Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion. The Park Service counts 13 units in Utah and 14,354,141 visits to its national parks
When a guide earns the money
The Maze is the clearest case. The Park Service calls its roads extremely remote and very difficult, says they present considerable risk of vehicle damage and should not be attempted by inexperienced drivers, and expects visitors to be equipped for self-rescue. Elephant Hill, with its one-way section and three-vehicle groups, is the second.
A guide also solves the permit and timing problem: day-use permits for the technical roads, overnight permits that sell out in spring and autumn, and knowing which clay roads have dried out.
A guide earns the fee in the places where the map runs out of detail. They know which wash flooded last week, which gate is locked, where the fuel is, and how long the hard section really takes with a group.
A guided trip usually brings
01Route knowledge and current conditions
02Permits and access already arranged
03Recovery skill and equipment
04A pace that suits the group
05The history and natural history of the place
How to choose a guide
Ask the questions a land manager would.
01Ask whether they hold the permits and insurance required to operate commercially on the land they use.
02Ask about group size and the minimum vehicle requirements.
03Ask what is included: meals, camping gear, communications, a support vehicle.
04Ask about first-aid training and the plan for emergencies.
What to tell a guide
Honesty about experience makes for a better trip.
01Your vehicle and what has been done to it
02Your experience off pavement
03Who is coming, including children and dogs
04Your dates, and what you most want to see
Questions people ask
Do I need a guide?
Not for most travel. A guide earns the fee on routes that are remote, technical or hard to get permits for, and on first trips where you would rather learn than guess.
Can I join a guided trip in my own vehicle?
That is how most overland guiding works. The guide leads in their vehicle, you drive yours, and the trip sets minimum requirements for the vehicles that come.
How high is Utah?
From St. George at 2,696 feet to Kings Peak at 13,528.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
2,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
MonticelloWhere US 191 meets US 491. BLM Monticello Field Office and a Manti-La Sal ranger district. Nearest services to the Needles, 48 miles away.7,068 ft
TorreyOn Highway 24 at the west end of Capitol Reef, where Highway 12 comes over Boulder Mountain. The park’s visitor center and the Cathedral Valley turnoffs are just east.6,841 ft
BoulderOn Highway 12 at the west end of the Burr Trail, which is paved from here to the Capitol Reef boundary and graded dirt after it.6,704 ft
BlandingOn US 191 where Highway 95 heads west. The Park Service puts Natural Bridges and Hovenweep here, and the BLM puts Kane Gulch, the Cedar Mesa permit station, 36 miles away.6,104 ft
Cedar CityOn I-15, with Cedar Breaks National Monument in the mountains above. BLM Color Country District and the Dixie National Forest supervisor’s office.5,845 ft
EscalanteOn Highway 12 in Grand Staircase-Escalante. The Hole-in-the-Rock Road starts here and runs 62 miles southeast; a Dixie ranger district and the interagency visitor center are in town.5,813 ft
PriceOn US 6 with the BLM Price Field Office and the Manti-La Sal supervisor’s office. Nine Mile Canyon leaves from Wellington, just southeast, and the San Rafael Swell is south.5,561 ft
VernalOn US 40 in the northeast. Ashley National Forest headquarters and BLM Green River District, with Flaming Gorge and Dinosaur to the north and east.5,332 ft
KanabOn US 89 in the far south. BLM Paria River District and the Grand Staircase-Escalante office, which runs the Coyote Buttes and Paria Canyon permits. The Cottonwood Canyons backway meets US 89 about 64 miles east.4,970 ft
BluffOn US 191 above the San Juan River. The BLM’s Sand Island recreation area, with a campground and a boat ramp, is just outside town, and Valley of the Gods is 15 miles west.4,325 ft
HanksvilleHome of the BLM’s Henry Mountains Field Station, with the Bull Creek Pass byway leaving Highway 95 about 21 miles south. Nearest services to Hans Flat and the Maze, 61 miles away.4,303 ft
Salt Lake CityWhere I-15 meets I-80. BLM Utah state office and West Desert District, and the city below Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, where the traction law is strictest.4,264 ft
Mexican HatWhere US 163 meets Highway 261 below the Moki Dugway. The east end of the Valley of the Gods road is seven miles away.4,253 ft
Green RiverWhere US 6 leaves I-70. The BLM sends San Rafael Swell visitors west from here, and the Park Service puts Hans Flat 84 miles away.4,070 ft
MoabOn US 191 between Arches and Canyonlands. BLM Canyon Country District and Moab Field Office, and the nearest services to Island in the Sky, 32 miles away.4,032 ft
St. GeorgeOn I-15 in the southwest corner, the lowest of these towns. A BLM field office and a Dixie ranger district; the Smithsonian Butte byway is east, below Zion.2,696 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Kings PeakThe highest point in Utah, in the High Uintas Wilderness. No road to it13,528 ft
Blue Bell KnollThe high point of the Dixie National Forest, on Boulder Mountain above Highway 1211,322 ft
Bald Mountain PassThe high point of the paved Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, in the Uintas10,715 ft
Bull Creek PassBull Creek Pass Back Country Byway: A loop through the Henry Mountains, between Capitol Reef and Canyonlands. It leaves Highway 95 about 21 miles south of Hanksville10,478 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
