giedas2

I've been researching these forums for a little bit now and have found some great info (thank you!) but I was hoping to get some feedback on the specifics of the trip that I'm planning before I lock it in. My husband & I will be flying from Philly to Vegas the first Saturday in October. We plan on departing Sun morning for Zion/Kanab (we are huge animal lovers so would like to visit the sanctuary). Spending 2 nights in Springdale, 1 night for Bryce, 1 night for Capitol Reef, and then 2 nights in Moab before departing Saturday morning for an afternoon flight out of Grand Junction. I know this is the pretty standard itinerary but is there anything we should adjust? We're not trying to be overly ambitious and don't want to stay in a different hotel every single night. Also don't really want to be in the car for more than 3 hours a day per day.

On another note, can we swing a convertible in early Oct or will we look like idiots? We did San Fran to LA in a convertible last Sept and absolutely loved it. We travel light so space isn't an issue. Neither is cost for this particular trip. I just want to make sure we can get to all the parks and not have any issues getting up hills, terrible weather, etc.

db6040

The plan looks good overall but if there is anyway you can add a few extra nights I think it would be even better. 3 nights in Springdale and 3 in Moab really would allow you to see so much more. If you can only add one night I would give it to Moab - 2 nights there is really not enough. On the day you drive from Capitol Reef to Moab consider stops at Little Wildhorse Canyon and Goblin's Valley. Goblins valley is one of my husbands favorite places in Utah! It is a lot of fun. We did a similar (although longer) trip last October and the weather was very warm (we are from Pittsburgh so used to weather that is similar to yours in Phladelphia). In fact, it was outright HOT at many of the places - Bryce will be cooler due to elevation.

Do you have your lodging in place? If not, that should probably be the first thing you do.

tomfuller

Is Grand Junction your best option for turning in your one way car rental? Can you get a better price turning it in in Salt Lake City?
If you do have to fly out of Grand Junction, you can take the California Zephyr out of SLC at 3:30AM and get to Grand Junction before 11AM. The train goes through beautiful Ruby Canyon from Utah into Colorado along the Colorado River.
By all means, don't skip Goblin Valley.

giedas2

I booked hotels on booking.com last night (all with free cancellation) just to be safe. The only place I couldn't really find a place to stay was in the Bryce Canyon area. I suppose we could fly into Vegas on Friday night and head for Zion Saturday morning instead but I believe the hotel choices for Saturday in Springdale were really limited.

The drive/flight is really the factor in where we fly out of. I would gladly pay more for the rental car if I can drop it off at Grand Junction rather than make the drive to SLC or Vegas. In a perfect world we would loop back to Vegas but I don't think we can make the drive from Moab and then hop on a red eye. It's too much.

Looking into Goblin Valley now!

emalloy

If it is a choice between an extra half day in Moab for Arches and Canyonlands or time in Goblin Valley, I would pick Moab any day. Goblin is interesting but Arches and Canyonlands are awesome.

For your trip up to Grand Junction, do take UT 128 up to I-70, it has wonderful scenery.

tomfuller

Dollar and Alamo seem to have the lowest one way prices from Las Vegas to Grand Junction. They seem to be in the $70-75 range. You might be able to get a better deal using Priceline and naming your own price.
You might get a cheaper airline flight to Boston if you drove all the way to Denver to turn the car in.

indyhiker

Why in the world would you want to drive all the way to Denver to return a car when you can drive a relatively short distance--much of it scenic--to Grand Junction and fly home from there? At some point, time becomes money. Equally strange is the suggestion to drive from Moab to SLC to take a train at 3:30 AM to Grand Junction. The drive to Grand Junction from Moab is less than two hours. You could have a civilized breakfast in Moab and still make your flight in Grand Junction. I'd note that GJ's airport is rather pleasant.

OP, I think you plan is workable, but I agree with the suggestion to add time to Zion and/or Moab. We spent a week at just Zion and never ran out of things to do and an equal amount of time in Moab. Of course, I'm an avid hiker, any of the parks could entertain me on their own for days.

I'd suggest you search for accommodation using other search tools, too. While a lot of hotels use Booking.com, I can't say that all of them do. But Bryce does have fewer options overall, and some of the places in both Springdale and Moab are small and may or may not be on Booking.com. We stayed at the Best Western in Springdale and it served our purposes. In Moab, we stayed at the Adventure Inn. It was nothing fancy, but it was clean and quiet.

giedas2

Thank you everyone for the advice! I just booked a 3rd night in Moab and will plan on heading up 128 on the way to Grand Junction. I'm an Alamo insider and the cost to pickup in Vegas and drop off in Grand Junction is not bad considering the time we are saving. I booked one of the Bryce Canyon Cabins today fearing that if I waited any longer I wouldn't find anything. Hotels are all set. Now I just need to figure out the daily logistics.

sharondi

Not sure what time your flight gets in to Las Vegas from Philly, but if its early, I'd suggest skipping the overnight in LV and head right out to Springdale. It's an easy 2 1/2 hr drive, and its so nice to wake up in the midst of Zion National Park. You'll appreciate the extra time there.