Which is better zion or arches

You will need to catch a shuttle to visit most of the spots in the main Zion valley area. Zion offers more in the way of day hiking trails as well. Bryce will be less crowded in raw numbers. Bryce is about twice the elevation which will mean that either Bryce is too cold or Zion is too hot depending on your outlook. They are only a little more than one hour apart so if the time is there, go to both. If it were me, I'd go to Zion. Spent 2 months backpacking the parks of south Utah and loved them all.

Zion is one of the wonders everyone should see. It's big and it's beautiful! I think the time factor would have me weigh in on Zion and Bryce as well, because they are not only close together, but offer up most of their photographic subjects within easy reach of a car or shuttle bus. Arches almost always involves at least a 2 hour round-trip hike to a lot of it's areas. And while Canyonlands is nearby, none of the Islands in the Sky scenes are all that photogenic, at least not as much as Deadhorse Point State Park.

But, if you are coming from SLC, Arches is actually about an hour closer than Zion, so keep that in mind as well. Back in , I did all three in one week. My personal favorite is Arches, but as pointed out above, Arches involves longer hikes and you need time. Does one weekend mean Saturday and Sunday? If the weather is good, you can get very reasonable coverage of Bryce in one day: evening shoot, stay overnight perhaps at Ruby's Inn and morning shoot.

If you can squeeze in Friday to Sunday or Saturday to Monday, you can do both Zion and Bryce highlights, weather permitting. Zion is about a three-hour drive from Las Vegas.

That is the closest major airport to the south-western Utah National Parks. ShunCheung , May 11, Both parks are excellent for landscape photography. Choose the one that is most convenient with your existing travel plan. All are wonderfull, Arches is my personal favourite. Do the Dark Angel trail, the guided tour to the Fiery Furnace. Bryce can be done in one day, don't stay on the rim but hike. Zion is the "greenest", with limited time go to the valley main part , not to the north-western part.

I have donw all three and here is my 2 cents- All are great, Bryce is a quickie, you can get it and get out in a few hours, Zion is wonderful, but I found it had very difficult light to work with, but my favorite if you were not going just for the pictures, and Arches is great, but you get 30 minutes to shoot at sunrise and the same at sunset, so figure on shooting like delicate arch at sunset and the windows at sunrise or something along those lines and then you are done pretty much for the day as far as photogrpahy goes.

I then went to Moab and went mtn biking, which I know is not for everyone, but if you are into that it is the place to be. Come to think of it that would be something very intersting to shoot mid-day. Go to Moab and go up to slick rock just above town and shoot the mtn bikers. The best in the world go there to play and it is crazy and beautiful! What time of year are we talking about, and where will you be coming from? Guy Scenic Wild Photography. I think I've narrowed it down to Bryce and Arches -- I like the red rock look and shooting from above.

From what you shared, Arches is more involved given the hike time between spots. I will be there first weekend of June. Getting to specifics, here's what it's shaking out to be: Fly in Las Vegas Thursday night, do a couple of hours driving in the evening and the balance in the next morning.

As such I won't hit the park by sunrise which is OK as I technically have to work that day. I end up with shoot Friday sunset, Saturday sunrise, Saturday sunset, Sunday sunrise.

Drive to Las Vegas fly out late Sunday. This sounds like overkill for Bryce alone? Now, I'd prefer not to do a greatest hits of Zion, as I'd rather go back when I have more time. I was thinking then that maybe have Bryce as the main objective and have the "extra" shooting times serve as a buffer for inclement weather.

If I really end up extra time, then what the heck, hit some spots at Zion. Make sense? I think the answer is no unless weather is perfect, but Seems like some of you really like Arches. Thanks again. You are somewhat mistaken about Arches. Most of the major attractions other than Delicate Arch are right by the road and do not require hiking. If you don't want to do much hiking I would go up to Bryce for the sunrise and spend the rest of the day at Zion.

Please keep in mind that from Las Vegas to Zion is about a 2. Bryce is another 1. But that view of the city is about all you experience of urbanity.

Just a short drive into the mountains east of Provo and you are in a new world, far from the traffic and noise of the city. Taking you even further into a new world is the Timpanogos Cave. Nowhere else have I been able to get so physically close to unique cave creations. Natural Bridges National Monument. While you can hike down to the base of each natural bridge, I recommend doing the hike that circumnavigates the creek that once eroded these massive rock structures.

Cedar Breaks National Monument. Cedar Breaks is like Bryce Canyon with snow. An easy stop if you want a civilization break in Cedar City or St. Canyonlands National Park. But boy was I wrong. Arches National Park. One of them was Arches. In my word-of-mouth decision on which parks to visit during the blue-lined map at the top of this page, Arches National Park had somehow found its way to me. I took notice back in , as you might recognize this below panorama of Delicate Arch from the signature of all my email newsletters sign up at the bottom of this page.

The Salt Lake Tribune also took notice, choosing to use this photo of me at Delicate Arch with a rainbow flag as the lead for their article about my time in Utah. George , Moab , and Provo, Utah. In a state with higher-than-average LGBT suicides, often attributed to a primarily LDS society with particularly condemning views of non-heterosexuality, each of these newspapers mentioned that I was gay and Christian, and that I was using the media attention from this world record to try and help LGBT kids and LGBT Christians know they are normal and loved.

Rainbow Bridge National Monument. While sometimes this can lead to awkward conversations, such as the gentleman in Big Bend National Park who asked me what the flag meant, then grunted and walked away after I explained. And speaking of icons in the parks, it is said that President Theodore Roosevelt traveled to Rainbow Bridge before it was federally protected. Upon arriving to the bridge, Roosevelt noted that his Native guides walked around it, while--set free of their guide--he and his horse traveled underneath it.

While viewing the Rainbow Bridge is an impressive moment, the park ranks high in this list especially due to the boat ride on Lake Powell. Zion National Park.

No ranking on this list will probably make people scoff more than this one. And Zion National Park was magical. Its lush green valley in stark contrast to the high canyon walls. Its special hikes like Angels Landing not nearly as scary as people say , the Narrows, and the Subway. And the grandeur nature of its many peaks named for some of the Bible's most famous figures. It is an epic park. There is no doubt of that. It truly is an epic park, one of the gems of the Park Service, one that was worthy of the U.

National Anthem…. While traversing through the backcountry with a hiking club from St. One of the best times to visit Canyonlands or Arches for that matter is the late spring or early fall. We recommend starting early for a one day itinerary in Canyonlands.

Pick a bunch of shorter hikes or a long hike to fill your day, depending on which of the following Canyonlands hikes interest you. Keep in mind that the distance from the Island in the Sky section to the other accessible section, Needles, is almost a two hour drive! Luckily, Island in the Sky has a wide variety of hikes, from easy ones with picturesque arches, to more strenuous hikes with breathtaking views. While we opted to tour around Island in the Sky and visit the famous arches on short hikes first and then do a longer hike, we recommend planning your one day itinerary in the opposite way, if you intend to do a longer hike but still want to see some of the famous arches.

If you do a long hike first, then you can visit some of the arches on your way out of the park and tailor the rest of your day to how tired you are, and when the sunset comes. We stayed long enough to take some photos and leave. For crazy expansive views of the giant mesa below, this is a great option. The trail is pretty flat and easy. You can cover the entire White Rim Road in a full day guided tour.

Remember that this park is massive!! Listed as moderate by the parks service, we felt this one was pretty easy. A beautiful quick hike and definitely one of the more populated ones. One of our favorite short hikes, which goes out to a Puebloan granary, where we ate a quiet lunch next to the spot where the Ancestral Pueblan people had done the same many years before.

Remember that these lands were inhabited far before they were made into national parks! This hike is a great way to remember those who came before, and were forcibly removed from their lands. For more tips on traveling responsibly in native lands, see our section below on responsible travel in these parks. After all the driving and stopping and getting out and hiking and taking pictures and getting back in the car to do it all over again, it was already late afternoon before we started our long hike of the day.

We felt a little rushed, as we were worried about getting back before sunset. The Murphy Loop trail is We scrambled down, taking in the uninhabited, prehistoric landscape that was spread out before us, shrouded in the golden light of the late afternoon sun.

Once we reached the bottom, we were treated to views that made me want to pitch a tent and just stay there, staring up at the stars that were soon to appear in that vast, open sky. Long before colonists arrived, settled stole the land, and eventually created these national parks, the Ute tribe lived on this land. Today native Utes are forced to live on reservations and mainly in poverty. To learn more about respectful travel on native lands, as well as native businesses to support in exchange for traveling on their land, read this article: Things to Keep in Mind When Traveling on Native Lands.

Stay on marked trails. The eco ecosystem in both Arches and Canyonlands is very fragile. Respect others. Everyone is here to enjoy the natural beauty of these parks. Always hike with a buddy and use a map. Bring in your own food and drink in reusable containers , ideally without using single-use plastic like water bottles.

There are drinking fountains and filling stations by parking lots, and we just refilled our collapsible water bottle as we went. Canyonlands is more like Salt Lake City. You really need some time within it to appreciate its underrated beauty. We preferred Canyonlands due to the longer trails and much fewer people. It will be a long day and all the arches will blend together. We suggest you pick a park based on our advice above and truly enjoy it instead of running around in a blur.

If you insist on visiting Canyonlands and Arches in one day, definitely get up early in the morning.