1,800 Miles of Red Rock and Rockies
Our Guide To A Week-Long Utah-Colorado Road Trip

A Road Trip and Research Trip All in One

If you are a frequent visitor to this website and my blog pages, you may have noticed there is a period of about 11 days between two of my recent articles. I know the blogging industry calls them posts but this was a website long before it was a blog. And I was writing articles for it long before they were known as posts. So there’s that.

My wife and I have been trying to visit all 46 of the Utah State Parks … at least those we haven’t visited before … so that I can write about our own personal experiences and reflections. I’ve been trying to finish writing articles on those that I haven’t already published and am updating those not written recently.

While planning an early summer vacation this year, we decided to try and hit as many of the Utah State Parks as we could on one single drive while exploring other sights. There is still a lot of this state we haven’t seen despite our many decades of living here.

While so many people our age … relatives and former acquaintances … are traveling all over the world visiting places that I no longer care to go to for various reasons, we thoroughly enjoy exploring this country and my home country of Canada. That includes the state of Utah which I write about on this site.

So, after looking at a trip that would take us to at least 7 Utah State Parks, we started looking at what we could add and see along the way or at least be in close proximity to. After planning the road trip, it was gratifying to learn that all of our plans fell perfectly into place.

Day 1 - A Utah State Park Excursion Turns Into An Adventure

I am not going to give a lot of details about our trip in this post (article, page, whatever). Check back here over the next few weeks as I’ll be adding multiple articles about the individual places we visited.

After leaving Salt Lake City, we headed south through Utah County. Getting through there as quickly as possible without stepping in anything was our goal. We headed up Spanish Fork Canyon on our way to the Highway 89 turn-off.

We headed south on Highway 89 past Thistle, Ephraim and Manti on an enjoyable drive along that highway eventually stopping at Palisade State Park. That was a surprisingly pleasant park to visit.

As we continued our drive that day, we headed south through Salina along I-80 and then along Highway 24 on the way to Torrey. We made a small detour up the mountainside to see Fish Lake along the Fishlake Scenic Byway.

Funny. The byway is one word while the name for Fish Lake is two words. I don’t know. It’s Utah. We ended Day 1 in Torrey, the gateway to Capitol Reef National Park.

We spent two nights in Torrey at a nice, little Airbnb. We also had dinner at one of our favorite spots in Torrey … a steakhouse called the Broken Spur Inn.

Day 2 – A Side Trip to Anasazi State Park

On Day 2, we drove over the mountain along Scenic Byway 12 to the even smaller town of Boulder. It took just under an hour each way. We had driven through Boulder but hadn’t stopped at Anasazi State Park Museum.

The drive was spectacular and the museum was fascinating. I would recommend that seeing Anasazi State Park Museum is best done while venturing along Highway 12 through Boulder. We spent another night in Torrey before venturing down the highway.

Day 3 – Capitol Reef and On Our Way

On Day 3, we headed east on Highway 24 towards Hanksville skirting the top of Capitol Reef since we had been there numerous times. From Hanksville, we headed southeast on Highway 95 to Blanding.

This route took us along the Bicentennial Highway … as it is called … from Hanksville to Blanding. Over the Colorado River and through Bears Ears National Monument. A beautiful and haunting environment.

After arriving in Blanding, we drove the hour out to Hovenweep National Monument as we were only staying one night in that area. We spent the night in Blanding at another Airbnb (not the best place we’ve ever stayed). For those who imbibe, it is good to know ahead of time that Blanding is a dry town.

Day 4 – Blanding and On To Monument Valley

The next morning, we visited Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum before heading south to Bluff and Mexican Hat. Along the way, we took a short detour to view the incredible Goosenecks State Park.

We continued on that day to the familiar landscape of Monument Valley. It was iconic and mesmerizing after seeing this area in all those western movies.

We then headed south to Kayenta, AZ and over to the Four Corners. That was interesting although nothing special. A lot of road construction.

We ended up in Cortez, Colorado where we spent the next two nights. Cortez is a beautiful little city of just over 9,000 people.

We stayed at another Airbnb … actually a quaint, small old house. The owner was definitely a fan of cannabis based on the ornaments and decorations.

Days 4-5 – Cortez and Mesa Verde

We stayed here two nights and visited the thought-provoking Mesa Verde National Park which is just 10 miles east of Cortez. At least, that is the distance to the entrance. It is another 10-15 miles up and across the top of a massive plateau to get to the dwellings.

We’ve been to Mesa Verde before so we didn’t spend as much time here as we did the last time. There is quite a bit of driving involved from the entrance to the various sights. The views from the top of the plateau are unreal.

Day 6 – To Grand Junction Along
The San Juan Skyway

On Day 6, we headed up the southern part of the San Juan Skyway …Highway 145 … towards Telluride. It was a rainy day and the scenery was spectacular.

The mountains? Let’s just say that Colorado has more than 100 mountains taller than Utah’s highest mountain. It reminded me of back home in Alberta, Canada.

Telluride was cool. Much smaller than I realized (2,500 people) and so unlike Park City. It lies at just under 9,000 feet and it was a rainy, overcast day. It had a Park City-ish Main Street but lacks the commercialism and development of Park City. 

We drove from Telluride to Grand Junction that day. The scenery was spectacular all the way. The San Juans are definitely an area I would like to go back to and explore.

Day 6 – 7 Grand Junction

We spent the evening of Day 6 in Grand Junction, Colorado at a beautiful little Airbnb. We really enjoyed this one. In by 03:00 PM and they didn’t kick us out until noon.

We drove around the city a little. With a population of just under 70,000, we thought this was also a cool little city. There is so much in the area we want to go back and see but didn’t have time to on this drive-through.

We drove from Grand Junction to Vernal, Utah part of which is the Dinosaur Diamond National Byway. This was a lightly-traveled, narrow, winding road … especially in Colorado … that took us over the top of another towering mountain range.

We encountered one of the angriest thunderstorms I’ve ever seen along this route. I had no idea what we were in for when we headed north from Grand Junction towards Vernal.

Day 7 – Vernal Area

For a one-night stand, we got to see a lot in this area. Dinosaur National Monument, Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum, Steinaker State Park and Red Fleet State Park. We stopped at the two reservoirs on the way to Flaming Gorge Friday morning.

We had a wonderful dinner at the classic and local favorite the 7-11 Ranch Restaurant. Prime rib for me and shrimp for my wife (and an iPad and Apple Watch for you). Classic.

We stayed in an old motel on Main Street and that’s what it was. An old motel. In fact, the motel and the restaurant were on Main Street within a block of each other.

Day 8 – On To Flaming Gorge and Then Home

On our last day, we headed north from Vernal and experienced “the drive through the ages.” This is the spectacular Flaming Gorge-Uintas National Scenic Byway through the Uintas and right over the Flaming Gorge dam. Fantastic area. Unbelievable scenery.

As we left the Flaming Gorge area, we made great time along I-80 and actually made it home in the early afternoon. 1,800 miles in 8 days. What an adventure.

As you may have noticed, I’ve been writing some of these individual pages lately and I will continue to add more. It was a fun and eye-opening adventure.

There are many places we saw along the way that we want to go back to and explore in more detail. Early June was the right time to take this trip as the weather was great and the traffic was minimal on almost our entire route. Just the way we like it.

One other thing. The highways and roads ... especially the Scenic Byways, were in amazing shape. Many of them were newly paved. I commend whoever is responsible for this.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Wasatch Mountains

Lake Powell

Zion National Park

Arches National Park

Great Salt Lake

Monument Valley