In May 2023 we did a road trip that started in Salt Lake City, and ended in Salt Lake City 9 days and 2299 miles (approx. 3700km) later. We spent about 52 hours in our rented Ford Explorer, driving first to Yellowstone National Park, then south to Bryce Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Big Bend, Grand Canyon North Rim, Zion National Park, Highway 50 on the border between Utah and Nevada, and lastly visiting Bonneville Salt Flats before delivering our car back in Salt Lake City.

On the road we had awesome experiences, endless horizons, big skies, empty roads, heavenly donuts and caffeine to last us a lifetime.

What follows here is a brief break down of each day, with links to previous posts on the highlights of the road trip and also some of the smaller but glorious encounters on the road.

Wednesday 10^th of May

Started the day before dawn at home – 4am to the airport, flight from Kristiansand to Amsterdam and then flight directly from Amsterdam to Salt Lake City with Delta. After touch down in Salt Lake it was the smoothest immigration process ever, and we were in our rental car from Avis within the hour after landing. Since the time difference was 8 hours, when we landed 11:30 pm after a 10 hour flight just from Amsterdam, our internal clocks were on evening, even though it was noon in Salt Lake. Knowing this we had booked a hotel in Pocatello, about 2 ½ hours drive north on Interstate 15. We chose Pocatello because it had a good selection of cheap hotels and supermarkets where we could stock up on water and snacks for the trip ahead.

Thursday 11^th May

After a hefty shot of caffeine and an ok breakfast at our hotel, we headed towards Yellowstone National park. Our first stop was in West Yellowstone, about a 2 ½ hours’ drive from Pocatello, where we bought lunch at Ernie`s and headed into the park. We purchased the National Park Pass at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park, it cost 80 USD for a pass that allows 1 car with passengers entry to all national parks in the US for 12 months. The rest of the day was spent in the park, marvelling at bison and hot springs. We had booked 2 nights in West Yellowstone, it was most convenient and most of the accommodation inside the park was either still winter closed or too expensive.

Friday 12^th of May

Entire day spent in Yellowstone National Park (click on link to read our accounts).

Saturday 13^th of May

We knew this was going to be a day filled with miles and miles in the car. Our aim was somewhere south of Salt Lake, and we wanted to drive out of the south entrance of Yellowstone, via the Grand Tetons, Jackson and Alpine on route 89. We missed a turnoff at Bear Lake for the 89 and ended up instead on route 16 to Evanston and then Interstate 80 to Park City where we stopped for dinner and then we ended up at a motel in Springville south of Salt Lake. This was around 8-9 hours drive.

Sunday 14^th of May

Continued from Springville on Interstate 15 south to Scipio and then turned off to highway 50 east to Salina. We made a crucial error and turned off on a byway before Salina towards Aurora, which again made us take a wrong turn at Sigurd. We were supposed to take Interstate 70 south towards Sevier but we ended up on the probably much nicer and more remote route 24 to Burrville and then route 62 to Otter Creek Reservoir.

We then struck road trip gold on route 22 via Antimony and Widtsoe, it was a super byway, tight and bendy between buttes and small farms. We ended up where we were supposed to end up, at Bryce Canyon City and the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park at lunchtime. We guesstimate our little detour took 5 hours, and if we had taken the wider more normal road, it would have saved us around 30 minutes. The afternoon was spent exploring the glorious Bryce Canyon National Park (click on link to read our post). Spent the night at Rubys Inn Bryce Canyon.

Monday 15^th of May

Started our morning on horseback (read more by clicking on link). After our epic ride we drove route 12 east to highway 89 south and had coffee in Hatch. We walked the Belly of The Dragon (click link to read more), drove via Coral Pink Sand Dunes National Park (click on link to read more) and walked to the Sand Caves (click on link) then had lunch in Kanab before driving on to Page in Arizona. Ate dinner at Big John`s BBQ and spent the night at Rodeway Inn Motel. Around 3 hours drive plus the 1 hour return detour to see the pink sand dunes.

Tuesday 16^th of May

Up at dawn to visit the fantastic Upper Antelope Canyon (click on link) with Upper Antelope Canyon Tours. After being driven back from the canyon we visited Horseshoe Bend (click on link), had lunch in Page and took a walk to the Hanging Gardens (click on link). We spent the night at Under Canvas Lake Powell (click on link).

Wednesday 17^th of May

Norwegian National Day! We started early and sang the national anthem as we drove from Under Canvas past Horseshoe Bend on Highway 89. At Bitter Springs we turned off to highway 89a and visited Two Bridges (click on link) and we saw where the Grand Canyon started at Lees Ferry (click on link). We drove 89a to Jacob Lake to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and it was closed! Big rookie mistake, we had not seen that this road was closed due to washouts on the road. A little disappointed we drove on east to the Lefevre Overlook and on to Fredonia. Our plan had been to visit the North Rim and then drive straight to Hurricane but since we had more time than we expected on our hands, we decided to head back up to Kanab and then north on highway 89 again to Mt Carmel Junction and drive through Zion National Park (click on link). The night was spent in Hurricane.

Thursday 18th of May

We didn’t want to take the straight road back to Salt Lake but explore a bit of the legendary Highway 50 west towards Nevada and Ely (pronounced Elee). We drove north on Interstate 15 and turned off the highway just after Cedar City on route 130 to Minersville where we found the best doughnuts ever at Todd`s Market (click on link)! We backtracked a little bit (a lot actually!) to have lunch at The Rancher Café in Delta (click on link). We stopped after some epic lonely miles at the Border Inn and Casino a few metres after the Utah/Nevada border. We made a detour to see Wheeler Peak, very awesome! Ended up in the mining town of Ely (pronounced Elee!) and spent the night at the Prospector Hotel and Casino. It was around 5 hours’ drive that day.

Friday 19th of May

Started the day with fresh delish coffee at Taproot coffee house. Drove over endless plains, past deserted inns and was held up by a train for an hour. Our destination was Bonneville Salt Flats, and we drove highway 93 to West Wendover and had lunch there. This was another border town between Nevada and Utah, there was a thick white line on the main street, casinos on one side, not so much on the other. We had lunch on the Utah side at the Copper Kettle Café. Bonneville Salt Flats were amazing (click on link) and we drove from there to Salt Lake City to return our car at the airport. It was around 4 hours driving from Ely to Salt Lake via West Wendover.

Saturday 20th and 21st of May

Two days spent in a city we did not expect much from but we were positively surprised by what Salt Lake City had to offer (click on link).

And that was it, one of the more epic road trips we have ever had. It can be said that it was a bit long, a bit too much driving but we love to see the open roads and countryside of the US. Of course we could have spent more time on each sight but we choose to make the most of our time while we are on the road and while we visit the US. It is a long way to get there and when in Rome, do like the Romans, drive your car to every destination. Thank you so much once again, we have never been to so many states in one visit, we got to see Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada and Arizona! See you soon!