Utah's Mighty 5, Ranked by Wow Factor

Five national parks in one state sounds like a slogan, until you drive it. Utah's Mighty 5 sit within a few hours of each other in the same red rock desert, yet no two feel alike. This ranking runs on wow factor, weighing the uniqueness of the experience and the impact of the first impression.

1. Zion National Park

Zion hits hardest because it asks the most of you. The Virgin River carved 2,000 foot walls of cream and red sandstone, and the signature experience is a climb, not a viewpoint. Angels Landing is a half mile fin of rock with chains along the final spine, and the chained stretch now requires a lottery permit. From the top, wild California condors ride the thermals overhead. The Narrows sends you wading up the river between walls a thousand feet tall. Two and a half hours from Las Vegas, best spring and fall.

2. Arches National Park

Arches is the crowd pleaser, and it earns the title. More than 2,000 natural stone arches, the densest concentration on earth, are scattered across slickrock made for scrambling. Delicate Arch is the icon, glowing ember red at sunset with the La Sal Mountains framed inside it. After dark the park goes profoundly black under some of the darkest skies in Utah. Four hours southeast of Salt Lake City near Moab, best spring and fall.

3. Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce is the strangest of the five. It is not a canyon at all but the eroded edge of a high plateau, where frost and rain sculpted thousands of orange, pink, and red spires called hoodoos. The rim view is only half of it. Walk down the Navajo Loop Trail into the amphitheater and you stand among stone towers on every side. Four and a half hours from Las Vegas, best May through September.

4. Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands is the wildest of the five. The Colorado and Green rivers carved it into four districts that no road connects, and the most remote, the Maze, is a legend in the overlanding community. Reaching its heart takes a multi day 4WD expedition with no paved roads and no cell service. For everyone else there is Mesa Arch at Island in the Sky, glowing at sunrise. Near Moab, best spring and fall.

5. Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef is the quiet one, and that is its charm. The Waterpocket Fold, a nearly 100 mile wrinkle in the earth's crust, holds white sandstone domes that reminded early travelers of the U.S. Capitol. At Fruita, a pioneer settlement in the desert, historic orchards still grow fruit visitors can pick in season. Three and a half hours south of Salt Lake City, best late spring through fall.

The ranking collapses the moment you start driving. String all five into a loop from Las Vegas or Salt Lake City and each park resets your eyes for the next. That is the real magic of the Mighty 5. Five parks, one trip, and you will argue about the order all the way home.