peachy78

My DH and 3 kids (ages 11, 9, & 5) plan on taking a 2 week vacation in July to Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. Please take a look at my itinerary and let me know if you see anything that just won't work time wise or if there is something else along the way we should see or do. Thanks!

1 Sat Drive to CO Springs. Stay at Hyatt Garden of the Gods
2 Sun Drive to Pikes Peak Cog Railway. Ride the 9:20 train up. Return about 11:30. Get lunch in Manitau Springs and visit Manitau Penny Arcade. Drive over to Garden of the Gods and go hiking. Dinner.
3 Mon Pack up leave hotel by 9am and drive to Canon City / Royal Gorge (1.5 hrs). Get lunch on the way and spend ~3 hours at the bridge. Drive 2.5 hrs to Great Sand Dunes Lodge. Rent sleds and go hiking / sledding in the evening.
4 Tue Sleep in and leave Lodge at 11am. Hike possibly. Drive to Mesa Verde /Cortez. Book tour for next day through Mesa Verde Vistor Center. Hang out and go swimming.
5 Wed Take tour of Mesa Verde (Cliff House) and hike around ruins.
6 Thu Leave by 10 am. Drive to Page via 4 Corners Monument (1.5 hrs), then drive to 2hrs 45mins to Page, and then Antelope Canyon Tour, get dinner, & visit Horseshoe Bend (evening)
7 Fri Leave and drive to Grand Canyon North Rim 2.5 hrs, go hiking on trails (Bright Angel Point, Angels Window,Coconino Overlook, part of Point Imperial )
8 Sat Leave by 9, Drive to Zion (2.5hrs), get lunch, go hiking. Take shuttle first to Zion Lodge (walk across streets and do Emerald Pools hike), Take shuttle to Weeping Rock (or go to Riverside trail start and walk to Weeping Rock), Continue on Riverside Walk to the Temple of Sinawava Riverside Walk (1hr) to the Narrows, Do Canyon Overlook Trail (1hr) on the way out
9 Sun Drive to Bryce (1hr 20min) / Hike Bryce - Start at Sunset Point (Navajo & Queen's Garden Trails (3.0mi), Leave and finish hiking Mossy Cave (0.8mi) and/or part of Rim Trail (sunset)?
10 Mon Leave by 10. Drive to Moab (4 hrs) , Hiking @ Arches (Delicate Arch) and possibly star gazing in Canyonlands
11 Tue Meet at 8:15 for am rafting trip. Back at hotel at 12:30, get lunch. Hike Arches. (Park Ave, Double Arch, Windows)
12 Wed Leave at 9. Drive to Aspen (4hrs), lunch on the way. Drive to Aspen Highlands to catch bus (Buses run until 5pm). Hike Maroon Bells - Crater Lake Trail 3.6mi, Dinner, Swim in Pool
13 Thu Drive to Georgetown Loop Railroad (3hrs), Georgetown Railroad-Mine Tour, Drive to Winter Park (45 min)
14 Fri Winter Park Day Pass Activites - Resort kid activities including short horseback trip
15 Sat Drive Home

emalloy

I'm trying not to be a Debby Downer but in general:

I think you are trying to do too much. A slower pace would mean you could do more activities and less seat in the car time.

If you don't have lodging yet, you might find it hard to get at this point.

The times for both hikes and drives between sites is on the low side and don't account for stopping for things like getting gas or taking a minute to look at the fabulous scenery or go to the john.

If you are planning to do this in the summer, it will be very hot and hiking will have to be done very early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

Also:

day 2: If you come from sea level, be prepared for at least some of you to suffer altitude sickness. In any case, stay very much more hydrated than you think you need to be.

day 5: I love Mesa Verde but, Cliff Palace has ladders (think 2 poles with logs between them every foot or so on the side of a cliff) that I would not be comfortable letting little kids climb up. You are not allowed to hike on/in the ruins they would be damaged. Spruce Tree house in not open at this time.

day 10: Delicate arch is a pretty tough hike with a section near the top that is about 3 feet wide with a drop straight down on one side and a wall on the other with people going both ways some of whom will not leave the wall side so your kids are forced to go next to the drop off (that is if they make it up there)

Please cut back on the car time and spend more time and let everyone enjoy the trip.

StantonHyde

oh.my.stars. You are going to keel over. Or the kids are. We are talking July here. 90-100+ degrees heat. There is no way in the world I would be hiking in Zion after 11 am. Days 8-11 are going to kill you.

I visit all of these places with my children-often. I live in Salt Lake City. I have been taking my kids to these parks since they were 1 yo. The oldest is now 13. If you click on my user name you will see trip reports for Bryce, Zion, Antelope Canyon, Canyonlands etc etc etc.

Unless you have HIGHLY energetic kids--and some people do--this itinerary is just too much. ONE major outing a day is enough. And it will be so, so, so hot. You have to figure in pool time or your car will be filled with limp, whining noodles.

Please scale this back. Way back

fmpden

I was exhausted just reading the schedule. Was thinking that couple of 20+ crazy college students were trying a marathon and then saw 11, 9, & 5 year old kids. The 11 year might hold up but not the 9 and 5. And you travel times are often very min. I would increase all your travel times by at least a third if not 50%. We tend to a lot of mountain road work in the summer because winter is so tough on the roads so road construction delay is not uncommon. Skip the Royal gorge. It basically a big tourist trap that was burned over badly two years ago. Skip the the Georgetown railroad. While it is very nice and I recommend it to most people, it does fit your schedule. Instead do a day in Durango and do the Silverton to Durange train. Go one way.

Second you use Cortez/MVerde as one place. They are not. About an hour apart. If staying in Cortez it is a solid 45 minutes to hour drive into the park from Cortez. It is best to stay in the park for at least one night but may be way to late for reservations.

Skip the Great Sand Dunes - it is out of your way, you don't have time. And it can be dangerously hot at that time of year.

Not going to comment on the Utah/Arizona portion since I am not the familiar with those locations.

Cannot believe your are racing to Aspen just to catch a bus to see the M Bells for one hour. At that time of Aspen tends to be very busy and often you have to wait for the buses. If that is the only reason you are going to Aspen, skip it. The kids would find the big and I mean big, hot springs pool in Glenwood Spring far more interesting.

I could go on but I doubt if any of my suggestions are being received well.

peachy78

Thanks for the replies. Most of the hikes I have listed are ones that sounded interesting, and honestly I didn't expect we'd get to all of them. I just wanted a variety to chose from so if everyone was feeling good we could do longer hikes and if not on a given day then we might do a couple of under a mile hikes. We will try to go a little earlier or later in the day for most of them (except Zion). Thanks for the tip on Delicate Arch too. You convinced me to scratch that one of the list. All the hikes I had listed were more of a wish list of things to do.

We may skip the Royal Gorge as suggested. I was kind of up in the air about that one anyway.

I really would still like to see the Sand Dunes (and planned only hiking/sledding in the evening due to heat). That was one reason I through visiting the Royal Gorge into the mix so it would put us at the Sand Dunes later in the day. If we got there earlier they do have a creek for the kids to play in.

I figured we'd stay in Aspen overnight as more of a midway point to the Denver area. I didn't want to drive from Moab to Denver in one day. I wanted to break up the driving/riding in the car a little. We'll probably be in Aspen mid to late afternoon so if everyone is antsy we'll probably try to hike that evening. If not and everyone is tired we'll hang out at the hotel pool. As I said my itinerary was more of a ultimate wishlist that we'll totally play by ear based on how everyone is feeling that day. We would like to do the Georgetown Railroad though as it is on the way and I think my kids would enjoy it. I looked at the Silverton to Durango trip and it was really expensive and took are all most of the day. I think my kids would probably get bored. They like to be out doing things and are quite active. I figured since we will be in the car traveling so much, when we reach our destinations they will be ready to go and hike and run around and move.

I will go back and check out the drive times between towns as I'm probably underestimating the time it will take by all the comments. Thanks for the tips.

db6040

Whoa - the other commenters are spot on here. It is simply too much driving in too short of a timeframe. You won't have much time in any location. Keep in mind that to have 1 day in any location, you need 2 nights there. There are a lot of points I would like to make but in general - you really need to cut a few locations and Zion and Moab need more than a single night. Remember, the driving estimates they give you on google maps (or other online maps) do not include stops for meals/gas refills/bathroom breaks/scenery stops and are ALWAYS on the low side even without breaks.