Utah 7 Day Road Trip: 5 National Parks, Monument Valley, Horseshoe Bend & More

when discussing the sheer natural beauty of the united states utah is a state that easily sits near the top of the list the southern portion of utah has five national parks and each has its own natural wonders ranging from rock formations and rivers to canyons and viewpoints known as the mighty five these rugged parks draw millions of visitors a year and my dad and i decided we wanted to take a road trip to all of them and see them for ourselves we visited a new national park every day for five days and while it was certainly tiring it was an adventure we will never forget here's a video of the entire road trip which includes stops in other places not just the national parks also i have longer versions of each national park video on my channel let's jump into it and be sure to let me know which park is your favorite in the comments we left southern california after the super bowl ended and drove all the way through vegas to utah from there we grabbed a cheap hotel and prepared to spend the next five days exploring utah's national parks zion we stayed in the town of hurricane the night before and got up early to drive into the park parking is notoriously bad as the trail is so popular and there's not a lot of spots during the summer they have a shuttle system that you'll have to take to get to the trailhead which alleviates parking but during the rest of the year the shuttle isn't running so you will need to park we are here we are going up to the top of angel's landing the dangerous trail this is just the highlights of the angels landing hike you can see my full video on the hike in the description it is a windy and cold morning on angel's landing be prepared for anything if you hike in the winter there is the view of angel's landing right in front of us that's what we're going to the top of my dad had no desire to go to the top of angel's landing which i definitely don't blame him for but he still went along on the hike to go to scouts overlook you can see the switchbacks that we're gonna be going up through right there starting in the early morning is amazing in zion as you get to see the sun light up some of the surrounding mountains this trail is 1500 feet of elevation which doesn't seem like a lot but it's pretty steep elevation when you go up you go up oh man look at that good job deer definitely went off the trail oh yeah he cut a switchback what the heck we started the parking area right there we've came all the way up this trail and up these switchbacks continue that way we're saying goodbye to the exterior portion and we are heading inland for a little bit [Music] we're entering a quiet zone the mexican spotted owls live here i was surprised by how many deer we saw on this trail we saw probably a half dozen as we were hiking they didn't even remotely care that we were there and they just kept eating while we were walking right alongside them on the trail we made it to the walters wiggles section which is basically just 21 steep switchbacks all the way up to scouts overlook while 21 switchbacks sounds like a lot after the first few they're actually really short look at those tiny steep switchbacks we are almost there pops like three more switchbacks this section is fun and it has some great photo opportunities looking down on the switchbacks from above we finished the walters wiggles section and we are heading in to the sun the summit of angel's landing right there if you don't want to continue on this is the scouts overlook area and it is definitely worth coming up to by itself this is where we were saying bye to pops which i would normally give him some problems for this but i would definitely never give anyone problems for angel's landing the uh next part is a little crazy see in a little bit scouts overlook is a worthy destination with great views and is a great turnaround point if you don't want to go all the way to the top from here the trail gets crazy so there's lots of warnings about it and definitely don't attempt if you're afraid of heights 14 people have died climbing this this is the start of the chain section you'll be hugging the rock but it gets crazy once you get to the top of here this first chain section is a great introduction to what you're going to be experiencing if you continue on of course it's a lot more intense from here but at least it lets you know whether you even want to continue on after you do this section once you get to the top of the first section you'll be at a good viewpoint that lets you look down into the canyon and up towards angel's landing so this area is called decision point because right here you have to decide whether you want to climb up that crazy freaking thing or not to get to the top of angel's landing from here it's only a few hundred feet of elevation i brought my little 360 camera with a selfie stick because i thought it would help to show you what the trail looked like from above these 360 shots make it look worse than it is but it does give you a good understanding of how narrow the trail can be the trail is incredibly steep with mini sections where you have to almost scramble to get up plus there are a few areas that are very narrow with massive drops on the side chains have been installed a lot of places along the route which make it very helpful as you're trying to pull yourself up towards the summit that is a long drop down during the busy summer weekends this trail can be especially dangerous as there's so many people that are trying to get to the top at once that's why they're instituting the permit system which will cut back on the amount of people that can enter this section of the trail i don't love heights like this and for me the worst section is about 3 4 of the way up it just continues to get more narrow here and the drops just continue to get crazier especially looking back the way that you've already came this was my second time doing the trail and it was pretty scary the first time i did it that being said the second time was also pretty scary as well eventually you'll finish the last portion and reach the summit plateau we made it to the end of the chain section now all that's left is walking across my summit [Music] as you walk across the official summit there's lots of places where you can sit and just soak in the views and have a snack there's the parking lot right there here all the way up here the views from here are absolutely incredible making all the work that you did to get here worth it do remember though you have to go down which is pretty crazy as you're descending the spine and see that is where pops is at all that's left is making it down the crazy chain section again without falling for me i think descending is worse than going up as you have to look down the entire time i put my camera away so i didn't film as much going down but here's a few shots even though i was as prepared as i could be there was one section where i did slip and cut my finger on the chains also i got to see what i think was a condor flying which was pretty incredible all right we made it back down definitely get an early start there's a lot of people going up right now plus there's a permit system that starts in april so review that if you're going after april how was your rest spot the rest spot was perfect just what you need better than climbing angel's landing much better not as scary we made our way back down from angel's landing soaking in the views in the canyon before heading out to find some lunch our car overheated on the way into zion so we also had to go to the gas station to see if we could fix it before heading on as well this is how you want your road trip going trying to diagnose car issues with zion in the background after adding some oil and radiator fluid we went over to grab some lunch and to let the car sit for a few minutes lunch brought us to cafe soleil which is a great sandwich spot right on the outskirts of the park pop says it's a good spot yeah nice sandwich greek chicken that was a great spot for lunch now we're heading on to bryce canyon hopefully if the car makes it the car ended up not being an issue the rest of the trip and we headed back into zion to go through it to get to bryce first we made a quick stop at the visitor center that's what we hiked right there right in the middle of the park just literally sitting by itself out in the middle of the canyon leaving the visitor center we headed east on the zion mount carmel scenic highway this road is certainly windy as it makes its way up and out of zion canyon with great views back into the canyon at each bend keep your eyes peeled as you're heading up for the great arch which is on your left hand side we'll actually be standing on top of this arch when we finish the next hike but it won't look like that the next spot you'll get to is the historic mount carmel tunnel which is one mile long and was completed in 1930. at one point in time it was the longest tunnel in the united states when you exit the tunnel immediately turn into the parking lot on the right this is where we're starting the next trail from heading out on our second trail in zion to observation point i think it's called this is such a beautiful place here i was wrong it's called canyon overlook trail the canyon overlook trail is only one mile round trip with 150 feet of elevation gain but it's a little tougher than it seems also note that the parking lot is incredibly small there is an overflow lot that's a little further away but it adds mileage to the hike the trail heads up almost immediately and then it walks across a flat path all the way back to the overlook this path has a large canyon on the left hand side though and it's a pretty good drop as you're walking along it pops is facing his fears right now a little bit how do you feel about that one pops oh man you made it you guys know my dad doesn't like heights and he was able to do this trail that being said i'm not sure he'd choose to do it again there's the overlook we're heading to right there they call this trail moderate and i think that that is a good way to do it there's lots of kind of steep sections on these rocks it's only a mile round trip but it takes a lot longer than you expect eventually we made it to the official canyon overlook and were greeted by fantastic views down into zion this is an incredible viewpoint as you can see the canyon and the road you came up through from here you can see many of zion's famous rock formations including the altar of sacrifice and the streaked wall this is a gorgeous spot it kind of almost feels like the tunnel view in yosemite when you look out here it's just incredibly beautiful and don't be discouraged by the front of it the front is a little bit steep coming up but once you get up it's pretty much level the rest of the way and and easy going now we're heading back out and it's an hour and a half drive to bryce this really is an adventurous trail and the way out was just as fun as the way in when we got back people were excited to have our parking spot and we started the drive to bryce from canyon overlook it's 77 miles and about an hour and a half's drive to get to bryce canyon if you have the time you're definitely going to want to give it to yourself for this drive as there's many beautiful pullouts along the way one that you definitely don't want to miss is the pull out to see checkerboard mesa heading north you can't really see it on the drive so you don't want to miss it after that you'll leave the official boundary for zion national park if you watch our road trip videos you know we're always looking for a good roadside attraction and when we entered this small town and saw a building that looked like a rock plus served coffee we had to stop once we entered this mineral and rock shop that used to be a dinosaur museum we figured out they also served donuts it was basically like an oasis for my dad and i already found this place called the rock shop that has the best donuts in town supposedly maple pecan people pecan i'm all about maples and pecans pecans are fresh maple flavor i'd give it a solid eight a solid eight and there's nothing else in the town so that's a strong claim to have the best donuts but good stop on the way to price they even got a flintstone car out in front how do you beat that from the rock shop we didn't stop again as we were trying to make it to sunset and bryce canyon national park along the way the views are beautiful and eventually you'll turn onto scenic byway 12. this road leads you into the park and immediately surrounds you with beautiful rock formations that have red and orange hues one of the highlights is this amazing rock arch tunnel that you get to drive through [Music] we've made it to the ponderosa hotel which is about a mile from bryce through our stuffing and we're headed out to watch the sunset at bryce canyon national park this hotel actually ended up being awesome since it was so close to the park it made it easy to go in for sunset and sunrise the visitor center is closed for the day but i wanted to grab a map so we could go to sunset point all right we've made it to sunset point about an hour before the sun goes down pops has never been to bryce before so this is about to be his first view of bryce very excited that is crazy [Music] sunset point watching the sun go down on the hills out there and then watching this area get backlit pretty incredible it's cool to see the colors right there where the sun's kind of lighting it up from behind it was well worth it as it was beautiful to watch the light fade over the bryce canyon amphitheater from sunset point you basically see a shadow extending out in front of you or you can look to the right and you can see the amphitheater lit up by the setting sun we spent about an hour and a half just soaking it all in before the sun finally went down and if you get the chance definitely take in a sunset at bryce canyon national park what do you think of bryce it's amazing never seen anything like it you're blown away i'm blown away there's a last light going down in the canyon absolutely stunning you have to see a sunset at bryce if you get the chance it is freezing now the sun's not even fully down there's the bryce's bryce canyon is named for they homesteaded in the area there's their original cabin there's sunset point right there well the sun is down we're saying goodbye to bryce canyon we will be hiking here tomorrow i'm gonna try to find something to eat in town so there's only like three restaurants open in this entire area so we are eating at our hotel we'll see how it is the hotel was the only place open but it did have a salad bar and some decent menu options this is a mushroom sandwich looks interesting because i'm so healthy pop's got a chicken fried steak covered in gravy because he's so healthy i'm healthy too that's a very average meal it's fine for the options that we're here that is the end of day one [Music] saying goodbye to our hotel and we are heading out to watch the sunrise in bryce canyon we got an early start and we headed towards inspiration point to watch the sunrise it's a nice refreshing 24 degrees in bryce for our sunrise point and look we're the only people who are apparently dumb enough to be at bryce for sunrise right now there's a lot of confidence at this point yeah i think the second person shows up that shows that we're at the right spot a little bit of sunrise just starting it's gonna be nuts to see the sun light up those hudus down there my friend kirby told me that inspiration point was one of the best places for sunrise as you get to look down to the amphitheater and across all the hudus check it out we got the moon setting on that side well the sun is rising on this side pops is staying at this lower one because it's uh very icy on the trail so i'm gonna go up and check out the upper one though i don't know if we're gonna get great light or not because it's a little cloudy but i mean just that is incredibly cool [Music] we made it up to the upper portion of inspiration point man this view is incredible look at how it looks down on the bryce canyon amphitheater it's cool to be down there where sunrise point is but up here you just get this amazing view looking down sunrise point is the most popular spot for sunrise due to the name but i have to say this is pretty hard to beat looks like we struck out with the sunrise the clouds are not going to let it break through but man this view is worth getting up for this is so cool since the clouds were low to the horizon we decided to wait just a little bit longer to see if the sun would peek through and light up the amphitheater luckily our waiting was rewarded and we got to see one of the most stunning sunrises we saw on our entire trip it's crazy how much the colors change on the hoodoos in the amphitheater with only 15 minutes of waiting we didn't exactly get the sunrise that we wanted but that was still pretty incredible a bad sunrise here is amazing yeah at least we get just we got to see the sun come up and kind of light up this area so yeah the colors are beautiful how they change with the sun coming up definitely now we're gonna head on get some breakfast and then we're gonna go hiking [Music] we're back in our hotel for our free breakfast again not a lot of options in town but you can't complain about free breakfast we're back at sunset point where we were at last night and we're hiking out on the navajo loop queens garden trail i'm pretty excited is this my first time ever getting to hike down into the canyon here i've only seen the viewpoints so should be pretty fun we're gonna end up here at sunset point but we're going over to sunrise point and then down to the canyon this trail is probably the most popular in the park as it takes you down into the canyon it's only about three miles round trip with 700 feet of elevation gain but it is steep getting back out of the canyon we're half mile into the trail left from sunset point and we have made it to sunrise also note if you go in the summer this trail is incredibly busy and it can be hard to even park here in the winter though we only passed maybe six or seven people the entire time we were on the trail [Music] leaving sunrise point heading out on the queens garden trail as the trail descends you get amazing views out towards the back country of bryce it was crazy to see the colors with the snow as you had red orange greens and even white all throughout the distance approaching the hoodoos with pops look at this view who is in front of us who's with snow out there there's one that's like really white wow as we descended down into the canyon both my dad and i were blown away by how beautiful the views were the landscape here is unlike anything i had ever seen before and it's one of the most unique trails you'll find in any of the united states national parks there's sunset point right there that's our end goal for the hike definitely plan some time to go through this section as the queen's garden has some of the best rock formations you can see up close as you make your way down there's multiple little tunnels through the rocks that you have to cross through unfortunately they were a little short for how tall my dad is pop says that this one looks like a rhino with a rhino nose the one behind it is a flame i think it looks more like a turkey i won't argue with the flame though but you know comment which one you think is correct it's totally a rhino this area has so many fun rock formations that it's great for families or just adults arguing over what rocks look like here's our second tunnel of the day we're gonna see if pops bumps his head on this one as well you think that being six seven for your whole life you would notice when that one had enough clearance for you the unique look of the hoodoos is caused by rain entering into many of the cracks and crevices freezing and then expanding causing some of the rocks to fall off and create these formations officially heading into the queen's garden [Music] so we got the queen's rock which is right in front of us but i will show you from the other ankle and then we also have i hiked the hoodoos benchmark after taking the short spur to the queen's garden area it was back on the main trail also if you take a picture and confirm you hiked at least three miles in the park when we were there they were giving you a sticker at the visitor center for doing so i don't know how long this will last but it was a pretty cool little thing to do what really makes this trail cool is that i think anytime you would come down here you would see something different the way the light plays off of all the stones it's never the same we've been walking downhill through the forested snowy area but now it's time to climb out of the canyon and go back in the hudus here we go a half mile to climb all the way out of the canyon piece of cake no problem from here it's uphill all the way to the top of the canyon leaving the forest behind and entering a cool area of hudus again as you get back to the hoodoos be sure to watch for the sign that points towards two bridges this area is called two bridges you can see one two it's only a short walk off the trail and it's worth seeing all right we're heading up to sunset point the last uphill in the winter this is the area you have to use to get to sunset point but in the summer you can take the wall street trail got a good climb on switchbacks [Music] note that if you go the way we did it's definitely steep incline when you're climbing out if you go the other way it's less of a steep incline it's more gradual climbing out saying goodbye to the switchbacks and we are almost back to the rim wow man this park is beautiful this is a famous formation known as thor's hammer it's one of the most iconic in the park let me know in the comments if you can see him holding the hammer up from here we are basically back up to sunset point but i wanted to check out wall street before making it fully to the top even when the wall street area is closed you can still come over and peek this little viewpoint right here there's the rim of the canyon right there [Music] we made it back up to sunset point that hike is magical i left magical pop says it's magical so you got to come and do it i would agree though especially that section down there that queen's garden area absolutely incredible all right now we're leaving sunset point and we're heading to do all the other viewpoints in bryce before leaving the park the scenic drive is about 17 miles each way and there's a ton of viewpoints along the way that you can see you can watch my full bryce video to see all the viewpoints but here are a few of my favorites is definitely my favorite of the viewpoints on this drive how do you beat an arch when you're that close to it look we found a hoodie that looks like the olympic torch i believe natural bridge is the third viewpoint you'll get to next up we have agua canyon this is also a great viewpoint with another famous rock formation right in front of you [Music] we made it to the end of the road rainbow point it is windy and cold we wanted to stay here longer and to hike the trail that took us to the ancient bristol cones but unfortunately the trail was covered in snow and it was freezing cold with wind when we were there because of that we just walked around the point soaked in the views and then headed back to the warm car this is a great scenic drive and the rainbow point area is the highest point in the park leaving rainbow point we drove 17 miles back into the main part of the park and headed over to bryce point which was the last of the viewing areas that we hadn't seen yet this is our official last stop in bryce canyon national park is bryce point bryce point is a great way to end your time in the park as it gives you a good view back towards the amphitheater and it is wheelchair accessible when we did our hike earlier we started from sunrise we came all the way down into here and then we came back up sunset so crazy about the bryce area is just how the sun changes things so quickly just a little bit of sun can make the colors pop or the shadows this is crazy how different it can be throughout the day all right that's it for our time in bryce canyon we're leaving the park now and we're heading on to capitol reefers tonight after finishing our time in bryce we started the drive on scenic highway 12 towards capitol reef i plan to have a few hours for this drive as i heard it was beautiful and i wanted to take my time we stopped for lunch only about 15 minutes for bryce at idk bbq we're expecting big things this was the best barbecue in utah we had no idea this place even existed before we drove by and it ended up being one of the food highlights on our entire trip pulled pork with the spicy barbecue sauce god it's outstanding it's a winner really good pop's got a pie or something too peach cobbler peach cobbler and the thing that they do here is that you mix the big beans with the potato salad that's the way to do it so big beans are epic too you're just excited oh man so yeah there's no other options but this is actually a really good one so that's good this place is definitely a win great food spot in the bryce canyon area now we're taking the 12 all the way to capitol river scenic highway 12 is one of those roads you need multiple days to explore a lot of the main stuff is actually pretty far off of the road so if you're doing a drive like us you're basically only going to see the viewpoints which are also amazing maybe we'll come back again one of these days and do a three or four day road trip along scenic highway 12. this particular viewpoint looks out over one of the last unexplored regions of the continental united states it wasn't fully explored until the late 1800s [Music] the drive then heads into the town of escalante but there was nothing open in this town when we were there in the winter not even the market or coffee shop were open when we went through this brought us to one of the most stunning viewpoints on the entire drive which was called head of the rocks head of the rocks looks out over multiple canyons and lots of colorful slick rock it's also amazing to see the way the road carves through the barren landscape the road continues through the sparse utah landscape heading down into some of the canyons that you are looking at from above this part is also where the trailhead for lower calf creek falls is which is the most popular hike on this drive unfortunately we weren't able to do it on this trip but i heard it's a pretty amazing waterfall as the road heads up you go along a section known as the hog back with drops on both sides before making it to boulder welcome to boulder you are here the town of boulder is a pretty isolated spot and it's one of the only towns you go through on the drive [Music] in the town of boulder there's a state park museum which has a lot of information about different people groups and history in the area it's not open during the off season when we're here but might be something you want to check out if you're coming through the area scenic byway number 12 is what we've been doing we started over here went to bryce and been driving through here all day and we're going up to torrey and that's where we're spending the night from boulder the road heads up to a mountain and there was actually snow on the ground when we got up there there's a lot of scenic overlooks on this section but they are not plowed so we can't go to them the highest point of the drive ended up being 9 600 feet and i was shocked to learn that we were this high up i expected this to be a lot lower but it makes sense that's why there's so much snow we were able to make it to the larp hollow viewpoint which was a pretty nice spot looking out over the valley and up towards the mountains in the distance leaving the viewpoint it was a long and windy drive back down the mountain to the town of torrey [Music] as we arrive in this town we are ending scenic byway 12 which was an absolutely incredible experience definitely drive it if you get the chance made it to our hotel right outside a capitol reef beautiful view not bad ended our day by going to town and seeing nothing open other than subway so we had subway for dinner and we are watching wheel of fortune that is the end of day two [Music] it's a nice 26 degrees to start our morning going into capitol reef we're gonna grab some breakfast and then we're gonna start exploring the park in the winter the food options are limited so we headed over to the pioneer kitchen and started with some trout and eggs i got the california omelet and pop's got the breakfast with fried trout a piece of trout extra is six bucks can you believe that he's pretty excited about it best trout in utah very nice season's nice great that was the only open breakfast in town but surprisingly good heading in to the national park from our breakfast spot it was only about five minutes to enter the park and then another 10 minutes to get to the main sites chimney rock was the first point of interest there's a hiking trail close to the top but we just took it in from the road for a cold day capitol reef from there there's a short one mile dirt road you can take to gooseneck's overlook it was easily passable with a two-wheel drive car when we went after you park it's a five-minute walk to the overlook and it's a beautiful area to see the different bends in the river back in the car it was a stunning drive to the park's interior and some of the historic sections we passed the main turn off which goes to the visitor center and the gifford homestead in order to go towards a hike that we were doing and to see the old school house the school here was used from when it was built in the late 1800s to 1941. this is one of the areas where you can harvest the fruit you want to go grab grab something off the tree for us this park has a dozen working orchards and during certain times of the year you can actually pick the fruit that they grow here we're at our next stop and supposedly there's some petroglyphs here pops is looking up at the petroglyphs you can see them they're right up there and they're pretty detailed which is really cool these petroglyphs have been dated to between 600 and 1300 a.d so there's some people right here and then there's some deer over here there used to be a lot more petroglyphs here pre-1950 but they were destroyed due to a rockfall if you have a zoom lens or binoculars this is a great stop in the park as they're well preserved and you can really see the petroglyphs we're setting out on our first hike in capitol reef going up to hickman bridge which is one mile each way hickman bridge is the most popular trail in the park as it leads to a beautiful arch this trail is already beautiful we are running along a creek starting the uphill climb this trail is around two miles round trip with about 400 feet of elevation gain to get to the arch the trail begins flat as you follow the creek and then you start the uphill climb as you head up the trail is pretty amazing as there's some lava rock and there's great views across the way towards pectel's pyramid my dad wants everyone to know he recommends a hiking pole for this trail as there's a good amount of uphill and downhill and it helped a lot on the knees this is a pretty cool little natural bridge that's right along the trail this bridge was about six and a half feet tall and had a circular opening in the middle it's on the right side of the trail so be sure to watch out for it as you head up [Music] there's our first view of the bridge right there wow that is a massive bridge that's really cool hickman bridge has a span of 133 feet and it's 125 feet high so even though it doesn't look that big from far away you'll notice how massive it is as you get close to it saying goodbye to the hickman arch and we are heading on with our loop the loop trail continues around to the south side and gives you some views back down into the canyon and over to the pyramid again after that it's heading back down to get to the trailhead we made it back to the start of the trail so now we're gonna head on to the visitor center the old homestead and then do the scenic drive from the trailhead it's about a five-minute drive back to the fruta historic district with the visitor center and scenic drive the visitor center has all the things you'd expect like magnets and stickers but i definitely recommend picking up a self-guided driving tour it cost a couple bucks when i went but i helped a lot with understanding the scenic drive leaving the visitor center you'll enter the historic area and start the scenic drive along the way there are many different historic buildings you can stop at with the first being the blacksmith shop as much as i liked being here in the winter for the lack of people it would be awesome to see the orchards in full bloom this is the famous gifford house where you get the pies that everyone raves about when you research capitol reef but unfortunately it is not open now doesn't open in the winter so we don't get to try the pies which is weak i agree just leave one out like a little slice for us to have this area doesn't open until pie day march 14th the rangers said they sell 70 000 pies a year and then often they sell out before lunchtime let me know in the comments if you get to have a pie and it's good i feel like i didn't have a full experience here without trying a pie but the homestead is pretty cool as you can see the old barn and there were some turkeys walking around leaving the gifford house starts the eight mile scenic drive into the park according to the scenic drive tour i got this route follows the water pocket fold which is a route that many different people groups have used for centuries eventually it was developed into a wagon route in 1884 the route is beautiful with massive rock formations and mountains on either side of you you'll definitely want to take your time as you make the drive back this is the end of the paved section of the scenic drive road there's a little bit more well there's a lot more dirt look at these old cars going through the gorge up ahead that's crazy when you reach capital gorge there's an additional two miles of road that you can take that's all dirt it was passable with a two-wheel drive car when i went and it was one of the highlights of the entire park for me until the 1960s this road was the only route through this area and you can imagine how dangerous it would be with the rockfall i recorded this entire route on my 360 camera and i'll link to it in the description if you want to be able to look around and see kind of what it's like to drive in here this is the end of the scenic drive dirt portion if you do the scenic drive definitely do this dirt portion it's incredible with all the narrow walls and everything and this is what the pioneers came through when they came out this area so definitely don't miss it plus it's accessible you don't need a four-wheel drive car to do it there are also some hiking trails which leave from the capitol gorge area but we didn't have time to do any of them on this trip we made our way back down the scenic drive soaking in the views to turn off at the grand wash for our next hike this was another dirt road that was easily accessible with a two-wheel drive car [Music] if you're taking a self-guided tour there's a couple pull-outs one that looks at the old mines in the area and another that looks up at the arch you're gonna hike to we're heading out on our last trail of the day in capitol reef cassidy arch it's freezing and cold though so we'll see how far we get so we're going up to cassidy arch which is over here and then pops is gonna get the car and i'm gonna hike all the way through the grand wash and he's gonna come pick me up on the other side cassidy arch and the grand wash are two of the other incredibly popular trails in the park the trail begins with a flat half mile walk through the gorge cassidy arch 1.5 miles almost a thousand feet according to this sign as you leave the gorge the trail immediately goes up on steep switchbacks the trail on the way up ended up being a lot more exposed than i thought it was going to be with decent drop offs on the left side of you pops doesn't like the exposed sections and this is a relatively exposed hike so do know that if you don't like them either so he's heading back down and i'm continuing to cast the arch this is what i mean by exposure it's like a drop like that as you're walking along the trail while it's not even remotely crazy considering some of the things we did on this road trip like angel's landing if you don't like heights it's probably not a great trail for you look how cool that canyon is with the road running right through it i really enjoyed this trail and the views as it gave you a great appreciation for the landscape of capitol reef whoa first view of the arch wow that is cool even though it looks like the arches close we still have to go around here all the way over it's like a half mile as you get closer to the arch the trail gets a little bit harder to follow you know the general direction but you kind of have to look for the rocks to know your way as we come to the final cairn there is the arch right there made it to cassidy arch this is one of those arches you can actually go walk out on as well what's crazy about this arch is that it sits about 500 feet above the canyon below you so it feels like you're up somewhere really high when you're walking out on it staying on the arch is actually not sketchy at all is gigantic up here be sure to give your camera to somebody before you walk on it so you can get your picture man these views up here are crazy this is a beautiful hike and even without the arch being able to see these types of views makes it well worth it leaving cassidy arch gonna hike back down hike all the way through the ground wash meet up with pops again and then that'll be the end of our time in capital reef before we head to moab cassidy arch trail is something you cannot miss if you visit capitol reef back to cassidy arch breaking off with the grand wash trail found pops again he's heading to the car i'm heading down the grand wash trail this trail is 2.5 miles each way we were already about a half mile in when we started the cassidy arch trail so it's about two miles to get to the end this trail is one of the most family friendly in the park as it's two miles each way but it's completely flat the entire time this trail is beautiful as you wind your way through sandstone cliffs that tower above you as you continue forward the canyon's really wide with lots of rock formations to look out for the canyon is getting a lot more narrow here we're about a mile in once we pass the next few bends we'll be in a section known as the narrows which is the most famous on this trail what's crazy about this trail is just how quiet it's been i only hear the sound of my footsteps some birds and the wind i haven't even seen any other people the entire time i've been in here this canyon reminds me of a much smaller scale version of the narrows in zion with no water that canyon is far more impressive but this is still a pretty cool one to see i'll check it out that canyon is getting more and more narrow at its most narrow section it's about 15 feet wide [Music] i don't know if this is officially the narrows or not but it's definitely the most narrow i've seen this canyon it's pretty impressive once you pass the narrow section the canyon opens up a lot more and the sides get a lot shorter that middle area is definitely the best part of the trail this trail is super cool but i'm ready for it to be over it's freezing hey look who we found on the trail it's pops he's finishing the end of this hike with me since this is an outer back trail with two different parking areas it's about 25 minutes to drive the car from one section to the other pops drove around there and then he hiked in to finish the trail with me it's good that pops showed up so that you guys can see how big some of these canyons are this is definitely a cool hike but i would say if you're picking hikes to do in the park do either one of the arches before you do this one because if you don't have a shuttle you've got to walk two and a half miles in the sand through the canyon two and a half miles back and there's definitely cooler trails you can do a capital reef i see the parking lot it's right there made it back this is where we started and we walked all the way through and out to here and in our time in capitol reef national park and we got two and a half hours to get to moab from capitol reef it's about 136 miles a 2 hour drive to get to moab we found this burger place in hanksville called stands we're hoping for big things the open sign is turned off we weren't expecting much but we're just excited to find a place that was open after a long day of hiking we are very excited about our cheeseburger and milkshake very excited this is how you do a milkshake overflowing banana cream pie this is crazy how they fill it like this wow hanksville totally banana cream pie yeah this place is just located inside of a normal gas station onion rings jalapenos barbecue sauce two burgers well you're going big outstanding and barbecue sauce was good stands was a huge win after a day in capitol reef if you're driving to moab like we are you definitely should go there hour and 45 minutes and we'll be at our hotel hanksville also has the hollow mountain store which is a gas station store made inside of a rock on the way to the restroom so you can actually see the rock that they cut out it was just a normal gas station but it's a fun little stop from hanksville we drove the last hour and a half in the dark and ended up hitting a snowstorm but eventually we made it to moab after getting through this snowstorm made to our hotel in moab and that is the end of day three we stayed in the town of moab the night before and started our day at moab coffee roasters got our coffee ready to head into arches also when in moab do as the moabians do from the city it's only about a 15-minute drive to the start of the park entering arches national park note that this is one of the busiest national parks in utah and they often have reservation systems to get in in the summer be sure to check that in advance so you don't get turned away if you don't have one first stop in the park the visitor center extraordinary arches and awe-inspiring landscape we don't really have to worry about this today since it's so cold but in the summertime it can reach 100 degrees so make sure you have enough water the visitor center here is a really great one it has lots of information on the people who live in the arches area and it has a replica arch inside of it as you leave the visitor center the road heads out on a series of switchbacks that help you to climb the elevation up to where the park's main features are we basically took one day to see everything we possibly could in this park so this may be a really full itinerary if you don't want to go as hard as we did i'm gonna hike the park avenue trail pops is dropping me off here gonna pick me up over here but we're gonna go look at the viewpoint first absolutely the one mile each way park avenue trail was our first stop it's called park avenue because supposedly the rocks here reminded early visitors of big city skyscrapers we have descended into the canyon and we're surrounded by massive rocks on both sides pretty cool but not the best time of day for this hike this is a fun short hike with some monoliths and cool rock formations like balancing rocks that being said there are lots of better hikes in this park so you could skip this one especially if you have to go out and back looks like it's going to be another cold day in the park eventually we exited the canyon and got some close-up views of some of the major rock formations before making it back to the road into our car my shuttle driver and we were heading on to the next spot as we left there and continued driving eventually balanced rock came into view our next stop is balanced rock balanced rock is an iconic formation in arches national park there's a little trail that walks up close to it and around the side this trail has a portion that's wheelchair accessible you can go to the right but you can't go to the left just to get a feel for the location and how long it takes to drive through the park balance rock is about nine miles from the visitor center here's the end of the wheelchair accessible portion of the trail balanced rock is 128 feet in height it honestly looks like it could fall off at any minute [Music] we're heading onto the windows portion of the park which is one of my favorite areas as soon as you pass balanced rock and either head to delicate arch or turn on the trail to the windows you're going to be with a lot of other people the rest of the time you're in the national park these areas are incredibly popular because they're easy to access and stunning next up the windows which has a couple arches out there and then there's another arch behind us this shows how the arches are formed they start with cracks and the cracks widen with weathering and then water pushes through the cracks and then it continues to do that creating the arch this trailer is a one mile loop that takes you to all three arches [Music] here's the split where you can go to north and south on one side and turn on the other side you can actually connect between the two once you get up there bob's look at how crazy this is there's no one else here with us at the windows i doubt that happens very often unless it's the winter this is a great family-friendly trail as it's a gradual incline on some stairs to get up to the first window [Music] north window is the first that you'll come to and it's one of the most impressive arches you'll see in the park it's massive and you can walk right up underneath it as you stand underneath north window you get a great view of turret arch across the way from here the trail heads on to south arch and then over to turret arch from the north window it's about a five minute walk to the south window there's the south window right there this one's also pretty nice to see but it's not as cool as the north window as you can't get up close to it [Music] from south window it's another five minute walk over to turret arch to complete your third arch for this trail pop says this looks like a head with two wings sticking out the head being the middle i think it looks like two eyes with a big nose in the middle what do you think comment and let us know turret arch is probably the most unique of the three as it looks more like a keyhole arch and the others are just round you can walk right up into the middle of this one as well and you can get some great views looking through it towards north window this area shares a parking lot with the trail to double arch here we are at double arch trail which other than delicate is my favorite arch in the park going way out there pops his chance in the crazy wind that we have by wearing his cowboy hat we'll see if it works out for him or not you can already see the double arch out there double arch is another family friendly trail as it's about a half mile round trip [Music] you see the people down there to get a sense of scale for this arch double arch is such an incredible natural wonder as it has two massive arches creating almost a circle once you get there you can actually walk up inside of it if you want to what do you think pops i like it [Music] [Laughter] it's got a nice echo [Music] climbed up in the arch pretty sweet spot with that view being framed out there [Music] crazy [Music] absolutely incredible yeah on to our next spot it's hard to pull yourself away from this arch but this is one of over 2 000 arches in this park so there's more to see there's the elephant do you see him with his head and the trunk hanging down on the front it's a fun little formation we're taking the opportunity to have lunch you can drive out to moab but it's about 30 minutes each way and we wanted to make the most of our one day in the park so lunch in the car to get out of the wind before heading on if there's anyone out there that runs dots pretzels and wants to sponsor me let me know this is my jam right here huge fan [Music] as you leave the windows area it's a couple miles drive to where you turn for delicate arch and there's one pull out along the way this is the panorama viewpoint and it is insane right now probably because of that snow we got yesterday it's really low and those mountains are beautiful out there panorama view is pretty stunning as you add the snow-covered mountains and the windows area in one direction and the fiery furnace and the road leading through the park in the other direction we skipped the turn for delicate arch as we were planning on doing that for sunset and we continued to head back into the park after another five miles of driving we made it to the sand dune broken arch trail there's three arches off of this trail but we're just gonna go to sand dune arch today since we're doing a bunch more hiking sand dune arch is basically the perfect hike with small children as it's only a quarter mile round trip and it's pretty epic to explore this is pretty cool we're like heading into a slot canyon right now i don't know if pops has ever been in a slot canyon before [Music] we have made it to sand dune arch [Music] it looks small but it's actually pretty decent size there's six seven pops in the arch pop's made a good point that if you have a family this is just a fun area probably to have a picnic and explore there's all sorts of rocks to look at so good family destination in arches national park volunteer to run the shuttle for me so he's gonna go over to the end of this trail and i'm gonna go see broken arch and tapestry arch there's broken arch right out there in the distance after crossing through this meadow i had done lots of hikes in this park before but i had never done this hike so when pops offered to run the shuttle for me i thought it would be awesome to go check it out to get to broken arch and tapestry arch without a shuttle it's about two miles round trip there is broken arch right there that's a pretty good one good thing they tell you that the trail continues through the arch because it doesn't look like it does there's the crack right there broken arch is about 30 feet tall and it's a pretty awesome one especially with the views you can get out towards the snow covered mountains [Music] trails like this have no shade so you're going to want to start really early or just skip them in the heat of the summer i found my shuttle driver we're gonna do tapestry arch before heading back to the car let's have a street arch out in front of us but we gotta go up to those cars we've been following and look at pops hiking with those majestic mountains behind him crazy after a short walk we made it to tapestry arch which is up on the side of the cliff you can only look up at it from way down below it's crazy as being able to see the arches and then those mountains out in the distance after finishing seeing tapestry arch we walked back to where pop parked the car in the campground look at this uh campground right here this is the devil's garden campground it's closed in the winter but it must be a pretty sweet spot in the summer that one even has an arch behind it we got two more hikes before we call it a day devil's garden and delicate arch for sunset [Music] so now for our last hike before delicate arch we're gonna go to landscape arch this area is known as the devil's garden and you can get to eight different arches from here on a longer hiking trail sorry this hike is a lot of fun there's like this canyon area back here you get to walk through as you're going out to the arches landscape is our ultimate goal but we're gonna go to tunnel and pine tree arch first looks like we're gonna see tunnel arch up in that hillside right there there's tunnel arch right there pretty cool it's pretty far away going to both of these arches adds about a half mile onto the trail but it's relatively quick and it's worth it to see two additional arches this is pine tree arch pine tree arch is another pretty big one and there's some great views looking out through the arch [Music] heading back to the main trail going up to landscape arch if you don't do these additional two arches and it's two miles round trip to get to landscape arch and pack got our first view of landscape arch out there landscape arch is incredibly impressive the first time you see it and as you get closer you'll really understand how massive this arch is that's pretty hard to beat that's definitely one of the coolest arches in the park the trail is easy to follow as you just walk along a wooden fence with many different views of landscape arch as you get closer to it the trail used to go all the way up underneath the arch but after a rock fall in the early 2000s they made it come back so you can only see it from afar now what do you think of landscape arch it's amazing you can't imagine how big it is from pictures you can't get the impression how big it is until you're here it's just massive yeah that is supposedly longer than a football field if you can imagine that now we're leaving landscape arch and we're heading to delicate arch our last stop of our day in arches landscape arch is so narrow in one section it's only eight feet wide and i don't know how long this is going to last this is definitely one of those ones you want to see before it eventually crumbles like that piece looks like it's about to fall off right there after saying goodbye to landscape arch we started the one mile hike back to the car this trail is very pretty and on the way back you get some great views of the mountains out in the distance we first headed to the delicate arch viewpoint before going to where we were going to start the hike this parking area is to be able to see delicate arch view if you don't want to hike to it it's far away but i wanted to show it to you guys just in case people didn't want to hike we are here you can go to the upper one which is a half mile or you can just go to the lower one over there that's where we're going so there's the arch right out there but we will go all the way to the viewpoint for you because that's how we are committed to this youtube channel delicate arch and then you are really far away here but if you have a zoom lens you can zoom in and see the arch out there all right so there's the viewpoint now we are heading on to hike delicate arch for sunset this is the parking lot for delicate arch in the summer this thing fills up all day long especially at sunset but in the winter there's a ton of open space 1.5 miles each way 480 feet of elevation basically right when you start the trail there's a short spur over to the wolfie ranch this is the remains of a ranch that was built in the early 1900s and it's definitely worth checking it out continuing on the trail you'll start crossing a bridge which goes over a little bit of water that actually exists out here in the desert this trail is pretty much flat for the first tenth of a mile and it's uphill all the way to the arch again this is another tough trail in the summer as it's incredibly hot and there's no shade when i did it in the summertime i did it for sunrise so i hiked this whole section in the dark so don't underestimate this hike after the first section it's all steep you go all the way around here and then you just go basically straight up that section right there we got here around 3 45 sunset today is at six and we're on the trail by four so we could take our time getting up there and then we could just hang out at the top and watch the sunset and here's where we begin the steep slick rock uphill section this is the most well known section of the trail as there's basically no trail here and you're just walking up this slick rock to the top pops is having the time of his life [Music] we've made it to the top of the rock still uphill but it's not that uphill pops again recommends a hiking pole for this trail as there's slick rock on the way up and on the way down plus lots of uneven footing on the rest of the trail [Music] that is twisted donut arch right there when you make it to the last quarter mile the trail is relatively narrow as you go up on slick rock and you hug one side there are even some stairs that help you to gain elevation here [Music] actually be twisted donut arch right here i jumped the gun if you climb up to this section you can actually get a pretty amazing view of delicate arch right through the hole my dad got nervous of the exposure on this section but he was able to overcome his fear and make it to the top that being said he didn't stay for very long many of the other hikes we did on this trip like angels landing and cassidy arch were way more exposed than this was [Music] as soon as you round this corner you've made it eventually we rounded the final corner and you could see delicate arch [Music] you made it nice work oh my gosh was it as scary as you thought it was going to be but you got to see delicate arch this was my second time seeing this arch but it was just incredible as the first delicate arch is one of the most iconic views in the entire united states and it easily lives up to the hype when you see it if you want to you can hike across the bowl and actually go under the arch [Music] made it to the underside of delegate arch however you choose to view it just give yourself a lot of time to sit and relax and soak it in it's one of those special places in nature for sure we're about 30 minutes away from sunset it's already starting to get a little golden honestly you can't get a bad view of this arch it's just incredible walking around the bowl and just taking it in from all the different angles this is a selfie video to show that pops actually made it to delicate arch before he leaves if you look closely you can see the fear in my eyes i spent another 45 minutes up here just watching the sunset it was better than i could have ever imagined as the colors just continued to change on the arch [Music] eventually when the sun had finally faded it was time to head down [Music] wow that was one of the top times i've ever had watching the sunset absolutely lived up to expectations the way the light lit up the arch it was like golden such a cool experience um pops already went down like a while ago so i'm going back down to meet up with him and then we're gonna go to dinner after a full day in arches national park we drove back out to moab and went to the moab brewery the moab brewery is a local and tourist favorite for food and drinks in the city we only had protein bars for lunch so we went big today this is the moab monster look at that burger and i upgraded from fries to a lotte and then pop's got tri-tip elote and whatever bacon-wrapped onion is bacon-wrapped onion looks amazing we're going big this alote looks incredible that burger it's huge get your mouth around it oh yeah man look at all the stuff dripping out the bottom it's crazy cheese and everything that's health food after a hiking right there after that meal i can't wait to take a shower and go to sleep that is the end of day four we started our day in canyonlands national park by leaving moab about an hour and a half before sunrise entering canyonlands national park at 5 30 in the morning with 28 degree weather it's gonna be fun starting the trail to mesa arch for sunrise there's like six cars in the parking lot right now there is snow on the ground nice chilly morning this is definitely not for everybody but it's one of the most iconic places in the southwest so it's pretty cool to see it at sunrise the mesa arch trail is about three quarters of a mile round trip and be sure to bring a headlamp or a flashlight as you're going to be hiking this in the dark eventually you'll see the arch come into view and most likely there'll be other photographers already there waiting [Music] what's crazy about this spot is that it can only really accommodate 10 to 15 photographers and since it's so popular there's always a lot of people waiting for sunrise here [Music] sunrise at mesa arch be sure to get there as early as you possibly can if you want to get a specific spot but i was there about 30 minutes early and i was able to get a great spot for photos [Music] even if you're not taking pictures this is an amazing place to experience for yourself watching the sun come up and light up the landscape in front of you as well as illuminating the arch is one of those sunrises that you'll never forget in your entire life after just hanging out and watching the light come up a little bit more we decided to leave mesa arch for our full day in canyonlands national park as a non-photographer was it worth getting up for it's just gorgeous and the way that the colors change underneath the arch it's things you wouldn't necessarily anticipate but it's fun to see that change so that's a yes yeah absolutely [Music] we're driving around the park now gonna do a couple overlooks a couple hikes before heading out of the park canyonlands island in the sky district is basically a mesa that looks down over the surrounding landscape most of the park's major attractions are going to overlooks along the mesa and then walking along the rim to take in the scenery nuts being here in winter it's freezing cold but there's no people around basically silent when you're out on those viewpoints it's pretty surreal miraculously this banana is somehow still on the roof after we drove 50 miles from the hotel this is like a super banana right here i'm glad i didn't litter and that the banana was still on the roof [Music] the two most popular trails to walk along the rim are the white rim overlook trail and the grandview point trail i'd done grandview on a previous trip so i decided to do the white rim overlook trail it's about two miles round trip and there's not much of a view on the way out there but once you make it out the views are incredible this trail really doesn't have any signs so you're following the rocks again we're about three quarters of a mile in and we're starting to get our first view i think the point is right out there look at you with those layers of mountains behind you wow [Music] when you reach the overlook it basically feels like you're looking down on the crazy canyons that go across the landscape again it's hard to capture how majestic this is with my camera but it is so cool to see here's the end of the trail i can't really go out there [Music] my dad and i spent a good 20 minutes just sitting out here taking in all of the views before starting the walk back to the car [Music] i have to say this is a pretty incredible viewpoint definitely worth a walk especially for that area with those crazy white top rocks i feel like hanging lands is one of those places you really can't understand until you experience it yourself even when you're here it almost looks fake when you're looking down into the canyons it's definitely worth coming to see it though [Music] we've made it to the end of the road which is grand view point you can see there's not very parking spots here so definitely know that if you're coming in the summer grand view point is the end of the road heading in the southern direction and it is a popular spot due to it having a hiking trail and amazing views [Music] the parking lot can easily fill here especially in the summer and while most people are only taking in the views some people do go on the hike so you'll have to wait a little bit longer to get a spot [Music] the view here looks out over the epic expanse of canyonlands national park heading towards the needles area if you could fly as a bird it's not that far to get to the needles area but if you're going to drive it's a good three hours that little spire there is the totem pole which is the tallest feature in the basin at 305 feet way down there you can just enjoy the view or you can actually walk out to the point right there which is grand view point it's about a mile we're not going to do it on this trip but i'm sure it's a great view out there [Music] on the way back we took the other road in the park which heads west to a couple other hikes and viewpoints the green river overlook looks out over a different area than what we've been seeing in this video so far from here you can see all the way out to the green river which feeds into the colorado river when it crosses the grand view point area [Music] i have to say it's one of my favorite viewpoints in the park because it's so unique it's crazy that it just doesn't look real like this area down here doesn't look real that doesn't look real after spending a few more minutes at the green river overlook it was time to head on and to do some hiking this is the aztec butte hike you can actually go all the way out to the aztec butte but we are going to just go to the which are pictured right here they're from the adrian pueblo in people and they were built hundreds of years ago and they're stuck in the rock down there still so we wanted to go check those out if you want to go all the way out to aztec butte it's a mile and three quarters round trip but we just went to the granaries which was about three quarters of a mile round trip basically in canyonlands and in arches you've got to follow the cairns in order to figure out where the trail is that's aztec view right there which you can climb if you want to to get a view over the park [Music] we're about a quarter mile from the parking area and here is the split to the greenery when we made it to the top of this platform we actually struggled to figure out where the granaries were we walked around for a while and then saw a couple people that were at the bottom of the hill who pointed us in the right direction [Music] in order to get to the granaries you actually have to go down off the side of this little cliff right here and then there in the alcove right there it was a little sketchy doing this with the snow and my dad actually stayed at the top but once you come down to this section you can walk across the slick rock and you'll see them these are literally built into the side of the hill way up here on the top of this mountain so cool this must have been good for hiding them and maybe even for keeping them cool because pops is right on the trail above it and you would never even know that these things were down there this hike was definitely a highlight for me and not something i expected when i came to canyonlands only one hike left today pops good that hike is definitely worth doing if you're into the area's history it was a little bit sketchy at the end but it's an incredible payoff one more hike left in canyonlands we're seeing one hike left because this is our fifth national park in five days and we're pretty tired of hiking upheaval dome we start here and then there's the first overlook and the second overlook i think we're just gonna do this one today but that's what it looks like from above which is pretty incredible the upheaval dome trail is about a mile and a half round trip to make it to both of the viewpoints the beginning of the trail is uphill the entire way but it's relatively gradual on stone steps so it's not too difficult we're still heading up there's a little bit of slick rock but i think we're almost the first overlook here's the first overlook right here upheaval dome is this massive canyon on the west side of the park and people are not even sure how it was created the current thought is that was created by a meteorite that collided with the earth looking at the area through this lens it's pretty incredible to think about a meteorite impact creating this valley that you see below you i thought the first overlook was gonna be tougher but it was one steep section and it's relatively short so that's why i figured might as well go on to the second one the trail to the second viewpoint takes you along the ridgeline and around upheaval dome it's relatively short but it definitely has some ups and downs we're going along these steps and then that's the second overlook right there this last section is pretty steep so pops opted to stay back there that's the overlook right there [Music] there's the first one way over there i think this one's gonna be pretty incredible though if you feel up for it on your hike i definitely recommend going to the second viewpoint the first is nice but the second is definitely more impressive as you get a better view of upheaval dome [Music] you can also get some views of the western area of canyonlands which is nice too [Music] see if you can spot pops in this video hiking down the steep section gonna do the visitor center and a few more viewpoints before ending our time in island in the sky district of canyonlands national park after leaving upheaval dome we made our way back to the center of the park to see a few more viewpoints that we missed in the dark and the visitors center [Music] the first stop was at shaffer trail viewpoint there it is the famous shaffer trail which you can drive all the way down to the bottom of if you want but don't take that lightly it's like a one-lane dirt road it looks like it even got some snow right now there's a hiking trail here to the next spring which is six miles and then the shaffer canyon viewpoint is a tenth of a mile i honestly think that's the best viewpoint though that's the most iconic looking down on it like that the last viewpoint we saw of shaffer trail was just a random pull out so this was the official viewpoint that's a cool view of the trail as well you can see how steep the descent is but yeah the other view is definitely better i wouldn't do this with snow on the trail but i'd love to come back and do it in the summer [Music] our last stop of the day was island in the sky visitor center here you could learn more about the park in its diverse landscape or pick up a souvenir so that officially ends our time in the island in the sky portion of canyonlands but before we leave i'm going to show you dead horse point since it's right next to the national park dead horse point is a state park located right outside of canyonlands national park it does cost an additional fee to visit this spot there isn't a ton to do here so you'll have to decide if it's worth it for you to see the view first you can head to the visitor center and then there's a few hiking trails as well dead horse point state park that's where we're at right there on colorado river overlook pretty sweet spot up there to have a picnic if you want with this view at the visitor center there's a short five minute walk that takes you to a great viewpoint that looks east this is a fun little stop if you're looking for more areas to explore note that it does cost twenty dollars to be able to get in here but there's some good viewpoints nature trails and it's a big mountain bike area as well after the visitor center we headed to the end of the road in the official dead horse point overlook it's a colorado river from the viewpoint you're about two thousand feet above the colorado river below you it is a pretty incredible spot to see according to legend dead horse point got its name because it was used as a natural corral with the cliff edges in the early 19th century and unfortunately many of the horses often died from sun exposure also they do have a wheelchair accessible portion to this overlook right here saying goodbye to dead horse and let's go get something to freaking eat absolutely i'm gonna be a dead horse if you don't eat after leaving candy lands we headed to dewey's and we basically ordered everything on the menu because we were so hungry after all day of hiking and no lunch burgers chicken sandwiches no apology since we're just chilling in the hotel room the rest of the day and we did the full mighty five i figured it made sense to just say what our favorites were this is based on nothing else but this trip because zion's probably one of my favorite parks in the united states but this trip we didn't do a lot there so for me number one would be arches two would be bryce three would be zion four would be it's a toss-up but probably canyonlands and then capitol reef all right pops is up he's got his notes go for it i have to say number one for me was price number two was arches number three is capital reef number four is zion just based on what we've done this time and then canyonlands would be number five for me the utah national parks are all incredible we had a great time at every single one of them but we are excited to head south and go into monument valley tomorrow saying goodbye to mohab which is good because it's presidents day weekend and there's a ton of people here now and we are heading south towards monument valley from moab to monument valley it's about 150 miles in three hours but we had a few stops along the way of course hole in the rock is a really fun roadside attraction so if you're driving south from moab be sure to stop but it's not open yet today and we're going on to hiking the needles as you're driving south from moab this is right here on the side of the road i think it's called wilson's arch there's a little pull out so you can take a few pictures of it if you want after driving south for about 40 minutes we reached the turn off to go to the needles district of canyonlands our first stop brought us to newspaper rock here is newspaper rock right here they said that this records over 2 000 years of etchings they believe there's over 650 different pieces of art on the rock and that it went by many different names to many different people groups it's a quick and incredible stop on the way into canyonlands and it's its own park it's not part of the national park [Music] that is definitely a great stop on the way into the needles area you don't see something like that every day from newspaper rock it's about a 30 minute drive to the visitor center this is an incredible drive though with many rock formations looking like the southwest landscapes you've seen in the movies going to spend about two to three hours in the park on our way south our first trail is the roadside ruin trail which actually is going to take us to one of these little granaries like we saw yesterday which is pretty cool it's a half mile if you really want to see this area you're going to want to plan an entire day here the two most popular trails are at least eight to ten miles to go out towards the needles and the slot canyons and some of the arches but we'll show you what to do with the half day if that's all you have most of these trails along the side of the road are relatively short at less than a half mile there it is a little grainer up in that alcove up there [Music] you want to see the granaries that's definitely the easiest way to do it the one we did yesterday was a lot more treacherous but fun little family-friendly hike on the next spot from there we headed out towards cave spring which requires you to drive on a dirt road that was easily passable with a two-wheel drive car this was easily my favorite hike in this district and it's one of the most popular as well next up we're doing the cave spring trail to a historic cowboy campground [Music] within two minutes of starting the trail we're already at the old cowboy campground pops has always wanted to be a cowboy how do you feel about living in this campground i think when you understand what a cowboy was you don't want to be it so much yeah you don't want to be a cowboy anymore this is probably cadillac cowboy living right here rather than out exposed this cowboy camp was fascinating as it's from the early 1900s and it shows what life would have been like in the canyonlands area during that time it's pretty cool that they've been able to keep it intact like this and i hope it stays that way for future generations [Music] this is a primo location i mean more caves back there you can stay out of the weather this is pretty epic pretty good cowboy home this area has one of the only year-round water sources in this part of canyonlands which is why i was so popular for camping this water source basically looks like it's seeping right out of the rock itself this trail has two ladders that you actually have to take to continue on i love when trails have unique elements like this and it's fun to be able to climb these ladders and get to the top of the rock for some great views there's ladder number two right there brings you out to this slick rock section after seeing island in the sky the day before it's crazy how different these two parts of the national park are hopefully one of these days i'll be able to see the third district called the maze as well [Music] the slick rock section is not too long and it's pretty easy to follow after about 30 minutes we were getting back to the parking lot it's a little bit low pops actually has to bend over for that one that's the end of the cave springs trail that's an awesome trail with history beautiful views the ladder seeing all these kind of like cave-like formations definitely don't miss this one after finishing the short hike we headed further into the park with a stop to see wooden shoe arch i have to say it's easily recognizable as a shoe what do you think let me know in the comments our next stop was to drive out to elephant hill which is the popular trailhead for many of the park's best hikes [Music] there's no reason to go all the way down to the end if you're just coming for the day like us but you definitely should come about a mile and a half in to get this view of the needles which is pretty great from here you can really see the needles area if you have a zoom lens or binoculars this is our last short hike of the day we're going up to pothole point pops is already going off trail following the rocks it's a pothole with a little worm in it looks like it's alive crazy there is life in the potholes as you're hiking this trail be sure to stay out of the potholes even if there's just dirt and no water in them as you can damage the ecosystem also you don't want to touch it because the skin from your hands can also damage the ecosystem so just look don't touch this rock would literally have potholes everywhere after a rain pothole point is an important and fragile ecosystem in canyonlands basically the eggs lay dormant for many of the life forms then when water comes in they rush to finish their life cycle before it dries up again it's fascinating to learn more about this and actually see it in action pops found a big one out on the point right there crazy to see water like that in the dry desolate desert that surrounds us as we explored more we saw two large pools out at the end of the rocks i didn't see any life in these pools but since i saw life in the smaller ones i'm sure there was life in the larger ones as well that's a pretty fun little trail some great views fun to look in to see if you can see any life on to the viewpoint which is our last stop at canyonlands one of the reasons why we're not spending more time in this portion of canyonlands is that i booked this surprise hotel for pops with this epic view of monument valley which is one of his favorite places in the united states so i wanted to make sure we had time to experience that on our road trip our last stop in the needles district brought us to the big spring canyon overlook here's the view into the canyon at the end of the scenic drive beautiful it was a really nice spot but we'd seen a lot of canyons in the other four national parks and it didn't hold a candle to many of those [Music] that ends our time exploring the needles district of canyonlands national park we are heading on to monument valley it's a good 45 minute drive from the needles district all the way back out to the main road so do make sure to note the amount of time it takes to get out here if you're wanting to see it on your road trip we continue driving until we reached the town of blanding which is where we planned to get some lunch as it was the biggest town on this entire drive for about 45 minutes we were excited because we found pops burritos it's closed what the heck so let us know if pops is good if you're doing this drive but unfortunately we don't get to try it since pops wasn't open and pretty much everything else is closed we are going to a w [Music] this amw that we're eating lunch in also has a bowling alley and there's a bird in the restaurant down there health food back on the road again after our fantastic lunch find it was back on the road toward monument valley my dad has spent some time in this area over the years and he was excited to show me the spot he loved called valley of the gods it's about nine miles north of mexican hat and that was our next stop do note there's a small creek crossing to get into valley of the gods but there wasn't much water when we went here is the map of the valley of the gods we're right here on the east entrance so we're going to see a few of these things and then come back out the valley of the gods is sort of like monument valley with large sandstone formations that you can see as you're driving through it gets way fewer visitors though so it can be a great way to experience the land without other people there's a 17 mile scenic drive that goes on a dirt road that was passable by two-wheel drive cars when we went i've heard that after the rain the road can wash out and be pretty bad so you probably wouldn't want to try to take a two-wheel drive car then the road winds back towards the mountains and right around the halfway point is where you get some of the best views we basically had the road to ourselves the entire time we were driving out here there were a few rvs parked in different areas for some sort of dispersed camping i'm guessing but overall it felt very remote and it was a really cool way to experience the area check out that car right there that shows you how big these things are can you see the fingers and the thumb on that one looks just like hand so pops is the one who introduced me to valley of the gods how'd you find out about it it was about 10 years ago we were in monument valley went up to mexican hat stopped at a gas station said hey tell me about something people don't know about and they said go to this valley of the gods there literally was a sign this big and you see from the video you have to go through a wash to get in here and then we came in here and we were shocked that we saw all of this and it's like nobody knew about it almost yeah this is a super cool spot it was very accessible for the road for most cars at least this time of year definitely a fun little drive i was trying to get to that hotel i mentioned i was surprising my dad with so we didn't do the entire drive and we just went back the way we came from here many of these rock formations actually have names and that one is a hen you can see it's sitting up there looks like a hen from valley of the gods our next spot was at gooseneck state park [Music] only about 10 minutes from the entrance to valley of the gods is a spot you do not want to miss goosenecks state park look at that it's basically the worst time of day to be here but that doesn't stop how awesome this place is there are a couple tough hikes if you want to go down to the water itself but other than that you basically just take in the viewpoint and leave whenever you're done [Music] it costs five bucks but it's worth it for the view on to monument valley as you're driving into monument valley there's a town called mexican hat and there's actually the mexican hat rock which you can pull off and take a photo of if you want you can actually hike up there too but we're just taking a picture there's also a small town here called mexican hat with a hotel and a restaurant that's sometimes open and it sits right along the san juan river [Music] from there we arrived in the monument valley area and quickly got to the famous place where forrest gump stopped his run in the movie there's people basically stopping here constantly and walking on the road to take their pictures but i mean it is a pretty iconic picture bad time of day but epic spot here at mile marker 13 is where forrest gump stopped his run i'm pretty tired i think i'll go home now after pops did his forrest gump impression which i'm sure was the first time it was ever done here we continued on often you'll see the navajo vendors out here selling different jewelry and things like that and many of the viewpoints this is the redlands viewpoint right here but again pretty backlit if you're going for photography like me be sure to get here earlier or later in the day as it wasn't a great time for pictures the road winds around many of the different sandstone formations before you get to a turn-off for the monument valley visitor center and the view hotel note that entry into this area does close each day so if you're not staying at the hotel you can't go into the scenic drive after a certain point pops just found out that we are staying in monument valley at the view hotel tonight can't believe it that's amazing we're gonna watch sunset from our room oh going in the room oh man wow look at this this is incredible wow sunset from the deck we only have to leave amazing i can't believe it this isn't sponsored or anything i just saw photos online at this spot and thought it would be an awesome place to surprise my dad with there's a car right there coming back from the scenic drive [Music] all right so we got a linda's delivery menu when we checked in so we got an order of navajo tacos coming and we're just chilling here the entire rest of the day watching the sun go down over monument valley this really is an incredible way to watch the sunset i walked around the hotel a little bit just checking it out my dad just sat on the porch the entire rest of the night [Music] there's pops right there in our hotel room with this view it's so cool we're just sitting here and watching the shadows go up on that mountain and go out in the distance that one's still in the sun and then that one's almost entirely covered in shadows now basically lost our golden light there's a little bit of purple in the distance but man that went down quick pops and i are just stoked on this blue band and these like kind of purple red orange it's almost like a rainbow behind the mountains right now while i was sitting there i took a time lapse with my phone of the entire sunset it's not the best quality but you get the picture it was pretty amazing were you surprised pops i was totally surprised you said we were staying somewhere near monument valley i thought oh it's like that'll be cool but to be here and looking at this from my own spot it's just amazing never would have thought of it i got you you totally got me ending our day with a navajo taco very excited strong into uh day six i think of our trip see you guys tomorrow pops has got some coffee on the deck watching the sunrise all you hear is silence and the click of photographers in other rooms [Music] i have to say as a photographer there's nothing more magical than just getting right out of bed coming out here and shooting and then getting back in bed to get warm again that alone is worth the price of admission for this hotel after soaking in the sunset we headed out to do the scenic drive so they only have 25 people to do the scenic drive at one time and it opens at 8am it's 7 55 and we are number 10 in line and there's about nine cars behind us so we'll see if everybody gets in or not but yeah you can't get in until someone leaves after they've filled the quota we had no problem getting in and we're in the first group and they gave us two hours to explore we stopped at every one of the overlooks and spent some time at a few of them and definitely used our entire two hours it would be easy to even spend a half day in here with how beautiful it is the road through the park is dirt but there was no problems for two-wheel drive cars when we were there this is stop number one on the monument valley scenic drive right here where you get the west and east mittens and merrick butte i think it's called i thought that that was stop number one right there but this is officially stop number one right here look at that view this view is the most iconic in monument valley with the west minton butte and the east minton butte whenever you see anything related to monument valley you'll probably see one of the mittens stop number two from merrick butte but you still get a pretty amazing view over there as well cowboy pops and merrick butte my dad is a huge fan of the old western movies and so monument valley was one of the highlights of this road trip for him they do a great job with the way the scenic drive is laid out as there's lots of easy to find overlooks that give you great views of the many different formations you can see back here it's one of those areas where you just want to plan to drive slow and soak it all in as you continue to head back you'll get to the three sisters which is the last viewpoint on the main stretch of the road before starting the loop that goes through the back area next up we got the three sisters i honestly wonder how long that middle one's even gonna be there it's tiny the three sisters is one of my favorite formations especially as you take the drive out to john ford's point the moon's setting through the three sisters right there there it goes it's basically down now that is so cool though this is the next point of interest it's john ford's point this area was named after john ford who was an american director he was one of the most influential people in making monument valley famous as he featured it in stagecoach and then in nine other additional films this point was named in his honor and was used in his movie the searchers apparently there's someone who stands out here with a horse for tips but i don't see anybody right now i wish i could have got the iconic shot with the man sitting on the horse out in the point but there's always a next time you can also shop for souvenirs or get some authentic fry bread before continuing on the scenic drive as we started the loop portion of the drive the road was a little worse here but it was still passable with the two-wheel drive car our next viewpoint is the hub the hub was supposed to look like the center of a wagon wheel and it was definitely a good name for that rock formation look at those spires out in front of us the loop basically takes you around a massive rock formation known as the rain god mesa and over towards another massive rock formation known as spearhead mesa the totem poles out there are one of the places where you can take an actual navajo guide to get some better photos so i'm definitely going to do that next time i'm here after the fact i read that one of the best experiences in monument valley is a sunrise tour of the totem poles let me know how it is in the comments in the back side of the park there's lots of pullouts that don't have any signs or names so i think this is the bird springs pull out but i'm not really sure as i couldn't tell from the road from here we headed north and we had the rain god mesa on one side and the spearhead mesa on the other side both were massive rock formations this is one of our last viewpoints it's navajo code talker point as we got back to this viewpoint you could see the mittens and merrick butte again this area is also known as artist point overlook when you're looking out over this viewpoint you can actually come over here and you can see the hotel that we stayed at which was right there it's cool that it doesn't really stand out with the landscape that's nice this is one of the best viewpoints at the end to just sit and relax at you can just sit in your car and look out over the view or there is a bench as well [Music] after leaving the viewpoint there's only two more spots to stop before you connect with the main road and exit the park the next one you'll make it to is a fun rock formation known as the thumb [Music] this is the last viewpoint it's the windows the north window and you can walk up here and you can actually get a great little view to end your time on the trail after leaving the last overlook you'll finish the loop and connect with the main road as you can no doubt tell this is one of the most stunning areas in the southwest and something that you have to experience yourself a video like this will never do it justice also note that there was a really long line to get in when we were leaving finish the scenic drive back at the hotel for 45 minutes before you have to check out and then we're heading on to paige so the scenic route goes all the way through there and then up kind of to that plateau and then you basically do a loop around here and come back out the way you came and it's 17 miles there's lots of little pullouts like that one in front of me where you can pull off and you can take pictures and you can get right back on the road saying goodbye to our awesome hotel room on to the next spot from monument valley we started the drive back to southern california with just a few more stops before ending this road trip golding's lodge is the other main hotel in the area about four miles from the view hotel we stayed at they have a fun museum in john wayne's cabin here and we wanted to check them out before we left but both of them were if you're in the area and you're not staying here it's definitely worth stopping by as there's a few fun things to see we're actually leaving utah and heading into arizona but i thought it was only fitting to get this epic welcome to utah sciences that's where we spent the whole road trip we're saying goodbye to utah though but you've been good to us on this trip incredible place hopefully we end in arizona and that horseshoe band is pretty epic as well monument valley is the world's greatest outdoor museum i wouldn't argue against that as we entered arizona we started the two-hour 120 mile journey to page arizona this was another beautiful drive but it was a little flatter than what we had been used to in utah still it's hard to beat some of these drives through the southwest [Music] eventually we made it to page arizona signifying the end of our road trip this is the last stop of our southwest trip we are heading to horseshoe bend the trail to the viewing platform is one mile round trip and i believe it is wheelchair accessible there's places to sit in the shade if you need a break i'm sure during the summer this is very welcomed there's the horseshoe bend area down there with all the people we're almost there don't expect to be alone at horseshoe bend it's a sunday in the winter and there are hundreds of people here i hadn't been here in about seven years and there was no designated parking area or established trail to get out here it's incredible to see how much this has changed in the time since i was last here now there's a nice established viewing platform and i have to say it's one of the best ways we could ever end our road trip as it's so stunning as you know my dad doesn't like heights so he peeked his head over the viewing platform and immediately retreated to a safer area what's interesting is that there's an overlook right there but they're basically can just walk wherever you want take whatever pictures you want it doesn't seem like anybody cares so it's kind of cool to be able to still get some pretty crazy views obviously be super super careful around the edges here at sandy and you do not want to fall there was even a boat going through the canyon to an established campsite and i have to imagine this would be an incredible place to spend the night let me know in the comments if you've done it that's it for our epic utah road trip hopefully you guys enjoyed it we would have taken a video closer to the edge but pops didn't want to stand out there so this is as good as it gets thanks so much for following along with us let us know what you think in the comments and we will see you on the next video [Applause] you

Channel: Through My Lens

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Id: U7kq8y2BZT0

Length: 113min 18sec (6798 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 19 2022