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You’re obviously here because you’re wondering how many National parks are in Utah and I’m here to give you all the deets and more!

Not only will you find out how many national parks are in Utah but you’ll find out the best time to visit them, where they are, and some other fun things to know about them.

After living in southern Utah for almost six years, I like to think I know it pretty well. I could talk about it forever and it was really fun putting this post together.

I’ve been to most of the national parks in Utah but not all of them. The only ones I haven’t been to are Dinosaur, Jurassic (it’s so new!), Golden Spike, Timpanogos, and the historic trails.

How many national parks are in Utah?

There are 13 national parks in Utah run by National Park Service and three run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for a total of 16 Utah national parks.

What is the busiest national park in Utah?

Zion, 100%. It saw over five million visitors in 2021! Arches is the next busiest and saw literally three million fewer visitors.

How many people visit the Utah national parks in a year?

There were 11,091,898 visitors to the Utah national parks (the 13 run by NPS) in 2021 (I think it was 2021?).

This does not include the three run by the BLM but, aside from Escalante, I don’t think the other two see tons of visitors.

What is the biggest national park in Utah?

Of the Mighty 5, Canyonlands is the biggest at 337,597.83 acres. But between all 16 sites, not including the historic trails, Grand Staircase Escalante is the biggest national park in Utah!

It covers more than 1.8 million acres with Bears Ears coming in a close second at 1.36 million acres, and Glen Canyon third with over 1.2 million acres.

National Park Goodies

• If you’re planning to visit three or more national parks within a year from your trip, definitely get the America the Beautiful pass. It will save you money in the long run if you’re going to more than three parks in a year. Buy the pass here.
• If you’re planning on doing a lot of hiking on your trip, or even at home, check out AllTrails! This is my favorite app to find, keep track of, and track my hiking activity. And it’s FREE! Sign up here.
• This Ultimate National Park Planning Bundle is a must-have. You get two ebooks and a planner, saving 50% by getting them as a bundle! If you want all the details, this is the bundle for you. Buy the Ultimate bundle here.
• This National Park Planner (one of the ebooks from the bundle above) is perfect if you just want some guidance in your planning. Buy the planner here.
• Get yourself a little National Park notebook to write all about your adventures while you’re on the road. These from Field Notes are all very cute! If you want one for all of the NPS sites (400+!) then this one is for you!
• Before your trip, get some national park apparel for your trip!
• Consider reading some of these books set in national parks before your big trip, on your adventure, or once you get home to take you back to the parks until next time.

Map of Utah National Parks

National Parks in Utah

The following sections are broken down by type of national park starting with the Mighty 5, AKA the main, full status national parks in Utah.

Arches National Park

Arches National Park is just outside of Moab, Utah and home to more than 2000 arches, hence the name.

It’s one of the most popular national parks in Utah and home to Delicate Arch which you may recognize from Utah license plates.

It’s one of my favorite parks to visit in winter and it’s a great park to visit if you just have one day.

Where: Moab, Utah

How much: $30

Things to do:

• Hike to Tower Arch
• Hike Fiery Furnace
• Hike to Sand Dune and Broken Arch
• Hike the Devils Garden Loop
• Hike to Landscape Arch
• Hike to Delicate Arch
• Hike Park Avenue

Want to know things to do in Arches besides hiking? Check out that post! Need to decide between Canyonlands and Arches? This post will help!

Where to stay: Moab Under Canvas, Quality Inn, Lazy Lizard Hostel, and Sleep Inn are all places we’ve stayed and enjoyed.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park is known for it’s towering orange hoodoo filled natural amphitheaters (they’re not technically canyons).

It’s often overshadowed by Zion next door but it still 100% deserves a visit. One of my friends thought she would hate it and ended up loving it, so you never know!

Where: Bryce, Utah

How much: $35

Things to do:

• Hike the Queens Garden/Navajo Loop
• Hike Peek-a-boo Loop
• Hike from Sunrise to Sunset Point
• Hike to Mossy Cave and the waterfall

Don’t have time or don’t want to hike at Bryce Canyon? Check out these things to do at Bryce Canyon other than hiking!

Where to stay: Best Western PLUS Ruby’s Inn, Best Western PLUS Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel, Quality Inn Bryce Canyon

Canyonlands National Park

Another park overshadowed by it’s neighbor is Canyonlands who gets a fraction of the visitors from Arches even thought its less than an hour drive between the park entrances.

I think Canyonlands rivals the Grand Canyon in it’s majesticness (I actually think it’s better) and absolutely deserves a visit.

It’s so much more than Mesa Arch, the top sight in the park, and you need to make sure you can at least spend half a day here while you’re in Moab, but a whole day is better.

This is also a great park to visit in winter. Moab in general is one of my favorite places to go in winter thanks to lack of crowds and cool temps.

Where: Moab, Utah

How much: $30

Things to do:

• Hike to Mesa Arch
• Hike Murphy Point Trail
• Hike the White Rim Overlook Trail
• Climb Whale Rock
• Hike Upheaval Dome
• Go to The Needles Overlook
• Drive White Rim Road

Where to stay: Moab Under Canvas, Quality Inn, Lazy Lizard Hostel, and Sleep Inn are all places we’ve stayed and enjoyed.

Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef is 100% underrated and my favorite national park in Utah! This is the park that gets cut from packed itineraries or ignored altogether.

But don’t skip this one! It’s got beautiful desert, history, and even plenty of greenery but in a better way than other parks: orchards!

Where: Torrey, Utah

How much: $20

Things to do:

• Pick fruit in the orchards
• Hike Cohab Canyon
• Visit the Gifford Store for pie and ice cream
• Hike to Hickman Bridge
• See the petroglyphs
• Hike to the Pioneer Register and the Tanks
• Hike Sulphur Creek
• Drive Cathedral Valley Loop
• Hike Headquarters Canyon
• Hike Surprise Canyon

If you want to do things other than hiking in Capitol Reef, then that post will help you plan.

Where to stay: Capitol Reef Resort, Skyridge Inn (my favorite), and Rim Rock Inn are all great places to stay in Torrey.

Zion National Park

Zion National Park, the crown jewel of Utah and, in my opinion, a little overrated. Still beautiful but a little overrated.

This is the most visited national park in Utah by literal millions meaning it’s extremely busy but some of that can be avoided by visiting in the winter.

The park is known for it’s towering cliffs and two major hikes: Angel’s Landing and The Narrows, but there is so much more to it than that and those are the things that make me like the park more.

Where: Springdale, Utah

How much: $35

Things to do:

• Hike Angel’s Landing
• Hike The Narrows
• Hike Hidden Canyon (currently closed)
• Hike the Canyon Overlook Trail
• Hike the Sand Bench Trail
• Hike to the Lower Pine Creek Waterfall
• See the petroglyphs
• Hike the Watchman Trail
• Visit Kolob Canyons
• Drive up Kolob Terrace Road
• Hike to Observation Point

Check this post out if you want to do something other than hiking in Zion and this post to find out how to spend one day in Zion.

Where to stay: Zion Park Motel (my favorite affordable place to stay in Springdale), Cliffrose, and Harvest House Bed and Breakfast

National Monuments in Utah

Next up are the national monuments in Utah! I really enjoy utah’s national monuments and was actually surprised at some of the visitation numbers for them!

Cedar Breaks was just shy of a whopping 900,000 visitors in 2016 (according to Wikipedia, I can’t find a more recent number on the park website).

And I know it’s a recreation area, but Glen Canyon sees over 4 million visitors per year! Wild!

Anyway, I think some of the monuments are some of the best places to visit in Utah and shouldn’t be missed on your Utah road trip.

Bears Ears National Monument

Bears Ears is unlike the other national monuments in Utah because it’s pretty undeveloped, very rugged, and quite remote.

It’s home to countless Native American ruins and if you hike to any or happen upon any, please be respectful and leave them as you found them.

Where: Blanding, Utah

How much: Free!

Things to do: We drove from Natural Bridges to Blanding via Arch Canyon Overlook and Elk Ridge and I love that drive. Procession Panel and Moonhouse Ruin are two hikes here that look really great.

The five mile Horse Pasture Trail to Scorup cabin is a great option for solitude out of the desert. I would love to do this one some day.

Where to stay: Prospector Motor Lodge (not fancy at all but I like it), Stone Lizard Lodging, and Blue Sage Inn.

Things to keep in mind when visiting rock art & ruins:

• Do not touch the rock art (pictographs or petroglyphs) because the oils on our fingers can degrade them.
• If you find artifacts, do not take them.  Leave them where they are and just take pictures.
• If there are structures (rooms, kivas, anything like that) don’t enter them unless it is stated that you can.  Most places you can’t but national and state parks will have restored structures you can enter.  Mesa Verde, Edge of the Cedars, and Anasazi Museum all have ruins you can enter.
• And finally, don’t carve in or write or paint or draw on the rocks!  I don’t want to have to say this, but I need to for real.

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Cedar Breaks is like a mini Bryce Canyon, featuring similar hoodoos, though maybe a bit less dramatic. Just as beautiful though!

I absolutely loved Cedar Breaks and we happened to be there during the wildflower festival!

Where: Cedar City, Utah

How much: $10

Things to do:

• Attend the wildflower festival
• Do some stargazing
• Hike the Sunset Trail
• Hike the Alpine Pond Loop (we did this one, I liked it)
• Hike the South Rim Trail

Where to stay: Abbey Inn, Big Yellow Inn, and The Cottages at Shakespeare Lane are all very cute options.