The Mighty Five: A Love Letter to Utah's National Parks

If you only have one week and you want to feel completely small in the best way, go to Utah.

We did the Mighty Five over one long, dusty, sunburned week a couple of years ago — Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands, all five of Utah's national parks in a loop. I came home with sand in places I'm still finding, a camera roll I still scroll through, and a sketchbook full of red rock that eventually became half our shop. So consider this my love letter to those five parks, and a rough guide if you're thinking about going.

Zion

Zion is the one everyone starts with, and for good reason. You take a shuttle up the canyon and the walls rise straight up on both sides until you feel like you're standing at the bottom of something ancient. We hiked the Narrows — the trail where the path is the river, and you wade upstream between walls that close in over your head. Rent the boots and the walking stick. Go early, before the crowds. It's the kind of thing I think about on days when I'm stuck inside.

If Zion's your park, we make a Zion crewneck and a Zion stamp sticker, both drawn from photos I took on that trip.

Bryce Canyon

Bryce isn't really a canyon, which surprised me. It's a giant natural amphitheater full of hoodoos — tall, skinny spires of orange rock that look like a frozen crowd of stone figures. We got there at sunrise (grumpy, cold, coffee in hand) and watched the whole thing light up like it was on fire. Worth every minute of lost sleep. The Bryce Canyon sticker is one of my favorites to draw, because those hoodoos are just fun shapes.

Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef is the one nobody talks about, and I don't understand why. It's quieter than the others, there are orchards you can actually pick fruit from in season, and the drive through is stunning. If you need a breather from the crowds in the middle of the loop, this is it.

Arches

Arches is exactly what it sounds like — over two thousand stone arches, including Delicate Arch, the one on Utah's license plate. The hike out to it is short but exposed, so bring more water than you think you need (we didn't, and I regretted it). Standing under that arch at golden hour is one of those moments that never quite fits in a photo. The Arches sticker tries anyway.

Canyonlands

Canyonlands is enormous and empty and a little intimidating, in the best way. Island in the Sky gives you overlooks where the land just drops away into canyon after canyon. We didn't have time to do it justice, which is my excuse to go back. There's a Canyonlands sticker too, of course.

If you want to do all five

Give yourself at least five days, more if you can. Rent something with decent clearance, download your maps offline (cell service is spotty out there), and don't overpack the schedule — the driving between parks eats more time than you'd think, and the best moments were usually the unplanned ones.

If you've done the Mighty Five, or you're dreaming about it, we made a Mighty Five crewneck with all five parks on it, plus individual stickers for each in our stamp sticker collection. I drew every one sitting on my couch, looking back at that trip. It's about as close as I can get to bottling that week.

Go see them. They'll ruin you for other vacations, in the best possible way.

Tara