We’re sharing 7 gorgeous natural Canyons across the U.S. that we highly recommend you visit!

If you liked this episode, check out our other National Parks Episodes for more inspiration!

Best Canyons to Visit – Episode Transcript

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hey Squatty’s Travel Squad Podcast is back with Just the Tip, our Friday mini episode series where we give you quick travel stories, hacks and recommendations to set you off until the weekend.

Right.

Today we’re going to talk about some of the most amazing canyons to visit in the USA.

0:55

Lot of times people think of just the Grand Canyon, but there are actually several canyons in the US that are just as beautiful and are worth visiting.

And many of those canyons call themselves the Grand Canyon of X.

Yes, so they’re trying to have some sort of claim to fame, so to speak, comparing it to the Grand Canyon.

1:14

But quite honestly, really, all of these ones are really unique.

We’re going to give you a quick rundown of seven of them within the United States.

All of them are very unique in their own right, but equally as beautiful.

So let’s get right into it.

The first Canyon we’re going to talk to you about is Waimea Canyon.

1:30

And yes, it’s in the United States, but it’s on the island of Hawaii, specifically Kawaii, and it’s actually known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

And it is a sight to see, I must say.

You wouldn’t really think you’re going out into this rocky Canyon area in Hawaii.

1:48

So you think you’re in tropics and the beach, but I’m really glad that we went here, actually.

It’s a beautiful place.

Yeah, we had a beautiful Ike out here when we had gone.

It’s famous for its dramatic red and green cliffs, deep valleys and sweeping panoramic views.

2:03

The best time to visit it is between April and October and I would say dedicate a full day for exploring this Canyon and the area around it.

There’s a lot to do here.

You can go on a scenic Dr. There’s a lot of different overlooks and viewpoints.

Jamal mentioned we went hiking, so there’s different hiking options and we actually actually do have a kawaii agent array that does include visiting Waimea Canyon, so go check it out.

2:26

Canyon #2 is Bryce Canyon, which is one of Utah’s mighty 5 national parks and it is beautiful.

Bryce Canyon is known for its hoodoos, which are basically pinnacles of weathered rock that almost shoot up like Spires.

2:42

There’s literally hundreds if not thousands of them and just an amazing Canyon.

When you get to Bryce, you’re at the rim and then you look down and see the valley below with all of these hoodoos, different colors, formations, and absolutely breathtaking.

2:59

I think we all agree when we had gone to Bryce Canyon that this is probably one of our top five National Park.

We don’t want to speak for everybody, but I think we’re kind of in consensus on that a little bit.

We really enjoyed our time there and thought it was amazing.

I’ve actually been twice.

I loved it so much.

It’s.

Beautiful.

3:14

And it’s orange as far as the eye can see.

The Canyon is orange.

The hoodoos are orange, red, kind of some white stripes strewn about in there.

It’s really, really pretty.

And I think the best time to visit is either spring or fall.

Summer gets really hot in winter, there’s a lot of snow on the ground and sometimes the trails are closed.

3:33

So I think spring and fall are the best times to go visit and spend 2 days there because there’s a lot of overlooks, a lot of hiking, some of the hikes are pretty long and you can be just mesmerized by all the hoodoos.

And we’ll take quite a bit of time.

And there’s just so much to do in the park.

3:48

You’ll have a great time We.

Do have an an itinerary on our website that goes to Utah’s Mighty 5 national parks over a 10 day period.

So you can get that at travelsquadpodcast.com.

While you’re there, check out all of the other itineraries that we have.

We have National Park ones, we have free weekend trip ones, tons of other stuff there.

4:07

We have a podcast course.

While you’re there, go ahead and sign up for our twice monthly newsletter and check out all of our episode pages as well, travelsquadpodcast.com.

The third Canyon that we’re going to talk about is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

4:22

This canyon’s located within Yellowstone National Park and it’s known for its striking yellow and red hued cliffs and it has a very big powerful waterfall called the Lower Falls.

There’s a ton of viewpoints.

We went and visited them all so.

4:38

And I will say you should see them all, not to be perverted, but it kind of looks like a vagine from these different viewpoints.

The way the Canyon comes and as we’re going to, all those viewpoints were like another viewpoint, another viewpoint, but they’re actually all beautiful.

I’m glad we visited the mall, but I would say my favorite one was Artist Point, so if you only have time for one, definitely be sure to stop at that one.

5:00

But if you have time for one, they’re literally 2 minute drive apart, so you probably do have time for more than one.

You have time for at least maybe four to five, I think.

What how many are there?

About 10, something like that.

I mean, it’s a crazy amount.

And we did them all and again, each.

5:17

Yeah.

Yeah.

But each view, you think, like you said, Kim, another one, but you get a different perspective of the Canyon.

And it’s equally as breathtaking, but different, but yet the same at exactly the same time.

But for sure, you know, at least see a couple of them if you aren’t going to do them all like the first two canyons.

5:37

We really feel like the best time to go is during spring or fall.

If you go during spring, you’re going to get that major runoff on the falls that you’re going to be able to see.

Summer in Yellowstone is just completely packed.

So I mean, that would still be a good time in general to go, but you’re going to have to deal with a lot of the crowds and then fall right before the winter sets in winter and Yellowstone, I mean, you really can’t see a lot because of the snowfall, can’t get to a lot of different areas of the park.

6:02

So spring and fall probably the best times.

Take a couple hours to explore the overlooks and get up in that Canyon and guess what, squatties?

We also have an itinerary for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park, so we have a whole week built out for you that includes seeing the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

6:20

The 4th Canyon we’re going to talk about is Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

This is actually a National Park located in Colorado and it’s the most recent Canyon that we visited.

There’s actually 4 national parks in Colorado.

This one is north of Mesa Verde National Park and South of Grand Junction, and the gateway town is called Montrose, and that’s where we stayed.

6:40

And Black Canyon is known for its steep, dramatic cliffs and some of the narrowest and deepest gorges in North America carved by the Gunnison River.

The best time to visit is going to be late spring through fall.

And I really loved it when we were here actually, because the canyons are so steep and almost like sheer cliffs, and a lot of them have different awesome striations that you could see in them that look like different things.

7:07

Like one of them even looked like a couple Dragons.

And I thought it was really awesome.

There is a North and South rim and you can see across from the north to the South and South to the north.

So I think you get lots of different cool perspectives.

And I really did enjoy Black Canyon of the Gunnison a lot.

7:24

When you visit, I definitely recommend spending two days there, one day for each rim.

It’s a popular destination for rock climbing, hiking, scenic drives, and of course, stunning viewpoints.

I told Jamal that we had to go to all of them.

So we did that just for you squaddies, and we have a free itinerary on Black Canyon of the Gunnison where we point out the best viewpoint so you don’t have to go to all of them like we did.

7:48

We can’t do a Canyon episode without talking about the mothership, the Grand Canyon, located in the state of Arizona.

If you haven’t heard of the Grand Canyon, you’re probably not from America.

It is renowned for its immense size, averaging 4000 feet in depth.

8:07

Stunning layered red rock formations, breathtaking vistas carved by the Colorado River over millions of years.

This is the number one Canyon in America.

And you mentioned average depth about 4000 feet, of course, from the top of the Canyon to below where the Colorado River is carving this.

8:25

But it is so grand.

I mean, it is 217 miles long.

That’s why it is the Grand Canyon.

And of course, sometimes miles apart from 1 rim side to the next.

So very, very impressive.

Visit the Grand Canyon in any season except summer.

8:43

Summer is so hot and you can’t enjoy as much, especially if you want to do any hiking.

We recently went when it was winter and it was dusted with snow.

It was so beautiful.

I would recommend going at that time.

The South Rim is probably one of the more popular rims.

8:59

If we were to give you any recommendations on a couple hikes to do in there, we would do the South Kaibab Trail or the Bright Angel Trail and of course Dr. the Rim Road and visit all of the beautiful viewpoints.

We have two different itineraries on our site that feature the Grand Canyon, one of those ads in Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, as well as Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.

9:20

So it’s this really cool loop of a road trip.

And then we have another one that takes you to all three of Arizona’s interesting and different unique national parks.

The next Canyon that we’re going to talk about is Canyonlands National Park located in Utah.

So we talked about Bryce Canyon in Utah.

9:36

Now we’re also going to talk about Canyonlands National Park and I’m just going to come out and say it.

When Brittany and I went to Canyonlands, I told her I think this is more grand and spectacular than the Grand Canyon.

I loved Canyonlands.

I thought it was much more beautiful.

9:52

Not to say that the Grand Canyon isn’t amazing, but Canyonlands National Park.

It’s located right outside of Moab in eastern Utah and very very close to Arches National Park just as well.

Definitely less popular than Arches, but the scenery makes up for it and I feel like it’s definitely overlooked.

10:10

The park actually has four different sections to it.

Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maize in the rivers.

We specifically went and focused on Island in the Sky because it’s the most accessible region and again, I would visit in any season except summer unless you’re going to be on the river section and doing some river activities.

10:30

And how long do you spend there?

Should really depend on how many sections of the park you’re going to visit, but you can see a lot in one to two days and Island in the Sky is the most popular area to visit just because it is very easily accessible.

One of the things that we did that we really enjoyed was watch sunrise at Mesa Arch and you can watch sunrise facing out to the east seeing the sunrise.

10:55

And this natural arch just perfectly fits the rising sun, so it gives you a natural frame to watch the sunrise come through the Canyon.

It’s just absolutely beautiful.

That was definitely one of my favorite things that we did.

Probably one of my favorite sunrises I’ve ever seen.

11:11

And as we mentioned with Bryce, we do have an itinerary on Utah’s Mighty 5 on our website.

It’s 10 days and covers Canyonland and Bryce that we mentioned earlier. #7 is Antelope Canyon and I don’t care what we say about Bryce or Canyonlands, Antelope Canyon is my favorite.

11:26

This place is so cool.

It’s it’s in the state of Arizona.

It’s a narrow slot Canyon with these crazy waves and shapes.

It’s extremely photogenic.

It’s sculpted from these sandstone walls from some of the floods that come in and the wind that comes in.

11:43

But it’s just the colors and the shape and the beams of light, like it’s an optical illusion almost.

When you’re in it, there’s two parts to it.

There’s the upper Canyon and the lower Canyon.

It sits on an Indian Reservation, so you have to book a tour when you go there.

But then you’re on a guided tour through it and you literally go through a crack in the ground and you go into it, and then you weave through this insanely unique Canyon.

12:07

Yeah.

So the upper Canyon is known as the crack.

This is the most popular section because it’s flat and it doesn’t require to do any climbing.

And it’s really popular with photographers because during certain hours of the day, there is a dramatic light beam effect and you can see the sun filtering in through the crack.

12:25

So it’s really popular for that.

But when we visited, we went to Lower Antelope Canyon, which is known as a Corkscrew.

And this one you do have to climb down.

There’s narrow passageways, ladders, a little bit of climbing.

So it’s a little bit more challenging and less accessible than Upper Antelope Canyon.

12:42

But I absolutely loved it because it was so fun and adventurous.

I kind of agree with you, Kim.

I don’t know if I would go so far as to say it’s my favorite, but I see why you say that it is yours because the other six that we had talked about before this are giant canyons that you overlook and can see.

13:00

Whereas Antelope Canyon is straight interactive.

It’s not like a Canyon.

You’re standing on the rim and Oh my gosh, you could see a cross.

It’s so big.

No, they’re narrow slot canyons like you mentioned.

So you are in it.

You are at the base of the Canyon climbing into it.

13:16

You have the sheer walls coming up on each side of you.

And when I say narrow, I mean at some points you really have to squeeze the rocks.

Of course, it’s very safe, but it’s an interactive experience versus just overlooks.

And then of course, maybe the other ones that we mentioned doing hikes, etcetera.

13:33

But this, you’re traversing through it, seeing the colors, seeing the formations in it.

And I loved it when we were at Antelope Canyon.

That Grand Canyon American Southwest road trip itinerary that we mentioned earlier, it goes to Antelope Canyon.

And if there’s one itinerary that I think is totally underrated, it’s this one.

13:53

And hopefully that’s inspired you to get out there.

You know, a lot of these canyons we mentioned are in Arizona and Utah and you could hit quite a few of them on a single road trip.

So hopefully we’ve given you a little bit of inspo for road trip coming up.

Thanks for tuning into this week’s Just the Tip.

Make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and follow us on all the socials at Travel Squad Podcast.

14:13

And have fun travelling this weekend.