Plan a visit

Getting here

Salt Lake City International Airport is the main gateway, a Delta hub with nonstop flights from most of the country. Downtown is 15 minutes away, the Cottonwood ski resorts and Park City under an hour, and American Fork and Lehi about 35 minutes south on I-15.

For Zion, Bryce and the southwest, St. George Regional Airport is an hour from Zion, and many visitors fly into Las Vegas, about two and a half to three hours from Springdale. Provo's airport has a handful of low-cost routes, and Moab has a small regional airport.

Getting around

You need a car for almost everything outside the Wasatch Front. Distances in southern Utah are long and services are far apart: fill up whenever you can between towns like Hanksville, Escalante and Boulder.

Along the Wasatch Front, UTA's TRAX light rail runs from the airport to downtown, and FrontRunner trains connect Ogden, Salt Lake City, Lehi, American Fork and Provo. In winter, UTA ski buses serve the Cottonwood resorts. Zion Canyon and Springdale run free shuttles for most of the year, and Park City's town buses are free.

Parks, passes and permits

Each national park charges an entrance fee, and an America the Beautiful annual pass covers them all, which pays off quickly on a Mighty 5 trip. Utah state parks charge their own day-use fees, and some national forest areas, like American Fork Canyon and the Mirror Lake Highway, need a recreation pass.

The busiest places use permits or reservations that change from year to year: Angels Landing has a permit lottery, Arches has used timed-entry reservations in peak season, and Timpanogos Cave sells timed tour tickets. Check each park's official page a few weeks before your trip.

Heat, cold and altitude

Salt Lake City sits at 4,200 feet, Park City at 7,000 and Bryce Canyon above 8,000. Drink more water than usual, wear sunscreen even in winter, and give yourself a day before a big hike if you're coming from sea level.

Southern Utah summers regularly pass 100°F. Hike early, carry a gallon of water per person per day, and know that late-summer monsoon storms bring flash floods to slot canyons, sometimes from rain falling miles away. In winter, mountain storms can close canyon roads; check UDOT before you drive.

Drinking in Utah

You can get a drink here, with some local rules. Beer up to 5% alcohol by volume is sold in grocery and convenience stores; wine, spirits and stronger beer are sold at state-run liquor stores, which are closed on Sundays and holidays. Restaurants serve alcohol with food, and bars are 21 and over. Breweries and distilleries in Salt Lake, Park City, Ogden and Moab are good, and Utah has some of the strictest DUI laws in the country, with a 0.05 blood-alcohol limit.

Respect the land

Stay on trails in the desert: the dark, crusty biological soil crust takes decades to recover from a single footprint. Don't touch or climb on rock art or ruins, which are protected by federal law. Pack out everything, including toilet paper, and keep your distance from bison, moose and bighorn sheep.

Sundays are quieter here than in most states: some shops and restaurants, especially in small towns, close for the day.