They are called the big five, the mighty five, and the amazing five. Do an online search of Utah’s national parks, and it is easy to see they are very popular. We decided to adjust our schedule to see them earlier than originally planned. Our goal was to check them out before summer break started for most schools in an effort to avoid big crowds, and we are so glad we did. Here are the highlights:
The Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite was near our campsite in Moab. To say it was amazing to see so many tracks that had been naturally preserved is an understatement.
We started our tour of the big five at Canyonlands National Park. It was wet and cold, but also very beautiful.
Eventually the cloudy skies cleared, and the beauty only increased from there.
Newspaper rock is a State Historical Monument inside Canyonlands. There are hundreds of petroglyphs on this 200 square foot rock. The pictures are over two thousand years old, and scientists still don’t know exactly what information was being shared here.
Next up was Arches National Park. We were told that even during their slower season, this park is very popular, and we should go first thing in the morning. This park offers a great self-guided audio tour option that enhance to our experience and provided some history for us.
The sun was out, and we took full advantage of the trails that gave us the best views. The bright blue sky was the perfect backdrop for the stone arches, accented by late spring greenery.
We had to take a picture or two of our palace against some of the formations in Arches National Park to help capture the scale of what we were seeing.
Next up was Capitol Reef National Park, which has a lovely the scenic drive through it, making it easy to see many of the park’s amazing formations.
Around every corner of the road, we were greeted by another fabulous multi-colored formation. Capitol Reef National Park should be on everyone’s must see list.
Bryce Canyon National Park is Utah’s smallest, but no less spectacular than the others.
Bryce Canyon has more hoodoos than any other park we’ve been to, other than Goblin Valley. It is so beautiful, it hardly seems real.
In Zion National Park we utilized the frequent shuttles to see as much of the park as possible, including roads not open to the public.
The colors were especially stunning at dusk and dawn.
Sadly, recent rains caused rivers to run fast and high, making some trails unsafe to explore. On the up side, it also meant that there was plenty of delicious plants for wildlife to enjoy. We couldn’t believe how close this bighorn sheep got to us, or that she chose to hang out as long as she did.
Traveling Team Fischer 