Best fly in cities would be either Salt Lake (Arches/Canyonlands and perhaps Capitol Reef) or Las Vegas (Zion and Bryce). Salt Lake is 4 hours from those parks; Las Vegas is 2 1/2 hours.

Day 1 - fly in to SLC - overnight there

Days 2 & 3 - Arches/Canyonlands - overnight in Moab

Day 4 - Capitol Reef - overnight in Torrey

Day 5 - back to SLC

or

Day 1 - Las Vegas

Day 2 & 3 - Zion National Park - overnight in Springdale

Day 4 - Bryce and possibly Cedar Breaks National Monument (depending upon weather) - overnight in Cedar City

Day 5 - back to Vegas

Enjoy!

I agree, either SLC or Las Vegas are the 2 places to fly into for visiting most of UT. You may also want to look at flights into Grand Junction CO. This would be much closer to Moab.

I would spend the entire trip in the Moab area, visiting Arches and Canyonlands. Canyonlands has always been a favorite place for me to visit. There is so much to see and do. Great hikes, mountain biking, photo opportunities and more. Plus the Colorado River goes town.

I would check with the Moab chamber to make sure there are not huge events scheduled for the time you are wanting to visit. October is a beautiful time.

Thanks for your quick replies. I think I'm leaning towards the Moab area. A couple more questions....Is the Fiery Furnace Hike easy enough for beginners? Also, is there anything to the downtown area or Moab or anything doing in the evening? Thanks for all your help.

Fiery Furnace would be just fine for beginners. You have to have reservations ahead of time, so make sure you stop at the Visitor Center when you first get to town.

There are many restaurants, shops etc in Moab. We liked Eddie McStiffs and Moab Brewery. I'm sure someone will have music at night. There are also evening programs in Arches. Something I have heard about, but not done is Canyonlands by Night. This is a float trip at night. Most of the time you are so tired from hiking etc, that you end up going to be much earlier!

http://www.discovermoab.com/