Home of the Mighty 5, the Great Salt Lake, and <5% ABV beer, it can be hard to narrow down what to see in Utah when you’re limited in time. Here is what we did during our Memorial Day Weekend roadtrip to Southern Utah!
Trip Summary:
Friday: Drive to St George
Saturday: Belly of the Dragon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante
Sunday: Capitol Reef, Natural Bridges, Monument Valley
Monday: Horseshoe Bend
Friday
Start: Drive to St George
We picked up our rental car and headed straight to St. George. Naturally, Friday traffic wasn’t kind to us, and we didn’t get into the city until about 2 AM. We checked in at the Holiday Inn Express St George Convention Center, and immediately crashed for about 4 hours before getting up to get going on our adventure. (Because who needs sleep on a road-trip?!)
Even though our stay was brief to say the least, this was a great location and a very clean & well-maintained hotel.
Saturday
Saturday had a lot of driving involved, so we decided to bite the bullet and wake up early. Breakfast was at Chick Fil A on the way out of St George. (Nothing like some chick’n mini’s to signal the beginning of a roadtrip if you ask me!)
Next: Belly of the Dragon
Our first stop was to see the Belly of the Dragon. This popular spot is a very family-friendly spot to get out & stretch the legs. It is right off Highway 89 outside of the Eastern entrance to Zion. The entrance to the tunnel is only feet away from where you park your car.
The tunnel is bigger than you can expect when walking through. There’s a waterfall you can hike to and make it a 1.5 mile hike round trip, but we opted out since recent reports said the waterfall was a little lackluster.
Pros: We went early enough to have the tunnel to ourselves
Cons: There wasn’t enough lighting when we went – a few hours later and it would’ve been perfect.
Next: BRYCE CANYON
Stop 1: Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden Trail
Bryce Canyon is one of our favorite national parks, so we take any chance we can to visit it again. We finally got our shoes on some real trails and did the Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden Trail for a total of about 3 miles. Weather couldn’t have been more ideal – blue skies, light breeze, all you need is a light jacket 😉
We didn’t feel the need to bring our packs with us since the weather was very temperate and the trail is relatively short. We each carried our own bottle of water and that was enough.
We descended into the canyon via Navajo Loop to start the trail. Navajo Loop is a lot steeper of a climb, so it was easier to go down it and come back up Queen’s Garden, which is much more gradual. The views are beautiful the entire loop – rich red canyons contrasted against tall, healthy douglas firs and of course, the hoo-doo’s. (We walked by a grandpa who mentioned the hoodoo below looks like Groot and we couldn’t unsee it)
Stop 2: Rainbow Point and Southern Scenic Drive
Next, we drove up to Rainbow Point to see a great panoramic view of the National Park. We drove straight out to the vista point, and then stopped at various pullouts on the way back out of the park along the Southern Scenic Drive. This took us about an hour. The NPS website gives a wide estimate of about 2-12 hours.
Next: Lunch in Tropic
Feeling that we covered Bryce Canyon enough to appreciate its beauty, we left the park and took a lunch break. We ate at The Pizza Place in Tropic and split a huge BBQ chicken pizza accompanied by some ice cold Utah-brewed beer.
Next: Scenic Byway 12
One of the best surprises we have ever come across on all of our road trips was taking Scenic Byway 12 between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef.
We drove Scenic Byway 12 to head over to our next spot – Capitol Reef. It drives right through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Dixie National Forest. This is truly a must-do for anyone doing these two national parks on the same trip. The biodiversity you see along this drive perfectly depicts all the beauty that Utah has to offer.
We also ~ love ~ a spontaneous snack break. Somewhere along Scenic Byway 12 in the small 800-person town of Escalante, we hit a hard stop and took a break for some spontaneous milkshakes. Definitely worth the stop. Had to mention!
Next: Check into Red Sands Hotel in Torrey
The Red Sands Hotel was a great surprise after a day full of driving. We chose to stay in Torrey for the night because it’d be a quick 10-15 minute drive to the Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center in the morning. While the town itself is on the smaller side, it has multiple restaurants and hotels to choose from.
Offering 360˚ views, we sat down at the firepit outside to watch the sun set after getting dinner in town. We walked around the edge of the property to say hello to the neighboring animals – cows, horses, and a buffalo!
Sunday
Next: Capitol Reef
We left the hotel at around 7:00 and headed into Capitol Reef National Park. Capitol Reef is the least visited of the 5 Utah National Parks and is very underrated. If you want to go visit somewhere that feels like a different planet, this is your spot. We stopped at the Panoramic Viewpointon the way into the park and the views were insane (and the photos won’t do it justice).
We then took the 7.9-mile scenic drive out and back to see more of the park. NPS says this can take an hour and a half, but it took us about 45 minutes and we got out of the car twice at different pullouts.
Note: This drive requires at $20 entrance fee to do the scenic drive that you leave in a deposit box. If you have an America the Beautiful pass, this will cover the fee.
Next: Natural Bridges National Monument
After spending the morning in Capitol Reef we took State Route 95 through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to head to Bridges National Monument. You drive right through red rock canyons, and you’ll likely see more cows than cars during this 130 mile drive. Make sure to stop for Gas in Hanksville before driving along this byway.
National Bridges National Monument is done as a one-way loop drive. There are observation decks and trails to observe each of the bridges. We used the observation decks for all three bridges, and hiked down to Owachomo Bridge. You get to walk right beneath the bridge and it’s pretty amazing.
Fun Fact: Natural Bridges NM is a designated Dark Sky Park, making it an ideal place to do some stargazing. Due to its isolation away from any local communities or cities, Natural Bridges is one of the darkest skies in the country.
Next: Monument Valley
After a quick lunch in Mexican Hat and driving through the Forrest Gump Hill, we headed to Monument Valley for a sunset tour. Because Monument Valley sits on Navajo Tribal land, you have two options when wanting to visit:
- Pay the entrance fee and drive the self-guided 17-mile loop tour
- Book a guided tour with one of the approved companies
We booked a group sunset tour with Navajo Spirit Tours, a family ran business that highlights the beauty in both the land and Navajo culture. The other group scheduled with us canceled, so we ended up getting a private tour. The great thing about taking a guided tour is that we got to leave the loop drive and go into the backcountry and see natural arches and other famous rock formations that we wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise.
As the sun was setting behind us while we left the park, we quickly came to realize this was probably the highlight of our trip so far. Photos and videos couldn’t give this place the justice it deserves.
There’s basically only two options for lodging if you’re wanting to stay in Monument Valley. We stayed at Goulding’s Monument Valley, just on the other side of the highway. This historic hotel has beautiful views of the landscape surrounding it and enough amenities to make you feel comfortable. We had dinner on the property after our tour. Being the only dinner option for guests, they do a great job at making sure everyone is served before closing, even if it’s after their listed closing time.
Monday
Next: Horseshoe Bend
We drove out early the next morning to Page, AZ to beat the heat and the crowds at Horseshoe Bend. If you have the time, there’s plenty of retardants to stop for breakfast after visiting the site.
Horseshoe Bend is another accessible and family-friendly stop. There is an entrance fee to enter the parking lot, and the walk down to the viewpoint is a 1.5-mile round trip walk on a hardened path. We were able to see kayakers along the bottom of the Bend, which really put the vastness of this place into perspective.
Next: Lunch in St George, Drive home
After a jam-packed 2 1/2 days, we finally started the trek back home to So Cal. We stopped in St George for some Hawaiian food at Mo Bettah’s, filled up at a Maverik’s, and drove home. (We don’t get these chains at home, so we always stop at them when we’re in Utah!)
That’s all, friends! As you can tell, we like to be on the move when we are on a road-trip. If you like to take a more leisurely pace, take the parts from this trip that sound the most interesting to you to create and customize your own itinerary. We hope this helps to plan our your next Utah trip!
Drop any comments or questions below! Are there any spots that we missed that you would add to the list?