Moab

Arches National Park lies in eastern Utah just north of the town of Moab, about four hours southeast of Salt Lake City. It holds more than 2,000 sandstone arches, and the most famous, including Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch, are within short to moderate hikes of the road.A 19-mile scenic drive runs through the park past the trailheads for the Windows Section, Balanced Rock, Wolfe Ranch and, at the far end, Devils Garden. You'll reach many arches within 15 minutes on foot, but there's almost no shade along the way.Moab as your baseMoab is five minutes from the park entrance and also the base for Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. It has hotels at every price point, grocery stores, gas and outfitters for jeep, rafting and canyoneering trips. Rooms book up early in the March to October high season.What to know in 2026No timed entry: you don't need an entry reservation in 2026. Expect lines at the entrance on weekends and holidays, and lots that staff close temporarily when they fill up.Still reservation-only: Devils Garden Campground (March through October) and every Fiery Furnace hike, self-guided or ranger-led.Entrance fee: $30 per private vehicle. Arches does not charge the $100 nonresident surcharge. The $55 Southeast Utah Parks annual pass covers Arches, Canyonlands and two national monuments.Heat: July and August highs often pass 100°F. Hike early or late and carry at least two liters of water per person; water is only available at the visitor center.

Island in the Sky is the northern and most accessible district of Utah's Canyonlands National Park, about 32 miles west of Moab. You come for the view: from a mesa top you look roughly 2,200 feet down into the canyons of the Colorado and Green Rivers, and the best overlooks are just minutes from the car.The park splits into three districts that no road inside the park connects. The Needles to the south and the Maze to the west are separate trips; Island in the Sky makes an easy day trip from Moab. One road runs from the visitor center across the mesa to Grand View Point, with a spur to Upheaval Dome.Before you goEntrance fee: $30 per private vehicle. There's no nonresident surcharge here. The $55 Southeast Utah Parks pass also covers Arches.Supplies: no restaurants or gas in the park. Potable water is available at the visitor center only, spring through fall, and there's none on the trails. Fill the tank and pack lunch in Moab.Visitor center: open daily March through December from 9 a.m., with longer summer hours.Combine it: Dead Horse Point State Park is on the way, with its own fee, and its view of the Colorado River's gooseneck is worth the detour.

Utah sits between Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho. Most visitors come for the five national parks in the south, the "Mighty Five": Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands. In winter, the draw is the Wasatch Range, with ski resorts less than an hour from Salt Lake City.Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and gets the Games again in 2034. Northwest of town lies the Great Salt Lake, a remnant of Ice Age Lake Bonneville. The state's high point is Kings Peak (13,518 ft) in the Uinta Mountains.Down south, the parks sit close together: Zion with the Narrows of the Virgin River, Bryce Canyon and its hoodoos, Capitol Reef along the Waterpocket Fold, and Arches and Canyonlands outside Moab. Monument Valley and Lake Powell are right on the Arizona line.

Page is a town of about 7,400 people in far northern Arizona, right on the Utah line and the shore of Lake Powell. It's the base for three stops that top many Southwest road trips: Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell with Glen Canyon Dam, all less than 15 minutes from town.It's roughly four and a half to five hours from both Las Vegas and Phoenix and about three from the Grand Canyon's South Rim. Plan at least one night: Horseshoe Bend is emptiest at sunrise and best lit in the afternoon, Antelope Canyon glows most around midday, and a boat trip on the lake is worth the time.Book aheadAntelope Canyon: guided tours with a Navajo-owned operator only. In spring and summer, book days or weeks out; Upper Antelope Canyon doesn't sell tickets on-site. Budget around $100 per person for Lower Antelope Canyon, including the Navajo Nation fee.Horseshoe Bend: no reservation, but parking is $10 per car.Time zones: Page stays on Mountain Standard Time year-round, while the Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time. Double-check which time your tour is listed in.The town itself is no-frills, with motels, grocery stores and a modest choice of restaurants, but it works well as a base.

Bryce Canyon National Park sits on a high plateau in southern Utah, a short day's drive northeast of Zion, at around 8,000 feet and topping out above 9,000 feet at Rainbow Point. You come for the hoodoos: thousands of orange-red rock spires packed into amphitheaters, with short trails that drop from the rim right down among them.Bryce isn't really a canyon but the eroded edge of a plateau. The heart of the park is the Bryce Amphitheater, lined by Sunrise, Sunset, Inspiration and Bryce Points. From there an 18-mile dead-end road with 13 viewpoints runs south to Rainbow Point.Where to stayThe closest hotels and restaurants are in Bryce Canyon City just outside the entrance, home to the sprawling Ruby's Inn. For something quieter, stay in the village of Tropic below the plateau, about 15 minutes away. Inside the park, the Lodge at Bryce Canyon is open spring through fall.Before you goEntrance fee: $35 per private vehicle. Visitors who aren't U.S. residents pay an extra $100 per person age 16 and up; U.S. residents don't. The America the Beautiful pass ($80 for residents, $250 for nonresidents) covers entry, and the nonresident version waives the surcharge for everyone in the car.Altitude and weather: nights are cool even in summer, it freezes almost every night from October through May, and snow is common in winter. Bring a warm layer and rain gear year-round; weather changes fast up here.After dark: Bryce is an International Dark Sky Park. Rangers run stargazing programs in summer, and full-moon hikes are assigned by lottery.