Last updated: April 4, 2024

In my efforts to see all of America’s national parks, I jumped at the chance to take a nine day group travel adventure with GAdventures to hike the five national parks in Utah. These parks are affectionately referred to as The Mighty Five by national park nerds like myself and include: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion.

What I didn’t realize at the time of booking was what a beautiful journey I’d experience and the amazing people that would accompany me. Utah is already beautiful with all it’s rock formations, but the five national parks it holds are truly spectacular.

Accomodations

We stayed at Ruby’s Inn RV Park and Campground and spent the next two days exploring Bryce Canyon National Park and the surrounding areas. This included traveling along the scenic highway through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, stopping for a waterfall hike at Lower Calf Creek Falls (highly recommended!), and Bryce Canyons Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop Hike.

Lower Calf Creek Falls

This six mile hike was relatively easy as most of it was flat. There were even some folks going barefoot due to the sandy nature of the path. Named for its use as a natural pen for calves back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the creek remained relatively unknown as a tourist destination until the formation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, which spans 1.7 million acres and was the last land to be mapped in the contiguous United States.

This hike comes with a nice pamphlet to point out interesting sites along the way, such as mineral-streaked cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, beaver ponds, and pre-historic petroglyphs before you get to the highlight of the hike, the paradisiacal pools.

*This was a major surprise to be waiting at the end of the hike!*

Bryce Canyon National Park

Our second day in the area began with a sunrise at Sunrise Point (which went much better than our sunrise hike at Arches National Park!). We then hiked Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop.

Sunrise Point

The lack of sleep was worth it to see the morning rays shine across Bryce Canyons hoodoos at Sunrise Point. The photos say it all.

Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop

Queens Garden is named after one of the rock formations that look like a queen. Navajo Loop is, you guessed it, a loop that takes you through switchbacks and incredibly unique rock formations. I liked this a lot.