Denver to Salt Lake City 2 – 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 – Enjoy the morning in the eastern part of the Rocky Mountain National Park and then cross the park on Trail Ridge Road and stop and hike along this scenic route, 2 hours drive
Lodging location: Grand Lake
Day 4 – Spend the morning in Grand Lake and then drive east to towards the border between Colorado and Utah, 4 hours drive
Lodging location: Grand Junction
Day 5 – Visit the Colorado National Monument and drive to Moab via scenic route 128, 3 hours drive
Lodging location: Moab
Day 6 – Visit Arches National Park, 1 hour drive in each direction
Lodging location: Moab
Day 7 – 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 8 – 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 9 – 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 10 – 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 11 – Visit Cody’s wonderful museums and then drive north to Cooke City, Montana, 1.5 hours drive (or 2.5 hours drive on the scenic Beartooth Hwy)
Lodging location: Cooke City
Day 12 – Drive west through the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park to Mammoth Hot Springs and visit the springs and then drive south to the Lower Geyser Basin, 3 hour drive
Lodging location: West Yellowstone
Day 13 – Visit the Midway and Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone and then drive to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and enjoy this canyon’s wonderful waterfalls and views, 2 hours drive
Lodging location: Canyon (or Lake Yellowstone)
Day 14 – Drive south to Grand Teton National Park through Hayden Valley and Lake Yellowstone, 3 hour drive
Lodging location: Jackson
Day 15 – Visit the southern part of Grand Teton National Park and in the afternoon drive south to Salt Lake City, 5 hours drive
Lodging location: Salt Lake City
Day 16 – 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.
