out and back). This is a know-your-family kind of trail because, although not challenging, it does run right along a cliff edge. This = unbelievable panoramic views + a lot of anxiety. Harrison knows the number one “adventure rule” is to be an immediate listener and that sometimes being a listener involves holding a hand even when he would rather explore independently. This works for us, but may not be great for every family. An alternative to the Grand View hike is the White Rim Overlook, which is recommended as a late afternoon hike.
10 am: It was about this time that I remembered I had purchased the GuideAlong (formerly GyPSy Guides) Utah Might 5 Bundle. Seriously, just buy it. It is an audio guide that is connected to your GPS location (even without cell service) and automatically provides a tour of the park as you drive by designated sites. There are recommendations for where to start and how to plan your day, but you can turn this on anywhere (even halfway through your drive…) and the tour will pick up exactly where you are. I would 100 percent buy this bundle again. We learned so much history and geology and random information that we never would have known otherwise. Once I remembered the app, we turned on the Canyonlands tour and drove through the park, stopping at various overlooks (often following the specific recommendations of the guide about the best order of things). We ended up at the Upheaval Dome picnic area for a shady lunch. We planned to hike Whale Rock (.8 miles) after lunch, but Harrison was done, so we did the rest of the scenic drive and may our way back to Moab for an afternoon of napping and swimming.
5:30 pm: We had dinner at Antica Forma which was good, but maybe not over $100 for 2 adults and a small child who didn’t order his own food good. However, it is a solid choice if you’re in Moab and your child wants pizza for a second night in a row. The wood fired pizza was great, as was my pasta, but I think you’re probably paying a premium for location - I’ve had better for half the cost.
6:30 pm: We again entered Arches without a reservation to do the scenic drive through the park, this time with the GuideAlong tour. This was a perfect way to end the day. We stopped at any scenic viewpoints that caught our attention and did a couple short walks to explore Wolfe Ranch, the petroglyphs and Double Arch. We planned to drive to Devils Garden the following day and we were understandably tired, so we saved the final portion of the drive for another time.
Summary: An exceptionally early start was worth it to catch the sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands NP. We spent the rest of the morning hiking the Grand View Point Trail and driving the scenic route, stopping for a picnic lunch. Canyonlands left us with a long list of places to explore next time, preferably with a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle. In the evening, we had dinner in Moab before exploring more of Arches NP, including Wolfe Ranch and Double Arch.
Day 3
6 am: It was another early morning as we grabbed breakfast at our hotel before making the 10 minute drive to the Arches entry gate for our 6 - 7 am timed entry. This early, there wasn’t much of a line and because we already had our pass, we were quickly back in the park. Thanks to having already spent two evenings here, we had already seen much of what we planned to see, so we immediately made the 18 mile drive to the Devils Garden trailhead. We weren’t really up for the challenge of doing the full loop, but the did hike to Landscape Arch (1.8 miles out and back) and did the detours to Pine Tree and Tunnel Arch.
9 am: We then started to slowly make our way back to the entrance, stopping to hike .4 mile to Skyline Arch and .4 mile to Sand Dune Arch. With a slightly older kiddo, we probably would have continued further along the latter trail to see Broken Arch, but Harrison was at his limit for the morning. Even taking his shoes off to play in the sand wasn’t enough incentive to continue. It was also quickly becoming one of the hottest days we had experienced thus far, so we were all pretty happy to make a couple more stops at scenic viewpoints as we drove out of the park to find lunch.
11:30 am: I had hoped to check out Moab Garage Co (which may have changed my opinion about Moab food; I may never know), but they were closed for a summer break. We instead got quesadillas at Quesadilla Mobilla, which were fine, but again (in my opinion) overpriced. Afterward, we got ice cream at the nearby Moab Food Truck Park because it was hot and we were on vacation.
1 pm: We did our usual afternoon things - naps and pool time and just generally relaxing. This was an ideal routine for us.
6 pm: We had dinner at another highly recommended spot, The Moab Diner. I know I sound like a really discouraging broken record, but I was again disappointed. This was probably the worst meal of the entire trip. I was really developing a complex because I sort of pride myself on finding the best restaurants. So in Moab I either failed, ordered the wrong dishes, or the options in Moab are just generally not great. Whatever the cause, I was not impressed. We had planned to make one final trip back to Arches to watch the sunset (lots of options with minimal hiking - Balanced Rock, Park Avenue, The Windows/Turret Arch), but we were all pretty exhausted and decided to call it an early night.
Summary: It was yet another early morning, this time with a timed entry reservation for Arches NP. We hiked to Landscape Arch while it was still relatively cool. We finished the scenic drive, checking out several arches along the way. Two favorites were Pine Tree Arch and Skyline Arch, due largely to the fact that they were just as cool as some of the other spots, but without the crowds. We ate some more mediocre food in Moab, but really didn’t do much the rest of the day. We were tired.
where we stayed
For this trip, we did a mix of major hotel chains to take advantage of some free night certificates and more unique stays. With that said, I can confidently recommend each place we stayed (at least my hotel finding skills were still up to par). In Moab, we stayed at the Hyatt Place. The location was good - on the side of town closest to the park, but not in the middle of everything (which meant we couldn’t walk anywhere, but it was quiet; we had a car anyway). Our comfortable room had two queen beds with a somewhat separate sitting and office area. The lobby was bright and welcoming (and there was always infused water available). I was especially impressed by the included breakfast, which had both hot and cold items. The breakfast tacos one morning were delicious, especially for a hotel breakfast. There was a small pantry where you could purchase drinks and snacks. The lobby bar would have been better if you were allowed to get drinks for poolside or even to bring to your room (but that was a Utah thing, not a Hyatt thing). The best part was the pool area, which in addition to the pool also had a play area, hot tub, and splash pad. I appreciated the extended shallow area in the pool, which was perfect for Harrison. We spent time here every single afternoon. It was impossible to feel unhappy sitting poolside while staring up at the red rocks surrounding the hotel. I would definitely stay here again.
for next time
You could spend a lifetime exploring southern Utah and still not see it all. I have a whole list of things for “next time,” some of which were not great choices with a 3 year old and some we simply didn’t have the time to do. Some of the specific things on my next time list in and around Arches NP and Canyonlands NP are:
Delicate Arch hike
The full Devils Garden hike
Fiery Furnace hike (permit or guide required)
Spending much more time in Canyonlands with an off road vehicle to better explore all areas of the park (we didn’t even make it to The Maze or the Needles District)
Aztec Butte hike
Dead Horse Point State Park
Goblin Valley State Park (you could seriously do an entire trip just for state parks)
Some other recommended places to stay:
There are so many campsites if this is a camping trip for you (which is one way to save a lot of money because even basic accommodations are expensive.) If this is what you are planning to do, especially within the parks and especially during the summer, you will want to plan to make reservations far in advance of your trip.
Like the Hyatt Place Moab, there are many options for chain hotels and the quality seems consistent with what you would expect for each brand, if not slightly elevated. For instance, the pool at the Fairfield Inn looks nicer than you would usually find. You probably can’t go wrong if you choose a brand you are loyal to and a location that works for you. The Hoodoo Moab is a Hilton Curio Collection hotel and is one of the nicest hotels in Moab (the onsite Josie Wyatt’s Grille is supposed to be excellent, but was a little upscale for this particular adventure).
However, there are some more unique options, as well. For instance the Purple Sage Flats or Red Cliffs Lodge or Moab Springs Ranch.
If money is no object, check out Under Canvas Moab.
Up next, we head further west to Capitol Reef National Park and a couple days of relaxation.