Seattle – Mt Rainier (Paradise) – Yellowstone NP – Grand Teton NP – Salt Lake City – Moab – Arches NP – Canyonlands NP – Monument Valley – Bryce Canyon NP – Zion NP – Las Vegas
We did an amazing trip through the Rocky Mountains national parks in May/June 2018 – a good time to travel to avoid the crowded peak season of July and August.
Zion is the last national park we visit on our Rocky Mountains National Parks road trip, and just as we begin to think “do we want to see another canyon?” – we enter Zion along the Zion-Mt Carmel Highway (part of Hwy 9) – and the views are spectacular!
There are plenty of pullovers along this road and you will find yourself using them all.
Bryce Canyon National Park is one of our favourite national parks in the USA. Famous for its hoodoos (columns of eroded sandstone), we are wowed by its unique beauty. It has the largest collection of hoodoos in the world.
Bryce Canyon is at the top of The Grand Staircase – a series of cliffs and terraces that stretch from southern Utah to the Grand Canyon.
Basing ourselves in the town of Moab, we visited beautiful Arches National Park in early June 2018. Arches National Park is only about 8kms from Moab.
Take a look at our Arches National Park slideshow.
To experience Arches National Park the best place to start is at the Visitor Center at the entrance to the park. Pick up a map/brochure for the park and have a chat to one of the Rangers for advice on what to see in the time you have.
There are four districts making up Canyonlands National Park:
With only one day to spend in Canyonlands, we visited the Island in the Sky district.
While the landscape of Monument Valley was familiar to us – we had seen it in many American movies – we couldn’t wait to experience it in real life. It didn’t disappoint!
If you are in Moab to visit Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, don’t miss the small but dramatic Dead Horse Point State Park.
Planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park can be a bit overwhelming due to the size of the park (over 2 million acres) and the figure-8 Grand Loop road system (Grand Loop 142 miles). It can be difficult to know how to best navigate the park to see the sights – especially if you have limited time.
We spent just over two days in Yellowstone and this is a bare minimum! There is so much to see and many walking opportunities. There are boardwalks for viewing amazing thermal areas, scenic drives, wonderful overlooks and wildlife viewing.
We hope this blog will assist you in planning your trip.
Leaving Yellowstone National Park through the southern boundary we are about to take one of the most beautiful drives in the USA – through the Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
Take a look at our slideshow of Grand Teton National Park and Jackson.
The drive begins on the John D. Rockefeller Jr Memorial Parkway along Jackson Lake with views of the Grand Teton mountains on our right. This sets the scene for our stay in this beautiful area – the Grand Tetons rise up and dominate the landscape.
A visit to Salt Lake City was an unexpected highlight of a recent trip to the USA. Our biggest mistake was only allowing a morning to see the city!
Salt Lake City is the location of the world headquarters of the Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). There is much to see in and around Temple Square.
Take a look at our photos of Salt Lake City