APRIL 2021: Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado

DON'T pay for parking. Since the main highway no longer passes over the dam, you'll come in from the Nevada side. There is a large parking garage here that's open from 8 a.m.-5:15 p.m. that will cost you $7 per car. But there's really no need to pay for parking. Simply drive across the dam to the Arizona side, where there's a free parking lot. Then you can stroll back across the dam to get to the visitor's center. DO drive across the dam. Even if you're not going to take a tour or stick around very long, driving across the dam is pretty cool — it's certainly not something you get to do everyday. DON'T pay to visit the visitor center only. It will cost you $8 to get into the visitor center. While you can get a nice view of the dam here and have access to a small museum packed with information, it's not worth $8 on its own. Instead… DO pay for a tour. If you get there early enough, go ahead and splurge on the $30 Hoover Dam Tour, which is a 1-hour guided tour of the dam and the powerplant, as well as admission to the visitor center. This tour allows you to visit some exclusive parts of the dam and takes you INTO the dam itself. Or, for $11, you can get a 30-minute guided tour of the powerplant (including some of the dam passageways) and admission to the visitor center. If you aren't interested in the long guided tour but would still like to visit the visitor center, I would definitely recommend paying the extra $3 to take the powerplant tour. It will make the money you spend more worth it.

Babylon Arch Trail is a 2.6 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Leeds, Utah that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking and nature trips and is best used from October until April.

Grafton is a ghost town right outside the park. One of the most photographed in the West, it was featured in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Founded as a cotton-growing community by Brigham Young, the town quickly fell on hard times and was abandoned by the 1920s. Today it's been restored and makes for a fun stop outside the park.

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This famed scenic route through Utah stops at Bryce Canyon on its way from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to Capitol Reef National Park. This "All-American Road" traverses Utah's incredibly distinctive red rock landscapes. Along the way, you'll find Native American ruins, ghost towns, and Wild West charm. It's seriously a magical byway.

• During the summer, park rangers offer stargazing programs. Take advantage, because the night skies in Bryce Canyon are incredibly bright, and you can see thousands of stars. They'll even set up telescopes for you to use! • There's a free shuttle that runs around the park. This is a great way to get between scenic overlooks and trailheads in the park. It cuts down on congestion on the roads, and saves you gas and money! In some cases you have to reserve seats, so plan ahead.

Bryce Canyon Lodge is the NPS-run hotel within the park. It's super conveniently located, and features stunning, 1920s-rustic lodge style decor. They offer suites within the main building, a motor lodge, and luxurious, historic pole-pine cabins. There's even a nice dining room with food onsite!

Located about 10 miles south of Grover on Scenic Byway 12, this scenic overlook commands a stunning view of southeastern Utah, especially the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park and the Henry Mountains.

Capitol Reef Resort is a great homebase for exploring the park. It's in Torrey, which is super close to Capitol Reef, but still offers the chance to explore the little town's gems. The resort itself offers accommodations for literally everyone. If you want to be pampered, stay in a guestroom or luxury cabin; if you're feeling adventurous, they have tepees and pioneer-inspired Conestoga wagons for glamping! Ask about their guided horseback rides, check out the onsite eatery, and, for the love of God, check out the view from their incredible pool!

• The orchards planted by the pioneers who originally settled here have been maintained and you can pick the fruit for yourself! There are almost 3,000 fruit-bearing trees in the orchards, including cherries, apricots, peaches, pears, and apples, and you can usually find something to pick between mid-June and late September. • There's the park's Scenic Drive, which is about 8 miles long and provides incredible views of the park, but don't overlook the Capitol Gorge Road, a dirt road that spurs off of the scenic drive. • There's also the utterly incredible Burr Trail Road. The half-paved route is an intense 68-mile journey that will take you from Boulder to Bullfrog, through Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area before ending right near Lake Powell. You'll drive through canyons, past incredible rock formations, near some of the state's best hikes, and up (or down) one extremely wild set of switchbacks that rise over 800 feet in less than a mile.

Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah is known for its dramatic desert landscape carved by the Colorado River. Island in the Sky is a huge, flat-topped mesa with panoramic overlooks. Other notable areas include the towering rock pinnacles known as the Needles, the remote canyons of the Maze and the Native American rock paintings in Horseshoe Canyon.

• The park has some of the best stargazing in the country... where else can you see incredible rock formations in silhouette, lit up by the Milky Way? • There's an 18-mile-long scenic drive around the park that will take you past many of the more famous arches. It can get a little crowded, but it's a good way to get a sense of the park and where you might want to hike, or to experience as much as you can if you only have a short amount of time.