Coyote Gulch in Escalante, Utah
With its unique landscapes and abundance of national parks, few places are more suited to road tripping than the American Southwest. Deep canyons meet monumental arches, millions of years in the making, creating an unworldly desert oasis.
Navajo point in Grand Canyon National Park
Our car packed with gear for 1 week on the road
Where we started: Phoenix, Arizona. At the time of this road trip, my sister was living in Phoenix. Her apartment was an easy meeting point for all of us coming from different states. (Note that other popular starting destinations include Las Vegas, Nevada and Salt Lake City, Utah.)
When we went: May 4-11. Late spring is one of the best times to visit this area as the temperatures tend to be warm during the day and comfortable during the night. However, you can expect big crowds during this time of year.
What we drove: All wheel SUV. There is one destination on this itinerary that you will want a 4-wheel drive for or at least a high clearance vehicle.
South kaibab trail in Grand Canyon National Park
Driving north from Phoenix, Arizona we made a clockwise loop through the southern half of Utah. Exploring national parks, backpacking into the Grand Staircase Escalante, and driving through Monument Valley was the trip of a lifetime.
Views from ooh aah point
Navajo point
We started our Arizona Utah road trip with a 4 hour drive from Phoenix to Grand Canyon National Park extremely eager and extremely early. At 3 a.m. to be exact. In what would be a successful attempt at obtaining a walk-up campsite. Luckily, even though it was a Saturday morning, about a third of the patrons at desert view campground seemed to be packing up around 7 a.m. just as we arrived. To our surprise, we were able to find an open site within minutes of arriving.
Duck on a Rock Viewpoint
When you get to Grand Canyon National Park there are so many activities to chose from! I would recommend doing a short hike and checking out some iconic view points. We started at Mather Point, right outside the visitor’s center. Then hiked to Ooh Aah Point and ate lunch along the trail. We ended the day at Navajo point for sunset.
Attractions to consider include:
For a more detailed itinerary, you can read my 1-day in Grand Canyon National Park blog post!
Horseshoe bend
Sitting along the horseshoe bend ledge
Day 2 of our Arizona Utah road trip consisted of another early start. Leaving at 3 a.m we drove approximately 2 hours from Grand Canyon National Park to Horseshoe bend in Page, Arizona to catch the sunrise. Thankfully, horseshoe bend was a quick 1.25 mile round trip walk with minimal elevation gain.
We didn’t spend too much more time in Page but some additional popular attractions include:
Following horseshoe bend we opted to move on to Kanab, Utah which had a ton of outdoor activities to choose from! Wanting to explore slot canyons, we headed for Buckskin Gulch, a great alternative to Antelope Canyon. It was much cheaper and didn’t require a tour or reservation. We hiked a portion of the wire pass trail, simply putting $6 in the trailhead collection box before starting (based on the honor system).
Coral Pink Sand Dunes
To end the day, we drove another 2 hours to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Upon arrival, we rented sand boards (similar to snowboards) and spent the rest of the day playing under the pastel painted sky.
Once the sun went down (around 8:30 p.m.) we decided to drive another hour to Watchman Campground in Zion National Park so we could sleep in a little bit the next morning. However, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park also has campsites available if needed.
Summit of Angels Landing
Watchman campground – Zion National Park
This was the first day of our Arizona Utah road trip that we got to sleep in, yay! Around 9:30 a.m. we made our way over to the canyon overlook trail. By the time we got there it was absolutely packed. We had to park far up the road and were surrounded by people the entire time we were on the trail.
Canyon Overlook Trail
Once we got to the viewpoint the crowd became more dispersed and therefore more tolerable. The trail is very short (~1 mile) and provides stunning views of Zion canyon.
Angel’s Landing Summit
Following Canyon overlook trail we stopped for lunch at Cafe Soleil, near the Zion National Park Visitor Center. Then around 2:00 p.m. we headed to the infamous Angel’s Landing trail. The hike was approximately 4.5 miles long with big crowds and steep inclines. Luckily, we were the only ones crazy enough to stay long enough for sunset and we had the entire summit to ourselves.
(*Note: As of 2022, Zion National Park has implemented a permitting system for Angel’s Landing to control the crowding. You can view reservation availability here.)
Other popular Zion National Park attractions include:
You can read more about my one day in Zion National Park in this blog post.
Inspiration Point
We left Zion National Park at 4 a.m. to get to Bryce Canyon National Park by sunrise, one of the best times for photography. Looking out over the uniquely shaped hoodoo spires as the sun rays start to pour over will make you feel like you’re on a different planet. We caught the sunrise at Inspiration Point and then headed to North campground to grab a walk up camp site after that.
We had planned to hike the Navajo Loop Trail paired with the Queen’s Garden trail, but unfortunately it was closed due to the snow that had fallen the day prior. Instead, we ended up driving around the canyon rim, stopping off at the major viewpoints. Some popular attractions to consider on your trip would be:
(*Note: Bryce Canyon National Park was SIGNIFICANTLY colder than the rest of the destinations listed on this road trip itinerary. Even though we went in May we still experienced bouts of snow and hail here.)
Coyote Gulch
Coyote Gulch, located in Escalante was the #1 place I wanted to visit when creating this Arizona Utah road trip itinerary. It was definitely the most isolated, but retrospectively well worth the added hours of driving. Please note that this is a backpacking spot and there is not an area to camp near your car. Also, the road you need to drive on to get to the trailhead is very rough. A 4-wheel or AWD is recommended.
The hike into Coyote Gulch itself can be done via multiple trails in varying lengths, ranging from 5-26 miles round trip. We chose the shortest route, called sneaker route since we were pressed for time. Note that this route includes a 200 ft. wall descent (~45 degree grade) down slick rock which many people are not comfortable doing without rope. We didn’t have any problem with it ourselves, but everyone in our group was an experienced hiker.
Coyote Gulch at Night
You can read more about our experience in my Guide to Coyote Gulch blog post.
Temple of the sun and moon
The next morning we hiked out of the gulch up the same sneaker trail and made our way to Capitol Reef Park. We actually weren’t planning on visiting Capitol Reef National Park originally but it made for a great break in our 5 hour drive from Coyote Gulch to Arches National Park.
Once at Capitol Reef National Park we were most interested in seeing the temple of the Sun, located in the Cathedral Valley District of the park. This part of the park was more remote and required a high clearance vehicle to get to.
Other popular attractions at Capitol Reef National Park include:
Once we were done exploring Capitol Reef National Park we made our way over to Arches National Park. Along the way, we stopped on the side of the road multiple times to admire some of Utah’s magnificent landscapes.
Arches National Park was the one place we were not able to get a campsite. We ended up having to stay in motel in Moab.
Double Arch
We arrived to Arches National Park around 7 a.m. and luckily so. Shortly after 9 a.m. visitors were being turned away as the park had reached capacity. Arches national park, as iconic as it is, is a relatively small national park and gets extremely crowded.
(Note: as of 2022, Arches national park has implemented a timed entry system in order to control the crowds. This means you will now need a reservation to enter the park. You can find more information here.)
During the morning we explored the windows area of Arches National Park including double arch and turret arch. These hikes were pretty short so we had ample time left during the day for more activities. This would be a great time to check out Canyon lands National Park. Or, you could also opt to hike the Corona Arch Trail instead like we did. This hike was an easy 2.3 miles and only about 1 hour away from Arches National Park.
Corona Arch
If you are planning to visit Canyonlands in 1 day, it’s recommended to stay in the Island of the Sky area. Popular attractions include:
Due to the crowds during the day we actually saved Delicate Arch trail for the night. Once the moon set, we mounted our headlamps and set out on the (3.4 mile) hike in the dark. What we we were awarded with absolutely blew our minds.
Delicate Arch
You can check out my Arches National Park blog post for all the hikes you won’t want to miss.
Road to Monument Valley
We left Moab around 8 a.m. for the last day of our Arizona Utah road trip. The drive from Moab to Monument Valley was approximately 3 hours, which felt extremely long after the week we had. We spent about half a day here before making the drive back down to Phoenix, Arizona.
If you have an extra day to spare a great option to split up this drive would be to stop in Sedona on the way back down. Sedona has a ton of hiking and view points to see including:
Double Arch at Sunrise
If you are in the midst of planning an Arizona Utah road trip, I hope this guide helped you! Please share any other recommendations you have in the comments below.
Photos were taken in Collaboration with Matt Tonokawa
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