🚗 5 national parks in one trip

It’s Wednesday, y’all, which means it's Roadtripper time!

It’s finally cooled off in the southern parts of the country, so I can actually wrap my head around road trips in the Southwest again.

And several of you have requested a Utah national park road trip. Like a while ago. 😅

So here we go, all the logistics for planning a Mighty 5 road trip (or shorter option).

• 🚗 Planning a Utah national park road trip

• ✈️ Getting to the starting line

• 🏨 Award stays near the parks

• 🛑 Pit Stop Poll: Which trip is for you?

🚗 Planning a Utah national park road trip

There are multiple ways to hit the five parks spread across Utah. The best option can vary a lot depending on weather, time of year, and how much time you want to spend in the car.

Before serving up a few options, here’s the briefest summary ever of these parks. There’s so much more in these parks (and the rest of Utah), but I’d have to write a newsletter for each park to truly do them justice. Let’s take a peek:

Zion National Park

Towering red sandstone cliffs that rise from the canyon floor, with the Virgin River running through the middle. Highlights include the daring ascent to Angel’s Landing (which requires an advance reservation) and a hike through the Narrows (closed in spring when water runs high).

Bryce Canyon National Park

Not an actual canyon, but a series of huge natural amphitheaters dotted with the largest collection of rock spires called hoodoos in the world. Get your sweeping views at Bryce Point or Sunset Point and walk among the hoodoos themselves in the Queen’s Garden.

Capitol Reef National Park

Centered around the Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile ridge of rock, plus the old pioneer town of Fruita. Discover historic orchards, ancient petroglyphs, and hike the Hickman Bridge trail.

Arches National Park

Home to more than 2,000 natural stone arches, the most anywhere in the world, plus towering pinnacles and giant balanced rocks. Don’t miss Delicate Arch, the famous symbol of Utah, and Landscape Arch, one of the world's longest.

Canyonlands National Park

A massive maze of canyons and buttes carved by the Colorado and Green Rivers, split into separate districts like Island in the Sky and the Needles. Sunset at Mesa Arch is a must.

Alright, now that you know what’s out there, let’s figure out how to get there.

Option A: The Mighty 5 Road trip

Hit all 5 of the national parks in one big trip.

• Fly into Las Vegas, rent a car, and drive 1.5- 2 hours to Zion National Park.

• Spend 2 nights in Springdale exploring Zion

• Head to Bryce Canyon and spend 2 days there

• Spend a night in Torrey to hit Capitol Reef

• Spend 2 nights in Moab to explore Canyonlands and Arches National Parks

• Drive to SLC and fly home or find a smaller flight from Moab (CNY)

Pros: You see it ALL in one big trip.

Cons: It’s doable but really tight. There’s plenty to see on the drive that could easily turn this into a much longer road trip. Personally, I’d want to slow down to make it more enjoyable. To minimize backtracking, I’d also book open-jaw flights into Las Vegas and out of Salt Lake City or Moab, but that means paying more for a different car-rental drop-off location.

Option 2: Zion + Bryce

This is the option I’d consider, largely because affordable direct flights are easy to come by, and you’d have more time to slowly see the two parks before returning home.

How to do it

Fly into Las Vegas and just visit these two big parks. Drive 2 hours to Springdale, spend a few days exploring Zion National Park, then pack up and head to Bryce Canyon National Park. Add in a state park on the way back to break up the return drive to Vegas.

You could technically even sprinkle in a little Las Vegas fun if you want to dust off and see the bright lights after a week out in nature. But you do you, boo. 💅

Pros: Flights into Las Vegas can be really affordable, and if you do it right, no drive would be longer than 2.5 hours. Looping back to Vegas also makes for a clean round-trip and saves money by letting you pick up/drop off your rental car at the same location. 

Cons: Requires packing up and moving accommodations in order to comfortably hit both parks.

Option 3: One base, two parks

You can focus your trip solely on Moab, base yourself there, and take day trips to both Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park without ever having to repack and change accommodations. We’ve also previously highlighted a cool lodging option in Moab in this Colorado newsletter. 

Pros: This option lets you hit Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park with one base in Moab, so you don't have to pack up and move every couple of days.

Cons: Moab is a little farther from a major airport, so flying into SLC is your best bet for an affordable direct flight, or you can connect in Denver to Moab (CNY) for a much shorter drive. United operates most of the regional routes in the area and is your best bet for booking anything with a connection.

Road trip planning tips

• Dress accordingly: Bryce runs about 20°F colder than Zion and Moab. Dress in layers and pack microspikes for icy winter trails. Alternatively, bring serious sun protection in hotter months.

• Book early: many hotels and restaurants in Torrey and Bryce close or cut back for winter, and spring lodging books out in advance. Also, Angels Landing requires a permit through the recreation.gov lottery.

• Plan for limited service: Byway 12 and the stretch from Capitol Reef to Moab have long gaps with no gas or cell service.

• Get the $80 America the Beautiful pass: We covered this a while back. It saves on admission to all 5 parks and is free if you’ve got a 4th grader!

•  Zion shuttle timing: It typically runs through late November, after which you can drive the canyon yourself. The exception is the holidays (about late December to early January), when the shuttle returns and private cars are again not allowed. Check nps.gov/zion to verify for your dates.

• Go early or late: parking at Arches and Zion fills by mid-morning, and with sunset around 5–6 pm, start hikes early and carry a headlamp.

When to visit

October offers the best weather, and even November can be great, though it gets chillier. Spring is also nice, but it’s the busiest time of year, and accommodations can be expensive. Winter is cold but quiet, if that’s your thing. Avoid the summer months unless absolutely necessary because it gets hot (over 100 degrees) and shade is minimal. 

✈️ Getting to the starting line

Now that we’ve sketched a few itineraries, the question becomes how to actually get to any of our starting points.

The budget-friendly option that’s rapidly disappearing

Southwest has one of its frequent sales going on, so I can get a Basic Fare ticket from Houston to Las Vegas for just 6,000 points on select dates.

And a return flight from Salt Lake City just a week later starting at 9,500 points.

With my Companion pass, I can add a companion for just $5.60, meaning two of us would fly round-trip from Houston for 15,500 points + about $23 in taxes and fees.

Plus, as a Southwest cardholder, my first checked bag flies free and I can select a seat 48 hours before check-in, so I don’t really sweat paying for the cheaper fares.

This is a prime example of why we’re all crying about Southwest changing its Companion Pass structure, and why you should jump on it now if you want to earn it the easy way.

Easy ways to save on domestic carriers

Without a Companion Pass, though, I actually prefer to fly out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), and this United flight from IAH to LAS would do the trick for 14,200 miles… though if you’re a United cardholder, you’d save even more and pay only 12,700 miles for the same flight. 💁‍♀️

You can also find similarly priced flights in and out of Salt Lake City on United, but SLC is notably a Delta hub. And this girl has a big ol’ stash of Flying Blue miles, perfect for booking Delta.

Booking Delta flights through Flying Blue is a trick that every domestic traveler should keep in their back pocket, since Flying Blue often charges fewer miles for Delta flights than Delta does.

Take the example below. Flying Blue has the cheapest award rate for this Delta economy flight at just 16,000 miles. It’s the same Delta flight, just booked through Flying Blue.

Plus, Flying Blue partners with every major points program (and frequently offers transfer bonuses), so booking this should be an option for just about everybody.

Alternatively, if you're a Delta cardholder, you’d save 15% on Delta-operated award flights, so this same flight, priced at 16,600 miles through Delta, would run you a little over 14,000 miles and might be the better deal. 🤷‍♀️

How award flights can save you on regional routes

Or scrap the drive to Salt Lake City entirely if you can find a deal directly from Moab (CNY) and don’t mind a layover in Denver. Because it sounds expensive… until it isn’t.

This is where award flights can really come in handy:

• The cash price for a direct United flight from Salt Lake City to Houston was around $260 for the most basic economy fare.

• The cash price for Moab (CNY) to Houston with a layover in Denver was $365, over $100 more per person, but saved you hours of driving.

• But the exact same flights were both available as award flights for 15,000 miles (13.5k for United cardholders).

So while cash flights might be expensive to/from some of these smaller regional airports, it’s worth checking award deals to see how they compare. 💡

At first, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to start in Las Vegas or Salt Lake City, or if there were any options from Moab. But because Pro members can now search multiple cities at a time, I could search all of them at once, find the best flight deals for my dates, and plan my trip around the cheapest flights. Pretty handy!

🏨 Award stays near the parks

The biggest piece left to plan is where to stay near each park.

For Zion, consider these options bookable with points:

• Holiday Inn Express Springdale

• Hampton Inn & Suites Springdale/Zion National Park

• La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham at Zion Park/Springdale

Award night options are more limited for the Capitol Reef and Bryce parks, which is why planning ahead for stays here is imperative:

• SpringHill Suites by Marriott Bryce Canyon

• Days Inn by Wyndham Torrey Capitol Reef

Moab has the most robust selection, but it’s popular in the spring and can still book up:

• Casitas at the Hoodoo Moab, Curio Collection by Hilton

• Element Moab (Marriott)

• SpringHill Suites Moab (Marriott)

• Fairfield Inn & Suites Moab (Marriott)

• Days Inn by Wyndham Moab

You’ll notice no Hyatt locations listed, but that doesn’t mean you’re completely out of luck.

Under Canvas has properties outside Zion National Park and Bryce National Park, in Moab, and near the Grand Escalante Staircase, all of which you can book with World of Hyatt points.

While they only operate seasonally, stargazing in a tent outside a national park would be a really cool experience if your dates line up!

🛑 The Pit Stop Poll: Which trip is for you?

🚘 The Dashboard 🚘

Whew, that was a lot. And yet somehow, I could’ve included so much more.

Hope you could follow along and found a deal worth exploring.

Lemme know if you’ve done this trip or plan to now!

See y’all next week, ❤️

Katie Begnoche
Writer, Daily Drop
29.7604° N , 95.3698° W

with contributions by Sam Anthony.