Day 1 - RMNP to Moab via Trail Ridge Road... Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the road will be open that late in the season. It closes after the first significant snowfall, which could be any day now. If you want to go to Estes Park, you will have to backtrack to almost Denver to reach I-70 west. Although RMNP is so worth seeing, you're planning on covering a lot of miles and sights in a very short timeframe, so I think you might be best to just head west from Denver and view the mountains along the highway (great scenery anyway!) If you haven't made your flight plans yet, you may just want to fly into Las Vegas or SLC instead of Denver to save some time.

Be aware that a lot of the route you're considering is not interstate highway and your drive times may be a lot slower than you expect. It would be a minimum 12 hours from Zion to SF for instance, a whole day.

Although it's tempting to want to see everything in this part of the world, you may have to pare down your itinerary and save Colorado for another trip.

Night #1 stay in Glenwood Springs. You don't want to try for Moab or even Grand Junction. There are 2 large old hotels in GS next to the Colorado River and I-70. The world's largest hot spring fed swimming pool is there as well.
There is a gondola ride up to Glenwood Caverns also within walking distance.
After seeing Arches, you will have an hour or two to see the "Island in the Sky" section of Canyonlands (no hikes).
After Capitol Reef, you will end up in Either Torrey or Boulder.
The petroglyphs along the boardwalk in Capitol Reef are nice.
Are you driving back to Denver from SF? What route were you planning on from Zion to SF?

If you do find that Trail Ridge Road is not open, I would suggest you head for Moab and spend the extra time there. To get a head start when you leave, head for Green River for the night as there are less pricey places to stay there than in Moab and you will be closer to 24 for your trip to Capitol Reef.

What's your definition of 'economical' when it comes to lodging?

I'd make the drive over Trail Ridge Road if it is still open, you will have to check with Colorado DOT on that the day before and the day of your trip. It's a great drive and there are some very quick/easy stops on the way. Obviously there is much to do in the park and you won't have time for it, but TRR is one of the major highlights. To get to the park, either go through Boulder, Lyons and Allenspark (Hwy 7 parallels the park for awhile and is beautiful) or take Hwy 34 up Big Thompson Canyon.

To get to Moab, take Hwy 128 off of I-70 (I believe it is the Cisco exit. This is far more scenic than Hwy 191.

It is fairly easy to see a lot in Arches in a day, there are lots of major arches very close to the road. The 2 major exceptions are Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch (the latter is maybe a 30 minute walk?). I would take the time for the hike to Delicate Arch for sure, even if it means you have to cut out some of the easier stuff.

If Trail Ridge Road is closed, you can make it to Moab by the first night, depending on your flight times.

It's 12 hours from Zion to San Francisco, 8 hours from Death Valley to San Francisco via Yosemite, which would be a beautiful drive but that is assuming the road is still open. That's also something you'd have to check on closely, not sure it's worth staying overnight in Death Valley if you then have to head south to get around the mountains.

Of all the places you listed, I'd skip Capitol Reef and Canyonlands if I had to. Well, I'd skip Zion too but you're driving right through it anyway so you can't really skip it. Zion has some nice scenery but unlike some other parks I think you need to get out and hike to really appreciate it, and you don't really have time for that.

DV to San Francisco via Bakersfield is a 10 hour BUTT UGLY drive.

If Tioga Pass is open, DV to SF is about 9 hours w/o any stops and the scenery is magnificent (much of the route through Yosemite is 35 MPH - and enforced). But as a one day drive it is a killer because there are soooooooo many places to stop/gawk.

Zion > SF via the boring Bakersfield route is nearly 13 hours car time plus stops. Through Yosemite it is a 13-14 hour drive.

IMO - none of these should be done in one day (except for DV/SF via Bakersfield which is so dreadful you'd want to get it out of the way as quick as possible)

Personally I would go from Denver to Durango and see Mesa Verde NP and then over to the Grand Canyon with Arches in between to see more of Monument Valley, etc. I'd try to fit in Canyon de Chelly if I could. Then head over to SF with perhaps a stop in Las Vegas. My first trip to the SW was the first 1/2 of those stops when we were in our mid-twenties and it was a wonderful trip.

I would definitely skip Death Valley. It is completely out of the way and requires more than the time you have to see it. Driving over Tioga Pass through Yosemite is beautiful. We have not yet had snow in the sierras so the pass is still open. If it closes, drive up 395 to Tahoe & enter California that way. You can't go wrong seeing lake Tahoe. You need to eliminate some parks from your itinerary. It is a long way from Denver to San Francisco & takes almost three straight days of driving.

Seeing Death Valley once is worth it - especially if you are coming from Las Vegas and just going through - and plan to stay overnight in beautiful Yosemite.

And as others have noted, the Colorado portion is all dependent on the weather when you are there. If it's clear - fine - but the last thing you want to do is get caught in - or held up by a big early season snowstorm.

And loved the drive through Capital Reef - and it sets up nicely for staying the nights in Bryce or Zion. If you have only night - and while I like Bryce - have to say I/we prefer Zion, but they are both beautiful.

Just so you know - from Zion to Vegas is about 3 hours - and from there to the Valley Floor in Yo (an hour plus beyond Tuoloumne Meadows where you come up the Tioga Pass from hiway 395) - we made it in about 8 hours. If you left Zion early - it would be a long day - but after you get through Death Valley - you have the beautiful Sierras in front of you.

Denver is getting snow this morning. I'm pretty sure that RMNP is getting more than the city.
There are signs along US 395 that indicate whether Tioga and other passes are open to Yosemite.
Be prepared to make route adjustments as needed.

Hi,

Thank you all very much for the replies. You guys are wonderful.

Based on your suggestions, I decided to prepone my trip and is planning to start from Denver this weekend itself. And, from your comments I see that it's better to drop some of the places. We live in San Francisco Bay Area. So, if I have to choose, I would like to drop the places that are close by. We love driving, so if it is with in 10 hour drive from SF, that is well with in our long weekend trip. Thus, I am not worried much about Death Valley, Vegas, and Yosemite. Bryce and Zion are approx 14 hours from SF, and thus those two are on the border of my typical road trip durations. If possible, I would like to get a peak at those two places so that I could return at some other point of time if I like them.

What I really want to get from this trip is a feel of Utah and Colorado. Also, we have never seen fall colors in its full swing, other than watching few shades on Bay Area streets. Would love to choose the routes which would give us best chance to see some colors.

As of now, I am thinking of the following:

Day 1: Denver to Rocky Mountain NP
Sleep at either close by RMNP or close by Moab

Day 2 : Arches NP
Sleep at ? (Please suggest)

Day 3: Canyon Lands NP and drive to wards Capitol Reef
Sleep at ? (Please suggest)

Day 4: Capitol Reef

At this point we would like to decide if we want to extend the trip to cover bryce and/or zion.

If we extend, it would be a total 8-9 day trip covering Bryce and Zion.

If we don't extend:
Would like to drive as much as possible on Hwy 12 and return to SF by late night of day 5.

Please provide me with your suggestions regarding places to stay, routes to take in order to cover best fall colors, and any modifications to my trip that makes more sense given your local knowledge or prior experience.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I still stand by my Glenwood Springs suggestion. If there is too much snow in RMNP to see all you want to see, you might make it as far as Grand Junction but not Moab.
To save some money on lodging, DW and i spent 7 nights at the Robbers Roost Motel in Green River and made day trips from there. From Oregon we took Amtrak to SLC (via Sacramento) and rented a car there.

It could take a bit of time to enjoy RMNP so I would plan to stay somewhere closer to there. If the park road is open all the way across then you could get to Grand Lake or "maybe" Glenwood Springs. I wouldn't plan any further than that.

The peak colors are mostly over, but there will still be some nice patches. I-70 will be just as good as anything else that way.

When you head into Moab take the Danish Flat exit (no indication this leads to Moab from the signs). It will lead to hwy 128 which is by far the most scenic road around. Don't let the first couple of miles fool you. Enjoy the gorgeous drive along the Colorado River corridor.

This time of year rates in Moab are lower. If you want budget Bowen Hotel or Adventure Inn are clean. Lots to chose from there. Arches is a great small park. It can take all day to see it. Canyonlands Island in the Sky district can be seen in a morning. But it would really be worth your time to take the detour over to Dead Horse Point State park as well since the view there is classic.

For Capitol Reef your best option for hotels is in Torrey. Some close down for the winter. Austins Chuckwagon is one that stays open year round.

There is no way to take part of hwy 12. From Torrey to Bryce there are no other roads to turn off to. So you might as well at least plan to stop in at Bryce. Boulder Mt just south of Torrey will be your best bet for color, but again you might be just a smidgen late. You might see color along hwy 89 south of Bryce, and Zion might still have color as it is a bit lower.

It would be easy enough to take a half day to see Bryce. If you only want to take a quick look at Zion to reconnoitre for another visit you can see it in about half a day as well. However you best bet across NV to head north might be hwy 6 which would be better reached from Cedar City via 93 and 375. So Zion would be a day detour with the extra travel time added in.
On the other hand those roads may not be as fast as the interstates so heading south on I-15 then north on I-5 might in the end be faster?? In which case Zion would be an easy add on.

Stay at Ruby's for Bryce (or any of the hotels there run by the same family, Bryce Grand being the new one). For Zion if you want to stay overnight Springdale is right there, or if you want to head down the road abit then Hurricane, St George (if you are heading south) or Cedar City if you head west on 93.

Trail Ridge Road is currently open. However, there is rain/snow in the forecast for Estes Park on Friday and Saturday. At this time of year, rain/snow in Estes would probably mean more snow at higher elevations, so it is very possible Trail Ridge Road could be closed at some time over the weekend.

If you haven't already purchased airfare, I would delay a day or two because the forecast for Sunday through Tuesday is mostly sunny and dry. It's unlikely that a small storm on Friday/Saturday would close the road for more than a day or so, but you never know.

In any case, the fall colors are probably pretty much over in Colorado. Your best bet is going to be in southern Utah.