Exploring Utah in just 2 days | Utah National Parks you need to visit

Utah is absolutely bursting with stunning landscapes that could take a lifetime to truly appreciate. Even if you only have a weekend to get away, you can still see so much. In this video, we're going to show you how to visit Canyonlands, Arches, and Capitol Reef National Parks in just two days. In each park, we'll hike the best trail and share some incredible hidden gems that most people pass by on the road. Since we're driving from Colorado today, we're going to visit the two main parks near Moab, Canyonlands and Arches. These are parks where the drive is just as much a part of the experience as the hiking. Hi everyone! Today we drove from Colorado to Utah and we're going to be seeing two amazing national parks, Canyonlands and Arches. Right now we're starting off in the Island in the Sky area of Canyonlands and we're gonna hike the Mesa Arch Trail. This is an amazing area. The drive is so fantastic. So we're super excited to get hiking. Canyonlands is a gigantic national park with four different districts. The Mesa Arch Trail in the Island in the Sky district is one of the most popular and easiest hikes in the park. It's especially popular to hike at sunrise when photographers can get a shot of the sun rising right behind the arch. We walked to the Mesa Arch and it's a really easy walk and so beautiful. The arch is amazing and the whole landscape behind it is just fantastic. I can definitely see why a lot of bloggers say that this is one of the most beautiful trails in Canyonlands. And even if there's a lot of people at the arch, you can just wait your turn. People kind of make a line to take a picture in front of the arch. Now we're going to finish this trail and then go see some beautiful scenic overlooks and get some lunch because we're hungry. This is Schaefer Canyon Overlook. One of the amazing things about Canyonlands is that you can get some spectacular views without doing really long hikes. In fact, you can get great views of this canyon just from the little parking lot or you can take a short hike to get these amazing 360 degree views. Arches is a short drive from Canyonlands and you currently need a reservation to get in. Due to the intense heat, we recommend you hike before noon or after six when you actually don't need a reservation. We just entered Arches National Park and the drive is so cool. All the rock formations are super super neat. Look at this one. It looks like the three kings. We're about to hike the short double arch trail. You can actually see the double arch right back there and this is in the same area as Window Arch and Turt Arch. I'm super excited to go hike up to this arch. It's the tallest in the park and I've seen so many amazing photos of it so I can't wait to go check it out. This is Double Arch, the tallest arch in Arches National Park and it definitely looks a lot bigger when you walk all the way up to it. The hike here is really short and easy and wow the view is so worth it and once you get under the arch there's this amazing shade and a huge echo so that's a fun place. The iconic double arch was one of the filming locations for the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Other interesting rock formations can be found all along the trail including these elephant shaped ones. If you only have time to do one trail in Arches, this one is perfect for the whole family. Now we're at the Windows Trail and this is our last stop for the day. We've had an amazing day of hiking in Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and we've seen some of the most spectacular rock formations in the whole world. We hope you all will be able to make it to Utah someday to see them for yourselves. The Windows Trail is one of the most popular in Arches National Park and for good reason. The windows arches are referred to also as the spectacles because they're two arches on the same sandstone fin separated by a wall that looks like a nose piece. The windows are so impressive to see in person because every angle presents completely unique views of each arch. Our next stop will be Torrey, Utah so we'll see you there. The road between Moab and Torrey is bordered by fantastic rock formations. One that we found especially impressive is called Kathleen Rock and it isn't even part of a park. This whole drive through this wild desert is so interesting you'll be glued to the window the whole time. Today we're going to explore some fascinating places in and around Capitol Reef National Park including Swingarm City, the Temple of the Sun, the Bentonite Hills, and the petroglyphs at Capitol Reef. These places look so cool in photos so I'm super excited to experience them in person. This is spectacular Utah. On the way to Capitol Reef you can stop at an amazing roadside park called Swingarm City. This gray lunar landscape is an awe-inspiring place to fly a drone or ride an ATV. ATV enthusiasts and bikers have a blast riding up and down the sloping gray hills. I found this landscape to be so impressive I was surprised it wasn't actually part of a national park but that's how Utah is. It's full of spectacular places with a huge variety of recreational options and these places are well loved and well cared for. These are the Bentonite Hills. The road to get here looks like a normal road on Google Maps but actually turns out to be kind of a four-by-four road as you will see in the video and these hills are so pretty. The bright reds are so awesome in all the shapes so Gabby's going to fly the drone and show you guys what it looks like from above. If you put Bentonite Hills into a maps application you'll actually arrive at a road through private property that requires four-wheel drive and when we went this road was in very poor condition. Fortunately you can find these amazing views of the same Bentonite Hills along Cathedral Road which also takes you to the temples of the sun and the moon. The Bentonite Hills are a unique natural phenomenon and they look unbelievable both from the road and from the air. The concentric circles of reds tans and bluish grays the soft texture of the mounds and their unpredictable undulating shapes can really hypnotize you. This is the road to the temple of the sun and the temple of the sun and the temple of the moon looks so so cool in the photographs that I've seen online so we're really determined to go check them out. The temples of the moon and sun in Glass Mountain are found in the far northeast corner of Capitol Reef National Park an area known as Cathedral Valley. This is a magical place that is never crowded because the drive to get there is quite an adventurous one. We made it to the temple of the moon road and if you follow that road you can find a little road that goes to Glass Mountain which is this amazing mound of selenite crystals. It's really impressive up close. This is the temple of the sun. The drive to get here was a bumpy hour and a half. It's so worth it. This is really impressive and it's also very sunny here. This is the temple of the moon. Gorgeous. Cathedral Valley is the most remote and otherworldly part of Capitol Reef National Park. It's a landscape that makes you feel small and inspires reverence for nature. We're at Broken Spur Inn and Steakhouse. We actually stayed here for our honeymoon two years ago and we had the best steak of our lives here so we're really looking forward to this meal. We've been thinking about it for months. The steaks at Broken Spur never disappoint especially the porterhouse made of the freshest local beef. Fruta is an oasis in the desert of Capitol Reef that was settled by Mormon pioneers in the early 1900s. It's home to the old school house, a large campground, and the Fremont culture petroglyphs. We're here at the petroglyphs at Capitol Reef National Park one of the most popular places in the park and these petroglyphs are so cute. I think they're super adorable because they look like a family of robot people. These petroglyphs were carved around a thousand years ago by the Fremont culture, a people who lived in the area before the Navajo and Ute tribes and who were both hunters and farmers. The scenic drive leads to Trailheads if you'd like to hike and it's a short drive from the petroglyphs to the Gifford Homestead. Their family store has the best cinnamon rolls you'll ever eat. We're in the Gifford House store and museum and Gabby did find his cinnamon rolls This place is so cute and so peaceful. Good morning. Good morning. Eating breakfast at a Mexican restaurant called La Cueva, right? Yes. And yeah it's a beautiful morning and we're excited to go explore a little bit of Capitol Reef, the main park, and then go on a scenic train ride in Provo, Utah. On our way to Provo, Utah, we drive through Capitol Reef again. Our next destination is the Heber Valley Railroad. The Heber Valley Railroad is a fun family activity with beautiful views and entertaining performers. We went on the cowboy train and they also have many other theme trains like princess and superhero trains. We just had a super fun time at the Heber Valley Railroad and had some Thai food for dinner and we're going to stay in Provo, Utah tonight. So we decided to check out one of the most popular nature spots near Provo which is Bridal Veil Falls. Provo, Utah is a vibrant yet peaceful college town surrounded by nature. It's home to Brigham Young University and has a diverse restaurant scene. It's a great place to stop on your way north to Idaho. One of the prettiest places near Provo is the Bridal Veil Falls. The falls have an accessible viewing area and trail for walking. In our next video, we're going to explore gorgeous and rugged Twin Falls, Idaho. We'll show you stunning waterfalls, sand dunes, and even an undeveloped lava cave. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss it. In the meantime, go out, live, explore, and have some amazing adventures.