Explore the best of Arches and Canyonlands on your own terms with our flexible 3-5 day itinerary that includes a plan for both hikers and non-hikers.
Plus, the days can be done in any order
to best suit your travel style.
You can’t fail with our easy-to-follow instructions. We include destinations, arrival times, and many maps to keep you on course.
Know how much time it takes to do popular activities, how to beat the crowds, and even the best spots to eat and stay.
View the best arches - sometimes called windows - in Arches and Canyonlands and know
which ones to skip.
See the best views in rugged Canyonlands National Park and see why it is one of the
most underrated parks.
See where many movies were filmed and learn why John Wayne loved Moab.
Real human customer service. We’ll respond to emails within one business day- no AI or auto-generated responses.
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Hey, We’re Matt and Cheryl and we are on a mission to help people have amazing vacations. Not only do we write easy-to-follow itineraries, but we love to share interesting stories in our audio guides about all of our favorite places!
We live in Utah, just four hours away from awesome national parks like Zion and Yellowstone, and have spent our lives exploring the West and the Rocky Mountains. We often travel with both sets of our retired parents (they like each other!) and our four teenagers (who like to travel…sometimes).
We met in a history of Utah class at Weber State University and tied the knot in 2002. Matt worked for Social Security and taught adjunct history classes at our alma mater. Cheryl taught special education for 28 years and continues to volunteer by teaching a weekly dance fitness class.
We took a shot at our dream in 2020 and started making YouTube videos about the national parks we know so well. We now have over 20 million views and have sold over 24,000 guides. We are delighted to help travelers fulfill dreams of their own!
We love trying out all the activities and working with local experts to give the best, most up-to-date travel advice out there.
At We're in the Rockies, we believe in education and donate 5% of the proceeds of your purchase to the Gene Sessions History Scholarship to make education affordable to future park rangers and history teachers.
Watch Cheryl show you how to plan out your travel day in minutes.
Sure. We believe you need at least one day in Arches and one day in Canyonlands, but it’s best to allow two days for each park and an extra day to do some fun recreation in Moab.
But if you have a few extra days, we do recommend visiting all of Utah’s National Parks which can be done in 5-8 days.
No. Many people visit as part of a longer road trip coming from Bryce Canyon or Capitol Reef in Utah or from some of the great mountain towns in Colorado.
We recommend you stay in Moab or Green River. You can do the days of our guide in any order. It often makes sense to rearrange them to best complement your travel days.
People visit the area year-round but we particularly like March and November because the heat is under control as well as the crowds.
Summers can get incredibly hot (100 degrees F!)
Avoid Easter, Labor Day, and Memorial Day.
If you are only visiting Arches and Canyonlands, this is the only guide you need. If you are also interested in visiting more of Utah’s National Parks (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef), we recommend the Utah Parks Bundle. It will give you full itineraries for all of the parks and includes an Overview that shows you the most efficient way to see them together and the best routes depending on which airport or direction you are coming from. Plus, it’s cheaper than if you were to buy each of the guides individually. If you are doing an even bigger trip, just email us at mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com and tell us where you want to go. A real human will email you back within one business day.
Arches, Canyonlands, and Moab is one of our favorite go-to vacations and we have done practically everything both inside the park and in the surrounding areas.
We travel with both sets of our retired parents and our 4 kids (who are now teens) so we have a pretty good radar on the interests of most types of travelers.
We recommend what we believe are the absolute best spots in the park and give back up options for longer hikes or things that cost.
We give star ratings and approximate prices to help you decide which activities are the best value for you!
We are of the mindset that you have a plan, so you can be flexible.
We lay out what we believe are the best activities for your time and money, but we all have different preferences.
Because each activity listed has a star rating, approximate time frame, and cost, you’ll easily be able to adjust to best suit your group’s interests.
We believe that once you buy a guide from us, you should be able to use it to visit a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time.
If you created an account, just log in and download your guide again.
If you didn’t create an account, just email mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com and let us know you want us to resend your guide links.
We surveyed our customers, and they reported that our guides saved them 10-20 hours of trip planning research, on average.
Although much of the information included in this guide can be found with significant research, this guide combines what you need to know into one place and it is from a source committed to giving you the best information.
This guide cost us over $4,982 to create when you combine travel expenses, consulting, map creation, and formatting. In addition, we have spent hundreds of hours visiting this park and doing additional research. The audio guide alone was over 60 hours of labor (but of course, a labor of love!)
Many of our travelers enjoy the confirmation that they have already created a good plan and may even find a thing or two to add to it.
Other travelers may find that our plan is similar to what they had already pieced together on their own.
If you’ve already spent hours planning, you may not find maximum value in this guide.
Yes! We travel with our 4 children and both sets of our parents. Although not every activity is for everyone, there are always backup suggestions.
We write these guides so all the work you should need to do is obtain your lodging and reservations. We include maps, the time needed to complete drives and activities, and lodging recommendations. We put boxes throughout the guide indicating it’s an item that you will need to take care of before you leave. We also give links to websites we think you should check before you leave.
Yes. There is no shuttle system. In Arches, the roads are paved and easily passable in a regular car. In Canyonlands, there are several dirt roads that require higher clearance and 4-wheel drive. However, the drives in this itinerary will be fine in a regular vehicle unless otherwise stated.
Yes. We give approximate time frames that are needed to complete an activity. The schedule is generally not so packed that you have to be a quick traveler. But if you know you generally need more time, you can make adjustments. If you are quick, there are suggestions for additional activities.
This is a digital download, so it will be EMAILED to you. That way, you can have access immediately and have the option to download it to any device you want.
Many travelers, including us, prefer to print the itinerary and take it with us as we travel.
The itinerary and audio guide are available immediately upon purchase, right on this webpage. You will also receive an email within 30 minutes with download links in case you need to revisit the links and download the items later. If you don’t receive your email, check your junk mail folder. If it’s not there, contact mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com and we’ll be in touch with you within 1 business day. Also, the guides will be available in your account if you choose to establish one (we highly encourage it).
You need cell reception to download the audio guides. Once they are downloaded, no cell reception is needed.
Most people download the audio guides to their phone before they leave.
Just in case you are wondering, an average audio guide takes 150 MB of storage space.
Yes! You can easily visit all of Utah’s national parks (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands) in a week. Each park is different and we show you how to piece this entire trip together in the Utah Parks Bundle. It’s also at a discounted rate compared to buying each guide individually.
Guides are automatically updated to the latest version when you create an account.
In addition to that, we also send an email notification when a guide is updated. Just make sure to stay subscribed to our email list so we can reach you.
Because the download is a PDF file, you can do it on any device: computer, iPhone, Android, tablet, etc.
Stuff like this happens. We get it.
If you created an account, just log in again and download your guides.
If you didn’t create an account or forgot your password, just email us and we can resend your links.
For step-by-step instructions (including pictures) check out our Help With Downloads page.
If you still need help, reach out to us at mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible to help. We’re even happy to jump on a phone call with you if needed.
Arches, Canyonlands, and Moab are all year-round destinations. This guide will work in the winter, but keep in mind that this area does get snow, making the hikes icy and dangerous.
You may need to make some adjustments and do a bit of extra research to check current trail and road conditions.
This guide is ideal for travel from March-November.
Yes!! We update our guides as needed, but write the concepts to intentionally be as timeless as possible. We encourage you to purchase the guide as soon as you know you will be traveling. It will help you determine which areas to stay and how many days to obtain lodging. Upon purchase, you’ll be guided to create an account on our website. If we update the guide, it will automatically show in your account. Your purchase includes free updates for life.
It is not required, but is HIGHLY recommended. We encourage you to create an account when purchasing the guides because you’ll have access to the links at any time.
You will have access to the updated guide through your account (another reason to create an account) for life. We generally send an email announcement when we do an update as well.
We put approximate price ranges on all our activities so you know what to expect. The good news is that most things in this guide are free once you pay for entrance into the national park!
We actually offer a hiker and non-hiker plan to visit Arches within this guide. If you don’t hike much, you can probably see this area in 2-3 days.
When the audio guide is available, here’s what you’ll need:
If you need technical support, check out our help with downloads page. If you are still struggling, you can email us at mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com
National parks constantly change, including timed-entry requirements, construction, fires, and closures. To keep you updated on the most current things going on, we have a Parks Updates page that we update every week with important information. We recommend you look at this as soon as you begin planning your trip, as well as a few days before you leave.
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Hi Matt and Cheryl,
We just returned from a Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and all 5 Utah National Parks trip. We used the wonderful work you do to plan most of the trip. We starting watching your videos in the fall of 2020. We had gone to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and the Badlands in August of 2020. We found your videos on YouTube after getting home, but we wanted to see how we did planning that trip compared to how experts like yourselves would have planned it. We then became regular watchers of new videos you produced.
My wife is a special education teacher like Cheryl so we wanted to support a fellow teacher as well.
For this trip, we purchased your Moab guide and found it to be very helpful. You directed us to a couple of hidden gems that we might not have found otherwise. The La Sal mountains scenic drive for us was one of the top things we did in the Moab area. We had lunch at the top and enjoyed a great view. Corona Arch with its fun hike was our favorite arch in the entire Moab area which you helped us find.
We will tell anyone we know heading to Moab to purchase your guide.
We also took your advice about skipping Dead Horse State Park and saving the parking fee. We skipped the slot canyons around Page, AZ on your advice as well.
A big thank you overall!
We are looking forward to your Colorado videos.
Keep up the great work and good luck on your endeavors.
Kind regards,
Craig and Jill Adkins
My wife is the planner. When I saw how detailed your maps were I knew she would love it. If we hadn’t of purchased your plan, we wouldn’t of known about some great driving locations south of Moab. After this trip, I emailed Matt and Cheryl with questions about which national park to visit next. Cheryl took the time to answer the email and gave me several suggestions. Well already planning for our next trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons.
Incredible guide. I was able to see all that I wanted as the guide was so detailed
Our family of three (Mom, Dad, 13 y/o daughter ) got this guide as part of a Capitol Reef / Arches / Canyonlands road trip. I had done a bunch of research online, but Matt and Cheryl took it to the next level! From the scoop on sites to places to stay, eat, and visit, it made our trip planning that much easier (and I am a type A do-it-all-myself kind of guy). Thank you, Matt and Cheryl (and the rest of the team) for all your work and putting these guides together! We are planning another epic road trip next year and will be getting some more of your guides soon
We purchased our first guide from Matt and Cheryl for our end of May trip to Arches NP and Canyonlands. As four older seniors going to a place with a very limited time schedule, and we expected a lot of walking and hiking we really needed guidance. The guide seriously helped us plan ahead, mark our maps, and we chose to follow the non-hiker option. We spent two totally amazing days between the two parks and even did some of the hikes anyway. We literally would have just driven around from arch to arch and not really have known what we could afford to skip and what to experience. My only suggestion would be to add Sand Dune Arch as one not to be missed. Yes it was a hike through the sand, but it was so amazing and different from all the rest of the arches. If us 80s, 70s and 60 year old’s can do it, it can be added to the non-hiker list. But especially add it to your maps so everyone can enjoy it. We happened to find out about it from someone we were speaking with at the visitors center. What I especially liked about the guide was the history and extra information about each section or arch, because it makes the story you are seeing complete. You wouldn’t have that at all if you just drove around. So we 4 thank you for putting this together. We now have seen 4 of the 5 National Parks in Utah and truthfully, Utah is one of our very favorite places to visit. The only issue we encountered was the audio guides wouldn’t keep playing for us and kept buffering inside the park so we just gave up and I read to everyone in the car. Next time – Capital Reef. Thank you from Texas.
Our family of 5 loves going to National Parks and the planning typically falls on me. While I love the discovery and it helps me get more excited for family trips, it is exhausting and I worry I may have missed something important in my own planning. I came across Matt and Cheryl’s YouTube channel and was instantly impressed. I bought this guide and it exceeded all expectations. I recommend their guides to everyone! They are extremely thorough and make it easily understandable to “choose your own adventure”.
Thank you for making it so easy to get outdoors!
My family of 5 which is my husband and myself and 3 kids ages 10, 8, and 6 just came back from our trip to the mighty 5 in Utah! We had the most amazing trip. We are from Pa and have never been out west and had no idea where to even begin planing for our trip or how to use our time wisely. I’m so thankful that I stumbled upon Matt and Cheryl’s YouTube videos and these guides! So full of extremely valuable information purposefully written out in an easy to use not overwhelming way and maps and wonderful audio guide stories to play on your way to the park when you’re driving or while driving through the park. The whole family loved learning more about the beautiful places we were visiting. I can’t recommend it enough! It really felt like we were traveling with friends who knew the best hikes and how to get to them, the best places to eat, and told engaging relevant stories along the way.
Yellowstone and Grand Teton. My husband and I wanted to take our whole family (l6 of 17 were able to go) to Yellowstone for our 50th wedding anniversary, but how to coordinate and plan the most efficient way to see everything?? Matt and Cheryl to the rescue! We watched the You Tube videos then bought the Itineraries for both Yellowstone and Grand Teton as well as downloading the audio tours. The audios were especially fun because for weeks ahead of leaving on our trip we could listen to Matt tell fascinating stories about each stop in the parks. We shared these with our family and I’m sure that helped build anticipation. The suggestions about which areas to combine in a day trip and that National Parks are not known for great food options were helpful. We flew into Jackson airport which is right in Grand Teton and very easy to navigate. It was a wonderful trip and gift that we were thrilled to share with our children and grandchildren and Matt and Cheryl were “with us” all the way! They’re the best!! This year my husband and I are heading back to Grand Teton by ourselves and I’m reviewing the GT itinerary and audio.