Utah's Bryce, Zion, and Capitol Reef National Park

All three National Parks are within a few hours drive and all offer something unique. If you're the adventurous type, I recommend spending the night in a tipi at Ruby's Inn RV Campground. It is an experience we will not soon forget.

Quick Tips:

Set aside at least two or three days for this itinerary. We did this in two days and it was quite rushed. With all the hiking trails in these parks, it would have been nice to have an extra day to explore a little more of each park.

Best Way To Get Around:

The only way I know of to get between the parks is to drive. Once you're in the parks, it's best to park your car and do some hiking. In Zion, we had to park our car and take a shuttle to some areas of the park.

Ruby''s Inn RV Campground is located adjacent to Ruby''s Best Western. If you stay at the campground, you can use the recreational facilites at the Best Western. Some of the facilities available are: restaurants, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, hot tubs, and gift shop. A rodeo and shops are also located across the street.
We paid approximately $21/night to stay in a tipi at the campground. Bring your own sleeping bags and dress warmly--it gets very cold at night. Each tipi had a picnic table outside. While I''m not one to cook on vacation, I recommend stopping at a grocery store and buying breakfast items. This will save you a lot of time and money. If you enjoy all the comforts of home (i.e., television, telephone, warm bed, etc.) a tipi is not the right place for you. However, if you''re looking for a unique experience, give it a try.
The restroom facilities at Ruby''s were better than any other we encountered on our vacation. There were plenty of showers and sinks/counter space available. Also, they were very clean.

Foster's Family Steakhouse is a casual family-type restaurant. It is located on Highway 12, a few miles from Ruby's Inn and Bryce Canyon National Park. We were seated right away and the service and food were good. On the premises, there is also a motel and a supermarket/bakery. We stopped in the supermarket to buy food for breakfast the following morning. We did not find the items to be overpriced. There were also souveniers for sale.

Capitol Reef National Park is located in South-Central Utah off of Highway 24 near Torrey. Many of the park's points of interest and hiking trails are located along Highway 24. There is no entrance fee for the park. However, if you take the twenty-five mile scenic drive past Fruita Campground, there is a $4 charge (included with National Park pass.)
I recommend stopping at the visitor center first. There you can obtain a map of the park and information about the points of interest and hiking trails. The visitor center also has restrooms. To get to the visitor center, just follow the signs from Highway 24.
Capitol Reef is as historic as it is scenic. One point of interest is the Fruita Schoolhouse. The heritage of the Mormon pioneers is preserved in this one-room schoolhouse where socials, dances, and church meetings were once held. The Mormon community of Fruita became well known for its fruit orchards, which can be seen from the schoolhouse. We also spotted a deer having breakfast in this area.
Another point of interest not to be missed is the Fremont Petroglyphs. There is a short level walkway along a canyon wall from which you can view these petroglyphs. We were able to get closer to these petroglyphs than any other we saw on our vacation.
While in Capitol Reef, we also hiked a one-mile (each way) trail to Hickman Natural Brige. This trail is described as moderate, but I was pretty wiped out after this hike. This trail takes you along the Fremont River for a little while and then leads under the natural bridge.
Unfortunately, we were unable to spend any more time in Capitol Reef. By the time we finished hiking the Hickman Bridge trail it was about noon and our goal was to get to Bryce National Park by the mid to late afternoon.

Bryce Canyon National Park is located on Scenic Byway 12 and U-63. To prevent traffic and parking shortages, Bryce Canyon National Park recently introduced a shuttle service. The shuttle service was not yet implemented when I visited the park during Memorial Day Weekend. We noticed that parking was sometimes difficult to find when we stopped at some of the overlooks. The fees for Bryce Canyon are as follows: $20/private vehicle for a 7 day pass and $15 for shuttle riders (this is included if you have the National Parks pass.)
While in Bryce Canyon National Park, we enjoyed driving along the main road through the park and stopping at the various overlooks. The Sunrise Point and Rainbow Point overlooks are two of the overlooks we stopped at. We also stopped at the Natural Bridge overlook. We enjoyed just taking in the views and taking pictures from the overlooks, but the more adventurous can either hike or take guided horse rides into the canyon.

Zion National Park is located off of Route 9 near Springdale, Utah. Admission to the park is $20/private vehicle (included if you have the National Parks pass.) Some parts of the park are accessible by private vehicle. However, from early April through the end of October you must take the shuttle if you plan on doing the Zion Canyon scenic drive. You can park and board the shuttle at the new Zion Canyon Visitor Center or from nearby Springdale.
The shuttle takes the hastles of traffic and parking away. However, I found the shuttles to be extremely uncomfortable on a day when the temperature was close to 100F. If the shuttles had air conditioning, it wasn't turned on or working.
Aside from the shuttle, we enjoyed our time in Zion National Park. We got off the shuttle at the Zion Lodge and walked the short distance to the Lower Emerald Pools trail. This easy trail takes about an hour total and leads to a lower pool and small waterfalls. The scenery along this trail is beautiful.
After the Emerald Pools hike, we stopped at a fast-food restaurant in the Zion Lodge area before getting back on the shuttle. We got off at the Temple of Sinawava stop and hiked on the Riverside walk. This is another easy trail that takes about an hour total. This trail follows the Virgin River along the bottom of a narrow canyon. Along the canyon walls are hanging gardens of wildflowers. If you only have time to hike one trail in Zion, this is a good one to hike.
Unfortunately, this is all we had time to do in Zion. We had to drive from Zion to Las Vegas, Nevada, to catch our red-eye flight home to Pittsburgh. I recommend spending at least a full-day in Zion to see more of what it offers.