Mighty 5 - Trip Itinerary

December 25th, 2023 to Jan 2nd, 2024

Day ONE
Mon Dec 25th - Depart 10am/Travel Day
Travel Distance MPLS to Fort Morgan, CO 834 miles (12 hr)
Mon Night: Stealth Camp Rest Stop/Truck Stop

Day TWO
Tues Dec 26th Travel ½ Day/Arches National Park, Moab UT
Travel Distance Fort Morgan to Arches NP 427 miles (6 hr 30 min)
*Need to get EARLY start due to Ski Traffic I70 Summit County, CO

“To do” Arches…
Wolfe Ranch/Delicate Arch Hike (3 mile) *all hikes ‘round trip’ mileage
Park Avenue Viewpoint & Trail (1 mile)
Windows (great circle hikes of various distances…1 hour climb around)
Devils Garden (Hike/Arch area near Campground 4.2 miles to end & back)

Tues Night: Arches National Park - Devils Garden Campground
*18 miles inside park (FCFS Winter - 51 sites)

Day THREE
Wed Dec 27th Arches National Park/Moab, UT
Travel Distance Arches Entrance to Moab 5 miles

“To do” Moab…
Gilberto’s Mexican Taco Shop
Moab Brewing
Walk Central Biz District
Courthouse Wash Panel (Petroglyphs)
Poison Spider Dinosaur Tracksite

Wed Night: Hotel Moab

Day FOUR
Thur Dec 28th Canyonlands National Park, Moab UT
Travel Distance Moab to Canyonlands Island in Sky Visitors Center 32 miles (40 min)
Travel Distance Canyonland to CRNP 147 miles (2 hr 30 min)

“To do” Canyonlands…
Island in the Sky Area
Grand View Point Overlook (2 mile walk) *12 miles from visitor center…farthest we get
Note: at Grandview is where Colorado River (east) & Green River (west) meet “the confluence”
Green River Outlook
Buck Canyon Overlook
Hike to Mesa Arch & Photo (1 mile walk)

Night: Capitol Reef NP - Fruita Campground (located middle of park)
**could stealth camp east of park

Day FIVE
Fri Dec 29th Capitol Reef National Park, Torrey UT
Travel Distance: Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon 112 miles (2 hr)

“To Do” Capitol Reef…
Waterpocket Fold (100 mile monocline/fault line)
Lower Mulley’s Trailhead “Twista Mule” (mile 44.6 on Burr Trail)

Night: Bryce Canyon NP - North Campground (FCFS Winter)
*located across from Visitor Center

Day SIX
Sat Dec 30th Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon City UT
Travel Distance 72 miles (1 hr 20 min)

“To do” Bryce…
Queens Garden w/ Navajo Trail (Wall Street, Thors Hammer & Two Bridges)
Hat Shop Trail (4 mi) - balanced Rocks
Fairyland Loop (7mi) *good access from camp

Night: Zion NP Watchman Campground (Reserved)
Shower: Zion Outfitters https://zionoutfitter.com/ ($4 for 5 min)

Day SEVEN
Sun Dec 31st Zion National Park, Springdale UT
Travel Distance NONE

“To do” Zion…
Canyon Overlook
Angels Landing Hike
Observation Point Hike

Night: Zion NP Watchman Campground (Reserved)

Day EIGHT
Mon Jan 1st Zion National Park Morning/Travel ½ Day
Travel Distance Zion NP to Salt Lake City 269 miles (3 hr 40 min)

Night: Stealth Camp Rest Area/Truck Stop

Day NINE
Tues Jan 2nd Travel Day to Home
Travel Distance Salt Lake City to MPLS 1250 miles 18 hours 30 min *lose an hour

Night: Home Sweet Home

Utah’s Mighty Five - Winter Edition

Arches National Park - Devil’s Garden Campground (51 Sites) FCFS in “Winter”

The desert southwest region of the United States should be atop of any true American road warriors agenda. In order to truly understand the geographical landscape of our amazing country, driving throughout this red canyon desert region is a must. is HUGE and often when a place is so vast, travelers shy away because they don’t know “where to begin”. This playground of exploration is a true “hands on” experience for all ages, in that it is WIDE OPEN for all to crawl, climb, and

How to unlock this regainThroughout the years, we have made many pilgrimages to this region and this past holiday season, we jumped into our Winnebago Solis to experience this place in the dead of winter. We researched, we read, we made contingencies, we were slightly worried…we didn’t know exactly what we were getting ourselves into, BUT dang was it a great time. We all had suspiciions that the Utah winter would whip us and and that we might just spend the entire holiday week cooped up in our Winnie.

As a family, our goal as tourists is not to vacation, but to explore. This means we always have rather aggressive agenda and tend to strive to see and do everything, which involves a great amount of movement throughout landscapes. This winter adventure was no different in that we wanted to complete the Mighty Five of Utah

#1 - Arches National Park

Turret Arch - Windows Loop Hike - Arches NP

Dear Parents,

KIDS LOVE ARCHES! Seriously, the Arch formations throughout this park bring out a primal need to scramble, climb and explore what might be around the next corner within this National Park. There is simply n Natinoal park is a literal playground for kids of all ages. this playground

Highlights:
1) The Devils Playground Hike/Scramble
2) Classic Delicate Arch Hike (3 mile round trip)
3) The Windows Loop

Tues Night: Arches National Park - Devils Garden Campground FCFS

#2 - Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands is a rough and rugged place. It rivals the Grand Canyon in regards to expansive views into canyon country, but the majority of this park is generally less accessible by normal family based RV travelers. Please don’t mistake and take a “pass” on this park because of the general inaccessibility, but please note that visitors that wish to dig deeper will need to invest additional days and will need either a mountain bike, 4 wheel drive high clearance vehicle or plot out a multi-day backpack expedition into the backcountry of Canyonlands. RV and Van travelers should plan a quicker “half day” experience along the Island in the Sky drive, en route to the Grand Viewpoint Overlook, which is the marquee view of Canyonlands. Plenty of places to stop to ponder views and maybe hike a bit on rather accessible trails. Due to time contraints, we didn’t spend a night in Canyonlands, but there are a couple of open campgrounds within the park boundary with ample FCFS camping units. (you will have NO issues finding a spot)

#3 - Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef was the family favorite of this Might Five winter adventure and it was all due to the Fruita campground. Situated in the center This camp unit in centrally located within a treelined oasis within the canyon walls. This favorite status was

Night: Capitol Reef NP - Fruita Campground (located middle of park)

Cohab Canyon Trail w/ hidden Slot Canyons referred to as “the 7 Wives”

Grand Wash Hike

Cassidy Arch “Add On”

#4 - Bryce Canyon National Park

Mirco-Spikes and trekking poles…at an average elevation of over 8000ft, be prepared to “punt” on this stop of the Mighty 5…according to many conversations with Rangers if it does snow hard, the park needs about 24 hours to clear the roads, but the extra wait by travelers is the reward of seeing the Red landscape in a new blanket of snow.

Night: Bryce Canyon NP - North Campground (FCFS Winter)

#5 - Zion National Park

Unlike the other four of the parks on this adventure, Zion is still busy & feels more normal. The proximity of Las Vegas is the main culprit, but as we talked to locals the winter crowd is busy, but manageable in comparison to the peak travel seasons of spring, summer and fall.

Night: Zion NP Watchman Campground (MUST Reserve NO FCFS)
Shower: Zion Outfitters https://zionoutfitter.com/ ($4 for 5 min)

Happy Trails!
Christian, Ray Valerie, LilV and our faithful Solis “Mearl”