Southern Utah and Eastern Nevada National Parks Road Trip Itinerary
In mid-March, Korri and I set off on a road trip through southern Utah and eastern Nevada to visit the three Utah national parks and one Nevada national park we hadn’t been to. The trip coincided with the conference championship for Boise State gymnastics, which was hosted by Southern Utah in Cedar City, Utah. (This trip was originally planned for 2022, but the conference moved the meet to Boise in 2022 and our trip was postponed a year.)
Our trip took us to Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park, plus a lot of other cool places in between those parks. After the meet, we drove home through eastern Nevada to check out Great Basin National Park! Below, I shared our full 9-day national parks road trip itinerary through southern Utah and eastern Nevada. Our itinerary includes what we did each day, where we ate, and where we stayed, plus any other tips and tricks if you plan to do the same or similar trip. I highly recommend all of our stops on this trip; we plan to go back to Great Basin someday because there wasn’t much to do there in mid-March due to the snow.
If you do plan to do this national parks road trip or one like it, be sure to pick up an Interagency Annual Pass for $80—this will get you entry into all of the national parks I share here (and all of the others around the country) for a full year! Park entry ranges from $20-35 per vehicle depending on the park if you do not have a pass, so the pass pays for itself if you go to 3-4 parks.
Southern Utah and Eastern Nevada National Parks Road Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Drive from Boise to Bicknell, Utah
Day 1 was a long day on the road; Bicknell is about an 8.5 hour drive from Boise. We stopped at Lucky Slice in Layton for slices of pizza (our first time at this location; it’s right off of the interstate) at dinnertime and at Coffee Noir in Salt Lake City for coffee drinks (mocha for Korri, blended chai for me). These are two of our favorites places to stop at anytime we’re in Utah and we highly recommend both!
Bicknell is about 10 minutes west of Torrey and 20 minutes west of Capitol Reef National Park. We opted to stay in Bicknell because it was less expensive than staying in Torrey. We stayed two nights at the SunGlow Motel, a family-owned motel with an attached restaurant. It appeared to be pretty newly renovated, and it was super quiet when we were there; I think there were only a couple of other rooms occupied. We had a mini fridge in our room, which is a necessity during road trips because we bring a cooler.
Day 2: Capitol Reef National Park
Before heading to Capitol Reef, Korri and I stopped by Sweetgrass Coffee House in Bicknell (a short walk from the motel) for coffee drinks. It’s a super cute place that was very highly rated on Google. We walked right by the historic Bicknell Theater on our way. Fun fact: Bicknell is apparently the smallest town in the country with an active theater!
We then headed into Capitol Reef National Park from the west side on State Highway (S.R.) 24. The highway runs through the park and there is no pay station along the highway; the pay station is at the start of the scenic drive that is south of the visitor center. We did a few hikes, checked out the visitor center (where I got my passport book stamped), drove the scenic drive in a downpour, and ate a picnic lunch in a secluded pull out off of Notom Road. My guide features everything you need to know about how to spend one day in Capitol Reef National Park!
We arrived back in Bicknell after 8 pm and ate dinner at one of the only places open in Torrey or Bicknell, Chak Balam Mexican Restaurant in Torrey. Korri’s friend did a similar road trip a couple of years ago and raved about this place. It was delicious! If you go, be sure to ask for Vincent as your waiter; he successfully upsold the nicer tequila to Korri and has a dream of going to culinary school!
Day 3: Drive from Bicknell to Bryce Canyon City, Utah
The morning of day 3, we first went back to Sweetgrass Coffee House to grab drinks and a cinnamon roll to eat later; they didn’t have any cinnamon rolls out the first morning so we didn’t get one. This was hands down one of the best cinnamon rolls we’ve ever had, so you must get it if there are any available!
After that, we went back to SunGlow to eat brunch (I got a banana cream pie and Korri got a burger). It was Pi Day and pies are definitely a thing in this area—SunGlow had lots of pies to choose from and the Gifford Homestead in Capitol Reef also sells pies. It opened for the season on Pi Day!
Before heading on the road for the 2.5-hour-long drive (without stops), we drove back into Capitol Reef to snap a couple more photos. We then drove the scenic route to Bryce Canyon City: State Highway 12 (also known as the Highway 12 Scenic Byway). It’s an All American Road that is known for its scenery as it winds through Grand Staircase—Escalante National Monument between Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon National Parks.
Along the way, we headed south of Cannonville to Kodachrome Basin State Park before continuing on to Bryce Canyon City, where we checked into the Best Western Plus Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel, our home for the next two nights. Read more about what we did and where we stopped between the parks in my Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon travel guide!
The weather was terrible that evening, but we drove into Bryce Canyon anyway and couldn’t see anything because of the low clouds. There was hardly anyone there. We drove back to Tropic to eat dinner at i.d.k. barbecue before calling it a night.
Day 4: Bryce Canyon National Park
We woke up on day 4 with crappy weather in Bryce Canyon City. It was to be expected; I checked the weather forecast starting about a week in advance and it looked like it was going to be cold and wet during our one day in Bryce Canyon National Park. Unfortunately, the forecast never changed. SIGH.
Our hotel provided free breakfast, and it was fantastic! I loved the diced potatoes. We drove into the park and it wasn’t too busy but it was definitely busier than the evening prior. After stopping at the visitor center for a passport book stamp and a Christmas tree ornament souvenir, we checked out the overlooks again. The road was only open to mile 3 (where you access the Bryce and Inspiration Point overlooks). You could see a little more of the hoodoos from above, but not much.
We hiked down into the hoodoos and you could see them really well from below the clouds. It was beautiful, even in the cold drizzle! (And I actually wore too many layers and had to shed my warm puffer coat near the end of the hike.) I shared the hikes we did and more in my guide on how to spend one day in Bryce Canyon National Park!
After hiking, we went back to the hotel to relax a bit before driving back to Tropic for dinner at Pizza Place. There really weren’t any good places to eat in Bryce Canyon City; it’s a very small, touristy park town that hadn’t fully opened for the season when we were there. We drove through a terrible snowstorm on our way back to the hotel! Luckily, that ended up being the tail end of the storm system.
Day 5: Drive from Bryce Canyon City to Springdale, Utah
Luckily, the storm cleared out in time for us to see Bryce Canyon in all its glory from above on day 5! We drove back into the park after another hotel breakfast, and I was shocked at how packed it was. The parking lots at the overlooks were nearly full! And this was in the middle of March when there was snow on the ground, and it was absolutely freezing outside in the wake of the storm (plus it was windy at the overlooks). I can’t imagine how busy Bryce must get in the late spring, summer, and fall. (They do have a shuttle system for the busy seasons but it was not running when we were there.)
After marveling at the beauty of Bryce Canyon blanketed in snow with blue skies overhead, we set out on our 2-hour drive (without stops) to Springdale, Utah. I really appreciated having a full day to get from one park to the next; we never really felt rushed and it gave us enough time to swing by the parks in the morning or evening if we wanted to visit again.
On our way, we drove through Red Canyon, a beautiful natural area with gorgeous red rocks. It looks like a mini Bryce Canyon! This area is not in a national park, so we took Korri’s drone for a quick spin. There are a ton of hiking trails in the area that would be fun to explore when it’s not snowy.
After that, we didn’t stop again until I really had to use the restroom…and we stopped at two gas stations on the way that were closed even though Google said they were open!!! Gah. Luckily we found a rest area that was open (Shingle Creek Rest Area). Orderville was the next larger town we drove through, and there we stopped for gas and to grab coffee drinks and a super yummy açaí bowl from The Shop Coffee Co.!
We had enough time to detour to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park (25 minutes south of Orderville) before backtracking to the east entrance of Zion. Read more about everything we saw and did in my Bryce Canyon to Zion travel guide!
I highly recommend driving through the east entrance of Zion along the Zion—Mount Carmel Highway (and through the mile-long tunnel)! It was stunning. We made it to our hotel (La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham at Zion Park/Springdale) in time to catch Boise State men’s basketball March Madness appearance. After an unfortunate loss, we walked to Zion Pizza and Noodle for dinner.
Day 6: Zion National Park
After grabbing breakfast at the hotel, Korri and I kicked off our visit at Zion National Park with a ride on the free Springdale shuttle to the park entrance. We didn’t drive at all the whole day! It was a new experience for me as I’d never taken a shuttle to or into a national park before. Zion was definitely the busiest of the three Utah national parks we visited on this trip.
We took the free Zion shuttle to the end of the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and worked our way back, hiking along the way. We hiked over 5 miles all over Zion Canyon and did not do Angels Landing (which requires a permit) or the hike leading up to it. The Narrows was also closed because the Virgin River was running too high, but I don’t have a big desire to do either Angels Landing or The Narrows. I shared all of the hikes we did plus other things you can do and see in my post about how to spend one day in Zion National Park!
Of course, no trip to a national park is complete without a stop at the visitor center to pick up a souvenir and get my passport book stamped! (That is, unless the visitor center happens to be closed. Luckily that was not the case for Zion.)
After taking the shuttle back to the hotel, we wandered over to MeMe’s Cafe for our last dinner in Springdale.
Day 7: Drive from Springdale to Cedar City, Utah
It’s meet day!!! And not just any meet day—conference championship meet day! Almost all of the college gymnastics conferences had their championship meet on the same day, naturally.
Before the quick 1-hour drive to Cedar City from Springdale, Korri and I stopped at Deep Creek Coffee Company for our signature mocha and chai. Since we had a few hours to get to Cedar City, we decided to drive through Zion and the tunnel one more time. The line to get into the south (main) entrance of Zion was backed up about a mile, and by the time we got to the entrance gate, the ranger was just waving us through. We drove back through the tunnel and turned around before passing through the east entrance, then drove all the way back to Springdale.
The drive to Cedar City was quick and very scenic! This entire road trip south of Provo was new to both Korri and me, so we marveled at all the new sights. Once we got on the interstate heading north, we narrowly avoided being hit by a semi truck (so fun) before getting off the interstate to check out the Kolob Canyon Visitor Center, another arm of Zion National Park. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go into the canyon due to rock fall, but I stamped my passport book again LOL.
We made it to Cedar City in the mid afternoon in time to watch some of the other conference championship meets before heading to Boise State’s (the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference championship hosted by Southern Utah). Cedar City is a super cute town set in an absolutely gorgeous area! For our one night in Cedar City, we stayed at the Abbey Inn. Boise State didn’t win, but Southern Utah did—their first MRGC championship! I was very excited for them.
After the meet, we had only a couple of options of places that were open late for dinner and ended up at Centro Woodfired Pizzeria with a bunch of other people from the meet. It was delicious! We shared the arugula salad and margherita pizza. I also grabbed a boba drink from Chat Chat Boba next door.
Day 8: Great Basin National Park (drive from Cedar City to Ely, Nevada…or back to Boise)
With gymnastics over, it was time to start making our way home. The plan was to drive to Great Basin National Park in east-central Nevada on our way back to Boise. The problem was that there was nothing to do at the park except for the cave tours, and I was unable to reserve tickets for us (specifically for the Grand Palace tour at 1 pm PT). They open up 30 days in advance, and we were on the cruise and not thinking about it…and since only 20 tickets were available for the one tour, they were snatched up quickly. I checked back often to see if anyone canceled but I only saw one cancellation and we needed two.
Korri and I made a quick pit stop at the grocery store to restock our cooler and then stopped at DoughnutsVille for donuts and more boba drinks. The drive to Great Basin only took about 2.5 hours, and there were very few people on the highway to Baker, the town closest to Great Basin (it can hardly be called a town, it’s so small). You do cross into the Pacific Time Zone at the Nevada border.
We drove up into the snow at Lehman Caves Visitor Center to see if there were any no-shows for the cave tour but unfortunately everyone showed up! (There were other people waiting to see if there were no-shows, so we probably wouldn’t have gotten in either way.) Korri and I watched a video about Great Basin, wandered around the visitor center area, and checked out Rhodes Cabin before driving up as far as we could (not far, the road was only plowed to the Upper Lehman Creek Campground) before turning around. The whole park was in the clouds, and they were expected to get about three more feet of snow that night. At the time, the snowpack was at 300% of normal! There really was nothing to see there in mid-March besides the caves, unfortunately.
The plan was to stop in Ely, Nevada, for the night (about an hour from Great Basin), but since we spent hardly any time at Great Basin, we decided to keep driving to see how far we could get. I was hoping we’d get to at least Jackpot, a small town at the border of Nevada and Idaho where Idahoans go to gamble. A storm was expected to come in and I was nervous about driving through it the next day. That said, it snowed basically the entire drive through Nevada… so I’m not sure that we avoided it, lol.
There is nowhere to stop along U.S. Highway 93 between Ely and Wells, Nevada. We stopped in Wells for gas and a McDonald’s snack (we walked through a casino between the gas station store and McDonald’s). By then, we weren’t far from Jackpot, and once we got to Jackpot, Twin Falls was just a stone’s throw away…so we kept driving to Twin Falls.
But Twin is only about 1.5 hours from Boise, so once we made it to Twin, we just decided to keep going—after stopping to eat at Scooter’s Chillin’ N Grillin’. Our meals were delicious! I got the green monster salad and highly recommend. We ended up driving 9.5 hours from Cedar City to Boise and got home just before midnight. It worked out, because the next day was the gymnastics postseason selection show and we were able to attend the watch party at Boise State!
Day 9: Drive from Ely, Nevada to Boise (optional)
Okay, so technically our trip was only 8 days instead of 9, but I had originally planned it to be 9 days with our last day being the drive from Ely, Nevada, back to Boise (a 6-hour drive). If we had been able to spend more time at Great Basin, we would’ve stopped in Ely for the night instead of trying to make it in one go. I’m a big fan of trains, and the Nevada Northern Railway Museum in Ely looks really cool. I definitely would’ve stopped there if we had stayed in Ely!
