SueZ

My husband and I will be traveling to Las Vegas the first week in September. We will be in there for two nights and then travel on to Zion for two nights (only one booked in the park, so far) and then to Bryce for two nights (America's Best Value Inn-Tropic, UT) and then back to Vegas for one night and home. My question, should we only spend one night at Bryce and then go to another place nearby for a night before heading back to Vegas? Is there someplace nearby that we shouldn't miss? We are interested in doing some beginning hiking in both parks. Of course, I realize our lodging choices are very limited due to our late planning. Thanks so much for your help.

planning_ahead

From what I've read on Fodors its personal choice how many nights to stay. It seems to me that there is sooo much to see in the area that you have to be careful or you will just develop a tick-list break where you are constantly moving on rather than having time to explore further. We have opted for 2-3 nights most places so that we don't have to keep checking in and packing the car. But I see that some folks move to a different place each day.
Hilary

MichelleY

We just did a similar trip in early June. We based in St. George since we used a timeshare. I would not recommend what we did. Your plan is more time effecient. We only spent one night in Bryce, which was fine for us. It just depends on how much hiking you would like to do. We also spent only one night at the N. Rim Grand Canyon. We could have used one more there. Hopefully others will chime in here with must sees or check some trip reports. Here is ours:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35139760

Also check on tripadvisor for advice. I found it very helpful.

Keep checking for vacancies at both Bryce and Zion. They open up frequently.

This is such a beautiful part of our country. We will go back some day.

MY

Myer

I think if you planned to get to Bryce a bit before noon, you could easily hike Navajo Loop down and Queen's Garden back up.

Then I would drive the scenic road to see Bryce Point, Inspiration Point and Natural Bridge.

The rest are pretty similar.

Then walk along the rim between Sunrise Point & sunset point as the sun goes down.

Get up very early the next morning and go to Bryce Point for a spectacular sunrise.

I see you don't have in-park reservations for Bryce.

If you're going to go the Bryce Pt for sunrise, I would keep trying for in-park lodging. Call, call, call. They open up.

This should give you a very good taste of Bryce.

It's then about 4 hours back to Vegas.

Supercilious

On your return drive from Bryce, you might consider going up to Panguitch and then driving the scenic byway over to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Then you can head south on I-15 from Cedar City. If you have time, drive into the Kolob Canyons area of Zion. This is a very scenic part of the Park that most visitors miss.