Utah's "Mighty Five" National Parks in May

I am getting so much good advice and ideas here. Thank you so much.

Dr. Roy's caution above to not rush and to save for other trips is I think giving me pause. And Octogirl said not to overschedule. I am sensitive to that. Plus we hate to rush.

So what if we wanted to cut down to 2-3 parks and plan a 2nd trip?

Any thoughts on which to save?

One thought is to do the southern leg out of Vegas as planned, but end at Moab. Then maybe fly home out of Grand Junction.

Any thoughts about that or any other theories?
 
Montecfo said:
I am getting so much good advice and ideas here. Thank you so much.

Dr. Roy's caution above to not rush and to save for other trips is I think giving me pause. And Octogirl said not to overschedule. I am sensitive to that. Plus we hate to rush.

So what if we wanted to cut down to 2-3 parks and plan a 2nd trip?

Any thoughts on which to save?

One thought is to do the southern leg out of Vegas as planned, but end at Moab. Then maybe fly home out of Grand Junction.

Any thoughts about that or any other theories?
Click to expand...

It's always a combination of logistics, time and money..the way you mentioned will be the most expensive in regards to one way plane tickets and car drop off fees...we put together a trip into PHX and out of SGU which worked exceptionally well but didn't include the Moab leg.
 
Montecfo said:
I am getting so much good advice and ideas here. Thank you so much.

Dr. Roy's caution above to not rush and to save for other trips is I think giving me pause. And Octogirl said not to overschedule. I am sensitive to that. Plus we hate to rush.

So what if we wanted to cut down to 2-3 parks and plan a 2nd trip?

Any thoughts on which to save?

One thought is to do the southern leg out of Vegas as planned, but end at Moab. Then maybe fly home out of Grand Junction.

Any thoughts about that or any other theories?
Click to expand...

We did multiple trips and it worked out great. Mostly on trips to/from our Az condo from Illinois home

We've been to most of the Utah 5 parks 3 times or so. I didn't try to fit everything in 1 trip. Rather we found things on our first trips that we wanted to see and we visited those places on subsequent trips.

I've since discovered some places online that I'd like to see so I expect to go back.

Tough to get it all in in 1 trip.
 
Completely my personal, biased opinion, but Zion is over loved. You can’t do a some of it without shuttles, permits or traffic jams. Last time I was there it just seemed overcrowded.

If you come into the parks from the east, so Arches and Canyonlands, you can access all of those with your own car. Moab is busy, but you can also be alone in minutes too.

From Moab you can still access Bryce, Escalante Grand Staircase, Capitol Reef and the surrounding area.

Hit the 128 Colorado River Road, see great petroglyphs in Sego Canyon, etc.

All without having to set foot in Viva Lost Wages.
 
Golden Mean said:
May or may not be an issue, but's illegal to bring alcohol into Utah from out of state.
COcheesehead said:
No, it’s not as long as it is for personal consumption.
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Click to expand...

This gov site still delcares you can't:
https://sbi.utah.gov/alcohol-enforc...om another state,or any other courier service.

But, it looks like the law was changed in 2020? Note section 2:
https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title32B/Chapter4/32B-4-S414.html?v=C32B-4-S414_2020051220200512
 
^^^

Have wondered if we might feel this way, since being on shuttles etc just makes me feel like I am in a rat race. Zion seems to get the most press but it seems each park is the favorite of some folks.

ETA: speaking of Zion possibly being overloved.
 
I did not enjoy Zion as much as #1 Bryce and #2 Arches. Gobblin Valley was very unusual and maybe #3 for me though we walked in a lot of mud. Catching Goosenecks State Park while in Mexican Hat would be a nice little side trip.
 
The photos are beautiful, Ron. Thanks for sharing! Now I have the urge to climb in the car and drive to Utah.
 
^ Thanks - I have the same urge to get to Utah stat. Looking into whitewater rafting the Colorado River near Moab.
 
Montecfo said:
^^^

Have wondered if we might feel this way, since being on shuttles etc just makes me feel like I am in a rat race. Zion seems to get the most press but it seems each park is the favorite of some folks.

ETA: speaking of Zion possibly being overloved.
Click to expand...




May is going to be busy no getting around it....the beautiful and formerly quiet town of Springdale no longer exists. You can shuttle to the park from bus stops in Springdale, but can't find a place to park your car so you can take the shuttle. The shuttle takes you to the staging area for the actual park shuttle where you can stand in another line....Zion is a victim of it's own success. We had a good trip one June that was based in Brian Head a ski area. Lots of nice cheap off season places to stay and convenient to Cedar Breaks and also Bryce. Fairly close to the Kolob section of Zion. Not anti Bryce , yet it's mostly a driving park IMO.
 
Ronstar said:
I haven't rafted there - just saw a lot of rafts from Hy 128 coming into town. Awesome scenery and looked like a great time.
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That's the one we did the rafting on and the water this Spring and Summer should be pretty fast....
 
Glad we saw those parks 20 years ago when it wasn't nearly as crowded.
 
All of these parks are beautiful. It saves a lot of time to stay in the park versus driving in and out daily for lodging. Luckily I saw them while you could still drive yourself around and didn’t have to take the shuttle. My favorites were Zion and the Grand Canyon. I know it’s much harder to get reservations than it used to be so you may not be able to stay in the parks with this little notice.
 
My sister just informed us (4 couples total) that she has booked us campsites in Zion in October. I thought of this thread.
 
We liked Bryce and Arches more than Zion. In Bryce, the Wall Street/Queens Garden loop was amazing. The NPS described it as the best 3 mile hike in the parks system (or the country, I can’t remember). We also did a mule ride into the canyon - a lot of fun. Bryce is probably my favorite park. In Arches, the Delicate Arch hike is special.
If you don’t mind driving a bit, you should visit the North Rim. Easily as spectacular as the best of the South Rim with none of the crowds, at least when we visited several years ago.
 
Phroig,

Thanks for those ideas. The North Rim of GC does not open until June 2 due to need to clear heavy snows. The state road leading into the park is slated to be cleared by May 15.

Accordingly we are making a little side trip right after Bryce and before Zion to Jacob Lake Az and the North Rim to see what we can see.
 
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