USA: Utah – National Parks and Deserts

By: MJ + PJ

See the gallery of PHOTOS: Utah + Nevada

See the MAPS page for the areas we were at – zoom for precise locations.

See the 360 DATA page for costs and accommodation types. Use search query: “UT,”

See BUCKET LIST: Month One for locations in Utah that we visited.

We had come to Colorado from California via Utah in 2009, and we left via a visit to the same state, this time being able to stop at two places on our National Parks list – Arches and Zion. We had seen Bryce NP briefly, previously. Even after this pass through we are yet to see Canyonlands NP, Capitol Reef NP, and Utah’s other numerous national monuments and forests.

We had been to Arches NP before, but had never been to or under Delicate Arch – the Utah icon which adorns their license plates. Mission accomplished with an early hike after a pre-dawn drive through the park. We also saw several other arches and Balancing Rock, giving our Flat (Stanley) Orthodontist a good workout in the process.

As the thermostat rose we drove away from Moab to the south east corner to curl around into the northern edge of Arizona to stay the night at Page near Lake Powell. It was a long day and we needed a shower and some laundry done! Upon departure the next morning, MJ had misplaced his new glasses. This led to panic and then an obnoxious patterning of white duct tape on the black glasses case to avoid future misplacements once they were located.

We obtained a campsite on the east side of Zion NP. A great spot with hot showers, WiFi, and friendly camp staff – one of whom was a camp host for years at a lake just outside Loveland in Colorado. We set up camp then headed into the park to battle for parking, battle with maths pages getting done, and get out for a walk along The Narrows. We were a half day behind two different work friends in Utah and so never crossed paths. The Narrows were crowded but fascinating and such an oasis of coolness in the heat of the desert. Back at camp the evening sky was a simply stunning array of stars and galaxies.

Day two in Zion, which was really just the second 12 hours before we left, we were up early to pack up camp and conquer Angel’s Landing. We caught the bus at about 7:15am and started the varied and majestic ascent to the landing. We spent some time up on the top to soak it all up and have a mid morning snack. Then we picked our way back down as the heat and stream of hikers accumulated. We were able to sneak a look at the Emerald pools prior to having lunch at the lodge area. 

We made an exit towards Nevada at about 1pm. We were not long in Utah, but saw and did a lot to get this adventure rolling. A few things being ticked off our bucket list already!