The approach to Moab from Highway 191 becomes gradually — then rapidly — visually dramatic. This is red rock country. Each new road reveals new natural phenomena: the distant monoliths of Monument Valley, the rising walls of Capitol Reef, the hoodoos of Red Canyon or the sudden appearance of Zion’s deep canyon from high on the east rim. A week long road trip through Utah's national parks is the best way to stop and take it all in. Enjoy each moment of rest. There’s so much more yet to see.

What makes up The Best Week of Your Life? Let’s run the numbers for this one: five national parks, two national monuments, five scenic drives including one All-American Road, two national forests and up to six state parks, including the photogenic Dead Horse Point and Kodachrome Basin.

From the starting point in Moab you’ll explore Arches and Canyonlands national parks before a journey through prehistory south to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. You’ll have the option to see Natural Bridges National Monument or save extra time for the Land of the Sleeping Rainbow: Capitol Reef National Park.

Then, things get really, really interesting. It’s Utah’s All-American Road Scenic Byway 12 from Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon. More than 100 miles of unique landscapes over Boulder Mountain through Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and up the high plateau to the amphitheaters of Bryce Canyon.

The journey ends in the desert southwest of Utah, where the slickrock plateau meets the Mojave Desert and the Virgin River continues to create a landscape of fascinating adventure in Zion National Park.