I try to get to the southern Utah NP's every winter, when no one else is there, and was there for about the 10th time this January. Zion and Bryce are smallish national parks, with one road in and the same road back out, but they're two of my favorites. If you aren't going to do much day hiking, you can see everything at each park, easily, in a day. Zion has a nice, small town outside the gates (Springdale) for hotels, groceries and restaurants, and Bryce really only has Ruby's. Both parks have a park lodge, and both are nice if you want that extra secluded feeling-- especially when the parks empty out in the evenings. Lodges rarely have TV's, though.

Zion restricts car traffic for the busy season, which may already be started, and you have to use the park shuttles if you aren't a lodge guest. Bryce has a shuttle, but I don't think it's mandatory. The single road in and out of each park + limited parking makes driving sometimes a real pain. The shuttles are excellent and frequent. Capital Reef is all about hiking, and it isn't very good for car touring. The ride from Zion to Bryce is about 90 minutes and pleasant, but the same ride back gives much better views and is spectacular as you get close to Zion. Zion is probably 3,500' in the canyon and Bryce is 8,000' to 9,000' along the rim. So, Bryce is usually much cooler.

I probably would skip Capitol Reef although it's a nice park. But it's about a 3-4 hour drive from Bryce. I drove it a little over a month ago an would not want to try to do it as a day trip from Bryce or Zion. So if you do go there, spend the night.

If you don't go to Capitol Reef, you could add a drive to the Kolobs Canyon section of Zion. Go in the afternoon - the colors glow in the setting sun. And if it's not too warm by then, stop at Valley of Fire State Park on your way out of Vegas.

Is horse riding out. The reason I ask is, if at all possible try to get down into Bryce Canyon just a bit as it is neat and different perspective from above.

There are horsetrails in Bryce that will get you into the canyon. I don't know when they start for the season, though.

Hi there! I did the trip you mention last April with my family of four, including two kids under 10. Zion is gorgeous and I went back again this past November.

Since you arrive in the morning, there is plenty of time to get to Springdale, outside of Zion, for lunch. The free Zion shuttles will be running while you are there and they make it very easy to get around the park - just hop on and off. There is a neat little ghost town (Grafton, Utah) outside of Springdale, too, that your mom might enjoy. There is a cemetery, school house, home, etc. that you can walk through. It is maybe a 15 minute drive out of town.

Bryce is beautiful and seems like it is out of a sci-fi movie. If you are not wanting to do a lot of hiking, I don't think you'll want to spend more than a day there, though. After slow Springdale, the town outside of Bryce is touristy and overdone. Ruby seems to own everything.

Where I differ from some of the other posters is on Capitol Reef. We loved this park! You have this amazing drive from Bryce and then out of nowhere the reef appears -- it is amazing. We stayed right outside the park at a Best Western (see my review at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60758-d116264-Reviews-BEST_WESTERN_Capitol_Reef_Resort-Torrey_Utah.html) and the views, even from this $99 a night hotel were fantastic. There are interesting petroglyphs throughout the park and the fruit orchards are something to see. They also have a little shop that sells personal-sized fruit pies -- this was a big hit with my family. Who doesn't like pie, after all?

Whatever you decide, this is a fantastic trip and so worth it. I have been to many national parks and these are some of my very favorites.

Good luck!

If you get to Capitol Reef and decide you don't want to hike there, head for Goblin Valley State Park. The Hoodoos there are interesting. I didn't get more than 100 yards from my car in Capitol Reef but I took my GPS and found a couple of geocaches in Goblin Valley.
There is a pull off in Capitol Reef where you can see some old petroglyphs.

Your mom probably would enjoy Cap Reef. The drive from Bryce to Hwy 12 is really good. I would suggest having pie at Gifford House. Buy your pie and eat right next door in the orchard/picnic area. Deer are almost always present. The pies arrive at 8:00am and they are usually gone by noon or earlier. We had them for breakfast on our two visits. Most of them are made from fruit from the orchards. These are many orchards for several miles. If you are there during season, you can pick and eat for free. If you take them with you there is a small charge.

I've stayed twice at Austin's Chuckwagon and it is ok place to stay. There is a really nice deli/grocery store at Austin's too.

Most people eat at Cafe Diablo or Hell's Backbone Grill for a bit of upscale. Kiva Koffeehouse is a good place to stop too.

The itinerary is pretty straightforward.

Springdale (Zion) for one night after drivng in from Vegas.

Enjoy Zion until mid/late morning and drive to Bryce arriving in time for sunset at least. Overnight at Bryce and get up early for sunrise.

Depart Bryce after breakfast and continue up Scenic Highway 12. You could do the short drive out to Devil's Garden to wander among the hoodoos. Continue on and possibly stop at the Anasazi Museum at the State Park in Boulder on the way to Torrey. If you arrive in Torrey (CapitolReef) early enough, you could visit the Mormon farm and check out the petroglyphs along the roadside boardwalk.

Spend the night in Torrey...we like Austin's but I don't know when they open for the season.

In the morning take a ride down the scenic drive at Cap. Reef. After that you'll rewind all the way back down to Zion for another night. Enjoy morning in the park, have lunch and depart for Vegas. Remember, you get your hour back driving from Springdale to Vegas so the drive is an hour less by the clock than in reality. I usually just leave the car's clock set to Vegas time to keep myself on track flight-wise.

We've spent a lot of time in the area and on Hwy 12 and it is always amazing and we see new things.

Bear in mind that it will be cool everywhere except Springdale in early April...highs at Bryce average in the high 40°s F and low 20°s at night. It will be COLD for sunrise! Bring your layers!

Here's a couple of links to trips reports of ours from the area...have fun!

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_tr

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_2012_trip_report

Personally, Capitol Reef isn't one of my favorites. The only attraction would be going to Goblin Valley State Park. However, that's a 5 hour drive from Bryce Canyon and another 5 hours back to Zion.

That's a lot of driving.

I think you could enjoy the drive along Rte 12 from Bryce Canyon going east. Stop at all of the viewpointsw and walk around.

Instead of Goblin Valley go down Hole-in-the-Rock Road 9 miles to Devil's Garden. Both of you would enjoy wandering through all of the rock structures.

In Zion a great walk would be Riverside Walk. It's the first part of the Narrows Hike but very level and has benches along the way. You walk along the river will canyon walls going up on both sides. I saw some deer there but it was early in the day. You can go as far as you'd like and turn around.

In Bryce Canyon you can park at Sunset Point, walk down the Navajo Loop trail about 50 yards. That would be a very short distance but get you down far enough to feel the effect of the hoodoos.

Then you can come back up and walk along the Rim as far as you'd like to go towards Sunrise Point. It's a half mile between the two points and there are benches where you can sit and enjoy the view.

Receving great information, appreciate the info.

The drive out and back on Scenic Route 12 between Bryce and Capitol Reef will amaze you. There are tons of places all along the way to pull over for photos, spectacular views, cultural sites, short jaunts. The small town of Escalante has a great cafe and store with free wifi - Escalante Outfitters. Kiva Koffeehouse has good food in a unique setting with incredible views - worth a stop.

Capitol Reef is spectacular - both in scenery and geology. Just amazing! I hope you do get there. You won't be disappointed. Walk the short trail to see the petroglyphs, check out the orchards and historic schoolhouse, maybe take the short hike out to Hickman Bridge. The town of Torrey is beautiful. We've stayed at Austin's and the Best Western - both were great. Austin's has a general store that sells just about anything you might need and their kitchen makes really good (and inexpensive) tex-mex food and has a full deli. Cafe Diablo is a good choice for dinner.

Bryce and Zion are both incredibly beautiful and very different. Walk the rim at Bryce and check out some of the overlooks. If you can, be there for sunset and sunrise the next day, as others have suggested. The shuttle in Zion is fantastic; a great way to enjoy the park. Lots of great places to stay in Springdale - we loved Canyon Ranch Motel. Reasonably priced, clean, and gorgeous setting.

You are going to have a great trip! Don't hesitate to ask questions.

In Springdale we like to stay at the Desert Pearl. We learned about it years ago from this site and have stayed half a dozen times since then. We took my older parents there last summer and they did ok walking the paved River 'trail' down to the Narrows and with the Lower Emerald Falls walk - just went slow and took their time. They loved the DP. Ate at the Bit and Spur just because we always do and the hummingbirds will buzz you if you sit on the porch - decent food.
In Bryce we like to get one of the cabins at the Lodge - we find them to be a bit roomier than a room and we like being in the park. There is a pizza place out back of the Lodge that is not bad, if they are open yet. And there is a Subway at the corner by Rubys where you turn in. Rubys, itself, is a bit much for us as we like to go to the parks to get away from all the madness!