Utah's "Magnificent" Five: The Budget

I’m wrapping up my series on our trip to Southern Utah with everyone’s favorite, the budget post. I’ll be honest, this trip ended up being one of our most expensive trips. Even using some points and free night certificates, the cost of accommodations was surprisingly high. So, just be prepared for that if you’re thinking about your own trip to the Utah National Parks. Or plan to mostly camp (and book campsites well in advance).

Without further ado, the budget.

Total: $7396.75

Transportation: $2460.85
Lodging: $2543.35
Food: $1441.10
Activities: $648.43
Miscellaneous: $303.02

Transportation

This was primarily for flights and the rental car. We booked nonstop flights on Delta from Eugene to Salt Lake City for $1026.60 ($342.20 per person) and rented a car for 10 days for $1020.54. We saved over $300 by booking through Costco Travel; the price was significantly less than anywhere else I looked. Other expenses in this category include $28 for valet parking at the Hotel Monaco, $176 for airport parking, and $209.71 for four tanks of gas. We did a lot of driving.

Lodging

This was a surprisingly expensive category for me. Once I started diving into planning, the lodging cost added up quicker than expected. So, if you’re planning a similar trip, keep this in mind. In many places, there are some great options for points hotels, so that can be a good way to offset costs if you have points available. There are also a lot of options for camping and this can be a great way to spend less on accommodations if this is something you enjoy. If we had driven rather than flown to Utah, we may have done more camping. If you go this route, reservable campgrounds fill up early, so plan ahead.

We paid $479.60 for three nights at the Hyatt Place Moab, paying cash for two nights and using a free night certificate for the third. Two nights at Yonder Escalante, which recently rebranded as Ofland Escalante, cost $619.52. I had prepaid $173.05 for one night at Wander Camp Bryce Canyon. We did not feel good about staying there once we arrived (the state of the campground had, in my opinion, been misrepresented) and I was never able to get a refund; we booked one night at the Hampton Inn Kanab for $94 instead. While exploring Zion National Park, we stayed two nights at the Springhill Suites for $645.36 and one night in a covered wagon at Zion White Bison for $501.82, the biggest splurge of the trip. For our final night, which we spent back in Salt Lake City, we used a free night certificate plus 5,000 points and $30. Although I didn’t use a lot of points for this trip, we probably saved about $500 on the two nights that we used a free night certificate.

food

We spent $90 on groceries. Most days we had breakfast included at our hotel, but the groceries filled in extra breakfasts, most snacks, and at least half of our lunches. We enjoyed the occasional lunch out and ate at a restaurant for dinner each evening except our final evening in Zion. We spent another $60 on groceries for a very delicious steak dinner we prepared wagon side in our fully stocked outdoor kitchen. When traveling with a young child, I don’t think you can ever have too many snacks.

Activities

We got a lot of mileage from our $80 America the Beautiful Pass, which covered entrance into all of the national parks. Most of our days were spent hiking, which was thankfully free considering the cost of hotels. The other cost that was well worth it was the $26.99 we spent on the GyPSy Guide Bundle that provided fantastic audio tours throughout our trip. The splurge in this category was $454.24 for the slot canyon and dinosaur track tour with Dreamland Safaris, which I would absolutely do again. Other expenses were $70 for tickets to Mystic Hot Springs, $10 for entry into Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, and $7.20 for the Fort Zion petting zoo.

Miscellaneous

Wrapping up the budget, this category includes mostly souvenirs but also a few mid trip loads of laundry.

Our trip to Southern Utah was a dream. I would absolutely do it all again and am happy to answer any questions you may have. Again, this trip ended up being more expensive than expected, but there are lots of ways to do a similar trip on more of a budget. Ten days was pretty perfect for us, but taking a shorter trip would be another way to cut down on costs. This (finally) wraps up our trip to Utah and our major 2022 travels. On to 2023, beginning with a gorgeous trip to Grand Cayman.