UTAH NATIONAL PARKS ROAD TRIP ITINERARY

January 9, 2024

This Utah National Parks Road Trip Itinerary will start from Salt lake city as I am from the area and will end in southern Utah, but if you’re coming from Las Vegas you can do this itinerary in the opposite order.

Entrance Fees for Utah National Parks Road Trip

If you’re planning on visiting all 5 national parks, you will definitely want to purchase the U.S. Parks Pass as entrance fees seriously add up. The U.S Parks Pass gives you access to all 133 national parks for an entire year and two people may share it. The pass is only $80 and valid for 12 months starting when you buy the pass. I will include the price of each National Park entrance fee and let you decide if buying a pass is worth it or not.

Make sure to download some offline maps whether google or maps.me as you will not have much if any signal while in the national parks.

How to get to the Utah National Parks

The best way to get around on your Utah National Parks road trip is either by car or motorcycle (season dependent). You don’t need a 4WD vehicle to visit any of the Utah National Parks, but if you want to visit some areas off-the-beaten-path you will definitely want a 4WD and high-rise vehicle (especially if you want to visit Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef National Park).

You can do this road trip with any kind of car, but it is recommended to take a high-rise vehicle with 4WD so you can truly see all that there is to offer. I unfortunately did this 1-week road trip in a Volkswagen Golf and so I couldn’t get off the beaten path as much as I would have liked. That being said, if I could explore all these national parks in my volkswagen, you should be able to make the trip in just about any other car.

Another great option is to rent a camper van so you can save money on accomodation as you hop from one place to the next.

What to bring on the Utah Roadtrip

Prepare for your Utah National Parks Road Trip with our must-have travel essentials. (Click for prices)

If you’re interested in photography and/or videography this is the gear we can’t live without: (click for price)

Professional camera: Sony A7iv
Best travel tripod: Peak Design Travel Tripod
Action camera: GoPro HERO10 Black
Drone: DJI Air 2s (Only Use Outside Of National Parks)

Day 1 – Canyonlands National Park

Entrance Fee & Travel Time

Entrance Fee: Included in $80 U.S Parks Pass OR $30/vehicle $25/motorcycle

Leave Salt Lake City in the morning and head to Moab, Utah. Without any stops, the trip should take you about 3 hours and 45 minutes, and 4 hours to Island in the Sky Visitor Center, where Canyonlands National Park begins. That being said, you’ll likely want to stop somewhere along the road for some lunch so expect around 4.5 hours.

If you leave in the morning, you should still have plenty of day time left to explore Canyonlands National Park when you arrive. Here is a list of some awesome places to visit while in the area.

1. Shafer Canyon Overlook

There are two Shafer Canyon viewpoints which you should definitely visit in Canyonlands National Park. The first viewpoint is for those who aren’t terrified of heights. If you have reached the Island in the Sky Visitor Center, you’ll need to turn around and head back about 1 mile until you reach Shafer Basin Road on the right and head to the viewpoint located at this pin.

The road to the viewpoint eventually turns into dirt but like i mentioned, my tiny Volkswagen Golf didn’t have any problems getting there.

You will drive on top of winding, rocky cliff tops that are some of the most amazing views I have seen in the national park. Like I mentioned earlier, if you are terrified of heights, this drive might be a little scary for you.

Once you reach the viewpoint you can get out of your car and enjoy the views from on top of the cliff. If you want to continue down the road, I recommend only doing so with a high-rise, 4WD vehicle. You will need one of these vehicles to safely descend and later ascend up the iconic, winding road at Shafer Canyon.

If you do not have a high-rise, 4WD vehicle, you can return back to where you came from and head to the Shafer Trail Viewpoint about a mile past the Island in the Sky Visitor Center. From here you will get an amazing view of the winding road below.

2. Mesa Arch

Five miles down Grand Viewpoint Road you’ll end up at one of the most famous and iconic arches in Canyonlands, Mesa Arch.

In the early morning you will find a lot of photographers lined up for sunrise. If you are not a photographer trying to catch the epic photo of the sunrise in the background, then visiting this arch just after sunrise might be the perfect time to visit in order to avoid the crowds.