Bryce Canyon National Park. All photography is ours.
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Utah with Kids
If you want one road trip that shows your kids what the West looks like, do Utah’s Mighty 5. We did it over a ten-day spring break, covering six states and nearly 4,000 miles. It’s a trip we’ll never forget. The five parks are Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches, and Scenic Byway 12 ties several of them together.
We actually hit seven national parks in ten days because we’re lunatics that way. Great Basin in Nevada and the Grand Canyon came along for the ride. You don’t have to do that – a week for Utah is plenty – but go for it if you want the bragging rights.
Destination guide · Updated November 2026 · Last visited March 2019
Best months
April–May, Sept–Oct
National parks
5 + 8 NPS sites
Fly into
SLC · LAS · SGU · CNY
How long
7 days for the Mighty 5, 9 is better
Book ahead
Arches timed entry · Zion Lodge · Angels Landing lottery
Our Utah trip was the Mighty 5 over spring break. We spent one full day in Zion, which we all agreed we’d like to see again. Next came Bryce Canyon, then Highway 12 over the Grand Staircase to Capitol Reef. We saw Canyonlands and Arches from Moab. We wrote it up with one-day plans for each park, entrance fees, and where to stay. Hovenweep on the Colorado line came on a separate trip.
Besides some amazing National Parks, be sure to spend some time in Salt Lake City and Park City as well.
Your Utah guide
Enjoy exploring Utah with kids!
Keep scrolling for the essentials, three road trips, and where to stay.
Essential Utah
Why we love Utah
We think you’ll love it too.
Utah is where we’d send a family that wants more arches and more hoodoos than anywhere else on earth. We’ve done Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, and the Grand Staircase ourselves. Park City and Salt Lake City are also cool destinations for families. Our very first family ski trip was to The Canyons before it became part of Park City Resort, so it will always have special memories for us.
Till this day, some of my favorite pictures on the blog are in this page and our Utah guides. It’s such an iconic, easy to photograph trip that we know you’ll love too.
The Mighty 5 Guide
Our full itinerary covers all five parks in a week, in the right order, with kids. It includes one-day plans, fees, and hotels for each park.
Zion National Park Guide
We had one full day in Zion, and it’s the park we’d most like to go back to. In spring we parked at the visitor center and rode the shuttle up the canyon.
Bryce Canyon Guide
Take in the hoodoos from the rim, then hike the Navajo Loop down into them. It’s cold at 8,000 feet, even on spring break.
Arches National Park Guide
Catch Delicate Arch at sunset from Moab. Check whether timed entry is in effect before you book anything.
And the rest we’d cross the state for
Capitol Reef Guide
Capitol Reef is the quiet one in the middle, reached over Highway 12. Don’t miss the pioneer orchards and the pie shop at the Gifford House.
Canyonlands Guide
Island in the Sky is thirty minutes from Moab. Mesa Arch at sunrise and the Grand View Point overlook are both short walks.
Grand Staircase-Escalante Guide
We drove over from Bryce on Highway 12 on the way to Capitol Reef. Nearly two million acres of slot canyons and slickrock rolled by out the window.
Hovenweep National Monument Guide
Hovenweep’s ancient stone towers sit in the far southeast corner of the state, and we saw them on a separate trip. It’s quiet and flat, and a good stop between Moab and Mesa Verde.
Goblin Valley State Park
Goblin Valley is full of mushroom-shaped rocks kids can climb on for hours, between Moab and Capitol Reef. It’s on our list.
Park City AftT Visit
Canyons Village is now part of Park City Mountain, one of the biggest ski resorts in the country. In summer there’s an alpine slide and coaster, and the Olympic Park has freestyle ski shows plus a bobsled ride for older teens and adults.
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City has the Natural History Museum and the Hogle Zoo. Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake is where the bison roam.
Great Basin, Nevada Guide
Great Basin was our sixth park on the Utah trip, four hours west of the Mighty 5 route. We toured Lehman Caves and hardly saw another visitor.
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AftT #ParkPics: Hovenweep National Monument
Hovenweep National Monument in Pictures Hovenweep National Monument is a small NPS site in the far southeast corner of Utah…
AftT #ParkPics: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Pictures Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah is managed by the Bureau of Land Management…
The Utah Mighty 5 with kids: A Weeklong Utah Road Trip
Visiting all five of Utah’s National Parks has become an iconic journey for many travelers over the years. The Mighty…
Routes
Three Utah road trip itineraries
This is one state with three very different trips. Pick the full Mighty 5 loop we did, the southwest parks from Las Vegas, or the Moab side alone. See all the best stops on a map.
Start
Zion
Our Mighty 5 guide gives Zion a full day. Park at the visitor center in spring and ride the shuttle.
Then head to
Bryce & Capitol Reef
Drive two hours to Bryce for the hoodoos, then take Highway 12 over the Grand Staircase to Capitol Reef. The drive is the point and just incredible.
Finish
Moab: Canyonlands & Arches
It’s two and a half hours east. See Island in the Sky in the morning and Arches at sunset. Stay two or three nights in Moab.
Home base
Springdale & Zion
Fly into LAS and drive two and a half hours. Three nights for the Riverside Walk, the Emerald Pools, and the Narrows if the river is low.
Then head to
Bryce Canyon
It’s two hours northeast via the Zion tunnel. Catch sunrise at Sunrise Point, then hike the Navajo and Queen’s Garden loop.
Add on
Kanab & the North Rim
Kanab is the base for Coral Pink Sand Dunes. The Grand Canyon’s North Rim is ninety minutes south, open mid-May to mid-October.
Home base
Moab
Visit Arches at sunrise and sunset and Canyonlands’ Island in the Sky in the middle, then take a raft trip on the Colorado for the afternoon.
Then head to
Goblin Valley
It’s ninety minutes west. Let the kids climb the goblins for as long as they want.
Finish
Hovenweep & Mesa Verde
Drive two hours southeast to Hovenweep, then an hour more into Colorado for Mesa Verde.
When to go
Time your visits with the weather and the region
We did the Mighty 5 over spring break, and it worked. The low parks were warm, Bryce was cold in the mornings, and the Zion shuttles were running. The parks range from 4,000 feet at Zion to 9,000 at Bryce, so one week can be hot in one park and snowy in the next. Spring and fall are the best times to go with kids.
Swipe the chart sideways to see the full year.
April – May
This is when we went. Expect warm days in Moab and Zion, snow still on the Bryce rim, and the Virgin River low enough for the Narrows by late May. Spring break crowds are the trade-off.
June – August
It’s hot in the low parks, with highs near 100 in Zion and Moab. Hike at dawn, swim in the afternoon, and use the heat as an excuse to visit Bryce and Cedar Breaks. Monsoon storms bring flash flood risk in slot canyons.
September – October
The heat breaks, the cottonwoods turn gold in Zion by late October, and the crowds thin after Labor Day.
November – March
It’s quiet and cheap. Bryce under snow is spectacular and the rim trails stay open. Zion’s canyon shuttle stops and you can drive in. Park City is skiing.
Where to stay
Pick a good base to start your Utah adventure
Utah is easier when you move base to base in order. Here’s where we stayed and what we’d pick again.
Moab trips
Moab
Moab is the base for Arches and Canyonlands, with more hotels than any other park town in Utah. Points work well at the chains on Main Street. Spring break weekends sell out.
- Hotels near each park, from our trip
- Main Street chains on points
- Book for spring break by January
Zion trips
Springdale & Zion Lodge
Zion Lodge is inside the canyon and opens a year ahead. Springdale is right at the gate with a free shuttle, and it’s the most expensive town in the state in season.
- Zion Lodge if you can get it
- Springdale for the shuttle
- Hurricane or Kanab for cheaper rooms
Bryce & the byway
Bryce Canyon City & Torrey
Bryce has the lodge inside the park and a cluster of hotels at the entrance. Torrey is the tiny base for Capitol Reef, and Escalante is the stop in the middle of Byway 12.
- The Lodge at Bryce Canyon for the rim at dawn
- Torrey for Capitol Reef and pie
- Escalante for Lower Calf Creek Falls
Good to know
Questions families ask us about Utah
You need about a week for the five parks. Ours fit inside a ten-day spring break that also covered Great Basin and the Grand Canyon. Seven days is the minimum and nine is comfortable. Plan a full day in Zion and one at Bryce, a half day at Capitol Reef on the drive, and two or three nights in Moab for Canyonlands and Arches. Our itinerary lays it out with one-day plans for each park.
It was Zion. We all agreed it’s the one we’d like to visit again, because one day wasn’t enough. Arches at sunset was the photo everybody wanted. The drive over Highway 12 between Bryce and Capitol Reef was the surprise of the trip.
SLC to start in Moab and end in Zion, flying home from Las Vegas (LAS), or the reverse. We drove the whole loop from Oklahoma, which is how we ended up in six states.
Yes, you do. The parks are hours apart. Inside Zion, the canyon is shuttle-only most of the year, and Bryce has an optional shuttle, but you’ll need a car between them.
In the busy season, usually April through October, you do. Reservations are released on recreation.gov months ahead with a batch the night before. Check the park’s current rules. They’ve changed year to year since our trip.
It’s a lottery permit and a chained ledge with a long drop. We wouldn’t take young kids. Scout Lookout, the flat spot before the chains, needs no permit and has most of the view.
Map
Essential Utah, mapped
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