Grand Canyon vs Utah Mighty 5

The Grand Canyon is the one sight in the American Southwest that genuinely lives up to the hype: 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and about a mile deep, with layer upon layer of rock that changes color by the hour. Most visitors head to the South Rim, open year-round, where Mather Point, Yavapai Point, Hermit Road and Desert View Drive deliver the classic views and the Bright Angel Trail drops below the rim. It is very possible to see it as a long day trip from Las Vegas, about 4.5 hours each way, with a stop at Hoover Dam; the closer Grand Canyon West and its glass Skywalk, run by the Hualapai Tribe, is a shorter but very different alternative. Stay a night or two at the rim and you can add sunrise, a partial hike and the quieter eastern viewpoints. With more time, Northern Arizona fills a great road trip: Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon near Page, the red rocks of Sedona and a stretch of historic Route 66 through Williams, Seligman and Kingman. Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, but the Navajo Nation does, so watch the clock on tour days.

Utah's Mighty 5 is the classic Southwest road trip: five national parks strung across roughly 400 miles of red-rock desert, each completely different from the last. Start in Zion, where the Virgin River has carved a sheer sandstone canyon you explore by shuttle, then climb to Bryce Canyon's amphitheaters of orange hoodoos at more than 8,000 feet. Scenic Byway 12, one of the most beautiful drives in the country, carries you to Capitol Reef, a quieter park of cliffs, petroglyphs and pioneer orchards near the small town of Torrey. The trip ends in Moab, base for Arches and its 2,000-plus stone arches and for Canyonlands, where the Island in the Sky mesa looks down on the Colorado and Green rivers. Most travelers fly into Las Vegas or Salt Lake City, rent a car and spend about a week, sleeping in Springdale, Bryce or Tropic, Torrey and Moab. Plan ahead: Arches uses a timed-entry system in its busy season, Angels Landing needs a permit, and summer afternoons regularly top 100°F (38°C), so early starts, plenty of water and spring or fall dates make the biggest difference.