Photo by RossHelen at Shutterstock
If you decide to embark on an American West road trip, you’ll be greeted with a treasure trove of natural wonders! Americans have been hitting the open road on family vacations for many years.
And when they do, the most popular destinations are the US’s beautiful national parks. The giant route introduces the West, taking travelers to many national parks, a national monument, and a handful of charming towns worthy of a lengthy stopover.
And guess what? If you play your cards right, the trip should take a whopping 15 days!
So picture yourself cruising through towering red rocks, vast landscapes, and lush canyons as Must See Places presents you with 8 incredible sights to explore on an American West road trip!
After beginning your American West road trip in Las Vegas…yes, you can stop to visit a few sights, and making the three-hour journey to Zion National Park in Utah, the fun adventure begins.
The first park on the Grand Circle is also Utah’s first national park, and it’s become iconic for its red sandstone cliff walls and narrow slot canyons. So you definitely want to take advantage of this!
Spend an entire day exploring Zion’s on a bunch of not-to-miss adventures like Zion Narrows, where you’ll be taking a watery gorge hike with 1,000-foot-tall walls, and the Emerald Pools with waterfalls and a beautiful hanging garden.
With incredible views and stunning hikes, you couldn’t ask for a better park to continue your American West road trip. Driving to Bryce Canyon National Park from Zion takes less than two hours. So you should be able to get in a full day of exploration while you’re here.
And just like at Zion, Bryce Canyon has many gorgeous red rocks, which come out vibrant in photos, especially if taken at sunrise and sunset.
But while Zion is very well-known for its sky-high canyon walls, Bryce is a bit more famous for the spire-shaped rock formations, crimson-colored hoodoos, and the Bryce Amphitheater.
We recommend hiking the Rim Trail on this American West road trip stop. It will provide perfect views over the amphitheater.
Capitol Reef National Park might not get the same press that its sister parks in Southern Utah get. But it’s a gorgeous park with a lot of fun things to explore.
Be prepared to hike on this American West road trip stop because the most beautiful landscapes are in the backcountry.
You’ll want to spend at least one full day at Capitol Reef National Park, known for the eccentric rock formations surrounding the long “wrinkle” in Utah’s south-central desert, also known as the Waterpocket Fold.
Highlights inside this national park include the Hickman Bridge arch, the Chimney Rock pillar, and a series of white sandstone domes. To the north, you can take a stroll among the towering monoliths of Cathedral Valley.
After checking out Capitol Reef National Park to see some of its fantastic landscapes, your next stop on the American West road trip will be Arches National Park on the Eastern side of Southern Utah.
You’ll want to spend a couple of days exploring and wandering through Arches National Park AND Canyonlands National Park. So we recommend booking a stay at nearby Moab, Utah, simply as a place to establish base camp.
There are many great hotel and restaurant options in Moab to choose from, too. This National Park is one of Utah’s most famous parks and one of the most popular national parks in the whole nation.
Within the park, an estimated 2,000 naturally formed rock arches in the sandstone rock litter the landscape. The most famous is the Delicate Arch, which is what we see on the state of Utah’s license plate.
After seeing Arches National Park and visiting its stunning collection of rock arches, you’ll spend the second day of your American West road trip in the Moab area exploring the other national parks in the immediate area.
Canyonlands National Park lies a mere 30 minutes South of Arches National Park. So jumping back and forth between them is effortless if you’d like. Canyonlands will be right up your alley if you enjoy canyons and jaw-droppingly stunning vistas.
Several viewpoints give you a fantastic view of this unbelievable park, the most notable of which is the Mesa Arch viewpoint.
But to truly get a good feel for this park, you’ll need to do a bit of hiking in its backcountry. So ensure you get to the park early and bring your hiking shoes. We recommend buying these from Amazon!
After spending a day in Canyonlands, get back into your car and make the American West road trip’s most extended segment yet…A three-hour drive out of Utah and into beautiful Colorado.
Once you’ve crossed the state line, it’ll take about two hours to reach your next destination: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The red rock terrains of Utah are long gone, replaced by dark Precambrian rock.
But, just like many of Utah parks, Black Canyon is created around a deep, steep-walled gorge.
You can drive down to the bottom of the valley on the winding East Portal Road or explore the South Rim Road and enjoy the 12 overlooks and small hiking trails that curve off the route. Pro-tip: Remember to stop at the striped Painted Wall cliff face!
After spending your day here, make the picturesque one and a half hour drive to the gorgeous mountain town of Telluride, which is incredibly scenic and offers lots to do on your “down day,” including leisurely hikes and waterfalls.
You can even take a free gondola up the mountain at this American West road trip stop.
The landscape goes from mountainous to high desert on the one-and-a-half-hour drive between Telluride and Mesa Verde National Park.
This Colorado park is exceptional because it protects several well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, including the famously massive Cliff Palace.
You can explore these homes that are built into the rock on foot, or you can drive the Mesa Top Loop Road past the park’s many overlooks and archaeological sites.
Not long after leaving Mesa Verde on your American West road trip, you’ll pass through the Ute Mountain Reservation and into the Navajo Nation Reservation.
There, you can stop by the Navajo Nation’s Four Corners National Monument, where you can stand at the point where four states meet: Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.
And the good news is that The Four Corners National Monument is less than an hour from Mesa Verde.
The last destination on your American West road trip is arguably the most famous destination in our country. After leaving the Page, Arizona area, you’ll want to head South to the Grand Canyon National Park.
This mile-deep canyon probably doesn’t even need an introduction because it’s one of the most remarkable natural wonders in the US. When planning this fantastic trip to the Grand Canyon, remember that the park is divided between the North and South Rim.
And if you’re planning on driving in the winter, chances are that the canyon’s North Rim will be closed due to snowfall. But don’t worry! You can still visit the park from the South Rim.
We recommend spending at least a few days here, especially if you’re planning on going on a few hikes.
So what are YOUR thoughts? Do you know of any other incredible American West road trip stops we might have missed? Be sure to tell us in the comments!
And if you wish to continue your road trip adventures, we’ve got you covered. Check out: 7 Central California Coastal Road Trips With Incredible Views
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I actually made that trip in 2009 plus Yellowstone, the Tetons and Glacier. Incredible memories and a number of digital photos to keep them alive. So worth doing........