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I'm going to do this trip in december 25th. There are some good places to visit around or it's better to go straight to GC.
Driving park city to grand canyon
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Depends on what you want to do. I would put in for a permit to hike The Wave outside of Kanab. or even hiking a bit into the entrance of Paria Canyon--depends on how the water level is though. I love staying at the Best WEstern in Kanab and eating at the Rocking V--awesome restaurant. Lake Powell is on the way--you might want to see something there. It takes me a good 8 hours to drive from SLC to GC. Long drive!!
You are already to late for a permit to hike "the wave" on Dec 25th. those are 3 months in advance. You could take a chance and try to be 1 or the 10 that is allowed on a daily non-reserved basis. You have a lot you could see, but weather might come into play in a lot of areas, even the Grand Canyon. I assume you are going to see the South Rim?, as everything on the North Rim will be closed. You may or may not have road access at the north rim, but all of the facilities are closed.
While it is true that Wave permits are open three months in advance, I don't know anyone who has tried in December. I would call the BLM office to see if there are any permits available. Otherwise, it is a walk-in lottery system--usually the day before. (e.g. go Monday morning to get a permit for Tuesday) Check out the website--if you google The Wave, or try a Kanab website, or search on the BLM website.
Also, make sure you go I-15 as far south as you can--you could always go through Zion and make that something fun to do. It takes longer but the road conditions would be better. There are some gnarly mountain passes on some of the side roads (e.g. do NOT take Route 6 to Price etc in the winter).
Thanks everybody. But I think that i'm going straight to Gc...and about the roud. I have heard that the roud is in the desert, that it's dificult to drive...there;s no gas station...
Stanton, you can look on the blm website for the wave hike. It is always always booked for the 3 months in advance for the permits. I have looked at least 10 times at it.
The road is fine. It might be snowy in the winter but we are talking a paved road. But if you are not used to driving in snow that could be an issue. There is enough traffic on the road and the state is very good about plowing (at least in Utah). It's not like you won't see another car for hours on end. But be sure to check road conditions before you go!
Take the main freeway (I-15) south to where you go east for Zion NP and then to the GC. You can get gas in Kanab, UT and Page AZ. You can also top off your tank in Cameron--which is the closest town on the east side of the GC as I remember. So yes, you can go 2 hours without a gas station, but most cars can go for 4 hours before needing gas. (at least mine do) I hope you have a fun trip!