Notes From the Road

Part 2: Days 4-6 (Bryce→Capitol Reef→Moab→SLC)

Check out 6 Day Guide to Arizona & Utah: Part 1 to get caught up!

Day 4: Dixie Forest, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef

After a wonderful couple of days in the Zion area, we now had the great task of driving across the state of Utah to reach Moab and Arches National Park. When we travel we like to break up the trip and add in fun stops along the way, and in doing so this time we discovered that, depending on the route we chose, we could fit in two additional National Parks into our journey: Bryce Canyon National Park and Capitol Reef National Park.

The first part of our trip was mostly highway, but as soon as we turned off the highway toward Cedar City we felt like we were back in adventure mode. Cedar City seemed like a cute little community to revisit in the future. Soon after though it became rural again and we could feel ourselves going up in elevation and the air drop in temperature, by almost 30 degrees. We drove in and out of the Dixie National Forest, which was just gorgeous, and stopped to admire the view at a scenic turnoff high up in the mountains, which were blanketed in fresh snow. It was fascinating to see vast terrain in a short time. After our adventurous drive we stopped in at a small cafe in Duck Creek Village, where we certainly stood out among locals in our shorts and flannels.

We reached Bryce Canyon National Park by early afternoon and were in awe of the bright orange rocks jutting out of the ground contrasted with the fresh layer of snow. There was a great accessible spot called Sunrise Point not far after the Visitors Center that allowed for us to take in the incredible view without doing much hiking since we were on a time crunch, but there was a trail that went down into the canyon that started here. We also drove a bit further to see more of the park and the Bryce Natural Bridge, which was a huge arch right off of the road, and met people traveling from all over. After snagging some lunch near the start of the park we continued on our way.

We drove through farmland, tiny towns, and stopped near Otter Creek State Park to take in water views for a moment. More small towns and farmland and we arrived in Capitol Reef National Park after the visitors center had closed but ready to explore some more. We took in the view of the slated red rocks at a viewpoint near the visitors center and then went on a short drive to see the homesteads and buildings featured in the area, and then continued on the road that goes through the park and toward Moab. Before leaving we stopped to see the Petroglyphs, which are cave drawings left on the rocks for many generations and contemplated human history. We passed the rock formations that Capitol Reef is named after, these capitol building rock-shelf structures and saw even more multicolored rocks.

As we drove through the desert we reached Hanksville, which had a couple restaurants and camping spots, but most notably housed Carl’s Critter Garden, an outdoor sculpture garden of critters made from rusty parts. Before reaching the highway we passed through Goblin Valley State Park, which is known to be one of the best places to see the stars as a designated Night Sky Park, as is Capitol Reef and Arches. Once we reached the highway we pulled over for a pit stop at a gas station where I saw a man sharing a meal with his pet parrot at the Wendy’s. We reached Moab just in time to catch an incredible sunset, which brought the day to a natural end.

Day 5: Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands

We woke up in our motel on the main road in Moab the next day ready to explore before heading to Arches National Park. To visit Arches within their main hours you need to reserve timed-tickets ahead of time. Our time wasn’t until 10am, so we slept in a bit, packed our backpacks for the day ahead, and walked into downtown Moab to find a coffee shop.

The night before we walked to get takeout from Thai Bella Moab, which was an adorable cottage restaurant with an edison bulb lit patio, which would allow for plenty of leftovers for lunch. On our Arches day we went to Moab Coffee Roasters for a pick-me-up and luckily the staff had the orders down to a science, since the spot was filled with other hikers getting their fuel for the day. With delicious iced coffees in hand we left for Arches.

Entry into the park did not take too long and we drove along the park road, which runs for 19 miles, stopping at a few scenic viewpoints like Panoramic Point to take in the expansive park and learn about how all of what we were seeing used to be the ocean floor. Then we continued on to Devil’s Garden Trailhead, which was our chosen hike for the day which gave us the chance to see multiple arches all in one trail. We found Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch within the first mile, and then spotted Landscape Arch before we had to scramble up a rock formation for the hardest part of the hike. We made it up the Partition Arch (above), which gave us an incredible view of the scenery below through the double arch. We decided to return back to the trailhead after this, but could have continued for another couple of miles to reach Double O Arch. After a recovery break we headed to Canyonlands.

Canyonlands National Park was a truly unexpected treasure, in my opinion. This park is split into 4 districts divided by the rivers that run directly through and it takes about 40 miles from one side to the other. We mostly explored the Island in the Sky district and there were similar views of canyons to what you would see at the Grand Canyon, with sites of roads and rivers running through. There were also arches that were not difficult to reach from the road that gave Arches National Park a bit of a run, like the Mesa Arch (pictured above) that was less than a mile hike on a loop trail. Highly recommend exploring all that Canyonlands has to offer.

After refreshing and relaxing after our day of national parks, we went out to explore more of Moab in the evening. There are many souvenir shops, cafes, and restaurants lining the few blocks, and even a Food Truck Park with many options for everyone. After exploring we settled for a drink and appetizers at Zax, a restaurant with a 2nd floor balcony looking out on the street and the red rocks in the distance. This was a great way to end our time in the Moab area and celebrate a week of national parks and hiking.

Day 6: Helper and Salt Lake City

Reaching the final day of our trip left us a bit tired, but mostly excited to spend the last day exploring a new city instead of doing a desert hike. When we planned our trip we booked two one-way plane tickets, so that we could fly into Phoenix and fly out of Salt Lake City. So on our final leg of the journey we would drive to Salt Lake City and spend a few hours exploring before we returned the rental car and flew home in the evening.

There wasn’t nearly as much in way of pit stops that we found between Moab and Salt Lake City, as we found on other legs of the journey, but we did notice that Helper, UT was about a halfway point. We found a lovely brewery called Helper Beer where we sipped on our chosen drinks and shared an incredible flatbread for lunch. Helper was a mining town and you can see in the remnants of character on the main streets.

I had a surprise stop in my back pocket once we reached Salt Lake City, which was the filming location for the High School Musical films. We were not the only tourists there to take photos at this building still operating as a high school, and the streets were lined with photos of current students in a similar format to the large photos displayed in the movies. Around the block from there we also visited a strange sculpture park called Gilgal Sculpture Garden, which is known for a startling sculpture of Joseph Smith (founder of the Mormon religion) as an Egyptian Sphynx.

Since we had a few hours to occupy before flying out we went for a drive to see a view of the city from the Upper Avenues, and then explored a few places on and near Harvey Milk Boulevard. There was a fun Boba place, Xing Fu Tang, where you could read your fortune using these tiny doors as you enter, and nearby was a funky giftshop called Cahoots Cards & Gifts. Further down by Temple Street there were many more restaurants and breweries, and we found ourselves at Scion Cider Co. where they were doing a plant swap that day and we found tiny plants we could safely fit in our backpacks. We stopped for one last drink at Club Try-angles to sit on their outdoor hidden patio, before we traveled the few miles to the airport. The car return process was incredibly easy and we were so grateful we chose to do our trip this way and flew home feeling satisfied with all we got to see!