Utah Family Vacation Itinerary

Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands

National Parks

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Program Information

Our hiking trip vacations started about a year ago. Previously, we were a beach and lake family, spending most of our vacations in Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These destinations were easier with younger children because they were in the same time zone, and drivable or a direct flight away. As the children have gotten older, we have switched gears to more active family vacations. I’m not saying it still isn’t without challenges, but we are taking advantage of our kids not being little kids and not being teenagers either. We got our toes wet, more like jumped in, visiting Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, The Grand Canyon, and Sedona. For more about this itinerary click here. For our next vacation, we decided to head back to Utah to finish off “The Mighty Five” (the five national parks in Utah).

Here is our itinerary visiting Capitol Reef National Park, Arches National Park, and Canyonlands National Park along with a stop at the Colorado National Monument and skiing in Breckenridge.

Timing

The timing of this trip was Spring Break 2021. Keep in mind the COVID pandemic was still in full force with mask mandates and closures still in place. I will be detailing out trip and tips from our experience visiting at this time. As you can imagine, during the summer, the weather, attire, and the gear needed is much different. Since this was during the pandemic, many restaurants were closed or had limited hours. We also avoided going to restaurants whenever possible due to the pandemic. Crowds at National Parks have been breaking records as things begin to open back up. I would recommend planning on everything being crowded and booked way in advance especially if you would like to stay at the lodging in the parks. Be safe, not sorry. Plan in advance, book your lodging as soon as you can and stay up to date with crowds and timing by visiting the National Parks Websites as well as follow their Instagram accounts.

Hiking Vacation and Park Tips

My family has been on many hiking trips and I put together a list of things that we use regularly on our hiking vacations. I have also included some crucial tips on how to navigate the parks and other tips on how to have a safe and enjoyable hiking vacation. These are things that we have learned along the way that might make things easier for you on your next trip no matter where your next hiking destination will be. This information is just as important as figuring out your itinerary. Be sure to read this article (click the button below) that I put together with all of these tips!

Hiking and Park Tips

Trail Descriptions and Details

In this article I list the trail names but I do not go into a lot of detail regarding the trails because trail conditions can change. I do a lot of research on trails in the areas we visit, and I choose the trails that I think are best. We do not do hikes longer than 8 miles total and the difficulty of our hikes can be easy-difficult. All of the hikes we do are top rated hikes and are some the best in the area, but they are not ALL of the hikes in the area. Some hikes that are on our itinerary may not be appropriate for you and your family so be sure to view details of each trail. As I mention in the “hiking and park tips article” (posted above), it is best to look at the All Trails App and the National Park’s websites for detailed descriptions of the trails. This way, you have up to date information regarding trail conditions, closures, etc. so you can make an informed decision on which trails you would like to hike and things you would like to see.

Flight

We had two choices of airports to fly into to start our trip at Capitol Reef National Park. We could fly into Salt Lake City, Utah or Denver, Colorado. The drive to our first destination was similar from both airports but the flight was less expensive to Denver and it was a direct flight vs a flight with a connection if we flew into Salt Lake City.

We flew into Denver and our arrival was late so we stayed at a hotel close to the airport then the next morning headed out to Torrey, Utah which is about a 7 hour drive with no stops. On the way, we past the Colorado National Monument so we stopped there.

Colorado National Monument

This is a park managed by the National Parks Service. “Colorado National Monument preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West. But this treasure is much more than a monument. Towering monoliths exist within a vast plateau and canyon panorama.” -National Parks Service website.

We did the scenic drive through the park and made some stops at the following outlooks and then headed into Grand Junction to finish the drive to Torrey, Utah which is the town outside of Capitol Reef National Park.

Cold Shivers Point
Fallen Rock Overlook
Coke Ovens Overlook
Grand View Overlook
Monument View
Balanced Rock Overlook

Torrey, Utah/Capitol Reef National Park

Torrey, Utah is the town just outside Capitol Reef National Park which is the best place for lodging. A heads up, there are not any larger grocery stores in this area. If you need any groceries other than convenience store items you will need to stop near Moab or Grand Junction if you are coming from the East. We stayed at the Capitol Reef Resort in a superior double queen room. It was a very nice hotel and we had a great view out the back. We had already stopped for groceries in Grand Junction so we were all set for meals but we did have burgers from a local food truck one night called Capitol Burger which was delicious.

Capitol Reef National Park Day 1

Hickman Bridge Trail

The first trial we hiked in Capitol Reef was the Hickman Bridge Trail. This trail was about 2 miles round trip to a 133 foot natural bridge. There was a trail brochure at the trailhead that points out 17 different things to observe throughout your hike for a fifty cent donation. Of course our kids each wanted their own brochure and the thoroughly enjoyed looking for the signs and took turns reading about the different spots.

Grand Wash Trail

The Grand Wash Trail starts at Highway 24 and takes you though the bottom of the canyon. You can hike as far as you want and then turn around and head back. We hiked about 1.6 miles into the canyon then turned around. This hike is flat and easy and has a lot of beautiful rocks along the canyon and natural holes on the canyon walls that the kids enjoyed crawling into.

Gifford Farmhouse

This is a stop that you should make if you can for some homemade pie and ice cream. They do run out so don’t wait until the end of the day to get there.

Chimney Rock Trail

This trail is a 3.6 mile round trip trail that offers great views of Capitol Reef, the surrounding mesa, and Chimney Rock. This is a strenuous hike due to the elevation change, straight up then back down the same way.

Capitol Reef National Park Day 2

We started out the day back at the Gifford Farmhouse for the homemade cinnamon rolls and then headed out for our first hike.

Cassidy Bridge Trail

This trail was one of our favorites and ends up at a natural bridge that you can walk over. Be sure to follow the cairns that mark the way once you get closer to the bridge. When we arrived, we had the pleasure of watching some people rappel down into the canyon. If you want to walk over the bridge for a photo, the person taking the photo will need to tell you where to stop in the middle of the bridge since it is hard to tell when you are on the bridge where you are.

Capitol Gorge Trail

This is a driving trail that takes you to a trailhead where you can walk a short distance and see the Pioneer Registry. This is a place where the early pioneers that traveled through the area carved their names into the wall of the canyon. Pretty cool. Be sure to check out the Golden Throne from this area. It is a rock formation dome made of a gold color stained Navajo Sandstone, which is particularly special because normally the sandstone is creamy white or red.

Freemont River Trail

This trail goes along the Freemont River near the Gifford Farmhouse and is pretty flat and easy at first. It gets much more interesting as you go up in elevation. This also takes you by the orchard where you can see lots of deer laying and enjoying the fruit from the trees.

Sunset and Goosenecks Overlook

This is a great place to go for the sunset. So beautiful!

Moab, Utah/Canyonlands National Park Day 1

On day 3 we checked out and drove about 2 hours to Moab, Utah and checked into the Element Hotel. We attempted to go to Arches National Park around 1pm and the park was closed because they had reached capacity. We were turned around and then headed to Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky. This late in the day we had to wait 45 minutes in line before we got into the park. We hit the visitors center where there is an overlook across the street. From this overlook you can see the switchbacks of the Shafer Trail. We also stopped at the following overlooks on the drive through the park:

Candlestick Tower Overlook
Buck Canyon Overlook
Orange Cliffs Overlook
Grandview Point Overlook- We hiked the Grandview point trail which was one mile each way and offers great panoramic views!
Green River Overlook

Upheaval Dome Trail

We hiked to 2 different points around Upheaval Dome which was about 1.8 miles roundtrip.

Mesa Arch

This gets very busy so we actually stopped at Mesa Arch, left, and returned later after the crowds died down.

Canyonlands National Park Day 2

View of the White Rim Road, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

On our second day in Canyonlands, we decided to go where not many people visit when they come to this area. We rented a Jeep from a local rental company and went off roading on the White Rim Trail. The park only permits a certain number of people to drive this trail and you need a permit from the visitor center. Be sure to have updated information on this before you attempt doing this. We hit the trial counter clockwise starting at Horse Thief Bottom. We were the only people in sight other than a few teams of bikers who were biking and camping the white rim trail. You should be experienced in off roading in a Jeep before you attempt this because it is treacherous driving down switchbacks and narrow, rough, terrain.

We drove along the Green river, Hardscrabble Bottom, Hardscrabble Hill to Potato Bottom then back up to Fort Bottom Trail.

Fort Bottom Trail

This hike was so cool and we were the only people on this remote hike. It is about 4 miles roundtrip to a pueblo site. This hike had some amazing views.

We then headed back to the entrance of Canyonlands so we could take the Schafer Trail Switchbacks to Potash Road back to Moab along the Colorado River.

View of Horseshoe Canyon from White Rim Trail

Arches National Park Day 1

As I mention in the hiking tips and park tips article above, you will need to arrive at Arches early to ensure you gain entrance as this park closes once they reach capacity. This might be as early as 9-10am during busy season. I would recommend going to Delicate Arch first thing as this is the busiest and gets the most crowded.

Delicate Arch

The hike to Delicate Arch is about 3 miles round trip and is all uphill to get there and downhill on the way back. It is 100 percent worth it if you can do this hike to the arch. Be prepared to wait in line if you want a picture under the arch.

Be sure to check out Wolfe Ranch and the petroglyphs at the beginning of the Delicate arch trail after you get bac

The Windows

We hiked this entire section to all of the arches in this area. Really neat to see all the differences of Turret Arch, North Window, and South Window. We took the primitive trail to the North and South Window arches.

Park Avenue

This can be a there and back hike or a point to point hike if someone wants to drive to the end and pick you up.

Things to see…

3 penguins
La Sal Mountain Viewpoint
Petrified Dunes Viewpoint
Balanced Rock
Garden of Eden
Pothole Arch
Panorama Point
Salt Valley Overlook
Fiery Furnace Overlook
Sand Dune Arch

Arches National Park Day 2

Hiking up the fins in Arches National Park

Devils Garden

Our second day at Arches we planned to do our longest hike through the Devil’s Garden area. We hiked clockwise and took the primitive trail back (worth it) instead of going there and back. We hiked to Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, Landscape Arch, Partition Arch, Navajo Arch, Double O Arch, Private Arch, and Black Arch. This entire hike to all of the arches and hiking the primitive trail back was about 7.8 miles. Probably one of my most favorite hikes because you see so many different arches, you hike up the fins, and you won’t see topography like this anywhere else.

This was pretty much all we did this day. We ended up going back after dark to stargaze near balanced rock. I highly recommend doing this at any of the parks that are registered as certified Dark Sky Parks.

Moab Canyoneering

We did a half day private canyoneering tour with Moab Canyon Tours that included rappelling. We chose the Bow and Arrow tour because this location is exclusive to this company and we did not have to deal with a lot of other groups and people in the same location, which is close to Moab. You will hike up into the canyon which is rugged, uphill, and about 2-3 miles so you can rappel all the way back down. You will see petroglyphs and a 80 foot arch as you hike into the canyon. We did 4 separate rappels including a free-hanging 110 feet rappel from a cliff’s edge.

Breckenridge

We ended our vacation skiing at Breckenridge and Copper Mountain. We did ski lessons at Copper Mountain because it was more affordable and included our lift tickets. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Breckenridge which was a convenient location and had a free shuttle to the different peaks of Breckenridge Ski Resort.

A side note about driving on I-70 through the mountains and west of Denver… this interstate is notorious for traffic jams and closing in white out storms and closing due to accidents. We were stuck in a closure on the interstate driving from Moab to Breckenridge for two and a half hours. It is a good idea to not depend on good traffic or the road being open on your way back to Denver airport. We drove to Denver and stayed in the Element Hotel near the airport the night before our flight home to ensure that we could get to the airport on time.