Arches National Park (UT) and others in UT

[starry_solo]

I was wondering whether anyone had visited the national parks of Utah and if you had any recommendations for staying nearby for these parks:

Arches National Park
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Grand Escalante Staircase Monument

Thanks for any suggestions you may have!

 

[Chemist]

The Springhill Suites in Moab has the best pool in the area. Its really a wonderful place to hang out. (I believe it shares with the Fairfield next door.)
Its on the outskirts of town which makes it a *slightly* closer drive to the parks, but its very inconvenient to go get dinner.

 

[HerRoyalHighness]

The Springhill Suites in Moab has the best pool in the area. Its really a wonderful place to hang out. (I believe it shares with the Fairfield next door.)
Its on the outskirts of town which makes it a *slightly* closer drive to the parks, but its very inconvenient to go get dinner.

I agree. We stayed there in 2019. Most gorgeous background ever (for a non-beach location).

Wanted to add...we went to a place called the Broken Oar for dinner. Is maybe a 5 minute drive from the hotel. Took us a bit farther to find a grocery store though.

 

[China Expat]

We just did this exact trip over Christmas for a week, plus Monument Valley a bit farther south. We stayed in a condo via VRBO in Moab so that we could cook and spread out. It was the Rim Cove development with stunning views of the red rocks. It is 10 minutes from the park entrance.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Really loved the SpringHill Suites and have stayed there twice. It does depend which side of Canyonlands you are trying to enter - the Needles section of Canyonlands is easier to get to from the southern part of Moab, while Islands in the Sky section of Canyonlands and the Arches parks are easier from the north. Either way, you can't really go wrong. It is not a big town.

 

[sarah4770]

I might be in the minority, but i was not that fond of arches. It was hot and crowded. So I wouldn’t base your trip on proximity to arches. It is a one and done kind of park.
Canyonlands islands of the sky was very nice, not too crowded-if you go early in the morning.
Didnt make it to the needles section , since we were going to Yellowstone after 2nights. But I definitely want to return to see more of canyonlands.
Moab would be good for 2-4 nights. Aside from arches and canyonlands, everything else Is too far away to do a day trip.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

We went to Arches over Memorial Day weekend in 2021, and yes - it was crowded and quite hot at that time. Our best time was arriving very early (around 6:30am) and we had plenty of parking for the trailheads we were most interested in, but my sister arriving less than an hour later was unable to park near the Delicate arch trailhead, and moved on to a different spot.

I believe they are moving towards a ticketed timed entry for official park hours, but you are able to enter the park early if you want to get up. I highly recommend it, and avoiding the heat of midday. Early mornings are going to be cooler than evenings as well, but there are incredible views at both sunrise and sunset.

Canyonlands is quite lovely. My family has seen some of Islands of the Sky, but we want to go back to explore more. We were unable to do Needles, but my sister did and said it was just as awe-inspiring as the other parks.

In addition to the parks, we also did a river cruise in Moab - it was so much fun, I highly recommend trying that as well! They cannot run if the water level gets too low though, so if you are going in the heat of summer/late in the season they may not be running. But if you are going in April/May it should be available.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I was wondering whether anyone had visited the national parks of Utah and if you had any recommendations for staying nearby for these parks:

Arches National Park
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Grand Escalante Staircase Monument

Thanks for any suggestions you may have!

I have been before and getting ready to go again. It is very expensive to stay in Moab. If you are visiting the Needles area of Canyonlands, you can get there in under an hour from the town of Monticello, which is smaller and cheaper than Moab, though the accommodations tend to be more plain. The drive from Moab to Needles is about 1 hour 20 minutes, so Monticello is closer as well as more affordable. Moab is closer to the Island in the Sky area of Canyonlands, and to Arches. If money is not a limiting factor, staying in Moab would be more convenient for these two areas. On one trip though, I stayed in the town of Green River about an hour to the north, also much more affordable than Moab. Depends on whether the extra drive time is worth it to you for the lower cost of lodging.

Capital Reef and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument are both very large areas. I have driven through Capital Reef, and it seemed like more of an area to drive through than an area to stay. Maybe others have a different take on that. There are a few towns within the Escalante National Monument area, including Kanab, Escalante, etc. Kanab has a lot more options for places to stay than the other towns, which are smaller. Escalante National Monument is so large, that you aren't likely to see much of it in just one trip. Also, you can see a small portion of it from the paved roads, but you would need a 4WD vehicle to get to most of the areas. If you don't have one, there are a lot of tour companies offering daytime or overnight tours. Most of these companies are based in Kanab, but a few are scattered through the smaller towns.

What month are you going?

 

[starry_solo]

I have been before and getting ready to go again. It is very expensive to stay in Moab. If you are visiting the Needles area of Canyonlands, you can get there in under an hour from the town of Monticello, which is smaller and cheaper than Moab, though the accommodations tend to be more plain. The drive from Moab to Needles is about 1 hour 20 minutes, so Monticello is closer as well as more affordable. Moab is closer to the Island in the Sky area of Canyonlands, and to Arches. If money is not a limiting factor, staying in Moab would be more convenient for these two areas. On one trip though, I stayed in the town of Green River about an hour to the north, also much more affordable than Moab. Depends on whether the extra drive time is worth it to you for the lower cost of lodging.

Capital Reef and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument are both very large areas. I have driven through Capital Reef, and it seemed like more of an area to drive through than an area to stay. Maybe others have a different take on that. There are a few towns within the Escalante National Monument area, including Kanab, Escalante, etc. Kanab has a lot more options for places to stay than the other towns, which are smaller. Escalante National Monument is so large, that you aren't likely to see much of it in just one trip. Also, you can see a small portion of it from the paved roads, but you would need a 4WD vehicle to get to most of the areas. If you don't have one, there are a lot of tour companies offering daytime or overnight tours. Most of these companies are based in Kanab, but a few are scattered through the smaller towns.

What month are you going?

We are looking at September or October.
Renting a Toyota 4Runner for the trip as we all drive sedans so hopefully the one we rent has 4WD. I'll look into the tour companies in Kanab that offer daytime tours, thank you for the suggestion!

 

[Girlworthfightingfor]

We just got back from a Western national parks trip (different ones than on your list though). We did a tour of Peekaboo Canyon with Dreamland Safari Tours out of Kanab. They offer many different tours, so maybe something to look into for you. Cannot recommend this tour company highly enough. The tour guide we had was so great, very knowledgeable and adaptive to things we wanted to see/do.
We also did a hike outside of Kanab, but in Grand Staircase Escalante, on our own. It was called Toad Stool and amazing. It doesn't look like much from the road, but once you get to the toad stools, it feels like you're on a different planet. So beautiful and easily accessed!