Mighty Five Adventure (From Grand Junction To Zion National

Once we’ve all met in Grand Junction, we’ll begin our journey with a drive to our first national park of this trip – Canyonlands! Canyonlands National Park is known for its dramatic desert landscape carved by the Colorado River, a wilderness of countless canyons and fantastically formed buttes. We’ll explore Utah’s largest national park with a few short hikes, eyeing the skyward-jutting spires and needles, deep craters, and blue-hued mesas that dot the landscape. The Grant View Point trail is a popular choice a great chance to see some wildlife. After we’ve exhausted ourselves we’ll head to our accommodation for the night and our base camp for exploration of Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.Canyonlands Inn (Lunch, Dinner)Grand View Hiking Distance: 2.9 kilometres (1.8 miles), 1-2 hoursElevation Gain: 106 metres (350 feet)Elevation Loss: 106 metres (350 feet)Upheavel Dome Hiking Distance: 1.6 kilometres (1 miles), 0.5-1 hourMesa Arch Hiking Distance: 0.8 kilometres (0.5 mile), 0.5-1 hourElevation Gain: 30 metres (100 feet)Elevation Loss: 30 metres (100 feet)

After a hearty breakfast we’ll depart for Moab to hike the Fisher Towers - a series of towers made of Cutler sandstone capped with Moenkopi sandstone and caked with a stucco of red mud. The trail is a maze of soaring fins, pinnacles, minarets, gargoyles, spires, and strangely shaped rock formations and the towers are world-renowned for their exciting rock-climbing routes and have been a favorite subject of photographers for years. After this beautiful hike, we’ll settle in for a BBQ lunch at a nearby lodge. In the afternoon we can enjoy some downtime during the heat, you could choose to relax by the poolside, explore downtown Moab or grab a drink at a local brewery. Later on, we’ll meet back up for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in town.Canyonlands Inn (All meals)Fish Towers Hiking Distance: 7.1 kilometres (4.4 miles), 2-3 hoursElevation Gain: 555 metres (1820 feet)Elevation Loss: 555 metres (1820 feet)

It’s an early start to the morning today to beat the crowds and the heat at Arches National Park. The park has over 2,000 natural stone arches, in addition to hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive fins and giant balanced rocks. We’ll hike into Delicate Arch for an awe inspiring sunrise viewing, perfect for photographers. The Delicate Arch is a 52-foot-tall (16 m) freestanding natural arch and the trail to get up close and personal is a steady uphill climb through dry desert terrain, occasionally passing stunted trees or rock piles providing welcome shade. We’ll head back the same way and continue on to Devil’s Garden to explore more of the park by foot. We’ll encounter the famous Landscape Arch, along with a few of our guides’ favorite arches in the area. After lunch, we’ll drive through to the Capitol Reef National Park, where we’ll spend the night in the Capitol Reef Resort, located on the doorstep of the park, and enjoy dinner in a quaint nearby town.Capitol Reef Resort (All meals)Delicate Arch Hiking Distance: 6.4 kilometres (4 miles), 1-2 hoursElevation Gain: 182 metres (600 feet)Elevation Loss: 182 metres (600 feet)Landscape Arch Hiking Distance: 2.6 kilometres (1.6 miles), 1 hourElevation Gain: 79 metres (260 feet)Elevation Loss: 79 metres (260 feet)