And this has to be in April? A lot of the best stuff in the west (imo) isn’t accessible until July -october.
If you’re looking for a rugged, pristine wilderness experience without a heavy human presence, picking the most popular NPs might not be the best choice.
If you’re just after scenery, the most popular NPs are popular for a reason haha.
No but I’m impatient. I’ll go back again when it’s nice and hot. I’d go sooner than April but airfar decreases like $1300 by pushing it to April.
I’m gonna try and do the harder longer hikes which kinda cuts down on traffic, as well as start them before sunrise which also helps.
I’d love to go just wonder into the wilderness but idk where and don’t have the skills
If you have the time and money, maybe look into NOLS courses, or even some of the trips and courses run through your local REI. It should open up a whole new world to you.
Good luck in the desert! Don’t underestimate how cold it can get at night/morning.
Thanks man I’ll definitely check into that. It would be super cool to one day just venture out into the woods/desert out west somewhere, no trail or anything and just stay for a while 
Really wanted to be in Utah from around March 28-April 5 but had an important doctors appointment on the 5th. Called today to try and reschedule and they couldn’t, so went to book.
Plane tickets went up like $500 
So now I’m going in the middle of April.
Flying into SLC, which I forgot I decided I wanted to fly into Vegas till after I’d already bought the tickets 
. Doing really good at this planning stuff.
Desert here I come!!
I am a little late to this par-tay, but I’ll offer my local’s suggestions. It sounds like you are planning on driving from SLC to Phoenix still?
Between Bryce and Phoenix are some pretty cool stops you will be driving right through, or near.
St. George/Zion NP area have endless options. If you aren’t afraid of heights, Angel’s Landing is a must.
Page, AZ - stop and look at what is left of Lake Powell, you can hike some of the slot canyons that are normally under water. Or, kayak/Jet ski around. Little cold for April, but still fun.
Flagstaff, AZ - Humphrey’s Peak - Dormant Volcano hike, about 11 miles, steep. It’s high, but there wasn’t a ton of snow on it when I flew by it on my way to Sedona, about two weeks ago. Could be thawed by April.
Sedona, AZ - We have talked about this one, Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass Cave are two EASY, short hikes, if you wanted squeeze in extra miles.
I can go on and on… I also have recommendations for coffee shops and restaurants. I should have been a travel planner in another life. Please, feel free to tell me to hush.
Definitely keep them coming! I’ve only been to Utah once and stayed in moab and went to arches and needles district.
So far I’m thinking:
Capitol reef
Bryce
Horseshoe bend
Belly of the dragon
Reflection canyon
I’ve got some longer trails saved for each place in Alltrails.
Still not sure about Arizona. Originally I was gonna fly into slc and fly out of Phoenix but now I’m flying in and out of slc 
This changes everything…
First, have you heard of Turo? It’s like Airbnb for car rentals. Since you aren’t going one way, do yourself a favor and find a Jeep, Bronco or 4runner. Make sure they are okay with you taking her offroad, most aren’t. It will make trailhead access easier if you have a 4x4. This will also allow you to sleep in it.
I may be over lapping your trails, but here you are.
Near Reflection Canyon:
Sunset and Broken Bow Arch
Peek-a-Boo and Spooky slot Canyons (Kanab/Belly of the Dragon area has a Peekaboo Canyon too, also called Red Canyon)
Golden Cathedral
Cosmic Ashtray
Between Bryce and Reflection/Grand Escalante area:
Upper and Lower Calf Creek Falls
Near Horseshoe Bend:
Waterholes Canyon
I’m barely scratching the surface. I don’t know how much time you have. Ideally, you could make it a loop and scurry over to Monement Valley after Horseshoe, then come back up through Moab.
It’s only 26 hours…
I can’t remember, do you MTN bike? If so, consider renting one while in that area. I’ve been to Moab a few times, but never MTN biked there. If I go back, I’d like to do that, but my wife loathes MTN biking, so we will see.
That’s an awesome list! I’ll be flying in mid day on the 12th and leaving around 9am on the 18th.
Here’s what I’m thinking (so far and not in order, definitely open to change it all as I’m not good at this)
Escalante- zebra canyon / dry fork narrows to peakaboo to spooky
Capitol reef - Navajo knobs trail
Bryce - wall st and queens garden loop / Navajo loop / fairyland loop / rim to Navajo loop to peakaboo
This is just some of the ones I’ve found on Alltrails that I liked.
I also wanted to look into the other couple I mentioned. When I have more time I’ll look at your list in detail! Thank you again and I’ll take all the recommendations o can.
I wasn’t planning on renting a 4x4 as they are sky high.
@mnben87 i used to be hardcore into mountain biking but sold my last bike almost two years ago. I thought about renting an E bike but I’m still now sure
@unicornsandrainbows im checking out that car rental place now and it’s wild!!! I found a super cool sprinter van with beds in it which is crazy cool!
If I were to car camp/sleep in a car, any idea on where I’d shower?
Isn’t it neat?! Want a Ferrari for a day? You got it. Camper van? Also that. Decked out Jeep? Yes. And it’s all regular people with personal cars, not a company. Refreshing.
I stop in towns and buy a day or shower pass at their city recreation center. Sometimes gyms do this too, but I have had better luck with rec centers. Usually around $5-10. Baby wipes do wonders between showers.
Took my daughter on her first “real” hike today. She was also breaking in a new pair of Solomon’s and her first pair of fancy hiking socks!
Did about 5 miles, half of which was steep climbing to a cool over look. Kept the pace fast and I was super proud of her. Then we went to a chili cook off that had over 100 participants and ate lotssss of chili!
She just turned 10 and I told her when she gets to the point that a quick 10 miles doesn’t bother her at all, we’d start traveling and doing really cool hikes
Lovely!
I love this SO much!! You are winning on the Dad front.
And tell your daughter that Solomon’s are the BEST for hiking! She made an awesome choice - those shoes can climb mountains!!!
Thank you!
@unicornsandrainbows the places I’ve mentioned and the places you’ve mentioned… would having a 4x4 make it any better? It seems a lot have easily accessed trail heads and I’m trying to figure out if it would be worth the cost of a 4x4 rental.
I have a biased opinion, so I am going to answer your question with a question. How much more are the 4x4’s?
Maybe $100-200. Plus fuel. I just don’t know if I’d ever use it
