Denver to Salt Lake City 1 – A beautiful route for nature lovers that features spectacular, diverse, scenery. This route combines the glacial peaks of the Rocky Mountain Mountain National Park with the deserts of eastern Utah (Arches and Canyonlands National Parks) and with Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, in addition to few breathtaking National Monuments and State Parks.
Day 1 – Land in Denver and spend a few hours in the city
Lodging location: Denver
Day 2 – Drive to the eastern part of the Rocky Mountain National Park and visit this area of the park, 2 hours drive
Lodging location: Estes Park
Day 3 – Hike and travel in the eastern part of the Rocky Mountain National Park, 1 hour drive in each direction
Lodging location: Estes Park
Day 4 – Cross the Rocky Mountain National Park on Trail Ridge Road and stop and hike along this scenic route, 1.5 hours drive
Lodging location: Grand Lake
Day 5 – Spend the morning in Grand Lake and then drive east to towards border between Colorado and Utah, 4 hours drive
Lodging location: Grand Junction
Day 6 – Visit the Colorado National Monument and in the afternoon drive to Moab via scenic route 128 (see map here), 2.5 hours drive
Lodging location: Moab
Day 7 – Visit Arches National Park, 1 hour drive in each direction
Lodging location: Moab
Day 8 – Go on a half day rafting tour on the Colorado River (out of Moab) and then visit Canyonlands National Park (Island in the Sky district), 1 hour drive in each direction
Lodging location: Moab
Day 9 – Drive to Dinosaur National Monument – to Harpers Corner (circled in blue in this map) which has extraordinary scenery, and from there continue to Vernal, 5.5 hours drive
Lodging location: Vernal
Day 10 – Visit Dinosaur National Monument’s Quarry (circled in red in this map), and then drive north and add a short rafting trip in Flaming Gorge, 2 hours drive
Lodging location: Flaming Gorge
Day 11 – Drive north in Wyoming and on the way stop at the small town of Thermopolis (which has hot springs and petroglyphs), 5 hours drive
Lodging location: Cody
Day 12 – Visit Cody’s wonderful museums and then drive north to Red Lodge, Montana, 1 hour drive
Lodging location: Red Lodge
Day 13 – Drive west on the scenic Beartooth Hwy (not suitable for RVs) and then through the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park, 3 hour drive
Lodging location: Gardiner
Day 14 – Visit Mammoth Hot Springs and then drive south and visit the Lower Geyser Basin of Yellowstone, 2 hours drive
Lodging location: West Yellowstone
Day 15 – Visit the Midway and Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone, less than 1 hour drive in each direction
Lodging location: West Yellowstone
Day 16 – Drive to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and enjoy this canyon’s wonderful waterfalls and views, 1 hour drive
Lodging location: Canyon (or Lake Yellowstone)
Day 17 – Drive south to Grand Teton National Park through Hayden Valley and Lake Yellowstone, 3 hour drive
Lodging location: Jackson
Day 18 – Visit the southern part of Grand Teton National Park
Lodging location: Jackson
Day 19 – Enjoy activities around Jackson and in the afternoon drive south to Salt Lake City, 4.5 hours drive
Lodging location: Salt Lake City
Day 20 – Fly Home
– In order to fill this route with content – see our Southwest USA and Northwest USA destinations pages, where you can find articles that include suggestions what to do in various locations along this route.
