Your Perfect Utah Trip

So my daughter, wife and I have decided we are going to do a 2 week (14ish day) trip for my daughters 16th Birthday (3 years away still but were excited). Her birthday is in March however we do not feel it wise to pull her from school for 2 weeks, so we plan to go as soon as school is out in June. If you had 2 weeks flying into Vegas or Salt Lake city what would you do, what would you see. Were open to the idea of camping, hotels, renting an RV of some sort (small one) or a combination of those. We do enjoy a guided tour or two (Glacier NP we did a Red Bus tour and boat tour, Banff we did the Ice Fields tour, Sedona a Pink Jeep tour) just to help give some history and education value to what we are seeing. We have already visited the GC, we did not hike to the bottom but think we are ok skipping it this go around to see other places.

So 2 weeks whats your dream trip.

I'd go to Capitol Reef NP, plus the Escalante area, which is not a park, but very cool. Lower Calf Creek Falls is definitely worth the trip, that one is near Escalante. Slot Canyons are good, near Goblin Valley there are two - Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyon. Also Crack Canyon is near there. The national parks near Moab are of course great but have also become overrun with tourists in the last 10 years or so. Deadhorse Point State Park has a spectacular view of the Colorado River, that's pretty much what's at the park. Fisher Towers, up the road from Moab is probably worth a visit. A little online searching will pop up info on all of these things.

Let me add that I went to the Bentonite Hill last spring and thought that place was fun, although I was the only one there, so maybe that's just me. It's up the road on the drive to the Cathedral Valley part of Capitol Reef.

With two weeks I'd spend a full day in SLC touring and photographing Mormon Square, maybe an additional day spent on Antelope Island (not that exciting, except to say you swam in the Great Salt Lake).

Then head down to Moab for 4 days exploring the area, driving some of the easier Jeep trails to access old uranium mines, rock dwellings, petroglyphs. And of course Arches and Canyonlands. Don't forget to hit up the Bar-M Chuckwagon Show & Dinner while in Moab. If you like camping and want an adventure, you can rent a Jeep and drive the entire White Rim Trail (100 miles), but be aware you need to carry everything you need -- especially water -- for the 2-3 day off-road trip.

From there I'd head down to Bryce and and Zion for a day or so each (how long depends on how much hiking you want to do). Then spend the rest of my time relaxing in Lake Powell.

I would do a few days in the Salt Lake City area (great place to trace family, go to Golden Spike, etc.) and then head to Jackson Hole Wyoming. It is about a 4-1/2 hour very pleasant drive. After several days (or perhaps a week) in Jackson, you can shift north into Yellowstone. Depending on where you go within Yellowstone the drive length varies, but it is not long. Old Faithful you can make in about 2 hours from Jackson. There are other places to explore as well such as Cody Wyoming.

My personal favorite is to visit Jackson Hole over July 4th. The town goes crazy patriotic in a fun way and the music venues, most of which are free are great. Some are outdoors (our last trip USAF Band), some are indoors (pseudo "Beatles" group). With a little luck you can run into Harrison Ford. He commonly attends the July 4th parade but is well disguised.

Personally I would fly in to Las Vegas and spend the time in the southern half of Utah. The 5 national parks are all obviously worth visiting. Other places that would be on my list (not that I would be able to fit them all in) are Grand Staircase -Escalante National Monument, Monument Valley, Valley of the Gods, Goosenecks State Park, Dead Horse State Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park, and Goblin Valley State Park. This page has a lot of information on different places in Utah https://loadedlandscap​es.com/ut-locations/

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Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #18234540
If you had 2 weeks flying into Vegas or Salt Lake city what would you do, what would you see. Were open to the idea of camping, hotels, renting an RV of some sort (small one) or a combination of those.

If I lived in Sandy, Oregon, and was traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah, I wouldn't fly. .It's only 750 miles - an easy one day drive, with Interstate 84 taking you practically the entire way.

By taking your own car, you don't have to worry about packing all the stuff you need for two weeks into suitcases.........nor do you have to worry about (and pay for) a rental car.

I travel to Yellowstone and the Tetons with regularity, which is about the same distance from you to Salt Lake City. .I've never even thought about flying - the drive is easy and pleasant, and I like to be able to have all my gear with me.

Come to think of it, you could even rent an SUV or a minivan where you live and use that for the trip, and still come out ahead, money-wise, compared to flying and renting a vehicle at Salt Lake City. .I only mention that in the case that you don't have a larger vehicle that would be suitable for a long road trip.......and perhaps it would "feel more like vacation" if you used a vehicle that wasn't your everyday family car.

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18293333
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If I lived in Sandy, Oregon, and was traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah, I wouldn't fly. .It's only 750 miles - an easy one day drive, with Interstate 84 taking you practically the entire way.

By taking your own car, you don't have to worry about packing all the stuff you need for two weeks into suitcases.........nor do you have to worry about (and pay for) a rental car.

I travel to Yellowstone and the Tetons with regularity, which is about the same distance from you to Salt Lake City. .I've never even thought about flying - the drive is easy and pleasant, and I like to be able to have all my gear with me.

Come to think of it, you could even rent an SUV or a minivan where you live and use that for the trip, and still come out ahead, money-wise, compared to flying and renting a vehicle at Salt Lake City. .I only mention that in the case that you don't have a larger vehicle that would be suitable for a long road trip.......and perhaps it would "feel more like vacation" if you used a vehicle that wasn't your everyday family car.

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Driving is an option we are considering, we do long road trips all the time (Sandy down 101 to Disneyland and back via Death Valley, Reno and Eastern Oregon) (Sandy to Banff) (Sandy to Glacier NP in MT), all of these are 1-2 week trips. So it is an option we have started pricing out, we would rent a van just for more room our little Kia Soul gets pretty tight on a 2 week trip even with a cargo box. The flying is more to help save some days on either end of the trip.

Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #18293349
Driving is an option we are considering, we do long road trips all the time (Sandy down 101 to Disneyland and back via Death Valley, Reno and Eastern Oregon) (Sandy to Banff) (Sandy to Glacier NP in MT), all of these are 1-2 week trips.

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That's awesome! Sounds like you have a lot of fun and do a lot of exploring as a family - how cool is that?!!!

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Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #18293349
The flying is more to help save some days on either end of the trip.

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But how much time would it really save? Days? Not really. One day? Not even that.

If you drive, you can leave your place at 7am, stop for a nice breakfast, stop for a nice lunch, make a couple of gasoline and pee stops, and still be in Salt Lake City before sunset. .Is flying really going to get you there much faster?

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18293378
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That's awesome! Sounds like you have a lot of fun and do a lot of exploring as a family - how cool is that?!!!

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But how much time would it really save? Days? Not really. One day? Not even that.

If you drive, you can leave your place at 7am, stop for a nice breakfast, stop for a nice lunch, make a couple of gasoline and pee stops, and still be in Salt Lake City before sunset. .Is flying really going to get you there much faster?

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Your very right, at first I was not sure we would make it all the way north to Salt Lake, thought we would stay much lower in the state but I do see now that making it up to Salt Lake is more then likely going to happen. 7am, thats no time to start a long road day, we tend to start our trips closer to 3am, then again most of our long first days are 12-13 hours of driving. The wife and daughter and I love road tripping so yes it is an amazing time exploring with the family.