A Journey Through Utah's Mighty 5
This year, our big vacation was a journey through the Utah Mighty 5 National Parks. This was my first time visiting Utah and I wholeheartedly admit that the marketing by Visit Utah totally worked on me.
It’s difficult to describe the trip in one word, but I’ll try! It was…magnificent! We set out knowing that we would not see everything at every park…but rather enough to leave us wanting more, and to make another visit in the future.
Each park is a photographer’s dream, a hiker’s heaven and a nature-lover’s ultimate breath of fresh air. You feel so small among the rocks and mountains, yet realize how much you can have an impact on the environment if you disrespect it.
The view of Turret Arch and the landscape at Arches National Park.
When we were out in Utah, I couldn’t WAIT to share our journey and all of the photographs I took. Okay, maybe not ALL of them (I had about 1,300!) I was excited to share our experience with the plans we made, with each park, and tips for your own journey through the Mighty 5!
So...here we go! I’m going to share a series of posts that go through our journey through each park, by day. I’ll share the pros and cons (if there are any) with our itinerary, tips for what to pack as a photographer, why we wanted to take this trip, and anything else I think of as I write these posts and reflect on the scenery!
What is the Mighty 5?
The Mighty 5 is the name used to describe the 5 National Parks in Utah that line the southern part of the state. From West to East, these are: Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Arches National Park.
Why we chose the Mighty 5
Earlier this year, my husband and I realized that we hadn’t yet planned for a long vacation for the year. We had some ideas of places we wanted to visit, but nothing seemed quite right… New York City and D.C. both seemed like great places to visit, but both are busy cities that wouldn’t quite provide relaxation. And a week in either seemed a bit much. Going to the beach? That would be great! But which beach and ideally, if we’re going to the beach let’s just drive. We also wanted to be able to explore something. And when we were considering where we would want to go for a week, we also wanted a domestic trip for this vacation. Enter: the Mighty 5 campaign by VisitUtah:
Can you see why this worked on me? As a photographer - I was in absolute awe. And as we were considering a location for our next vacation, I could see how the natural beauty would provide us relaxation, yet we would have something to explore every. single. day. The fresh air. The colorful rocks. The adventure. I was sold. And after describing this trip to my husband and showing him the video, he was sold too!
One of the vast views from Canyonlands National Park
Trip Planning - where earth do to begin???
Once we decided that this was our trip, and when we wanted to travel, I started with some research on how to develop a trip itinerary.
We knew that we were going to travel after Labor Day in order to avoid the summer heat, and to avoid the summer crowds! But the decision for the length of the trip and the direction of the trip needed to be decided asap - it was clear that these parks are in small towns that have a limited inventory for lodging. We were not going to camp, or rent an RV (although, we considered it!), so we had to rely on traditional lodging. This meant we had to move on our plans quick!
There are a large number of blog posts and articles about itinerary planning based on which direction you want to take, but these are a few that helped us get started:
National Parks Road Trip: Utah(from: National Geographic)
Utah’s Mighty 5: Travel Guide and Road Trip Itinerary (from: earthtrekkers.com)
We used these resources, along with a couple of books, to help us decide how long our trip would need to be and how long we would need at each park. Although, with that being said, the parks are so large that if you’re really into hiking and adventure, you could easily spend 3-5 days at a single park. The standard guidance is that you need at least 7 days, but ideally one week, for this trip. We did the trip in 7 nights, but…one night was in Las Vegas, so I don’t know if that really counts!
What do you mean you had to decide on a direction?
The parks are kind of in a linear order, which means you will likely want an itinerary that runs from west to east, or vice versa. Some itineraries plan for a loop, if you’re flying in and out of the same city, but this left me feeling like we were going to waste some time driving longer than we really wanted.
How early is early, in regards to planning?
Let’s just put it this way - for the two parks that do have onsite lodging (Bryce and Zion), they open reservations a year in advance. For our early-September trip, we made our reservations about 6 months in advance and there were slim-pickings in some of the towns - mainly near Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef. Depending on the town, you will have a variety of options - from bungalows, to cabins, to typical large-chain hotels.
Remember to keep in mind any reservations needed for outfitters and special tours. We booked two guided excursions - more on that in future posts!
Bottom line: things book up quickly!
One of the side hikes at Bryce Canyon
Basics to pack on this trip?
If you’re going to be hiking, for any length of time, you will need a water reservoir/water bladder. The air is dry and you’re at a high altitude. Not to mention the heat depending on the time of year. I carried 2L, my husband carried 3L and we were so thankful to have those with us. I would also recommend going to a Costco or Sam’s Club and stock up on high protein snacks. We packed beef jerky, trail mix, and Cliff bars. Since the shopping options are limited throughout the trip, I was glad that we packed these in our suitcases so we could have exactly what we wanted.
Also - really good hiking boots that have a grip. The rocks and ground are smooth and can get slick quickly with the littlest amount of rain. And trekking poles - we bought these and they were invaluable.
Don’t forget the other basics - sunscreen, hiking pants, UV shirts, and a good backpack.
What about camera gear?
I’ll write about this in a future post - but for now, I’ll just say: do your research and decide ahead of time what you want to shoot and what your priorities are. If you have a DSLR, be mindful of the weight and consider keeping your equipment to the bare minimum.
Our chosen itinerary:
We opted for 8 days/7 nights, working our way East to West. We flew in to Salt Lake City and ended in Las Vegas.
Our high-level itinerary looked like this:
Day 1 (afternoon) - Day 3 (morning): Arches and Canyonlands
Drive to Torrey, UT
Day 3 (afternoon) - Day 4 (morning): Capitol Reef
Drive to Tropic, UT
Day 4 (afternoon) - Day 6 (morning): Bryce Canyon
Drive to Zion
Day 6 (afternoon) - Day 7 (morning): Zion
Drive to Las Vegas
Day 8: Fly home!
There’s more to come about our journey!!! I hope you’ll join me in this series of blog posts as I describe our experience with each park!
