The ultimate dog-friendly Fab 5(+1) National Park Road Trip
Over John’s final spring break before graduation from Colorado State University, we decided to take a Utah National Park road trip to visit the Fab 5. The Fab 5 National Parks include Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Arches National Park. We also added a +1 and visited Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado along with few state parks in Utah.
Of course, our adventure included our two favorite dogs, Sebastian and Zella. Everything mentioned in this itinerary is dog friendly. We found it best to arrive at each park as early as possible, most services within the Parks open at 8 am. This helped us to avoid crowds at viewpoints and meant temperatures were cooler for the dogs. The dates of our road trip were March 12-19, just before peak season in the Parks we visited. Being outside of peak season meant we were able to access areas in some Parks that are otherwise closed to visitor vehicles, and reservations were not required.
The National Park Service app is truly incredible, and I can’t say enough positive about it! It is a wealth of information on everything from Park hours, and self-guided tours, and even has an option to save all the information for offline use. We loved using this app on our trip and learning so much more about the landscapes. The app is available for iPhones and Android.
Itineraries
Below are two itineraries for the road trip from Colorado, to Utah visiting six National Parks and two State Parks along the way. Both itineraries are for the same road trip, one is simplified and the other is much more detailed. Be sure to check out my tip for how to road trip with dogs here, and how we enjoy National Parks with our dogs here.
Simplified
Day 1- Drive to Cortez, CO from Fort Collins, CO
Day 2- Visit Mesa Verde National Park, arriving at 8 am. Spend 2-3 hours in the Park.
Drive to Hurricane, UT- approximately 6 hours from the National Park
Day 3- Visit Zion National Park, arriving at 8 am. Spend 2-3 hours in the Park
Drive to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park- approximately 40 minutes from Zion National Park
Spend 1-2 hours at Coral Pink Sand Dunes
Drive to Panguitch, UT- approximately 1 hour from the state park
Day 4- Visit Bryce Canyon National Park, arriving early for sunrise, around 630am when we visited
Spend 3-4 hours in the Park
Drive to Kodachrome Basin State Park- approximately a 30-minute drive
Spend 1-2 hours in the state Park
Drive through Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument to Torrey, UT- just over 2 hours
Day 5- Visit Capitol Reef National Park, arriving at 8 am. Spend 6-12 hours in the Park
Stay in Torrey, UT for a second night
Day 6- Visit Arches National Park- arrive 30-60 minutes before sunrise to drive through the park as the sun rises
Spend 3-4 hours in the Park
Drive along Moab Kane Creek Blvd, stopping at points of interest
DAY 7-Visit Canyonlands National Park, arriving at 8 am
Spend 2-3 hours in the Park
Drive to Moab, UT to enjoy the dog park
Return to the Park for sunset
Day 8- Drive home to Fort Collins, CO from Green River, UT- approximately 6 hours drive time
Detailed
Day One
We started in Fort Collins, Colorado because this is where we lived at the time. You could also begin this trip from Denver or Grand Junction, Colorado. The first overnight stop we made was in Cortez, Colorado. Durango, Colorado would also be a great first stop on this adventure.
The eight-hour drive from Fort Collins to Cortez included many different mountainous landscapes and stunning scenery. We enjoyed stopping along the way to take photos and admire the beauty of the mountains.
Day Two
Wake up, get breakfast, and head to Mesa Verde National Park by 8 am. The drive from Cortez to the Park entrance is about 15 minutes, if you’re coming from Durango the drive is about 40 minutes. Mesa Verde was one of the more dog-friendly parks that we visited, though it is worth noting dogs are still not allowed on hiking trails within the Park. Allow yourself time to drive Mesa Top Loop Road stopping at each viewpoint.
From the park we drove to Hurricane, UT our next stop on the route. The drive time is around six hours. Several small towns put you closer to Zion National Park including La Verkin and Springdale. We went the more budget-friendly route and stayed a bit further from the Park.
Day Three
Zion Canyon National Park was one of the less dog-friendly Parks we visited, this is due to the extremely high numbers of visitors each year and the fragility of the ecosystem. During most of the year, the Park is accessible only by shuttles that are not dog friendly. The timing of our trip truly made a huge difference in visiting this Park.
We decided to Arrive at the park as close to 8 am as possible. The entry line went very fast, the crowds were smaller, and we were able to drive along Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. Be sure to check the NPS website for more information on the shuttle when planning your trip to Zion National Park. After driving the Scenic Drive, we continued on Zion-Mount Carmel Highway and exited on the Park’s east side.
From Zion National Park we went to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. The drive from Zion NP to Coral Pink Sand Dunes is under an hour. All the sand dunes are open for exploring and enjoying. The park is popular with ATV and off-highway vehicle riders, when we visited there were a few people riding dirt bikes. Our dogs loved all the sand to run and play in! After enjoying Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park for a few hours, we headed to Panguitch, about an hour’s drive away from the State Park.
Day Four
Today explore Bryce Canyon National Park, known for its stunning sunrises, sunsets, and unique hoodoo rock formations. This Park is more pet friendly than the last, dogs are permitted on all paved surfaces including viewpoints.
We arrived at the Park before sunrise, the drive took us about 30 minutes from Panguitch to the Park Entrance. The best tip I was given is to watch the sunrise from Sunset Point, not Sunrise Point, I know it seems backward but trust me! The view is incredible, and there were fewer people. It was magical to watch the landscape come to life and begin to glow with the sunlight.
After watching the sunrise, we drove to the end of Southern Scenic Drive to Rainbow and Yovimpa Points. We stopped at each viewpoint on the drive back to the Visitor’s Center. Driving to the end of the road before stopping at the viewpoints means that you will only be making right turns into the viewpoint parking lots. The NPS app has a self-guided tour for the drive, I highly recommend using it to learn more about the Park.
Our next stop was Kodachrome Basin State Park an area full of monolithic spires, or stone chimneys. This State Park is a 30-minute drive from Bryce Canyon National Park and is certainly worth the detour. Chimney Rock is a giant monolithic stone spire just outside of the State Park boundaries and is worth the stop. After visiting the State Park and Chimney Rock we made our way to Torrey, through the Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument. The drive to Torrey is around 2 hours.
Day Five
Capitol Reef National Park was perhaps our favorite Park of the trip! There are many different roads to explore the Park, some do require high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicles. We took Betty, our Kia Telluride, on this trip so we didn’t explore the roads that require high clearance or 4-wheel drive.
We enjoyed the Scenic Drive through the Park and took each of the dirt roads that spur off the main road: Grand Wash, South Draw, and Capitol Gorge. After exploring the scenic drive we returned to the Fruita area of the Park and visited the Gifford House for pie and other homemade goodies. On our way to Loop-the-Fold, we stopped to check out the petroglyphs and boardwalk.
Loop-the-Fold is a path that follows Notom-Bullfrog Road and Burr Trail Road, this route is a mixture of paved and unpaved roads. The drive time of this route is between 4 and 6 hours and is such a great addition to this trip. We felt truly immersed in the Park and had so much fun on the “back roads.”
Day Six
We stayed in Torrey for a second night to enjoy the Red Sands Hotel for another night. The drive to Arches National Park is around two and a half hours. We left super early in the morning to arrive at the park just before sunrise and watch as the colors of the Arches began to show in all their brilliance.
Arches National Park is another less dog-friendly park, again due to the number of visitors, the wildlife, and the ecosystem. Dogs are allowed on established roads and parking areas. We drove along Main Park Road, Windows Road, and Delicate Arch Road, stopping at each viewpoint along the way. After spending a few hours in the Park we decided to drive along Moab Cane Creek Boulevard. We enjoyed the views along the drive and took advantage of a few stopping points.
Head to Green River, UT to stay for the night. You could also stay in Moab for a shorter drive, at the time of our visit the dog-friendly hotel options were limited.
Day Seven
Explore Canyonlands National Park, which I feel is a somewhat forgotten Park of Moab. Canyonlands is another of the less dog-friendly Parks. Dogs are permitted on paved scenic drives and in campgrounds in the front country only. The restrictions in place are for the safety of the dogs, and we were still able to make the most of our visit to Canyonlands.
Our time in Canyonlands was spent in the Island in the Sky exploring each viewpoint along the way, we took around three hours. To let the dogs run and play we headed into Moab and visited the Bark Park, a large dog park with separate sections for big and little dogs.
Return to Canyonlands National Park for sunset before returning to Green River for the night.
Day Eight
Drive home to Fort Collins, CO from Green River, UT.
We had such an amazing time visiting the Fab 5 +1 National Parks and enjoyed bringing our dogs along! Being prepared for the pet restrictions made our trip much easier and sent us exploring State Parks that we likely would not have visited otherwise.