Utah's National Parks
- Lucy and the lens
- Oct 6, 2019
- 3 min read
Utah is home to 'The Mighty 5', its five unique but equally stunning national parks: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef. I've only had the chance to visit the first three of them so far, and I love how each one offers something different from the next.
Arches National Park
The name sums up what this park near Moab is famous for: its huge array of natural arches carved out over the years by wind and erosion. The park is really easy to navigate, its main road taking you to the starting point for hikes (some short, some long) to each of its famous arches. I would recommend using an annual park pass to beat the ticket queues at the visitor centre and get a head start on the hike to Delicate Arch, at the furthest point of the park.
Delicate Arch - the hike to the park's most iconic arch isn't to be taken lightly: it's a 1.6 mile uphill trail featuring plenty of rock scrambling and very little shade...we were glad we started early on a cloudy day!! The payoff at the top is worth it though, although you'd have to start the climb much earlier than we did if you want to beat the line of people waiting for their photo beneath the arch itself. Not wanting to wait in the queue, we found our own viewpoints that worked for us!
Landscape Arch - this one defies all the laws of physics, as you can see from the photo below. Some years ago, a huge chunk of the supporting side of the arch broke off, so now it's fenced off for visitors. The viewing area still offers panoramic views of this natural wonder, though! You reach this arch by walking through the Devil's Garden...
Devil's Garden - this was my favourite hike, winding our way through a serious of weird and wonderful rock formations known as fins. They reminded me of a goblin's lair. The nice thing about this hike is that the tall fins provide lots of shade from the hot sun.
Double Arch - another of my favourites, we recognised this arch from a scene in Indiana Jones! The scale of this one is immense, and acts as an adventure playground for anyone who chooses to climb up to it!
Bryce Canyon National Park
To the west of Arches NP is Bryce Canyon, famous for its thousands of hoodoos that make you feel like you're exploring another planet when you climb down among them. Here were our favourite spots in this park...
The Amphitheatre - the classic Bryce Canyon view, best seen from either Sunrise Point or Sunset Point, depending on the time of day! As the name suggests, from here the canyon looks like an enormous amphitheatre populated by an audience made of stone.
Queen's Garden Trail - starting at Sunrise Point, this trail takes you down into the canyon, allowing you to get up close and personal with the hoodoos. You wind your way down between the rocks and through tunnels carved out of the stone.
Navajo Loop Trail - you can connect to this trail from the Queen's Garden trail and use it to exit the canyon via the infamous Wall Street, an endless series of tight switchbacks that take you up through a deep canyon with sheer rock walls on either side!
Zion National Park
I visited this Utah park a few years ago without Patrick. I didn't take many photos, unfortunately, but I can confirm that it's absolutely worth a visit, if not for the treacherous Angel's Landing hike then for the wade through the Narrows, a shady canyon filled with ankle- to waist-deep water that provides a welcome relief from the hot summer sun!
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