Utah's Big 5 National Parks (and some) with Kids
Airports
To start the road trip through Utah, you'll need to fly into Las Vegas. Although there are other airports to fly into, Las Vegas is typically the cheapest one. From the Las Vegas Airport, you can rent a car to begin your road trip. Depending on when you fly into Las Vegas, you may also need to get a hotel room and clearly, Las Vegas has many to choose from.
Lodging for the 1st Leg of the Trip
Stop #1: Dead Horse State Park
To capitalize on your time, drive from the Las Vegas Airport straight to Dead Horse State Park. Once you arrive at the park, there is a visitor center that you can stop at for information. Right outside the visitor center is a nature trail that offers views of the basin. This is a fairly easy hike and great for children. After exploring, aim to get to Dead Horse Point right before sunset as the sunset from this point is magnificent (I also hear the sunrises are beautiful too, but we only experienced a sunset). An interesting legend about this point is that ranchers would bring their Mustang horses to this point and only take the ones they wanted. They would then leave the rest here to suffer from thirst, under the sun, while looking at the Colorado River.
There are miles of trails that outline the rims of this park and each trail is between 200 ft to 3.5 miles which again, makes it great for families to explore the beauty of the desert landscape.
Stop #2: Canyonlands National Park
If you are pressed for time, Canyonlands and Dead Horse State Park could be visited on the same day. These two parks are extremely close to each other, however, if you have time, there is enough to do to break the two parks into two separate days. Canyonlands is divided up into four parts- Needles, The Maze, Islands in the Sky, and the Rivers. We didn't have the opportunity to spend as much time in this park so the only district we visited was Islands in the Sky. Upon arriving inside the park, a Visitor Center welcomes guests, and right outside, across the street, is Grand View Point. Since we could only pick one or two hikes in this park, we chose the Mesa Arch hike and the White Rim Overlook hike. The Mesa Arch Hike is a short 0.6-mile hike, great for kids, but offers the legendary Mesa Arch at the end! This spot has views of the La Sal Mountains and you can take the classic picture of looking at the desert through the arch. The White Rim Overlook Trail hike offers several views of the Colorado River, Monument Basin, and La Sal Mountains. This hike is about 0.8 miles, and again, great for kids.
Stop #3: Arches National Park
Arches was my middle son's favorite park. I will say, that when we went in March, the winds were high....be prepared to walk into the wind at times and Chapstick will be needed (as well as the essentials: water, and snacks). Before your trip, check the Arches National Park website as you may need a timed entry for the park. Once you enter the park, stop at the visitor center (videos, shopping, restrooms), and make your way to Balanced Rock. This was amazing as I'm still wondering, "How in the world is that rock balancing like that!?" There is a short trail (0.3 miles) around Balancing Rock so that you can see all viewpoints. The next stop is the Windows Section. Here, you'll be able to walk to Double Arch, the North and South Windows, and Turret Arch (0.6 miles). The last hike of the day was to catch an amazing view of Delicate Arch. The hike we chose was the Upper View Point Trail. With the high winds, I was not comfortable taking my children on the actual Delicate Arch Trail (to get up close to the arch) as there are narrow rock ledges. The Upper View Point Trail was tedious as it is steep (my 7 and 10-year-olds were able to do this hike with no problems, but we left my 2-year-old at the bottom with my parents as he would have struggled). Once at the top, you can get a view of the Delicate Arch. The Lower Viewpoint is easier and does have wheelchair access. Although windy, this was a favorite for sure!
Stop #4: Capitol Reef National Park
About two hours from Bryce Canyon National Park is Capital Reef, one of my favorite parks on this trip. What I loved about Capitol Reef, is that not only were there cool sights to see, but it gave you a glimpse into the past lives that lived on these lands. As an educator, it was the highlight of my day to see an old one-room schoolhouse (Fruita Schoolhouse)! The inside was replicated to look like an 1800s classroom! In addition, I was able to show my children petroglyphs and explain to them what they were! That was an unexpected educational moment! Capitol Reef is a small park and at first, you think you drove past it or missed it as it doesn't immediately have the traditional big park signs that most National Parks have. However, once you drive in, you'll eventually see a Visitor's Center where you can also get a park brochure. This is a park where you can take a scenic drive with a few stops alongside the road. There are many hiking trails to take advantage of, however, with my family, we decided on the Hickman Bridge Trail. This trail is 0.9 miles and takes you to a 133-foot natural bridge with canyon views.
Lodging During this Leg
Stop #5: Snow Canyon State Park
Originally, we had thought we were going to drive straight to Bryce Canyon National Park, however, Mother Nature had a different plan. It was SNOWING when we were driving toward Bryce Canyon and we ended up not going however, as I never like to waste a day, I quickly found a state park to go to. This was one of our favorite parts of the trip! The kids loved The Tortoise Trail as along the walk, informational signs were discussing how tortoises lived in the desert as well as information about other desert animals. My favorite hike was Jenny's Slot Canyon. This was an easy hike for kids and they enjoyed exploring and going between the slots! It was fun for all, especially since it started snowing lightly while we were there...it was an amazing experience - snow falling on you as you are in the desert hiking!!
Lodging During this Leg of the Trip
Stop #6: Zion National Park
ONE OF OUR FAVORITE PARKS!!! Zion was amazing and beautiful! The first thing we did, was get on the bus at the Visitor Center and drive to the last stop (Stop #9). This is where you would hike The Narrows. We went in late March and because of the rain/snow, we were not able to hike The Narrows, however, we did the Riverside Walk which takes you right up to where the Narrows begin. This is a 2.2-mile walk and is pretty easy for children. Our favorite hike of the whole trip, and possibly thus far, was that of the Lower Emerald Pool Hike (Stop #6). This hike is about 2.2 miles round trip, but once you get to the waterfalls, the trail takes you BEHIND the waterfalls. It was spectacular and one for the books! This is fairly easy, but make sure that you have good hiking shoes as it can be slippery. From this trail, you can also go hike the Middle Emerald Pool as well as the Upper Emerald Pool. Before visiting Zion, check the website as oftentimes there are closures due to weather. The shuttle system is the only way to access Zion Canyon Scenic Drive beginning in March to December. However, you can drive along the Zion Mt. Carmel Tunnel and stop along the highway at specific points.
Stop #7: Bryce Canyon National Park
It is about a 2 hour drive from the hotel/RV park to this park. If you get carsick, I recommend taking your car sick medication prior to today's drive. Because of the snow, half of the park was closed for our visit (March), however, it didn't stop us from seeing some beautiful scenery. Seeing the hoodoos with snow caps will be a highlight of this park for us. We did a driving tour of this park and stopped at Inspiration Point, Bryce Point, Sunrise Point, and Sunset Point. Had we been able to, the hike I had planned for my family was the Queen's Garden. This is at Sunrise point and is 1.8 miles. It is the least difficult trail that makes its way down Bryce Amphitheater and takes you among the hoodoos.
Once finished with Bryce, make your way back to Las Vegas to turn in your rental car and fly home.
Final Tips:
If you are going to be taking this trip, I can't recommend getting the National Park Pass enough. It will pay for itself by the 3rd usage. We went to Zion for two days and each of the others for one day.
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