janis

Next spring I want to do about a 10 day loop starting from Las Vegas.

What is the earliest I can plan to have the roads open and not much snow. I know there are no guarantees re weather - but what is the usuall earliest I could make this drive?

Thanks

janis

ttt

anyone who has visited these areas in the Spring??? How early are the roads and/or lodges open?

Utahtea

Hi Janis,

What month were you going to go?

The north rim of the Grand Canyon doesn't open until mid-May but the South Rim and all the other parks are open year round. Bryce would be the only other park you would have to worry about snow because it's a higher elevation.

We've been in these areas in mid-May and had beautiful weather, when we were there in April it was colder. Once at the end of May we had a freak snow storm in Bryce & Zion, but it didn't stick on the ground long. Late spring is a beautiful time to visit.

You can get a lot of information at the offical National Park web page:

http://www.nps.gov/parks.html

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Utahtea

janis

Utahtea: thanks for the info. I can go any time - but don't really want to go in May/June because I need to be home for the NBA playoffs and hopefully finals.

I was hoping to make the trip in March or early April but don't really want to drive in snow more than necessary.

Is the first two week of April OK for most of the parks? I knew about the North rim but had no idea about Bryce or Zion.

Dayle

Hi Janis,

The first two weeks in April should be nice enough although the wildflowers won't be out full force yet. Bryce is at 8,000 ft., so it will be cool there in the day & cold at night. Possibly some snow, depending on what kind of winter it is.

I was in Zion this early April (very dry & warm spring) & it was perfect.

Utahtea

We were in Zion on April 1st (yeah April Fools day) a couple of years ago and it snowed 2 inches in the valley. Everyone said it was very unusual for it to snow this late in the year in Zion.

We had cool, drizzly weather that trip. Early April you might have to worry more about snow at Bryce, but they say it can also be a sunny 70 degrees during the spring months.

I don't think you will have to worry about driving in a lot of snow at this time of the year.

Utahtea

janis

Thanks Utahtea and Dayle. - I guess I'll start planning