The Perfect 7-Day Utah Mighty 5 Road Trip Itinerary (Zion to Canyonlands)
A day-by-day self-drive plan for Utah's five national parks in one week. Real drive times, the best trails, and where to sleep between Zion and Moab.
trablog curation·7 days·24 places
If you're planning a Utah Mighty 5 road trip, this is the week most people actually drive: a clockwise loop out of Las Vegas that hits Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands without doubling back. Seven days is enough to see all five well if you accept one thing up front. This trip involves a lot of driving. You'll cover roughly 900 miles, and the stretches between parks are part of the trip, not a chore to rush through.
The loop below runs Vegas to Vegas so your flights are cheap and your route never backtracks. It saves Zion for the end, which is the smart move: Zion is the most crowded and the most physically demanding park, and you'll be in better hiking shape by day six than day one.
One honest note before you copy this. If you have nine or ten days, take them and add a rest night in the middle. Seven days is doable and a lot of people do it, but it's a real pace. Every park below is planned around getting to the trailheads early, because in southern Utah the difference between a great morning and a parking-lot war is about ninety minutes.
DAY1
Fly into Las Vegas, drive to Springdale
A mellow travel day so you wake up at Zion's doorstep. Land in Vegas, stock up on water and groceries, then drive about 2.5 hours northeast to Springdale, the small town right at Zion's south entrance. This is your base for the next two nights.
Land in Las Vegas and pick up the rental car. Grab groceries and water before you leave the city. Options thin out fast once you're on the road, and you'll want a cooler for the week.
Drive about 2.5 hours northeast to Springdale, the small town right at Zion's south entrance. It's a few blocks of restaurants and outfitters hugging the canyon walls, and it's your base for the next two nights. Settle in and walk the main strip.
Have an early dinner in Springdale and get oriented for tomorrow. The park entrance is a short walk or shuttle from most of the town's lodging, so you can scout the visitor center area before the morning rush. Then rest up.
DAY2
Zion National Park
A full day in Zion built around an early start. The park runs on a shuttle for most of the year and private cars aren't allowed up the scenic drive in peak season, so the first shuttles matter. You'll wade into the Narrows in the morning and take an easier trail in the afternoon.
Catch one of the first shuttles. Lines at the visitor center get long by mid-morning. Riding up early means you're on the trail before the canyon heats up, and you'll actually get a seat
Start at the Temple of Sinawava, shuttle stop 9, and walk the paved Riverside Walk to where the trail becomes the river. You wade upstream through the canyon itself, as far as you're comfortable. No permit needed for the bottom-up route, and you can turn around whenever you like. Rent neoprene socks and a walking stick in Springdale the day before.
After lunch back in Springdale, this is an easy, shaded loop off the Zion Lodge shuttle stop. If you'd rather skip the shuttle, drive the Canyon Overlook Trail near the east tunnel instead: a short half-mile to a huge view over the canyon
The chained final section needs a permit you apply for by lottery, usually months ahead. If you didn't get one, don't feel cheated. The hike to Scout Lookout gives you most of the view without the permit or the exposure, and it's a workout in its own right
DAY3
Zion to Bryce Canyon (Queen's Garden, Navajo Loop, the rim)
A short drive today, which means you get real time in Bryce. You'll climb through the Mount Carmel tunnel onto high plateau country, hike down among the hoodoos, and cruise the rim overlooks before watching the amphitheater light up at sunset.
Drive Zion to Bryce Canyon, about 1.5 hours and a beautiful one. You'll climb through the Mount Carmel tunnel and up onto high plateau country. Arrive at the park by mid-morning with the full day ahead of you.
After the hike, drive the rim to the overlooks. Sunrise, Sunset, Inspiration, and Bryce Points are all quick stops off the main road. Bryce Point has the widest view of the amphitheater, so make it your anchor and hit the others as you pass.
This is the one trail to prioritize in Bryce. The Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop combo is about 3 miles, drops you down among the hoodoos, and climbs back out through Wall Street, a narrow slot between 200-foot walls. Go down Queen's Garden and up Navajo so the steep part is the climb, not the descent
Watch the hoodoos light up from Sunset Point as the low sun turns the whole bowl orange. Then sleep in Bryce Canyon City or nearby Tropic. (Adjust the time to the actual sunset in your season.)
DAY4
Scenic Byway 12 to Capitol Reef (Gifford House, Hickman Bridge)
Today the drive is the attraction. Scenic Byway 12 between Bryce and Capitol Reef is one of the best roads in the country. You'll take it slow through Grand Staircase-Escalante, then eat pie in a historic orchard, hike to a stone bridge, and drive the quiet park road
Drive Scenic Byway 12 toward Torrey, about 2 to 2.5 hours of pure scenery through Grand Staircase-Escalante: slickrock, pine forest, and a knife-edge ridge near Boulder where the land drops away on both sides. Stop often. This is the "between the parks is half the experience" leg everyone talks about
The historic farmhouse in the Fruita orchard district sells fresh fruit pie, and it sells out fast, so make it an early stop. If the orchards are in season, you can pick fruit right off the trees. It's the one food stop in this park worth timing your day around.
Hickman Bridge is an easy 1.7 miles to a natural stone bridge, good for tired legs. If you have more in the tank, Cassidy Arch is a moderate 3-plus miles that actually lets you walk out on top of the arch. Pick one based on how you feel.
A quiet 8-mile paved road south from the visitor center with pullouts the whole way. Low effort, and it shows off the park's cliffs without a hike. Then sleep in Torrey, just outside the park.
DAY5
Torrey to Moab (Canyonlands, Island in the Sky)
The longest driving day of the loop, so settle in for a good desert drive. You'll cross to Moab, the adventure-town hub for both Arches and Canyonlands, then ease into Canyonlands with a low-effort afternoon of overlooks. The sunrise hit is saved for tomorrow.
Drive Torrey to Moab, about 3 hours east on Highway 24 and I-70. Long, open, and empty. Fuel up in Torrey before you go, and again in Green River if you're low. Moab is the hub for both parks, with more food and lodging than anywhere else on the loop.
Ease into Canyonlands in the afternoon. Drive out to Grand View Point, the panorama at the end of the road, and stop at Buck Canyon and Green River Overlooks along the way. This is a low-effort, high-reward afternoon of pullouts and short walks.
The panorama at the end of the Island in the Sky road, a bird's-eye layer of canyons and mesas. A short, flat walk extends the view past the main overlook. Then head back to Moab for dinner and an early night.
DAY6
Canyonlands sunrise and Arches (Mesa Arch, Delicate Arch)
Two parks in one day works here because they share the same entrance road, and both reward an early start. You'll catch Mesa Arch at sunrise, roll into Arches for the iconic roadside stops and a real hike, then close with Delicate Arch at sunset
Drive to Mesa Arch for sunrise, in Canyonlands, Island in the Sky. The arch faces east, so at first light the underside glows orange over the canyon below. It's a short quarter-mile walk from the lot. Arrive 45 minutes early, because the good spots fill with tripods. If you did Grand View Point yesterday, this is all Canyonlands really needs in a week.
Drive over to Arches, about 40 minutes back toward Moab and up into the park. The Windows section and Balanced Rock are quick, iconic stops right off the road, and they're the smart move in the crowded middle of the day.
For a real hike, Devils Garden runs 1.6 miles round trip to Landscape Arch, the longest arch in the park, with the option to push on to Double O. Do it before the lot fills, then take a break in Moab through the hot middle of the day.
The park's signature hike: 3 miles round trip, 480 feet up open slickrock with no shade. Bring more water than feels reasonable. The arch stands alone in a sandstone bowl and glows at last light. Time your start so you reach it about an hour before sunset.
DAY7
Moab back to Las Vegas
The long haul home. It's a full driving day back to Vegas, mostly on I-70 and I-15, so plan the flight accordingly. If you flew into Salt Lake City instead, today is a much shorter drive north.
Drive Moab to Las Vegas, roughly a full day on the road, most of it on I-70 and I-15. Break it up with a stop in Green River or a detour if your flight is late. Fuel up before you leave Moab.
Drop the rental and catch an evening flight. If you flew into Salt Lake City instead of Vegas, today is a much shorter drive north, about 3.5 hours. Worth considering when you book, especially if backtracking to Vegas feels like a waste of a day
If You Can't Do All Five, Which Park Do You Cut?
Seven days for all five is a real pace, and there's no shame in trimming it. Here's how the parks stack up when something has to go.
Zion and Bryce are the two you keep. They're close together, they're the most distinct from each other, and they hold the trip's best-known hikes. If you only have four or five days, do Zion, Bryce, and Capitol Reef as a tighter western loop and save Moab for another trip.
Canyonlands is the easiest to shorten, not cut. Island in the Sky is a half-day of overlooks and one sunrise, and that's genuinely enough for a first visit. The Needles and Maze districts need 4x4 access and separate days, so leave them for later.
Capitol Reef is the one people wrongly skip. It's the quietest park, the drive to reach it is spectacular, and it asks for less time than the others. Don't cut it to save an hour. Cut the second half of a driving day somewhere else instead.
That's the loop: five parks, one week, no backtracking, and enough early mornings to stay ahead of the crowds. It moves fast, but every long drive on this route earns its keep, and by day six you'll have your rhythm.
The hard part of a trip like this isn't the driving. It's keeping the plan straight when it's spread across shuttle times, sunrise windows, and five different park entrances. Copy this itinerary into trablog and it lands in your planner as a day-by-day map you can actually follow on the road, with every trailhead and overlook already pinned. Adjust the pace, swap a hike, add that rest night, and make it your own.
