The Best National Park Road Trips, Including Acadia, Denali, and Zion

We couldn’t just select 1 in Utah: These a few National Park gems all equally demonstrate off the grandeur of America’s Southwest. Get started in Zion, mountaineering the Narrows, a slender gorge flanked by soaring canyon walls, or climbing to Angel’s Landing, a towering rock development achieved by a notoriously precipitous trail. A 90-minute generate on US-89 brings you to Bryce Canyon’s eerie, hoodoo-stuffed amphitheaters and pure arches. It is yet another two several hours to Capitol Reef (via UT-62 and UT-24), just one of America’s most underrated and striking parks. Although it almost never gets the acclaim of nearby Zion and Bryce, site visitors will obtain impressive cliff, canyon, and pink rock-loaded landscapes with significantly fewer crowds.

In which to quit: Attempt to get to Bryce Canyon a pair hrs prior to dawn for some epic stargazing (the park is a qualified intercontinental dim sky park), then head in excess of to Sunrise Position for—wait for it—sunrise. The elevating sunlight paints the hoodoo-stuffed amphitheater in outstanding shades of pink, purple, and orange.

Wherever to take in: Just south of the Zion National Park Customer Heart, Cafe Soleil is the excellent location to have a wholesome meal prior to a day invested outside. Attempt the chipotle rooster wrap, pomegranate smoothie, or tofu scramble.

The place to continue to be: If it’s surroundings you’re soon after, you cannot do substantially better than Zion Lodge in just the park’s boundaries. Apart from normal lodge rooms, the lodge options 40 cabins with private porches overlooking 3,800-foot sandstone cliffs.