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

After hiking Cassidy Arches at Capitol Reef National Park, we rolled into Moab and settled in at Canyonlands RV Resort & Campground and I unpacked my things in one of their cozy cabins.

Dead Horse Point State Park

We had a little bit of daylight left before heading off to bed, so we spent the evening at Dead Horse Point State Park watching the sunset. The park is so named due to its use as a natural corral by cowboys in the 19th century, where horses often died of exposure (sad, I know). However, despite the name, the views overlooking the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park are breathtaking!

Canyonlands National Park

The next morning, we drove about two hours to Needles District of Canyonlands National Park and stopped at Newspaper Rock State Historical Monument. The views on this ride were outstanding.

Newspaper Rock State Historical Monument

Around 2,000 years ago, these petroglyphs were carved both during the prehistoric and historic periods. With over 650 petroglyphs in a single area, think of a visit to Newspaper Rock as flipping through the news pages of generations past. Created by ancestral Puebloan people who lived, farmed and hunted along a nearby ancient river, examine the intricate carvings they made to document their way of life. The drawings on the rock are of different animals, human figures, and symbols. These carvings include pictures of deer, buffalo, and pronghorn antelope. Some glyphs depict riders on horses, while other images depict past events like in a newspaper. This is one of the largest, best preserved and easily accessed petroglyphs in the Southwests.

The Canyonlands are divided into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the combined rivers—the Green and Colorado—which carved two large canyons into the Colorado Plateau. We went to the Needles District and spent the day hiking through desert lands to explore eroded towers of sandstone and fissures in the ground on the Joint Trail to Chesler Park. This was about six miles and the biggest hike of the trip, but rewarded us with jaw dropping views.

Overall, the views this trail offered are hard to beat. I loved seeing the Needles and pretty much just want to spend the rest of my life taking hikes like this one. Have you ever been to Canyonlands National Park? If so, what do you recommend? I’d love to know!

The rest of Utah’s National Parks are pretty amazing… check out my adventures and mishaps at Arches, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reef!