smetz

Looking for advice for a couple in their 50's planning a 1 week trip this summer to include flights in & out of Las Vegas, and a driving loop to include the Grand Canyon, possibly Sedona, and a park or parks in SW Utah.

I have never been to any of these places before, so I'm completely starting from scratch. Right now, I'd like to get some general recommendations, then I'll come back later when I have an itinerary worked out.

Here are some questions-

When to go - our time windows are the last week of June or the first week of August. Does it make a difference, or should I let availability at the park lodges be the determining factor?

How much time to spend in Las Vegas - we like cities, shows, etc, but we don't gamble or party. Is there much to do there for folks like us?

SW Utah Parks - from guide books it seems like Bryce, Zion & Arches are the ones that are most well known. We are definitely going to Grand Canyon, so I doubt that we'd have time to take in three additional parks due to the length of our trip. Do you agree, & if we have to choose, what are your favorites?

Sedona - Worth an overnight stop, and what are the main things you like to do?

Grand Canyon - At this time of year, would you suggest the North or South Rim?

Park Lodges - is it always better to stay in the parks? I seem to remember reading a recommendation in this forum that there were some options outside the park at Zion that were worth considering. Any others?

Thanks!

elnap29

There really isn't a one-size-fits-all way to visit these places. It really depends what you enjoy most. Allow about 5 hrs. to drive from Las Vegas to the South Rim Grand Canyon. If you are going to the South Rim, you should definitely see Sedona, too. We really like to explore/walk/hike, so we like to spend 2 or 3 nights in Sedona. For others, a day trip is enough. For us, 2 nights is plenty to spend in South Rim GC, and staying inside the park is a definite advantage. There's nothing like getting up early, drinking a cup of coffee, and waking up with a view of that magnificently GRAND canyon. And watching sunset over the canyon is wonderful. It is a place where the colors change with the weather and the time of day, so staying there is an advantage.

With only a week, I'd choose either going to South Rim and Sedona OR to North Rim, Zion and Bryce - but that's just me.
North Rim, Zion and Bryce are all in relatively close proximity. Arches is quite a bit further away, so I'd leave that for another trip. I'm sure others will give lots of advice also, and you can sort out what you'd like to do. We have been to these areas a number of times; in fact, we are heading to Zion and Bryce again this April and will spend 8 days, bypassing Las Vegas (just flying in and out).

As far as the travel month, you might want to consider June, as August has the monsoonal rains.

Myer

One week doesn't give you much time. It takes time to drive around that part of the country.

Arches is way too far out of your way.

I landed in LV and immediately left. I spent 2 days in Bryce, one in Zion, one in GC (and driving) and most of three hiking around Sedona.

I'm older than you (mid-60s) but I'm non-stop.

In-park is always better than not. They fill-up quickly and then you have to keep calling every day until cancellation appear for your required days. They usually do.

At a minimum I would suggest 3 days between Bryce and Zion. One day driving from there to GC with a stop in Page to see Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon.

GC is not one of my favorite places so give it part of a day.

Sedona the town is nothing much. The real beauty of the area are the surrounding red rock hikes. I ould give it at least a complete day with a night on either side.

That's a minimum of 6 days and you haven't even counted Las Vegas. O think you'll have an issue if LV is important.

iamq

I was faced with a similar situation as you smetz. We decided to the do the LV, Bryce, North Rim GC, Zion loop that elnap mentioned. We have a week and will do 2 nights in Bryce, then 2 nights at the North Rim and end in Zion for three nights. We may spend the night before the trip in Vegas or not. Not sure yet. We are staying in the park lodge at all places. I may regret not going to the south rim this time, but I didn't want to rush and didn't want to extend the trip either. I believe others here when they say that Zion deserves some extra time. Some day we'll do a South Rim trip and include other areas in Arizona at that time.

smetz

elnap, Myer, & iamq, exactly the kind of insight I was looking for, thank you.

We are pretty active and would probably want to hike for 2 or 3 hours each place that we go, though we are not climbers - moderate hikes are probably our speed. But I think that we'd prefer to go to fewer places and spend more time in each place. And it also sounds like less time in Vegas & more time in the outdoors is better.

Myer

As I wrote I'm pretty much non-stop. However, I don't do hard things. Moderate at most.

My trip there was as follows:
Land in LV and immediately drive to Bryce (thru the Zion entrance).

I arrived in Bryce late in the evening and spent two days and three nights there. I got up early to see the sunrise at Bryce Point, hiked Navajo Loop - Queens Garden, stopped at a few lookouts and drove about 35 miles to see Grivenor Arch on the first day.

The second day I hike Navajo Loop - Peek-a-Boo - Queens Garden. A long day.

The thid day I drove to Zion early, hike the Canyon Overlook on the way in the east entrance, hiked all of Emerald Pools, hiked Riverside Walk.

On the morning of the fourth day I hike Riverside Walk again to see it in morning sun and stopped to see Menu Falls.

I then left Zion for Page where I went to The Best Dam View, Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon.

I got to GC South Rim about 5:30PM and on the way in stopped at several viewpoints. After checking in I took the shuttle to a point to see the sunset.

The morning of day five I got up early and walked along the rim to see the sunrise. Then I went to a few viewpoints before leaving. My big mistake was to not hike down into the Canyon for at least an hour. To me GC is a big bowl and rates at the bottom of what I saw on the trip. Probably my mistake.

For the rest of day 5 I drove to Sedona, made a few stops and hikes and checked into the motel. I then went to the Crescent Moon Picnic Area to see the sun set on Cathedral Rock over Oak Creek. This was one of the true highlights of the trip.

On day 6 and 7 I did a variety of hikes; The most scenic were Boynton Canyon Vista, Broken Arrow and Bell Rock pathway.

The next morning I got up, drove to Phoenix (made several stops as I'd never seen cactus) and flew home.

You can see photos of that trip at:

www.travelwalks.com

smetz

Myer thanks for the additional info, and I love your pictures.