50 Best Short Hikes in Utah's National Parks

Perfect for my trip to Utah in April. Very helpful.

A number of years ago, Wilderness Press published a series of 50 Best Short Hikes, guides meant for families and really almost everyone. The Utah National Parks selection was one of the best sellers in the series, but author Ron Adkison has passed on, and Wilderness Press has brought in Greg Witt to write a new version of this book. He has done a marvelous job. Yes, the book remains true to the original series and focuses on walks the whole family can enjoy. But these are spectacular hikes, and any hiker of any ability level will find something to captivating in this book, including die hard exercise enthusiasts who would normally shy away from a book with the word "short" in the title.Utah's national parks are managed with day hikers in mind. Backpacking is often an option, of course, but water sources are scarce and unreliable, and often the best scenery is fairly close at hand anyway. Visitors to Arches, for example, can take in much of the park in an extended day, and one of the best features of this book is that Witt offers a "park in a day" preface to each chapter so visitors coming for spring break, probably the best time to visit most of these parks, can get the maximum enjoyment for their time. Utah is not that easily accessible to me, and books like this are ideal for my type of exploration. Often, you can get a better feel for a park by doing two or three short hikes than one long one in any event. And one cannot quarrel with the hike selection: Park Avenue and Devil's Garden in Arches, The Queen's Garden-Navajo Loop in Bryce, Mesa Arch and Grand View Point in Canyonlands, and Hickman Bridge in Capitol Reef. Virtually every one of my favorite trails appears in this book.Each park gets about 10 trails, with Zion (correctly) meriting slightly more. Mileages are accurate, sketch maps adequate, and the side bars on natural history make the text all the more enjoyable. But most importantly, this book gets you out of your car and onto the trails in short order, allowing you to experience the best of each park. And what makes it a great book is that if you use it once, you are sure to want to use it again. I know my week long visit this year has whetted my appetite for more, and I have avidly read, and reread, the route descriptions in this fine little volume. I can hardly wait to use it again next year. That is the mark of a great hiking guide. Get it.

Loved this informative book! Hubby and I took a pandemic road trip through southern Utah and this was immensely helpful. We hit Zion, Bryce, Arches, and Canyonlands and were able to source great hikes for each place. I loved his detailed descriptions of elevation gain and terrain, which helped us narrow down our choices to choose hikes that fit our time available and our abilities. We both have one compromised ankle, so the terrain descriptions (rocky, sandy, paved, gravel, etc.) were welcomed with happy feet. We had never been to any of these locations so this was an excellent guide for us. Highly recommend especially if you are traveling in a group with mixed ages, fitness, or abilities. It will help to make choices to ensure everyone has a great time.Photos included here are from Canyonlands, Arches, and Zion, respectively. Actual photos taken from actual hikes recommended by the author. Thanks for helping us navigate an AMAZING trip!

This book was perfect for our recent trip to Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Zion National Parks. It is focused solely on hiking. It does not include lodging, general park information, transportation, etc. Instead, it focuses on short to middle-distance hikes that give you the best views and highlight the greatest features in each of Utah's national parks. We had already figured out our lodging and there's plenty of good general park information on the internet. We needed a hiking guide, and this is it! The book also includes some interesting short blurbs on geological facts, biographies of historical figures, flora and fauna, and other items of note within the parks. I highly recommend this book for anyone planning a trip to Utah's national parks.

Purchased this book just a week or so before heading off to see all 5 of Utah's national parks, and it was invaluable, truly a great aid in planning our hikes and visit. Got more accurate and useful information out of this book than all 4 or 5 other books I'd looked at previously that cover hiking in this area. All hikes listed include a short synopsis at the beginning of each detailed trail description, which includes information about elevation range, distance, type of hike (loop, out and back, etc.) directions to the trailhead, facilities at the trailhead (restrooms, parking, water) as well as a brief description of highlights. Included maps of parks and of each trail were also helpful in planning/choosing hikes. The author's recommendations on which way to hike a loop trail were much appreciated, and made for much better experience on several of the hikes we took in Arches and Bryce. Also enjoyed the short paragraphs scattered throughout the book on the flora, fauna, history and geology of the parks. As another reviewer noted, this is not a dull hiking book! I did not feel lack of color pictures detracted from the book at all - the author's descriptions are more than adequate to determine whether a trail is of interest or not. The only addition I would have appreciated would be an elevation gain/loss profile map for the hikes, but that would be a "nice to have", not a "need to have".

A fantastic guide book that focuses predominantly on short walks, but does give good clear information on how most walks can be combined with others to make longer walks in this fantastic region. Each walk usually comes with a background short story of the flora, fauna or geological structures you will see on the walk, which we found perfect to read along the way. Sufficient maps for each walks, showing the interconnecting walks. Good background information on what walks need to be booked ahead and how to do so. One tip - still be sure to check with respective visitor centres ahead of time as walks are intermittently shut for repairs (due to the high volume of travellers). Highly recommended.

Generally quite short walks (9 miles MAX, a lot are 1-4), I'd imagine not many that can't be found out by visiting a National Park visitor centre. But as a way of planning a few short walks you can do whilst touring Utah National Parks in a car - brilliant. Glad I bought it.

This book was invaluable for our trip to Utah.It enabled us to plan our hiking days and get the most out of a number of National and State parks in Utah. I have bought many hiking books over the last couple of decades and this is by far the best. Well worth the outlay.

Really good book very well written and informative

Very well laid out guidebook, covers many trails in beautiful Utah, some we've hiked and others we are planning in the near future. Glad I bought it.