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Mighty 5 Utah Calculator — Five Parks, One Loop, One Honest 2026 Budget

A 7-night Mighty 5 loop for two from Las Vegas runs about $3,161: $141 of fuel (1,050 mi ÷ 26 mpg × $3.50/gal), $1,660 of mid-range gateway hotels (7 nights × $237 weighted across Springdale, Bryce Canyon City, Torrey and Moab), and $1,280 of food (8 days × 2 × $80). And the key verdict: the five park tickets cost $150 ($35 + $35 + $20 + $30 + $30) while the America-the-Beautiful pass covers them all for $80 — an instant $70 win per vehicle that breaks even at just three parks (Zion + Bryce + Arches = $100). Go April-May or September-October, book Springdale and Moab 3-6 months out, grab the $2 Arches timed-entry reservation (about 6am-5pm, April-October, on recreation.gov), and swap hotels for a $25-40/night camping mix to land the whole loop at about $2,120.

Fuel — Las Vegas loop (~1,050 mi)$141
Lodging — mid-range hotels, 7 nights × $237$1,660
Food — 2 travelers × 8 days × $80$1,280
Park entries — five per-park tickets$150
Park entries — America-the-Beautiful annual pass$80
Same trip with a camping mix (4 camp nights)$2,120
Default picks — total$3,161
VerdictFive per-park tickets cost $150 — the $80 America-the-Beautiful pass wins the Mighty 5 loop by $70+ per vehicle. Go April-May or September-October, and start from Las Vegas for cheaper flights and rentals.

Mighty 5 Utah Calculator — Five Parks, One Loop, One Honest 2026 Budget

Inputs

Trip length in nights (5-12)

8 days on the ground — a ~1,050-mile loop from Las Vegas (LAS)

How many travelers? (1-6)

1 vehicle — pass and entry fees are per vehicle; food and tours are per person

Where do you sleep?

Hotels (mid-range): All nights in mid-range gateway hotels — modeled at the midpoint of each town's 2026 band, weighted 2/2/1/2 across Springdale, Bryce City, Torrey and Moab.

How do you enter the five parks?

5 tickets = $150 vs the pass at $80 — $70 saved per vehicle (breaks even at Zion + Bryce + Arches = $100)

Guided tours (canyoneering / jeep in Moab)?

Optional and worth it in Moab: canyoneering through rappel slots or a half-day Hummer/jeep run runs $90-250pp — modeled $170 per person.

Where do you start from?

Las Vegas (LAS): The classic opener: Zion is 2.5 hours away, LAS flights and rentals run cheapest, and the full loop lands near 1,050 miles.

Default scenario: 7 nights · 2 travelers · mid-range hotels · annual pass · Las Vegas start · no tours — edit inputs
Expected Mighty 5 loop cost · 2026 price bands
$3,161
for a 7-night loop · 2 travelers · mid-range hotels
≈ 11,855 SAR (pegged rate)
Formula: fuel $141 (1,050 mi ÷ 26 mpg × $3.50/gal) + lodging $1,660 + food $1,280 (8 days × 2 × $80) + entries $80 + tours $0.
Fuel — Las Vegas (LAS) loop (~1,050 mi)$141
Lodging — Mid-range hotels (7 nights × $237 gateway avg)$1,660
Food — 2 travelers × 8 days × $80$1,280
Park entries — pay per park (5 parks × $150)$150
Park entries — America-the-Beautiful annual pass ★$80
Guided tours — canyoneering / jeep (optional)skipped
Loop verdict

Outright winner: the $80 annual pass at $80 — $70 saved over $150 of five per-park tickets (1 vehicle). And a camping mix instead of hotels takes this same trip to $2,120 — $1,041 less. Best windows: April-May and September-October. Start from Las Vegas: cheaper flights and rentals than Salt Lake.

Five per-park tickets cost $150 — the $80 America-the-Beautiful pass wins the Mighty 5 loop by $70+ per vehicle. Go April-May or September-October, and start from Las Vegas for cheaper flights and rentals.

Tip: Arches timed entry

Arches has run a timed-entry pilot in peak season (roughly April-October): vehicles entering about 6am-5pm need a $2 reservation on recreation.gov on top of your entry fee or pass — advance batches plus a next-day drop. No reservation before 6am or after 5pm: enter at dawn for Delicate Arch in cool air and golden light. Zion has no timed entry but runs a mandatory main-canyon shuttle most of the year.

Warning: lodging sells out months ahead

Lodging is this loop's real bottleneck: Springdale and Moab sell out 3-6 months ahead for the April-May and September-October windows, in-park lodges even earlier, and Moab's Easter-week jeep safari books a year out. Lock your rooms the day your dates firm up — especially the Moab nights — then plan drives around what you grabbed.

Bands are 2026 planning ranges from published prices (entry fees, gateway-town hotels, rural fuel, food) — not live quotes, and prices move with the season: check current rates before you book.

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How the Mighty 5 Utah calculator works

Enter your trip details to get travel figures based on current, -specific numbers.

  1. 1

    Step 1

    Set your nights (5-12) and party size (1-6) — logistics compute automatically: one vehicle up to five riders, an extra food day for arrival, and the full loop mileage from your start city.

  2. 2

    Step 2

    Pick your lodging style (mid-range hotels / camping mix), entry strategy (per-park tickets $150 / the $80 annual pass), start city (Las Vegas / Salt Lake), and whether to add guided tours.

  3. 3

    Step 3

    Your full cost appears instantly in dollars (with a SAR estimate): loop fuel by mile and gallon, gateway-town lodging at its true weights (Springdale / Bryce / Torrey / Moab), food, and both entry strategies — with the pass verdict, best-season tip and an early booking warning.

Use Cases

Plan travel for

Get exact, current figures for travel in instead of vague averages.

Compare destinations

Weigh against other cities before booking flights or hotels.

Budget before you book

Know the expected spend in so surprises don't derail the trip.

Tips

  • 1

    Prices for move with season — re-check near your travel dates.

  • 2

    Use local currency figures for ; card rates add conversion fees.

  • 3

    Book ahead when visiting in peak season.

Common Mistakes

  • Budgeting with peak-season averages.

  • Ignoring visa lead times before booking.

FAQs

Is the America-the-Beautiful pass worth it for the Mighty 5?

Yes — it is the cleanest math on this page: the five per-vehicle entries cost $150 (Zion $35 + Bryce $35 + Capitol Reef $20 + Arches $30 + Canyonlands $30) while the $80 annual pass covers all five, saving $70+ per vehicle. It breaks even at just three parks: Zion + Bryce + Arches = $100. Buy it at the first gate or on recreation.gov, and remember it covers one non-commercial vehicle and all its occupants, valid a full year if you extend to Grand Canyon or beyond.

How many days per park should I plan?

The golden split for a 7-night loop: Zion 2-3 days (river walk and the marquee hikes with the mandatory shuttle), Bryce one full day (sunrise, sunset points and the Navajo loop), Capitol Reef one day (Hickman Bridge and the Fruita orchards), Arches two days (Delicate Arch at dawn, The Windows and the Devil's Garden trail), Canyonlands one day (Island in the Sky and Mesa Arch at sunrise). That totals 6-8 days on the road — under 5 nights and the loop turns into a death march of driving.

What is the best order and direction for the loop?

From Las Vegas, run it counterclockwise: Zion first (2.5 hours from the airport), then Bryce Canyon, then Scenic Byway 12 — one of America's best drives — over Boulder and Escalante to Capitol Reef, then I-70 east into Moab for Arches and Canyonlands, and home via I-70 and I-15 (with a Goblin Valley stop if time allows). This order ramps gradually from green to red rock and puts the jeep and canyoneering adventures in Moab at the end, when your trail legs are strongest.

When do gateway-town rooms sell out — how early should I book?

Hard and early: for the April-May and September-October sweet spots, most Springdale and Moab rooms sell out 3-6 months ahead; in-park lodges (Zion Lodge, The Lodge at Bryce Canyon) go even earlier, and Moab during Easter-week jeep safari books a year out. The rule: open your lodging bookings the day your dates firm up — especially the Moab nights — then plan driving around what you grabbed, because lodging, not mileage, is this loop's tightest bottleneck.

What about Arches timed entry?

Arches has repeated its timed-entry pilot through peak season (roughly April-October): vehicles entering between about 6am and 5pm need a $2 timed-entry reservation on recreation.gov on top of the entry fee or pass; slots release in advance batches plus a next-day drop. Before 6am and after 5pm no reservation is needed — the locals' trick: enter at dawn for Delicate Arch in cool air and golden light. Zion has no timed entry but runs a mandatory shuttle in the main canyon most of the year.

Camping or hotels — which is smarter on this loop?

Camping halves the lodging bill: in-park and town campgrounds run $25-40/night (Watchman in Zion, Sunset in Bryce, Devil's Garden in Arches, Fruita in Capitol Reef) and book on recreation.gov months ahead. A half-camping, half-hotel mix drops the lodging slice from about $1,660 to about $620 for seven nights. But mind the edges: Moab summers push past 100°F while Bryce sits at 8,000+ feet and stays cold even in July — a spring or fall camping mix is the golden balance.

What is the best season for the Mighty 5 loop?

April-May and September-October, no contest: 60-85°F days, Zion's spring waterfalls, Fruita's late-summer fruit harvest, and Moab's golden fall cottonwoods. Summer (June-August) blasts past 100°F in Moab and adds monsoon flash-flood risk in July-August; winter brings snow that can close parts of high-elevation Bryce and short days. If July or August is your only window, start hikes at dawn and spend midday in shade or a pool.

Can I skip Capitol Reef to save time?

I would not — and the case is arithmetic more than sentiment: skipping saves only $20 and one night out of the whole loop, while the park sits right on the midpoint between Bryce and Moab via Highway 24, so bypassing it means a longer driving day with no reward. What you would miss: the classic Hickman Bridge hike, Capitol Gorge, the Fruita orchards and the Gifford House morning pie, and the quietest of all five parks — no shuttles, no crowds. Short on time? Trim Zion or Arches, never Capitol Reef.

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