SomV

Hello all,

We are planning on a short vacation to the wild west covering as many place as our time permits and a tentative itinerary that I have in mind and would like to know if this do-able or if its too ambitious, considering there would be a 5 month pregnant lady and a person with heart issues, traveling with us. We are coming from florida, so altitude might also be a concern - a gradual increase would be fine just not a sudden sharp change.

Day 1: Arrive at phx at 7pm. Drive to Sedona to spend the night.

Day 2: Cathedral rocks at sunrise and then to Grand canyon south rim for the rest of the day. Night stay in or near GCNP.

Day 3: Drive to Page at day break - Horseshoe bend, Antelope canyon and then to Zion for the rest of the day. Or we could skip Page totally, and head straight to Zion if that is better. Especially with the pregnant woman, I am not sure if Antelope canyon is do-able. There are reviews in other forums that there is a 3-mile super bumpy ride to get to Antelope? Stay at Zion/Springdale, UT.

Day 4: Drive to Bryce Canyon at day break and then drive to Arches at mid-day and spend few hours in Arches national park. Stay near Arches national park.

Day 5: Our flight back is from Denver. Since its a long drive from Arches, this day would pretty much be on the road to Denver aiport to catch a late night return flight.

Our flight into PHX and out of DEN is booked, but the rest of the itinerary is quite flexible. Since its our first time there and probably our last visit before we leave the country, we want to make the best use of the chance we have. Any tips/suggestions is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

Nelson

To be honest I became exhausted just reading your itinerary.

If you can change your departure to Salt Lake City instead of Denver maybe something could worked out. However, as it stands this is bit nuts, for what my $0.02 is worth.

Also, what month are you contemplating this trip? Heat could be more of an issue than altitude, even if you are coming from Florida.

Let us know if you can change the DEN flight, then we can come up with something better. If either case you'll have to drop something.

emalloy

How many hours have you sat in a car with a watermelon on your bladder and only icky public bathrooms to go into? I think not!

As Nelson says, try to change your departure, maybe to Grand Junction. Another option would be to go Phoenix to Sedona to Grand Canyon to Bryce to Zion and fly out of Vegas. Or just do a loop from Vegas to GC to Bryce, Zion and back to Vegas. Skip Page as the trip in is on a bench seat on the back of a pickup truck driven over a wash with bounces and dust to end all.

If you don't have lodging yet, you really need to get it now.

DebitNM

HEAT - if in summer or late spring/early fall
ALTITUDE - 4 days = entire trip; won't let you acclimate much
PREGNANCY
HEART ISSUES
9 sites in 4 days = lots of time in car

Please, rethink this, seriously.

SomV

Thanks Nelson. We are planning for last week in June. Unfortunately our flight is set and cannot be changed, but our places of interest is flexible. Perhaps we could skip Bryce/Zion and just do Sedona, GC, Arches and head to Denver?

SomV

emalloy - Thanks. I am working on getting lodging, but really need a tentative itinerary to book stay accordingly. As it is, I feel like we didn't plan our flights right.

jayne1973

I would keep Bryce and skip Arches.

sharondi

With just 5 days beginning in Phoenix and ending in Denver, you can try to do something like:

sharondi

Ooops! As I was saying...

Day 1 Phoenix to Sedona
Day 2 Sedona to Grand Canyon
Day 3 Grand Canyon to Monument Valley
Day 4 MV to Moab (Arches)
Day 5 Moab to Denver

You surely don't have time to do much in these places but you will at least see some incredible scenery. There is no way you have time to include Zion, Bryce or Page. You might also consider just a quick view of Monument Valley and continue on to Moab that day. That would give you a second night somewhere - maybe Moab where you'll have a better chance finding lodging. Booking a room in Grand Canyon will be tough at this late date. Good luck!

sassy27

I am going to agree with the expert travelers who have already provided their advice. Your itinerary is just too much and in my opinion you would be heading in the wrong direction to Denver with the short amount of time you have. I like the suggestion sharondi put out there. We did the Phoenix to Sedona to Monument Valley to Page to Grand Canyon back to Phoenix in 8 nights and it felt like we drove forever even though we had 2 night stopovers in Sedona, Monument Valley, Page and Phoenix.

utahtea

I think sharondi has given you the best route you can hope for since you are stuck with the Phoenix as a starting and Denver as an ending point and so few days to work with.

When you leave Moab drive Scenic Hwy 128 to reach I-70 on your way to Denver. You will see some VERY beautiful scenery! http://www.milebymile.com/main/highway-344.html

Utahtea

WhereAreWe

<Day 1: Arrive at phx at 7pm. Drive to Sedona to spend the night.

Day 2: Cathedral rocks at sunrise>


Sunrise is approximately 5:20 am, and sunset is at approximately 7:40 pm in June.

If you arrive at 7pm, you will spend an hour collecting your bags and getting a rental car. It's a 2 hour drive to Sedona (in the dark) and you'll arrive at about 10pm (which is midnight Florida time). Maybe you'll get up for sunrise but I find that unlikely so....I would advise you to instead get a room in the northern Phoenix metro area the first night. Drive up the next day, go through Sedona and then head to the Grand Canyon. Yes you will miss sunrise at Cathedral Rock, but you'll probably miss it anyway unless you really think you'll all be awake at 4:30 to get dressed and drive to your viewing point.

Beyond that, call every day to get a reservation at the Grand Canyon South Rim. Their website will likely say that they are booked up so you need to call them and inquire about cancellations and availability. Book a room in Tusayan (right outside the park) for now as a backup plan, but keep calling and calling every day or even several times a day until you get a room inside the park.

I think Sharondi's itinerary is the a good one. The only change I could make is to swap out Monument Valley for Bryce Canyon - and that depends on whether you would rather see Monument Valley or Bryce. Zion is out of the question, you don't have enough time to do it any justice whatsoever. Bryce is much easier to do in a short amount of time. If you do go there, sunrise is worth a shot if you can get up that early.

Arches has a lot of short walks to arches/windows so it definitely makes sense to keep that in your itinerary. If you find you have a few spare hours after that, you could drive through Colorado National Monument by Grand Junction/Fruita on your way to Denver.

utahtea

WhereAreWe said: The only change I could make is to swap out Monument Valley for Bryce Canyon - and that depends on whether you would rather see Monument Valley or Bryce.

I had though about that too but it's going to add another 235 miles and about 4 hours of driving time to your already busy schedule. Bryce to Moab is going to be a LONG day...but if you go, then take Hwy 12 to Torrey and drive though Capitol Reef on Hwy 24 to get to I-70.

Utahtea

WhereAreWe

I agree with you. That's why I said could instead of would....they could swap out Monument Valley for Bryce if they have a strong preference for Bryce. Not sure I would do it but wanted to throw it out there as an alternative since they did mention Bryce in their initial itinerary.

Nelson

I'll throw in another vote for sharondi's itinerary. My wife and I just drove that route in April, an iconic western landscape. Yes, Bryce and especially Zion would trump Monument Valley, but given your airport schedule those are just too far away, IMHO.

If possible stay in The View hotel at MV. They may be booked up however. Cameron Trading Post is a good place to stop for lunch between Grand Canyon and MV.

A short side trip to Goosenecks State Park near Mexican Hat could be worth it. In fact there are a lot of lesser known sites not far off the road along this route that are interesting. But in general you'll have to stay focused on the biggies. Point is there is a lot to see along here. Sometimes these smaller places produce the best memories.

Arches is great both as a driving and hiking park. Definitely do the Highway 128 drive suggested by utahtea on the way to Colorado.

It may be hard to think you are dropping half your planned trip, but less is more in this case.

emalloy

If you use sharondi'sitinerary, and you can't get lodging in Grand Canyon, then head east on 64, stop at the sights along the way then stay overnight at Cameron Trading Post.

Starting from Cameron will make the drive to Monument Valley about 2 hours. You can see MV and then head to Moab which is about 2 hours from there. That would mean you could spend 2 nights in Moab and then do the trip to Denver. We enjoyed Cali Cochita B&B in Moab if you can get a res there.

Traveller51

You better make sure there are plenty of clean bathrooms along the route. It will not be a happy trip for the "pregnant woman" if there are long stretches without them. If she is your wife it will translate into an unhappy trip for you.