General Utah planning questions

Old Nov 26th, 2014, 07:06 AM
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General Utah planning questions

Hi all,

I'm in the very early stages of planning a small trip to Utah next March. Husband will be attending a conference in Salt Lake City at the beginning of the month, I'm planning to fly out after it's over. We'd then like to hit up one of the national parks (neither of us are skiers). Originally, my heart was set on Arches but since it's early March and that is more north, someone recommended we visit Zion instead. We're in PA and very used to the cold/driving in winter, but in early March, how bad can the roads/highways be? Would you recommend renting a 4x wheel drive? I'm into photography, we both like moderate hiking (nothing hardcore outdoors stuff). Also, if we do end up going with Zion, I see that it's closer to Las Vegas than Salt Lake City (2.5 hours versus 4ish hours), it shouldn't be a problem to return a rental car in Nevada instead (we'd just fly back from Vegas then), right? Forgive me ignorance, we've just never returned a rental car in a state different from where we picked it up.

Thanks for any tips/advice you have!
librarychica85 is offline  
Old Nov 26th, 2014, 08:50 AM
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How many days do you have for your trip?

Moab is about 45 minutes closer to Salt Lake City than Zion is and that would be my first choice as you can do both Arches and Canyonlands from there (and I like Arches and Canyonlands better than Zion but others will disagree). Zion is very nice and if there isn't too much snow, you could do a drive through Bryce also. I would guess that the trails in Bryce would be snow covered as they always have been when we have gone in April, but the road and view points were fine.

If you return a rental car in a different place than where you rented it, there usually is a fairly large drop off fee. You would need to check to see if the rental company wants to relocate cars from one area to another to see if they would waive the fee. If not, then decide if an hour or so less driving is worth the cost.

Have a wonderful trip and be prepared to become addicted to the parks in the southwest.
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Old Nov 26th, 2014, 08:52 AM
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I've been to Arches during the winter (November and February) and Zion (in January and February). Arches is even more beautiful with snow. Snow adds a lot to Zion, too, but I also felt like it would be nice to go there when the trees have leaves and you could go in the water.

Not many people either place and lodging costs are a lot less than during the busy season.

However, I don't know much about driving there from Salt Lake City. The time we went in November we had to delay leaving by a day, and then choose a different route instead of going through Salt Lake City, due to a huge wind storm. But I don't know how often weather gets in the way of traveling from there - although you'd have the same problem whether you go to Arches or Zion.

If transportation to and from Salt Lake City isn't an issue then I'd go to Arches instead of Zion. It's closer, gorgeous during the winter, and you could also go to Canyonlands and Dead Horse State Park.
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Old Nov 26th, 2014, 12:55 PM
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The roads will be well plowed. The issue for going to Arches is going down Route 6 over Soldier Summit and through Price. That can be nasty when it snows. If you go to Zion, you are mostly on the interstate and the roads are maintained well etc. So just from the standpoint of driving, it might be better to go to Zion. On the flip side, I like Arches better than Zion too and it would be colder but not horrifically so. Not sure what is available in Moab in the winter as far as food and lodging but March is getting close to spring trips etc. As for Zion, I have no idea what might be open in Springdale, but St. George is close and plenty of options are there. I think you need to decide what you want--slightly easier drive and warmer weather vs. more of the place to yourself at Arches.

Bryce is actually quite fun in the winter--Rubys is open and they have a great winter fest over Presidents Day weekend. Last year there was hardly any snow. It just sort of depends...
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Old Nov 26th, 2014, 01:47 PM
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Average temps in Zion and Arches are almost identical in March. High/low for Zion is 63/36,for Arches it is 64/35.

I would choose Zion for the reasons Shanti listed - Zion is better later in spring when there are leaves on the trees and flowers in bloom. Plus so many of the trails are in shadows much of the day that you'll run into more icy trails I think. At least in Arches there aren't many trees so you won't be looking at bare branches, and most trails are pretty wide open and sunny so you'd have less ice.

I would never ever stay in St. George for visiting Zion, that's a 2 hour round trip every day.
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Old Nov 27th, 2014, 05:42 PM
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I've been to Zion all times of the year and I really like late spring and fall the best. I think part of the great beauty of Zion is the amazing contrast in colors with the red rock. In the late Spring it's the green trees, wildflowers, puffy white clouds against the red rock walls. In the late fall it's the fall leaves of red, orange and gold.

I would also make Plan A for Moab and Arches. Make a hotel res that can be cancelled same day if weather doesn't cooperate for driving over Soldier Summit. You DON'T want to go there in a snow storm or with icy roads.

Make Plan B for Zion. I-15 is usually OK, but there is one higher elevation area where you could encounter snow if it's a significant storm. Again, make res ahead because although there is a lot of lodging avail in Springdale, it can be very busy in good weather. It's so close to St. George and Las Vegas, that it's a very busy park.
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Old Nov 28th, 2014, 08:31 AM
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I would check with a couple car rentals about picking up in one state and leaving it in another. We just did this in June, we rented in California and dropped it off in LV with no extra charge. Also, just a personal opinion, Canyonlands was my least favorite. It is a long drive from Moab to Canyonlands and once there it is so vast and we did not find it as pretty as the other parks. You might feel totally different.
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Old Nov 28th, 2014, 01:49 PM
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Canyonlands is BEYOND gorgeous--if you get out and hike it. Truly amazing. But not necessarily from the car.
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Old Nov 28th, 2014, 06:22 PM
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So true. DH thinks it is more beautiful than Grand Canyon.
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