
Desert hiking adventure in Canyonlands and Arches National Parks
- United States
- 3 nights
Experience the Southwest's most epic trails and stargaze in Utah's unmistakeable landscapes
What's Included?
- Maximum group size: 9Join small n’ sociable groups of like-minded, active and outdoorsy people – designed to be solo-friendly
From…excluding flights
Highlights
Hike one of Canyonlands National Park’s most secluded and challenging trails: the Lathrop Canyon Trail
Experience Arches National Park's famous hoodoos: the otherworldly landscapes of natural stone formations and watch the sunrise through Mesa Arch
Spend your evenings stargazing and planet-spotting in some of the USA's best dark sky locations
Itinerary
Day 1
Welcome to Utah!
Hiking2-3hrs · 7kmYurtTriple shareLunch and dinner includedShow Day 1 detailHide detail
Your host will meet you at Salt Lake City Airport where you'll jump in the van and hit the road over to Moab, the base for your adventure in the Utah desert. After checking in to your luxury yurts you can head out on a warm up hike to get your first taste of Canyonlands National Park.
In the evening you'll have dinner with the group while your guide gives you a heads-up on the big hike tomorrow. If you're lucky the stars will be out for some celestial neck craning before bed.
Day 2
See the sunrise through Mesa Arch before hitting the Lathrop Canyon Trail
Hiking6-8hrs · 16kmYurtTriple shareAll meals includedShow Day 2 detailHide detail
Alarm clocks will be ringing early this morning as you wake up before the sun to head straight out into Canyonlands National Park. You'll watch the sunrise through Mesa Arch, a natural stone arch perched at the edge of a cliff with sweeping views of canyons, rock spires, and the La Sal Mountains.
You'll then tackle one of the park’s most secluded and difficult trails - the Lathrop Canyon Trail. The hike is challenging but you'll be rewarded with amazing big-sky views across the vast openness of Canyonlands. The trail progresses from grasslands to sand dunes to slickrock before you reach the canyon walls with the Colorado River two-thousand feet below. Epic!
Day 3
Arches National Park
Hiking6-8hrs · 16kmYurtTriple shareAll meals includedShow Day 3 detailHide detail
After breakfast you'll head over to Arches National Park, named for the more than 2000 natural stone arches scattered throughout the park. Today you'll take a series of short hikes along different trails to see a selection of these incredible formations including Delicate Arch: the iconic arch which adorns Utah's license plates. Your hikes are set against a constant backdrop of bright red rock against the deep blue sky - an iconic southwestern sight.
Day 4
Goodbye Utah
Hiking2-3hrs · 7kmBreakfast and lunch includedShow Day 4 detailHide detail
After breakfast and a leisurely morning, or an optional hike in Dead Horse State Park, your host will drive you back through the desert to Salt Lake city in time for your departing flight.
Practical Stuff
Getting There
- Nearest airport
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
- Pick up
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
10:30 on Day 1 - Drop off
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
18:00 on Day 4
What is and isn't Included?
What's included
Expert naturalist guides with wilderness first responder training
3 nights in luxury yurts
Enjoy tasty food throughout with all meals included
Transfers to and from Salt Lake City Airport and everything in between
All national park entry fees and permits
What's not included
Where You'll Stay
Private room upgrades are not available on this trip due to the nature of the accommodation.

Dead Horse State Park
Optional Extras
Accommodation Alternatives
- Optional Private Yurt Upgrade
- …/per person
Equipment / Kit Hire
- Sleeping Bag Hire
- …/per person
Upgrades
So solo travellers looking for their space, it is possible to request your own yurt (subject to availability). See Optional Extras for prices. Please request this at the time of booking.
To request any extras, message your host via your Much Better Adventures account once you have booked your trip.
All extras must be paid before your trip starts.
Ratings & Reviews
This trip is brand new!
So new, in fact, that it's not got any reviews yet. But rest assured, it's been designed with the same care, quality and attention to detail as all of our highly rated adventures.
Before You Travel
What to Pack

Know before you go! Some stuff we'll provide, other things you'll need to bring.
FAQs
Can I leave my excess luggage somewhere?
You can leave any excess luggage at the yurt and just take what you need for each day out on the trails in a day-pack.
What do I do about drinking water?
There is fresh drinking water available at your yurt accommodation each morning and evening.
The hiking routes don't have water re-supply points, so you will need to bring reusable water bottles and/or a skin to fill up at your yurt each morning.
How much should I tip?
Tips are not included in the trip cost. The amount to tip is entirely at your discretion but there is an expectation to tip in the USA; your guides will rely on tips for a considerable portion of their income.
We suggest to budget for 10% of the trip cost as a guideline.
Can I book on my own?
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Who is running the trip?
Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.
What is the official travel advice?
Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers are familiar with the practical information provided on the Government’s FCDO website, where current travel advice can be found by searching for the applicable destination(s).
For customers joining this trip from other international destinations – please also read the official travel advice applicable to your country of residence/origin, as this may differ.
What vaccinations do I need?
We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.
How are the trips priced?
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
Why are your adventures only for adults?
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.
Who else will be on my trip?
You're always in good company on one of our adventures.
Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.
Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way. Check out our Community Values – a shared code to make sure that everyone's experience is safe, inclusive and brilliantly unforgettable.
It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.
Don't just take our word for it:
- 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
- 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
- 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends
See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.
What's the carbon footprint for this trip?
We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 122kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000 miles/1609km would be approximately 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person, if there were two of you in it).
- A return economy class flight between London and New York would be approximately 1619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approximately 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
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