Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef National Parks 7 Day Itinerary

Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef National Parks make up three of Utah’s “Mighty 5”. Arches National Park is where you will spend most of your time on this itinerary and where you should make your home base. Capitol Reef National Park features arches that you will hike to as well as the Waterpocket Fold, a 65 million-year-old warp in the Earth’s crust. Since we only have one week, just one day is spent at Capitol Reef. Canyonlands National Park is divided into three different sections: Island in the Sky, Needles district, and Maze district. You spend your one day in Canyonlands mostly in the Needles district.

Day 1

Fly into Salt Lake City

Four-hour drive to Moab

Check in to Airbnb

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Stock up on groceries

Dinner at Antica Forma

Day 2 – Arches National Park

Park Avenue Trail: 2-mile trail near the entrance of the park.

Continue the drive through the park, stopping at viewpoints on the way to the next destination: La Sal viewpoint, Courthouse viewpoint, Petrified viewpoint

Balanced Rock: short 0.3-mile stroll on a paved path.

Windows and Double Arch Trails: Located across the road from each other. The Windows Loop Trail is an easy 0.7-mile trail that takes you by Turret Arch, North Window Arch, and South Window Arch. Double Arch Trail is a short, flat 0.6-mile out-and-back trail. You can climb the rocks and sit under the arches!

Head back to the Airbnb to relax and eat dinner

Once it gets dark, go back into the park for stargazing. Arches National Park is one of the best places in the United States for stargazing. I recommend going to the Windows Trail.

Day 3 – Arches National Park

First stop is Panorama viewpoint, then head to your first hike of the day.

Delicate Arch Trail: Maybe the most famous arch in Aches National Park. Moderate 3.2-mile hike with a long climb at the beginning.

Salt Valley viewpoint and Fiery viewpoint

Stop for a picnic lunch

Devils Garden Trail: This is your second big hike of the day. Devils Garden is a 7.9-mile loop trail featuring many different arches. The most famous is Landscape Arch. If this is the only thing you’re here for or you don’t feel like hiking almost 8 more miles, Landscape Arch is only 1.9 miles out-and-back.

If you decide to skip out on Devils Garden Trail, I recommend adding Broken Arch Trail to your itinerary instead.

Dinner at the Airbnb

Head back out for stargazing if you didn’t get enough of it the night before, or if you didn’t have a clear night.

Day 4 – Capitol Reef National Park

Start your drive to the park early, it’s about 2 hours from Moab. I recommend starting around 7 AM.

Cassidy Arch Trail: A 3.1-mile moderate out-and-back trail. Most of the elevation gain is at the beginning of the trail, but once you get up there it isn’t too bad. This was one of our favorite hikes on the trip!

Hickman Bridge Trail: This is a 1.7-mile moderate out-and-back trail.

Picnic lunch

Drive the Scenic Byway: A 7.9-mile out-and-back scenic drive that will take you about an hour and a half to complete.

Drive back to Moab

Day 5 – Canyonlands National Park

The first stop in Canyonlands is a much shorter drive, about 30 minutes, from Moab so you can get a later start. However, if you want to catch the sunrise from the first arch you’ll need to leave much earlier.

Mesa Arch: Supposed to be beautiful at sunrise. Gets really crowded as the day goes on.

Head to the Needles district area of the park for your next stop.

Chesler Park Loop Trail: This is a difficult 10.7-mile trail that will take 5-7 hours to complete. Make sure you’re starting early enough so you finish before the sun sets. The trail features views of “The Needles” as well as hiking through narrow fractures in the rocks.

Picnic lunch

Visitor Center viewpoint

Drive back to Moab

Day 6 – Dead Horse State Park

I think stopping at Dead Horse State Park is optional. We had an extra day so we added this on, but if you’re feeling hiked out then feel free to skip and catch a flight back home this evening. Otherwise, you can check out the Dead Horse Rim Loop Trail. It’s about a 5-mile loop that’s very flat. If you do opt to add this trail, I still recommend driving back to Salt Lake City tonight and getting a hotel so you don’t have as much of a drive on the day of your flight. If you skip the state park and get to Salt Lake City earlier, you can check out the Bonneville Salt Flats!