MPA

I am planning a family trip to a National Park over Spring Break April 8-15, 2017 with my two teenage daughters 15, 17. We like to hike and be outdoors. Any ideas?
Thank you!

MikePinTucson

For a week, you could easily combine Sedona, Grand Canyon south rim, and Page (Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend). If you did that, flying into PHX would be best. If you decide on that, I would be happy to provide more suggestions of things to see and do, hikes, restaurants, etc.

emalloy

We've done several one week trips to the parks. One would be:

Day 1: fly into Vegas, head for Zion the first day, stay in the park or in Springdale for 2 nights.

Day 3: head to Bryce from Zion, hike a bit, see sunset, stay in the park or at Ruby's or one of the other motels nearby.

Day 4: head check out the beautiful scenery on the way to Page, see Antelope Canyon. Spend the night in Page in one of many motel options.

Day 5: head for Grand Canyon South rim, check out all the viewpoints as you enter from the east toward Grand Canyon Village. See sunset. Stay in the park if possible, otherwise in Tusayan.

Day 6: see sunrise, head towards Vegas, stop and tour Hoover Dam, spend the night in Vegas.

Day 7: fly home.

This could be done in the opposite direction and if the flight into Vegas gets in late, I would do it with Hoover dam and Grand Canyon first after a night in Vegas.

Another would be to fly into Salt Lake City, Albuquerque or Grand Junction and spend the time in the Moab, UT area. If you click my screen name and scroll down you will find several TRs to the area.

MidwestHiker

I would avoid Moab - that is the same week as the Jeep Week and it will be very busy.

Otherwise, either itinerary works. Bryce will be cold and still snowy, so you could skip if that doesn't appeal to you.

Death Valley is 2-3 hours from Vegas so that is another option if you choose to fly into Vegas. Combine it with Mojave and Joshua Tree for a week - that is a lot of desert scenery though. An alternative is to do Zion/Bryce for 3-4 days, and Death Valley for the rest of the week.

Colorado parks will still be mostly snowbound so it's not a good time to visit.

MPA

Wow! Thank you all for such great information!

I will look at all of these ideas over the weekend. From the flights I have checked, it seems much cheaper to fly into Las Vegas versus Salt lake City. I do not think we will go through Phoenix.

Any ideas for places to stay or restaurants?
Car rental agencies?

Thank you again for your help!

tomfuller

For those who are not aware, Thursday 8/25/16 was the 100th birthday of the National Park Service.
Free admission to all National Parks and Monuments through Sunday.

db6040

"Any ideas for places to stay or restaurants?"

Have you decided where you are going?