Hiking the Colorado Plateau

When to hike the Colorado Plateau

In April and May and from September to November, all 7 destinations clear our recommendation criteria. The area is quietest in January and in July and August, with 1 of 7.

Averaged across the destinations, July is the warmest month at 29 degrees in the hiking window and January the coldest at 1.

How far apart the destinations are

The selected grid cells run from 1,436 metres at Arches to 2,361 metres at Bryce Canyon, with a median of 1,737 metres. Both clear the criteria in 8 months (from February to May and from September to December).

The longest season belongs to Canyonlands, at 9 months (all year except June, July and August); the shortest to Grand Staircase-Escalante, Zion and Capitol Reef, at 6 months each.

What closes the missing months

Where a destination loses months, a critical climate component falls below the threshold at which we stop recommending a month. The main reason is heat for 5 of the 7 destinations and snow cover for 2.

In January, the quietest month, 6 of 7 destinations are closed, all of them by snow cover.

Conditions in May

May is when the open destinations score highest on average. Hiking-window temperature then runs from 14 degrees at Bryce Canyon to 22 at Grand Canyon, and rain falls on 11 to 23 percent of days depending on the destination.

What these figures cover

Each destination is described by one selected ERA5-Land grid cell, averaged over 1991 to 2025. The figures above summarise those 7 cells. They are not a map of the whole area or of any route, and they are not a forecast.