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As an ex Moab resident, who has visited all the named parks, the the fifth seemingly unknown park, Capital Reef, I'll add...
The time span as others noted is not great for seeing any park. You can do a drive through of Arches in a few hours, and stop at all major arch pullouts such as the windows/double area, view of delicate and then a quick stop at the end of the road, but that is NO way to see arches. Really need to park and walk and that takes days.
Canyonlands is a great park, most people just stop at the viewing areas, take a few photos and drive away unaware of the great hiking trails, or if you have a 4x4, some of the best scenery is found off of Mineral Point or Shafer trail. These trails go down to the white rim trail and that is where the secret is. They also do not understand as most, that the Canyonlands district near Moab, is one of three districts. The island in the sky is northwest or Moab, Needles is southwest of Moab and about 50 miles away, and then there is the Maze, on the other side of the green river, quite remote and basically a 4x4 is required.
Zion in my opinion is ok by vehicle, but if you are going to stop and shoot a photo, then move on to the next stop, you might as well skip it. Zion needs to be hiked. Bryce, as much as it needs to be hiked to appreciate the park, the views from the parking areas; especially if there is snow, are fantastic.
Capital Reef's best viewing areas are in Cathedral Valley and require a 4x4. I would estimate that 95 percent of the people who visit Capital Reef drive through on Hwy 24, some might take the short 10 mile scenic drive, but only 5 percent will ever see the pyramids of the Sun and Moon, the Giant Sinkhole or the Views of Cathedral Valley off the Harnett road.
As an ex Moab resident, who has visited all the named parks, the the fifth seemingly unknown park, Capital Reef, I'll add...
Capital Reef's best viewing areas are in Cathedral Valley and require a 4x4. I would estimate that 95 percent of the people who visit Capital Reef drive through on Hwy 24, some might take the short 10 mile scenic drive, but only 5 percent will ever see the pyramids of the Sun and Moon, the Giant Sinkhole or the Views of Cathedral Valley off the Harnett road.
It is interesting how relatively unknown Capitol Reef is. It's a great part to visit.
As an ex Moab resident, who has visited all the named parks, the the fifth seemingly unknown park, Capital Reef, I'll add...
The time span as others noted is not great for seeing any park. You can do a drive through of Arches in a few hours, and stop at all major arch pullouts such as the windows/double area, view of delicate and then a quick stop at the end of the road, but that is NO way to see arches. Really need to park and walk and that takes days.
Canyonlands is a great park, most people just stop at the viewing areas, take a few photos and drive away unaware of the great hiking trails, or if you have a 4x4, some of the best scenery is found off of Mineral Point or Shafer trail. These trails go down to the white rim trail and that is where the secret is. They also do not understand as most, that the Canyonlands district near Moab, is one of three districts. The island in the sky is northwest or Moab, Needles is southwest of Moab and about 50 miles away, and then there is the Maze, on the other side of the green river, quite remote and basically a 4x4 is required.
Zion in my opinion is ok by vehicle, but if you are going to stop and shoot a photo, then move on to the next stop, you might as well skip it. Zion needs to be hiked. Bryce, as much as it needs to be hiked to appreciate the park, the views from the parking areas; especially if there is snow, are fantastic.
Capital Reef's best viewing areas are in Cathedral Valley and require a 4x4. I would estimate that 95 percent of the people who visit Capital Reef drive through on Hwy 24, some might take the short 10 mile scenic drive, but only 5 percent will ever see the pyramids of the Sun and Moon, the Giant Sinkhole or the Views of Cathedral Valley off the Harnett road.
Thanks for the rundown of the parks. It'll be a rushed trip, that's true, but we won't be staying in the car. If we did Zion, we'd have from early morning until 6PM or so.
Capital Reef has been off my radar. I'll do some research...
Originally we had ruled out Yellowstone based on the likelihood of road closures and deep snow. Since this winter is apparently the warmest in decades, does this still hold true? If we didn't go skiing, would it make sense to spend our time in Yellowstone and possible Grand Tetons? I'm not sure we'd do that over Southern Utah, but want to know wether or not we should consider it.
Thanks for the rundown of the parks. It'll be a rushed trip, that's true, but we won't be staying in the car. If we did Zion, we'd have from early morning until 6PM or so.
Capital Reef has been off my radar. I'll do some research...
Capital reef is beautiful, but like I said, you need a 4x4 to do Harnet and Cainville wash roads that go north from I24.
Sunrise, Pyramids of the Sun and Moon
Cathedral Valley from the upper valley overlook on Harnet
Hartnet Desert from Lower desert valley outlook off Harnet road
Originally we had ruled out Yellowstone based on the likelihood of road closures and deep snow. Since this winter is apparently the warmest in decades, does this still hold true? If we didn't go skiing, would it make sense to spend our time in Yellowstone and possible Grand Tetons? I'm not sure we'd do that over Southern Utah, but want to know wether or not we should consider it.
The trip would be 4/10-4/14.
You'd almost certainly have better weather this year than most, and your chances of road closures due to snow are almost non-existent. Yellowstone and the Tetons are beautiful, but I would personally definitely go with Southern Utah instead. For one thing, the drive to Yellowstone (if you go through the Tetons on the way) is going to be a good 6 1/2 hours as opposed to 4 1/2 to go to Bryce and Zion or Arches. While Old Faithful's fun to see and the hot pots are interesting, Bryce/Zions and Arches are so unique that they are simply not to be missed.
Here is what I would do in April, but this is just me:
day 1: Drive to capitol reef (~3 hours non stop). spend day exploring and hiking. Spend night there camping (lots of good camping near and in capitol reef) Capitol Reef is my favorite national park in Utah (I have been to them all a bunch of times). It's also one of the least crowded.
Day 2: Drive to Arches (~2h15m nonstop). Spend day exploring and hiking. Drive back to Sandy (~3h15m nonstop).
It's a lot of driving, but that's what I would do if I were determined to see two parks in two days. If you just want to see one park, just pick one. You'll have a blast at any of them really.
Bumping this thread as I am sitting here having just finished 4 days in Bryce and Zion. Last summer my husband and I did Arches and Canyonlands.
OP, did you make your trip, and if so, where? Hope you enjoyed it. I have to say, I think Southern Utah is the most beautiful place I have ever been to in this country (and I say that as someone who currently lives in Denver and frequents the mountains a fair amount).
Overall, I think I prefer the Arches/Canyonlands area to Bryce and Zion. The main reason I feel this way is because of the comparative lack of crowds we experienced in Arches/Canyonlands versus Bryce/Zion (and we were in Arches in summer). Also, I think Moab is a far, far better town and "home base" that anything near Bryce. Springdale is a cute little town next to Zion. It gets a thumbs up from me, but still doesn't have the concentration of decent restaurants and accommodations that Moab does.
For me, I'd rank them like this:
1. Canyonlands- expansive, less crowded, challenging hikes, amazing off trail driving.
2. Arches- yes, it's crowded, but those arches and geologic features are unlike anything you can see anywhere else.
3. Bryce Canyon- same great hoodoos as Canyonlands, in a smaller, more concentrated area. Great hike at Fairylands. The nearby "town" is just terrible and lodging and food is bad.
4. Zion- We did one of my favorite hikes ever on the Taylor Creek in the Kolob Canyon area. It was amazing and I liked the town of Springdale. I just hated how crowded the main Zion Canyon was.
Anyway, we wil definitely be back to the above parks. We love Utah!
Bumping this thread as I am sitting here having just finished 4 days in Bryce and Zion. Last summer my husband and I did Arches and Canyonlands.
I'm glad you bumped it, and I wish the OP would stop by and tell us how his trip went.
Quote:
Overall, I think I prefer the Arches/Canyonlands area to Bryce and Zion. The main reason I feel this way is because of the comparative lack of crowds we experienced in Arches/Canyonlands versus Bryce/Zion (and we were in Arches in summer). Also, I think Moab is a far, far better town and "home base" that anything near Bryce. Springdale is a cute little town next to Zion. It gets a thumbs up from me, but still doesn't have the concentration of decent restaurants and accommodations that Moab does.
For me, I'd rank them like this:
1. Canyonlands- expansive, less crowded, challenging hikes, amazing off trail driving.
2. Arches- yes, it's crowded, but those arches and geologic features are unlike anything you can see anywhere else.
3. Bryce Canyon- same great hoodoos as Canyonlands, in a smaller, more concentrated area. Great hike at Fairylands. The nearby "town" is just terrible and lodging and food is bad.
4. Zion- We did one of my favorite hikes ever on the Taylor Creek in the Kolob Canyon area. It was amazing and I liked the town of Springdale. I just hated how crowded the main Zion Canyon was.
Anyway, we will definitely be back to the above parks. We love Utah!
It's funny how different people are. Canyonlands is your favorite park and my least favorite. My favorite are Bryce and Zion and they're your least favorite. I would definitely agree with you on one thing, though. Moab beats any of the other "home base" towns all to heck. There is so much more going on there than in the other little towns, even Springdale.
It looks like the only Utah national park you haven't visited is Capitol Reef. Since it falls right in the middle of my rankings, it would probably fall right in the middle of yours, too. Be sure to make it part of your itinerary next time.
I'm glad you bumped it, and I wish the OP would stop by and tell us how his trip went.
It's funny how different people are. Canyonlands is your favorite park and my least favorite. My favorite are Bryce and Zion and they're your least favorite. I would definitely agree with you on one thing, though. Moab beats any of the other "home base" towns all to heck. There is so much more going on there than in the other little towns, even Springdale.
It looks like the only Utah national park you haven't visited is Capitol Reef. Since it falls right in the middle of my rankings, it would probably fall right in the middle of yours, too. Be sure to make it part of your itinerary next time.
I am still waffling on how I feel about Zion. For me, the sum was less than the whole of the parts, and I know it shouldn't really make sense. In fact, I think I may flip and put Zion #3 and Bryce #4.- The town near Zion = good. The hike = great. And yet, my initiation to the park was yesterday coming in from spending 5 hours on Lake Powell boating, and I was forced to travel UT-9 from the East and traverse the length of the park in bumper to bumper traffic, and that clouded how I felt about the main canyon. That's why we hiked in Kolob canyon today and SO glad we did.
As for Canyonlands, the reason I like it, is I think because I saw it first, and the hoodoos were unlike anything I had ever seen before and the hike was strenuous and challenging and really made us work and that made an impression on me.
One thing I encountered at all our parks, especially Bryce was the HUGE number of foreign tourists that were there. It made me wonder how many Americans just don't appreciate the unique gifts of land and beauty we have.
I loved passing hikers and saying hello to them and hearing Brits, Germans and Asians answer me back
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Be sure to make it part of your itinerary next time.
