The landscape in Utah is truly surreal. I am going to share this travel guide similar to the way I did San Francisco and share the trip how we did it, because we covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time – there is so much more you could take in depending how you do it. I also was solo parenting (even though I went with another family of four, our amazing friends) meaning I was driving three kids around at least 4 hours a day 4 days in a row, and wrangling tired little ones into hotels and lodges solo at night – my kids were 5-years-old, 2-years-old, and 4-months-old at the time. It was a magical experience! But all that is to say that with older kids, or without kids, you could probably crush a lot more ground! Also, immense thanks to Team Kind Humans, Seattle Storys, and Roadschool Atlas (along with another friend who doesn’t have an open platform), for giving us all so many incredible tips!
Salt Lake City
We flew into Salt Lake City and stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Salt Lake City Downtown, which was a prime location for us, because it was right across the street from where we would be taking in the hockey game! It also had a pool, which was key. So, we got in, grabbed a quick bite at Costa Vida (not a must do, and not as good as Chipotle, but was walkable with little legs!), and went for a swim! We topped off our swim at Sweet Rolled Tacos, which is very unique ice cream, shakes, and dirty sodas. That was more of a must-do. Then we grabbed some food from a grocery store near by for our soon-to-be road-tripping, and called it a night!
After that, our trip took us to three National Parks, but we returned to end our trip in Salt Lake City. When we returned, we ate dinner at the Bistro Bar in the hotel (while our friends grabbed Nacho Daddy), which treated us very well this trip! The following day, we enjoyed ourselves at Cupla Coffee and then walked to Pioneer Park – I would have chosen another park if we wanted to hop in a car, but this was walkable. The kiddos needed to get their nap on, so they could fully take in the Utah Hockey Club and Seattle Kraken hockey game!
If you’re spending more time in Salt Lake City, here are some other tips that I received:
Food
- Caputo’s Deli – best sandwiches
- Red Iguana (or Red Iguana 2) – Mexican
- The Copper Onion – elevated American eats
- Atomic Biscuit – breakfast
Outdoor Activities
- Park City – for outdoor adventures!
- Tracey Aviary – for all the bird lovers
- Liberty Park – SLC’s oldest park
- Wheeler Farm – a 75-acre working farm, good for farm animals, a little train experience, a good playground, and walking trails
- Canyon Rim Park – 16-acres of outdoor fun
- Red Butte – Garden and Arboretum
Hikes
Indoor Activities
- Clark Planetarium
- Children’s Museum
- The Leonardo – hands on STEM museum
- The Library
- The Natural History Museum of UtahÂ
- The City Creek Mall – downtown, open-air mall has the city creek running through it
Bryce Canyon National Park
Next up was my personal favourite National Park of the three we took in! Before you go to the National Parks, I highly recommend buying and downloading GuideAlong – you won’t have service in many areas, but if downloaded, it will pick up your location and be a private tour guide in your car. It was highly entertaining and highly educational! I also recommend downloading any Google Maps that you need ahead of time, for when you are out of service. There is also a National Park app!
Check the weather conditions for where you are going – some areas will need chains on tires depending on time of year. And you’ll also want appropriate clothes for adventuring whether it ends up feeling like winter or summer, sometimes in the same day!
When driving to Bryce Canyon from Salt Lake City, we made our first stop at a playground in Nephi, Utah to break it up, stretch out legs, use the washroom, and say hello to our convoy crew! Our next stop was in Beaver, Utah at The Creamery – stop for grilled cheese, mac and cheese, ice cream, or all of the above! It’s bumping in there, so expect to stay awhile. If you need one more stop, depending on check in time, Red Canyon is so beautiful, and just a little teaser for what you’ll see in Bryce Canyon National Park, or you could do as we did, and keep going to check in!! We stayed at Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn – they are lodges, so requesting a bottom level close to the main area where the restaurant and gift shop can be extra nice with little legs! Once we checked in, we headed over to the Bryce Canyon Lookout, which was just enough for the first night to give us a taste of the surreal landscape! We attempted dinner at Ebenezer’s Barn and Grill, not realizing it’s a ticketed live music and dinner event (which would be fun!), so back to our hotel buffet it was.
The next morning was a highlight of Bryce Canyon, and a highlight of the entire trip. At this point, Collins reminded me to turn on our GuideAlong app for our minivan private tour! We stopped at the entrance sign, popped into the Visitor Center to learn and to grab a book for our Junior Rangers [once our kiddos completed their booklets, we went back, so they could earn a Junior Ranger badge!], and then made our way to Bryce Point – looking out at those Hoodoos sure makes your feel small! We did a tiny portion of the Rim Trail – ice cleats would have been helpful for this in April. Next up, we went to hike the Navajo Loop. The final .3 mile was closed off at the time we went, so it ended up being a 2-mile total out-and-back hike, but however you can do it, I highly recommend!! Hiking down into the canyon is such a unique experience!
Zion National Park
Zion is a fan favourite National Park, as it has over 4.5 million visitors each year. I do think more time is needed in Zion to make the most of it, and I do think if we went again, trying to get in at the Zion Lodge, and booking a dinner reservation there would be the way to go! We visited Zion on a whim, and it was so fun, but because it’s packed, and because you cannot park in Zion and need to use their shuttle service, the timing of exploring there is more limited. However, with GuideAlong, the drive alone was wonderful and entertaining. We were lucky enough to find parking at the Visitor Center, get a Junior Range booklet, and hop on the shuttle. We took in the Grotto Trail, but the Ranger had recommended various other hikes that would be do-able for the kids, so talking to a Ranger is very helpful too! We couldn’t get a walk-in table at the Lodge, so we dined at their cafe and made our way back to Bryce Canyon to rest our weary eyes!
Capitol Reef National Park
After breakfast, we hit the road again. We were recommended to make our first pit stop at Kiva Koffeehouse (note that it’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays), and this was another major highlight of the trip. The view was absolutely incredible, the tea was tastebud heaven, and the food was the best of our trip. When travelling in National Parks, I often say it’s not about the food or accommodations, it’s about the nature and adventure, but in this particular case, it was about the food – and it was gooooood. A gentleman working at Kiva Koffeehouse said if it’s even possible, the National Parks just keep getting better and better, and he was talking about Capitol Reef National Park. Honestly, more time really is needed to do all of these wonders justice, but it was so nice to get a little taste of all of them. Our second pit stop was at a literal pit stop overlooking Boulder Mountain. The kids had a snowball fight and it was a lovely refresher. We arrived at Capitol Reef Resort, checked into our lodge, and then took off to get a picture by the welcome sign, grab a Junior Ranger booklet at the Visitor Center, and check out the Petroglyphs – now that is my kind of history!! We enjoyed salad, pizza, and pasta at The Rim Rock for dinner, and then made s’mores outside by the fire at our Resort. Depending on the time of year, Capitol Reef Resort does have so much to offer from a pool and hot tub, to fires, and trails.
The next morning after breakfast, we put on GuideAlong and went to the Visitor Center, where the kiddos earned another Junior Ranger badge, and then did the Scenic Drive, making sure to stop at the Gifford Homestead for some pie and cinnamon buns! If we had more time, some trails on our list that were very short-and-sweet were Goosenecks Trail & Sunset Point Trail, and Capitol Gorge Trail. Our friends went on a trail ride back at the resort (minimum age 8), and then we made our way back to Salt Lake City, making sure to stop at Orem, Utah on the way, to shop at Just Ingredients!
So, where are you going to go first?!