floramak

I come from Canada and haven't been in the area of Grand Canyon and want to ask for help to plan an itinerary for around 14 days. Is there possible and practical to go all the places as below:
Grand canyon, Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde NP, Moah, Arches NP, Canyonland NP, Capitol Reef NP, Bryce NP and Zion NP/ And how can i separate the days within them and what route should I take to save more time? Thank you for helping me to plan a vacation in State from Canada

emalloy

In 14 days you can plan a nice loop to visit all of the site you want to see. If you are planning to fly into the area you can use either Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque or Phoenix as your starting point.

This map was posted by another fodorite years ago and for the Utah sites should be helpful:

http://ohiohickstraveltips.weebly.co...-utah-map.html

Mesa Verde is not shown on this map, but look east of Bluff for the town of Cortez, MV is about a half hours drive east of there.

I suggest a loop because we in the states usually have to pay a large fee for dropping a rental car in a different city from where it was rented. If you do not have that restriction, you could do this open jaw.

If it were me I would do something like Las Vegas>Grand Canyon south rim>Page(Antelope Canyon/Lake Powell)>Monument Valley>Mesa Verde>MoaArches and Canyonlands)>Capitol Reef>Bryce>Zion>Vegas, or a loop in the opposite direction.

If you are thinking of doing a trip this summer you are very late at getting lodging in/near the parks which might affect if you can even go to one of the parks or how long you can stay at one.

You list 10 sites and since some of your time will be spent getting from one to another, you will not have much time to spend in the parks. If you want to just see them to figure out where to spend more time on the next trip then this could work. If you want to explore them, hike, etc. then you need to think about taking a longer trip or doing less and visiting fewer for longer.

I love all of them so I can't tell you which to cut.

J62

take a look at this recent post on the same topic, and note the map that emalloy posted the link to.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-itinerary.cfm

J62

I see emalloy beat me to it - was posting @ same time.

bailey123

This trip is very doable in two weeks. You obviously won't be staying anywhere more than a couple nights but it's a nice plan. I think the shortest distance to make a loop would be to fly into PHX or maybe SLC. I don't see where doing an open jaw is going to be helpful as far as driving distance. This itinerary lends itself to a loop. Any combination of cities is going to result in more driving than if OP just starts in PHX or SLC and returns to the same airport. If SLC start with either going Moab to Mesa Verde through Monument Valley to Page to Grand Canyon then a little back track up Hwy 89 through Page to Bryce and Zion with another little back track to Capitol Reef to Canyonlands and Arches then back to SLC or the reverse. If starting out from PHX, you might want to drive through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon either on your way to G.C. or on your return to PHX via Flagstaff. Your first stop on your original itinerary would be Grand Canyon then either Page and up through UT or head over to Monument Valley with Page at the end of the loop and then back to PHX. Flying in and out of Las Vegas will add another 1-2 hours to your driving time. I wouldn't suggest ABQ, it's the longest distance. Of course, the flight prices may be the deciding factor.

It might adjust which direction you would want to make your loop depending on what time of year since Moab, Page and Monument Valley will be warmer than say Bryce. If you are coming from SLC, you might want to spend your first night in Moab and get a feel for it before heading to Mesa Verde the next day. Then of course spend another day or two in Moab on the return to SLC. I wouldn't spend more than one night in Mesa Verde and one night Monument Valley. Unless you plan on hiking into the canyon, one night may be enough for the Grand Canyon. I would spend one night in Page to see Horseshoe Bend and Lower Antelope before heading to Lake Powell on your way to Bryce, a night in Bryce, a couple nights in Zion, a couple nights in Moab (Canyonlands and Arches) at a minimum, then distribute your remaining nights based upon additional things you might want to do or see in each location and depending on what time you plan on leaving your prior location.