Utah's five national parks, in one loop from Las Vegas

Route description

Leave Las Vegas northeast on I-15 into Utah and turn off toward Springdale and Zion National Park, where sandstone walls rise 2,000 feet above the Virgin River. For much of the year the scenic drive is served only by the park shuttle, and Watchman Campground at the canyon mouth is a short walk from it and from the town. Leaving east on the Zion–Mount Carmel Highway, you pass through a narrow tunnel where large vehicles need a paid escort and the very largest are not allowed at all.

US-89 and Scenic Byway 12 lead to Bryce Canyon, where the Navajo Loop takes you from the rim down among the orange hoodoos. Byway 12 continues through Escalante and Boulder, including the narrow Hogback ridge, to Capitol Reef. In its Fruita district you can pick fruit in the pioneer orchards in season, buy pie at the Gifford House and camp on grassy sites along the Fremont River.

East on Utah 24 the land turns into bare gray and ocher badlands before I-70 and US-191 bring you to Moab. Arches National Park has more than 2,000 stone arches, and timed-entry reservations are often required in peak season, so check before you go. In the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands, Mesa Arch is a half-mile walk from the road, and at sunrise its underside glows red.

The return runs south on US-191 and US-163 to Monument Valley on Navajo Nation land, where the valley drive is unpaved and Navajo guides lead tours deeper in. Continue to Page for Horseshoe Bend, a 1.5-mile round-trip walk to an unfenced rim 1,000 feet above the Colorado River, then head west via Kanab back to Las Vegas. Spring and fall are the best seasons, as summer brings heat and winter can bring snow to Bryce, which sits above 8,000 feet; note too that the Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time while the rest of Arizona does not.