Stacy

I will be six months pregnant and traveling with a six and nine year old. What hikes can you recommend that would not be too taxing? The boyes love water so any that go to waterfalls or creeks would be wonderful.

bob_brown

Hmm. Waterfalls in desert parks. Not any that come to mind. Close to Moab there is a section of highway that follows along the Colorado River.

The question my medical spouse has is this: How active were you before reaching the 6 months mark?
(How did you tolerate exercise earlier?)

At Bryce, I personally would stick to the rim trails because coming back is steep in places. The altitude might also be a factor.

Along the rim, there are some grades if you walk very far, but if the gradient is too much, you have the option to turn around and retrace your steps. You can get in some great canyon viewing without walking far.

My wife suggests you try first the rim walks with a little uphill section and see how you do. If you tolerate those well, you might try a short walk below the rim. But coming back might be a factor. Better safe than sorry.

At Arches, the walk to Double Arch is not bad. As I recall, the trail is fairly level.

The trail to the viewpoint for Delicate Arch is not long at all.

The walk to Delicate Arch itself is fairly long and steep in a couple of places.

My big concern at Arches is the heat.
That can be tough on many people.

utahtea

I agree with what bob brown has said.

The Colorado River is not a safe place to play in with kids. There are really bad undertows. Make sure you find a big beach area and don't go past where you can see bottom. There is a waterslide park in Moab.

How are you getting from Bryce to Arches? Will you be taking scenic hwy 12 to Torrey and passing Capitol Reef Naitonal Park? If so there are two nice hikes in the park that are level. Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge. The Fremont River is also not a safe place to play in but if you follow the scenic road all the way to the end there is Pleasant Creek which is very shallow and fun to get wet in.

Also if you are going to Zion the Virgin River is fun to play in too.

Utahtea

arb

We just vistited Bryce last week and loved it. There is a streamside hike to a small waterfall. It is outside the park, 4 miles from the entrance, on Highway 12. It is called Mossy cave. The hike is .8 mi round trip at an elevation of 150 ft. Halfway in, the trail splits. You can hike to the top of the waterall or to a cave. We went to the waterfall. There are a couple steep spots to the top of the fall but you could stop before them and still get a good view. There are good close-up views of the hoodos on this hike too. According to information I got off web-sites, the easiest Rim Trail hike is the .5 mi oneway section between Sunset and Sunrise point. Have a great trip.

bigtyke

I also recommend the Mossy Trail hike

bob_brown

The Grand Wash hike in Capitol Reef is flat and awesome. I consider myself an experienced park goer, and I liked that one so well I went back for seconds.
Also, Utah 12 is a nice drive. I feel an urge to do that one again.

I asked my son (age 43) about Bryce and any water. He said the same thing as the others about the Mossy Cave. He went there with his two boys.

One neat thing about Capitol Reef is that you can find holes with water in them. The rock formation is sometimes called the Water Pocked Fold.

You might do one thing with the older boy. Point out that the rock of Capitol Reef is all from water deposits, except those big black boulders around the landscape; they are igneous, that is, volcanic in origin. Where the duece did they come from? They did not sprout out of the Entrada or the Navajo sandstone formations!!