A 10 Day Family RV Itinerary for Utah’s Big 5 National Parks and More

I spent a lot of time planning my family’s very first Cruise America RV trip to visit some major US landmarks including the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, and Utah’s 5 National Parks. I’ve received so many questions about this trip from others that I figured I would share our itinerary and takeaways to serve as a reference to help others.

This trip occurred in early June 2019 before I started my blog. So it’s not as detailed as some of my other posts. I’m going from memory and I may not be able to recall everything, plus some of the information may be outdated. But hopefully, it can serve as a starting point for some plans you might be thinking about.

It wasn’t our smoothest family trip, but it was definitely a memorable one!

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Summary

• Ages– Our crew consisted for 6 adults, and 4 children. My nieces and nephwere were ages 5, 7, and 9 and my son was 11 months.
• Mode of Transportation – Two RV’s from Cruise America. My parents stayed with my family. My sister’s family of 5 had their own. We both got the largest models.
• Itinerary– Fly from Pittsburgh to Phoenix, visit Grand Canyon National Park, Lake Powell, and Utah’s 5 National Parks (Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park), fly from Salt Lake City to Pittsburgh.

How the Trip Came About

I designed this route around a few bucket list items that were communicated to me by my family members. My dad has always wanted to go to Zion. My husband and I have a goal of visiting all of the National Parks. He had been to Arches and Canyonlands, while I had been to Zion and Bryce. Neither of us had been to Capitol Reef. While my sister was interested in Utah’s Big 5, she also got a twinkle in her eye when I mentioned we could possibly swing by the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell.

We looked at it like we might not get to this part of the country for a while, maybe we should just go for it and hit all of these places. I often look back and think the trip felt rushed and we tried to conquer too much territory. But at the same time, we covered a lot of ground and created a very memorable trip. I feel like I could spend a week in one National Park alone. I wish I could. But, when I reflect on the trip with my family members, there’s a consensus that everyone had a great time and would do it again.

The Route

It’s my preference to design trips flying in one airport and out another, or a loop road trip, so we can see new things and we aren’t spending a lot of time backtracking and repeating. It doesn’t always happen, but it’s something I strive for. We were able to avoid backtracking flying into Phoenix and out of Salt Lake City.

I started planning this trip roughly one year in advance. I inquired with Cruise America about our route. They allowed us to pick up and drop off in different locations (pick up in Phoenix and Salt Lake City). I was told they usually don’t do this and they prefer that people pick up and drop off in the same location. For example, we have some friends that visited Utah’s Big 5 National Parks with RV pick up and drop off in Las Vegas. However, Cruise America shared they were willing to allow our requested route because their headquarters are in Phoenix and they didn’t mind pushing inventory out to other locations. They weren’t able to accommodate our trip in reverse order (Salt Lake City to Phoenix). So I don’t know if they always accommodate this route but, I’m just sharing what happed to us. I also think booking this a year in advance might have allowed us to secure this route.

Booking in Advance

I booked everything in advance including flights, RV rental, all of our lodging and campsites, and our excursions. I know a lot of people who like to leave a road trip more open ended and go where the wind blows them. And I love that. But when accommodating a larger group such as this, I felt like I needed to have the larger items booked in advance.

Why Cruise America?

I haven’t had many RV experiences in my life and it’s something I’ve always wanted to try. The reason I chose Crusie America was simply that I saw so many of these RVs while living out west, I thought I’d go with them. I’m sure there are other options out there. But, we were happy with our Cruise America experience overall.

We went with the two largest models and I believe we ended up renting a few items from Cruise America such as a kitchen set, camp chairs, and linens. Be sure to visit the website for all the up-to-date information and pricing.

I think the highlight of the trip for my nieces and nephews was just hanging out in the RVs.

Packing for a Baby

Since I had my own questions about flying and going go on an RV vacation with a baby, I figured I would share how we went about packing for my 11-month son.

We could have purchased him a plane ticket and put the car seat in the airplane seat, but instead, we saved on a ticket for him and he sat on our lap. We checked his infant car seat and base with our luggage. We also paid to check a Pack ‘n Play as an additional piece of luggage. Since we are allowed a baby item to use through the airport, we carried him in a hiking child carrier through the airport, something we knew we were going to need for hiking. We left the stroller at home and did fine without one.

The booth in the RV can break down to a bed which is what we put the Pack ‘n Play on (use at your own risk). It would be tight but I think there was floor space for the Pack ‘n Play as well, but we didn’t want to walk around the baby. He was a chill baby at the time. Had he been more curious or mobile, we probably would have put it on the floor.

The infant car seat base was fastened in with the seat belts provided. We also found it helpful to have our portable high chair with us for meals and really anytime we needed to set the baby down for a minute.

Other Items We Packed

Here is some information about other items we packed.

• Backpacks – In general, nearly everyone took a backpack that served both as a carry-on for the airplane and a daypack for hiking to hold items such as as water, snacks, sunscreen, layers of clothing, etc. My husband has an Osprey Manta 24 Hydration Pack which I carried while he carried the baby. My nieces and nephew had some sort of kid’s hydration pack. We didn’t own our REI Co-op Ruckpack 28 Daypack at the time which also serves as our diaper bag. But this might have been another good daypack option.
• Hats – This trip occurred before my love affair with Sunday Afternoons Sun Hats began. But these are amazing sun hats that I definitely would have packed. I love my Shade Goddess Hat (Amazon or REI). My kids have the Play Hat (Amazon or REI), and my husband has the Ultra Adventure Hat (Amazon or REI).
• Clothing – We didn’t need any dressy clothes, just comfortable activewear mostly. Even though we went in June, we packed clothing to account for cooler weather with the various elevation changes and cool desert nights (convertible pants or zip offs were helpful too).
• Footwear – I made due with a pair of flip flops, my hiking boots, and what I call my “shandals” (shoes + sandal-Keen Whisper). If you plan to hike, good footwear is a must. Also I love Smartwool socks and packed my hiking socks.
• Travel Organization – Some useful products that help packing for a family include packing cubes (especially when my husband and I share a suitcase), an over the door shoe organizer (this basically turns into a mud room on the go holding shoes, hats, and clothing), and a travel hamper for dirty laundry.
• Shower stuff -My sister had a travel shower caddy which was a good idea. While the RVs offered showers, we mostly showered at the campgrounds and the shower caddy came in handy. Many of us also packed REI Co-op Multi Towels (Lite) because they are space saving and not all of us rented linens from Cruise America. For example, my husband and I packed our sleeping bags for bedding.
• Toys – Check out my post about No Tech Travel Toys for Toddlers for some toy travel ideas. We packed some of our favorites including a playing cards, Uno cards, and Catan. Tip: Save space with Catan by packing the pieces in a ziploc bag while leaving the box at home.

General Tips

Here are some other tips I found helpful.

• Itineraries – I printed copies of the itinerary for all the adults in my family so they could try to anticipate what was coming. This included information about lodging, anticipated drive times, and planned activities for the day, etc.
• National Park Passports – The National Park Service offers a variety of passports to track your travels. Read my post about National Park Passports which also includes information about what to do if you weren’t able to collect your stamp. We collected a lot of stamps on this trip.
• Walkie Talkies – With poor cell phone reception in this part of the country, it was so helpful to have a set of walkie talkies (or two way radios) among both RVs. This really came in handy during our flat tire incident (spoiler alert). These also occupied the kids quite a bit on long drives and were a lot of fun.
• Food – Eating out day in and day out can get expensive so we packed a lot of food or threw together cheap meals while balancing dining out occasionally. Some of our favorite on the go snacks included bagels for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, trail mix, cheese and crackers, and pepperoni rolls which made at home and packed.

The Itineray

In our family, we talk about the difference between a vacation and a trip. Vacation implies relaxation. Trip implies more adventure. This was definitely a trip over a vacation and involved more adventure and scheduling. The printed itineraries helped keep everyone in the loop for what was next.

While I would have been perfectly content simply driving through all of the scenery and hiking, I did feel in the interest of our group, it would be best to incorporate other types of activities to break it up. In addition to hiking, we rented a boat on Lake Powell and completed a UTV tour and mountain bike tour in Moab. I also tried to create some balance, the balance between eating out and making food, the balance between feeling on the go and relaxing. I tried to avoid high-traffic national parks on the weekends, and I also chose hikes that were family-friendly, not too long, but enough of a hike that felt like an accomplishment.

That’s a general idea so far. If you are still with me, let’s go ahead and break down the exact details of the trip. 

Day 1 (Thursday)

Summary: Fly Pittsburgh to Phoenix, cab to Mesa near Cruise Ameria pickup, stay in a hotel in Mesa for the night

We flew direct from Pittsburgh to Phoenix. I planned to book a hotel out near Mesa because I thought it would be a good idea to get close to where we were going to pick up our Cruise America RVs the next day in Mesa. So we utilized Uber for a roughly 20-minute drive to Mesa after our plane landed. Aside from a delayed flight, a blowout from my son, and an ear infection for my niece, our first major hiccup involved our hotel in Mesa. We arrived at the hotel in the middle of the night, probably about 1 am Phoenix time. We booked a hotel through a third-party site. When we arrived at the hotel, it wasn’t open, as in still under construction, hadn’t opened yet. This was the first time something like this ever happened to me.

So after some frustrations and phone calls with our tired crew, we ended up finding another hotel in Mesa to accommodate us where we finally crashed for the evening.

Day 2 (Friday)

Summary: Pick up Cruise America RV, get groceries, drive to Grand Canyon (252 miles), stay at Grand Canyon Trailer Village RV Park

To our benefit, my cousin lived in Phoneix at the time. She met us at the hotel the next morning to visit and transport a few of us to the Cruise America pick-up location in Mesa. This included me, my sister, and our husbands. My parents stayed back with the kids.

From my recollection, anyone that might be a prospective driver of the RV needs to participate in the pick-up process which involves paperwork and orientation/training with the vehicles.

I can’t remember if we were assigned a pickup time, if we requested one, or if we just showed up, but it helped us to get the RV early. It took us a while to pick up the RVs, get acclimated with driving them, grab groceries, and get to the Grand Canyon with Phoenix traffic, keeping in mind the RVs drive slower than a regular car.

As an alumnus of Northern Arizona University, it was gut-wrenching to drive through Flagstaff without stopping. I love Flagstaff and there’s so much to see and do in the area. But we had to keep pressing onward to Grand Canyon National Park.

If we had more time, I might have considered planning other activities like a day trip to Sedona, a visit to downtown Flagstaff, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Wutpatki National Monument, and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. We could have spent a week in the Flagstaff area alone.

While I was really hoping to arrive in the early evening at the Grand Canyon and have time for a visit to the rim or a short hike, we, unfortunately, arrived at the campground just as it was getting dark and we just went to bed.

I would have taken my family on the Bright Angel Trail or Kaibab Trail. These trails go to the bottom of the canyon, so I just planned that we would go down and turn around when we wanted, maybe after a mile or so. There’s a shuttle along the rim to take you to the trailheads.

Day 3 (Saturday)

Summary: Visit rim of Grand Canyon, drive to Lake Powell (133 miles), rent a boat, church in Page, and drive to Mt Carmel Motel and RV near Zion National Park (93 miles)

Because we missed the canyon the night prior, we spent the morning visiting the Grand Canyon. We walked from the campground to get coffee and a quick breakfast at Yavapai Lodge and then we found a trail that led to the rim (beside McKee Amphitheater).

Below is a map from Trip Planner (NPS.gov). Our walking route is in pink. We strolled along the rim for some views and pictures and then headed back toward the campground, stopping at the general store along the way to browse some souvenirs.

We didn’t have time to hit a hiking trail because I had two scheduling concerns for the day. First, we are a Catholic family and we needed to make mass. I planned for us to attend mass in Page at 5 pm. But, what I came to learn after the fact is that there is a Catholic Church (El Cristo Rey Catholic Church) in the Grand Canyon. Had I known this, the first few days of the trip might have been planned a little differently. Second, I really wanted to rent a boat on Lake Powell. But the boats were first come first serve. On a Saturday in the summer, availability was a concern of mine. It just so happened we were able to snag the last available boat rental at the marina (either Antelope Point Marina or Wahweap Marina).

Had we arrived at the Grand Canyon earlier the day prior, we probably would have taken off immediately in the morning to head toward Lake Powell with a stop at Horseshoe Bend. But since we were pressed for time, we visited the Grand Canyon in the morning and unfortunately had to skip Horseshoe Bend.

Another must-do in the Lake Powell area is booking a tour of Antelope Canyon. I ran this by my family and everyone chose the boat over Antelope Canyon. I wish we could have visited, but everyone had fun swimming. Lake Powell is one of my favorite places in the country and it’s so much fun to experience it on the water.

A boat worked best for our crew, but in other times I have visited Lake Powell, I have rented kayaks and taken them to the beach at Lone Rock, a cheaper option for getting out on the water.

We attended mass at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. Then, we grabbed some quick food after mass and drove to Mt Carmel Motel and RV near Zion where we would stay the next two nights.

We rolled in as it was getting dark which made for another long day. I’ll admit, everyone was feeling rushed at this point with lots of driving, but the family seemed like they were enjoying themselves.

Day 4 (Sunday)

Summary: Explore Zion National Park, stay a second night at Mt Caramel Motel and RV

With a concern for crowds, I definitely did not want to hit Zion on a Saturday, but a Sunday could not be avoided. And so we made it a point to try for an early start. The drive from our campground to the park was 26.9 miles (about 45 minutes).

One thing to keep in mind if you have an oversized vehicle like an RV, you will need to look into obtaining a permit for the Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel. There are designated times a larger vehicle can go through the tunnel to enter the park for a fee. I believe we paid $15 at the time.

Our early start resulted in no parking issues. We easily found a spot to park the RVs on Lion Blvd in Springdale. Then, we caught the shuttle near Lion Blvd and rode a few stops to Zion Canyon Visitor Center. We were able to use the restroom and then head out for our chosen hike trail, the Watchman Trail.

There are many hiking options in Zion to consider. When Zion comes up in conversation with people, I find the Narrows and Angel’s Landing are most often discussed. I have attempted Angel’s Landing in the past but did not make it to the top because of windy conditions with ice plus I was having knee issues. But I made it high enough to know that this was not a hike I wanted to attempt with the young members of our group for my personal comfort level. I also did not want to deal with the water in the Narrows Hike. During a previous visit to Zion, I hiked Emerald pools which is another hike I probably would have considered, but I just wanted to do something different.

I ended up choosing the 3.3 mile Watchman Trail. Described as moderate in difficulty, the trail was uphill and felt like an accomplishment. It offered stunning views at the top where we were able to relax and enjoy some snacks. We carried my son and my nieces and nephews hiked it well on their own. The hike wasn’t too long or too short and it didn’t consume our entire day. I was very happy with this choice for our crew.

After the hike, our crew split up. My husband and I took our son back to the RV. He took a nap while we played a game of Catan. My sister, brother-in-law, and dad were very interested in Angel’s Landing. They knew they didn’t have time to complete the entire hike, but they wanted to go and explore as much as they could while my mother occupied my nieces and nephews at a picnic area near the creek somewhere near the shuttle stop. They hustled and made it just past Walter’s Wiggles (21 switchbacks) where they turned around. From there, that crew grabbed some ice cream in town and also looked into renting bikes, but none were available. Around the same time, my son’s nap was finished and we all regrouped for a yummy dinner with beautiful patio views at Whiptail Grill.

While we would have loved to spend more time in the park, we opted to head back and grab showers and relax at the campground. We were really in the mood for a campfire, but we learned no fires were allowed anywhere on our trip due to the risk of wildfires.

Day 5 (Monday)

Summary: Drive from Mt Carmel Campground to Bryce Canyon National Park (57 miles), explore Bryce Canyon National Park, drive to Wonderland RV Park (108 miles) near Capitol Reef National Park for a one night stay

I believe we were directed to park our RVs in a designated parking area after the entrance to the park and from there we caught a shuttle that took us to the rim area of Bryce Canyon.

With several hiking options, we decided to hike the Queen’s Garden Trail. It is described as a 1.8-mile moderate hike. We wanted to make it a Loop with the Navajo Loop Trail, but the Navajo Trail was closed. So we just went out and back (or hiked down into the canyon, and hiked back up the way we came). Again we carried my son, and my nieces and nephews hiked well on their own.

After exploring the park, we drove toward Wonderland RV Park to position us nicely for Capitol Reef when things got interesting. One of our RVs got a flat tire.

We piled into the other RV and went to the nearest restaurant to obtain cell phone service and figure out a plan. We grabbed a bite and we were able to make contact with Cruise America who sent someone out to fix the RV.

The situation set us back on time. Had we arrived on time, we might have been able to venture into Capitol Reef. Instead, it was another late-night arrival to the campground. Again no campfire, but I’ll never forget how incredible the stars were that night.

Day 6 (Tuesday)

Summary: Explore Capitol Reef National Park, drive to Moab for a 3-night stay at Portal RV Resort (138 miles)

We hiked 1.8 miles roundtrip hike to Hickman Bridge. Getting an early start was helpful to beat the heat and secure parking for the RVs. After the hike, we headed toward Moab grabbing lunch on the way out at Duke’s Slickrock Grill.

While I would have liked to spend more time in the park, it was getting hot and the kids were ready for a change-up from driving and hiking. Everyone was happy to begin a three-night stay and unwind at the campground. The kids were very excited about the pool.

Day 7 (Wednesday)

Summary: UTV tour, Canyonlands National Park

We started the day with a UTV tour with Moab Tour Company. My mom stayed back with my son while we took my nieces and nephews.

We drove our own vehicles and switched drivers among adults as we followed our guide. We did the Hell’s Revenge and Fins and Things. Just as advertised, Fins and Things was a nice warmup for Hell’s Revenge. This was thrilling for both adults and kids. My five-year-old niece was a little scared at times but she got through it. If I had to do it again, I probably wouldn’t go any younger in age.

Completing the UTV in the morning allowed for some time in the afternoon to explore Canyonlands National Park (37 miles). Originally we were all going to go. But my nieces and nephew just wanted to hang back and swim again at the pool. So my brother-in-law stayed with them while the rest of us headed for a quick trip to Canyonlands where we hiked a short trail to the popular Mesa Arch (0.5 miles).

As always, I wish we had more time in the park, but we decided to regroup for dinner and relaxing family time the rest of the evening at the campground. We knew we were in for another early start in the morning.

Day 8 (Thursday)

Summary: Explore Arches National Park (4 miles)

Again, we aimed for another early start to beat the crowds and the heat. So the next morning we headed straight for the popular Delicate Arch, an iconic symbol for the state of Utah.

At a little over 3 miles roundtrip, this trail involved an ascent with some exposure to cliffs. My mom was left out of our group shot at the arch because she had her fill of cliffs.

After our hike, we were able to view some additional arches in the Windows Section of the park including Double Arch. But with the increase in crowds in the park, we decided to leave the park afterward.

My dad likes to find a geocache in each new state he visits, so after visiting Arches National Park, we stopped to find a geocache at Lions Park for his Utah cache.

Then we called it a day back at the campground. I know we were all feeling tired and just wanted to relax. But had we had more time and energy we would have explored downtown Moab and I wanted to take the kids to Moab Giants.

Day 9 (Friday)

Itinerary: Mountain Bike Tour, drive to Salt Lake City (236 miles), stay one night at Salt Lake City KOA

For our last day in Moab, we spent the morning doing a half-day mountain bike tour. This was an adult-only activity, so my mom volunteered to stay behind with the kids while the rest of us adults participated.

My dad at the time was really starting to take up mountain biking and from my understanding, Moab is a mecca for the sport. I’ll also admit Dead Horse State Park was on my bucket list to visit, probably because parts of the film Thelma and Louise were filmed there.

We had a fantastic experience with Rim Tours, shoutout to our awesome guide Neal. They provided us with the bikes and equipment and transported us to the park after meeting at their location in town. All we did was show up and pedal. We chose the Dead Horse Point Singletrack half-day tour. Rated as intermediate and moderate this was a challenge for all of us, and previous experience with mountain biking is suggested. If you are very much a beginner, you might want to opt for something easier. I can easily say this was the highlight of the trip for me.

After the mountain bike tour, we drove to the Salt Lake City KOA where we spent the evening relaxing at the campground.

Day 10 (Saturday)

Itinerary: Return Cruise America RVs, fly home

To our benefit again, a friend of mine came to visit us in Salt Lake City. So after we returned our RVs at the Salt Lake City Cruise America location at 1400 W North Temple, we were able to hitch a ride back to the campground with my friend.

After we packed everything up, we were able to walk to access the local public transportation system Trax to get to the airport with a station just outside of the KOA within walking distance.

The light rail dropped us off right at the airport and then we flew home.

Nearby Attractions:

I mentioned a few of these items earlier, but here’s a list of places we might have visited if we had more time.

• Flagstaff, AZ
• Sedona, AZ
• Montezuma Castle National Monument
• Walnut Canyon National Monument
• Wutpatki National Monument
• Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
• Petrified National Park
• Antelope Canyon
• Horseshoe Bend
• Grand Staircase National Monument
• Vermilion Cliffs National Monument
• Antelope Island State Park

There’s so much to see in this part of the USA and I’m sure there’s more to add to this list.

This was our itinerary. I know there’s a ton we missed, but we accomplished a lot and it was a trip of a lifetime. I hope you find this useful, and if this helps you plan a trip or if you did something different, I definitely want to hear about your trip. Leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @adventureswkelly.