The desert southwest of the United States has some of the most amazing and varied scenery anywhere. There are a multitude of National and State Parks across six or seven states. There are also interesting cities and towns with historic sites and interesting cultures and cuisine. The area and distances are vast, but the density of sights is high. Thus, driving distances are shorter than one might think.
In this post, we provide one possible road trip itinerary for the Southwest, specifically in northern New Mexico, southeast Utah, and southern Colorado. This itinerary includes Arches, Canyonlands, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes National Parks, and more. We have detailed information on stops and sights in other linked guides.
Parks and Sights
For this trip, your priority and anchor sites/locations are Arches and Canyonlands National Park, which are very near one another in Southeast Utah. Our primary goal for our vacation time was to see Arches again, having visited the park more than 20 years before. Our initial trip to Arches was magical. On that first trip we saw five National Parks in Southern UT, Monument Valley, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but we knew someday we would go back to Arches. In addition, on our first trip, we could not fit in Canyonlands (practically next door to Arches). As expected, Arches wowed us again, but this whole trip was filled with amazing experiences and destinations.
After realizing that it was less expensive to fly into Albuquerque, NM, vs. Salt Lake City, UT (more on this decision below), we focused on the following stops: Arches, Canyonlands, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, and Mesa Verde National Parks, UT State Route 128, US Route 550 (Million Dollar Highway) in CO, Santa Fe, NM, and Albuquerque, NM.
Desert Southwest Itinerary including Arches, Canyonlands, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes National Parks, and more
After a number of iterations using our Itinerary Building approach, we settled on the following. This plan balanced driving time, time at destinations, and sights. This balance was achieved by including several renowned scenic highways and brief stops at interesting towns like Silverton and Durango, CO and Santa Fe, NM.
Desert Southwest Itinerary #1: Arches, Canyonlands, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and more:
Download as Open Document Sheets and use in Excel or a cloud spreadsheet tool (e.g., Google Drive or Office 365). Then, update your arrival date in cell A2. Next, get started on your itinerary (automations/equations are embedded to make a few things quicker). This file can serve as a template for other trip plans as well.
Download as a KML file and use in Google Maps, Google My Maps, OpenMaps, or other mobile apps. Start from the full screen view of the map.
Sight Rankings
Our sight-ranking star system is intended to give you a sense of priorities for your time while planning your itinerary. Here is our general ranking for this itinerary of destinations and activities:
- ★★★ Arches
- ★★ Canyonlands
- ★★ Black Canyon of the Gunnison
- ★★ Great Sand Dunes
- ★ Mesa Verde
- ★★ Santa Fe, NM
- ★ Route 550 (Million Dollar Highway)
- ★ Scenic UT State Route 128
- Montrose/Museum of the Mountain West
Transportation and Accommodations
This itinerary was perfect for travel in a Recreational Vehicle (RV). With significant time in National Parks and about 1,200 miles of driving, an RV kept us close to the sights by allowing us to overnight in park campgrounds. Also, an RV enhances scenic drives – for example, you can stop at a scenic spot for a picnic.
As we often do on an RV trip, we scheduled a commercial RV park at the mid-point of the trip with a laundromat and other facilities. This stop happened to be at Cedar Creek RV Park in Montrose. We also decided spontaneously to visit the Museum of the Mountain West (see our description in our Black Canyon of the Gunnison guide). We also booked our last night in Santa Fe at an RV park, making packing and clean-up easier.
See our tips page on Guide for Renting an RV for the pros and cons of RV travel.
Note: One of the reasons we chose to fly into Albuquerque for this trip was that RV rentals were much cheaper than out of Salt Lake City. We saved about $1,000 on our RV. It is a good idea to look at costs in different areas for rentals if you are considering an RV. We found a good deal at American Dream Vacations.
Alternative Southwest Itineraries
You can create new plans by altering or combining this itinerary with other itineraries, lengthened to add stops, or shortened. For example, the southern part of this trip could be combined with the sights south of Albuquerque. Similarly, the northern parts could be combined with other Colorado sights around Colorado Springs or Rocky Mountain National Park.