Short trip to Utah - recommendations

The altitude should be fine for your friend, but you may have difficulty finding a place to stay on such short notice.

Lee Ann

If you don't have lodging, call the parks now and see if they have any cancellations. If not, keep calling and/ or try for a campsite.

Hope you have a fantastic trip.

You will be in elevation so just take it easy. Zion is about 4500 feet and Bryce is at 8,500 feet.

As far as what a pregnant person should and should not do, I guess that's between her and her doctor.

At Zion you're at the bottom so not much in the way of sunrise and sunset.

I probably wouldn't do anything more strenuous than Lower Emerald Pools and Riverside Walk.

Bryce is a different thing though remember the elevation.

Sunrise at Bryce Point is spectacular. In Bryce you are at the top and you hike down.

The trails in Bryce are wider and smoother. She should be able to walk down for a distance to be in the hoodoos.

Just remember that since you're going down, you then have to go back up. There's nothing stopping her from going any distance and then either resting or going back up.

I would do Navajo Loop down and Queens Garden back up. They meet at the bottom.

Maybe somebody who knows the condition better than I can give an opinion as to how much she should do.

The viewpoints of interest are Bryce Pt for sunrise, Sunset Point at the start of Navajo Loop, Sunrise Pt for the end/start of Queens Garden.

Natural Bridge is the only other one that's really different.

If she's not up to hiking down, three of you can go down and she can walk along the rim between Sunset and Sunrise Pt. It's a half mile of very flat walking with great views down. Also, there are benches along the way.

Depending upon how much time you want to spend in Bryce, there's a real slot canyon about 25 east miles from there.

I don't know of anyone else who has been there. I'm taking my daughter there in Sept.

Look up on the map. Cannonville. They have a visitors center there. You can get driving instructions to Willis Creek.

It's a 10 mile, dirt road drive south of Cannonville. The drive on the dirt road is the hardest part. From the parking lot it's a very easy walk and within minutes you are in the first set of slots.

A very, very easy walk. you walk as far as you want and turn around and go back to the parking lot.

You can see pictures of Willis Creek here:

http://www.zionnational-park.com/grand-staircase-hiking.htm

I just came back from a 16 day trip... I was 27 weeks pregnant when I went, we came back 2 weeks ago...

I didn't stop AS frequent as I thought.. but we did have potty breaks..

I also had a maternity belt that was a MUST with the long walks, her belly is probably not as big as mine, but it helped me! I also wore compression socks on the long plane/car rides.. don't have problem with swelling, but just as a precaution.. I think that helped me walking a lot more, and do shorter hikes...

I was fine with the altitude, Bryce goes up to 9112 I believe... the only thing I have noticed that at night sometimes I was short of breathe, then I would go back to normal... same for hubby...

I hiked Bryce while pg--not a problem. The one thing she will want to do is drink LOTS of water. That is a big factor in combatting altitude issues. Call around the towns outside of each park for places to stay. Springville for Zion and Rubys' for Bryce. The only thing to think about is that there will likely still be snow at Bryce!

Stanton- There WAS snow at Bryce about 3 weeks ago, and it was actually snowing on and off.. it was VERY cold and windy also... so we didn't do much hiking, except check out most of the lookout views... and go down some at Sunset Pt...

Thank you guys for such detailed and thoughtful replies!
Will definitely pass on your amazing suggestions to my friend.

We are looking frantically for accommodations now

Heard a lot about the Scenic Byway UT12. Is there a way we can include that in our itinerary in our limited time? What route/loop would make sense most?

Really excited even more after all ur suggestions Thanks a bunch!

and a special thanks to Myer for awesome suggestions!

I would not wait until sunset to leave Zion. As Myer said, sunset there is not really all that special, since you're in the bottom of the canyon, and you'll miss some fabulous scenery if you do the drive entirely in the dark. The Zion - Mt. Carmel Highway is pretty amazing, so make sure it's still light when you drive through there. The sun won't be setting until after 8:30, so that should give you a good, full day in the park. If you have time, and the pregnant one still has the energy, you might consider doing the Canyon Overlook Trail hike on the way out, which is just past the tunnel. It takes about an hour and is a one mile round trip, and the view is wonderful. The very first part of the trail is pretty steep for a short way, but then it's fairly level after that. It's a two hour drive from Zion to Bryce, and you won't want to get to Bryce too late, anyway, as I'm sure you'll want to get up to see the sunrise over the Bryce amphitheater (and that IS really special, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen).

I think you'd be hard pressed to include much of UT12 as well, in the limited amount of time you have. The most spectacular part of that is the section called the hogback, which is just to the west of Boulder, which I think is about an hour and 45 minute drive from Bryce. I guess if you were really ambitious, and felt you'd seen and done enough at Bryce, you could leave mid-afternoon to drive to Boulder, then turn around and drive back, maybe stopping for supper in Escalante, but that sounds like a lot to do in one day. You will drive through the very lovely Red Canyon, which is to the west of Bryce on UT12, on your way to and from Bryce. There is a nice, easy trail that starts by the visitor center and gives you good close-up views of some of the cool rock formations if you want to stop and take a nice walk on your way out on Monday.

If you're heading back to L.A. by way of UT14 to I 15, you should stop and take the 5 mile scenic drive through the Kolob Canyon section of Zion, which is right off of I 15 at exit 40, if you feel you have time.

I hope you've had good luck finding lodging!

Thanks Sara, yea that makes perfect sense.

I had another doubt - should we rent a 4WD for this trip to these parks or a sedan will do ?

Rent what is most comfortable.

It appears you'll just miss the start of major road work at the east entrance. That's good.

You won't be able to drive in Zion. You'll have to leave the car in the Lodge parking lot if you have a room in the lodge or outside the park if not. Travel is by shuttle only.

In Bryce you can drive to all of the parking and viewpoints but it's all paved. Nothing requiring 4WD.

If you go to Willis Creek, the dirt road is drivable by an ordinary car (we did that). If you decide to drive along Rt12 to Boulder you can do that in a regular car.

There are a few north-south dirt roads that require high clearance down at the south end but you won't be there.

I'm not sure how much time you'll have, but if you drive down Rt12 past Escalante towards Boulder, you may have time to take a one-hour detour down Hole-in-the-Rock Road to Devil's Garden.

This is a one-hour walk thru great rock formations. To me it's like a grown up Goblin valley.

But, I'm sure your itinerary is quite full already.

So the plan is to break in Vegas for friday night and head to Zion on Saturday. Towards 5-6pm head to Bryce so we can catch the scenic routes in daylight. Spend the night in Bryce for the next 2 days and do whatever is possible. Head back Mon morning.

You mentioned some road work in the east entrance.. would we still skip it if we come in from Vegas?

You guys are right about lodging, pretty tough to get, looking at best western inn etc now

The construction starts about June 1 and is just on the east side of the tunnel.

They're recommending that people who are approaching from the east either go around to the north or south and enter from the west. So you'll be coming from the west from LAS.

On the way back check if the construction has started. In any event, on the way back you may want to go north on 89 from 12, take 20 to 15 and then all the way to LAS. That way you won't go back into Zion.