jul4

In june, We will be flying into vegas on sunday morning and plan on driving right to zion and staying thru sunday nite and continuing to explore zion on monday. monday nite we plan on driving to bryce. we are going to stay there two nites so we can see bryce and the surrounding are in two days. then we were going to drive wed nite to the grand canyon(which i read is not advisable to do in the dark) see the grand canyon on thursday and either stay there thursday nite and go to vegas on friday or go staraight to vegar thursday night. We need to be in veags friday afternoon.
Since it is not advisable to drive to the grand canyon at nite any ideas for revisions of plans? is there somewhere between bryce and the canyon we could stop? is there something to see in between? we have to be in vegas friday afternoon

tomfuller

Are you planning on going to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon from Bryce? Are you going to go through Page to get back to Las Vegas?
Being able to see the country you are driving through is an important part of the trip. Don't drive through at night>

emalloy

It is not ideal, but if you really want to see the Grand Canyon, cut the extra night in Bryce, you will have seen sunset and sunrise and had some time to visit the viewpoints and do a bit of hiking.

The reason you don't want to drive at night is that the roads are curvy and there are lots of animals like deer, antelope, elk who think that the other side of the road is where they want to be and hitting one at night is too easy. The roads are also quite small and curvy so you don't have much in the way of line of sight.

If you don't have lodging yet, get that before you decide which place to go first, second, third.

emalloy

hit too soon

The north rim of GC is the only one that makes sense with your time restrictions.

jul4

What's in Paige ? Is north rim closer to Vegas ? Or Bryce?
so if we leave Bryce by five could go most of way to gc in light. Should we stay there Thursday night or on page?

jul4

Also why does north rim make more sense?

jul4

Sorry for all the questions but I value all your opinions. If we skip Grand Canyon what would you suggest we do after Bryce before Vegas ?

tomfuller

With your limited time, I'd skip Bryce and go directly to the North Rim through Kanab from Zion. If you had a few extra hours before you had to be in Las Vegas, you could turn off I-15 and go through Valley Of Fire State Park (Nevada) and then south along the west side of Lake Meade coming out on US 93 near Hoover Dam. See the dam before heading into LV.

emalloy

jul14

Zion to North rim of GC is about 2 and a half hours, Zion to south rim is more than 4 and a half hours. The Grand Canyon really is Grand and to get from one side to another you either have to hike down 9 miles, across the bottom and up 8 miles or drive a long way around. I really like the views from the south rim best, but in June it will be more crowded at the south rim and lodging will be difficult in both.

If you have never been to GC, go to it. If you decide not to go to GC, from Bryce you go back through Zion (the scenery is beautiful in that direction too) to get to Vegas. If you want something else, loop through Valley of Fire on the way back to Vegas. You could easily spend more time in either Bryce or Zion.

MichelleY

I think your plan is fine. Go to the North Rim GC and leave there Friday morning to get back to LV.

utahtea

I would spend your time at Zion and Bryce Canyon and skip the Grand Canyon. I think the South Rim is best for 1st timers and you don't have enough time for that. Go straight to Bryce and spend Monday & Tuesday night. Drive to Zion and spend Wed & Thur. nights. On Friday you could drive thought Valley of Fire State Park in NV if you felt like it.

Utahtea

WhereAreWe

Sunday am: drive to the Grand Canyon South Rim (visit Hoover Dam along the way if that interests you). Spend the afternoon around the main village area and along the Hermits Rest shuttle route. Overnight at the South Rim

Monday: get up to watch sunrise, then drive towards the east and stop at various viewpoints, exit the Grand Canyon and head to Bryce. You'll get there late afternoon without rushing. Overnight at Bryce

Tuesday: spend all day at Bryce, overnight there again

Wednesday: get up early for sunrise at Bryce, then pack up and head to Zion. Spend most of Wednesday and all day Thursday at Zion.

Friday morning: head to Vegas, drive through Snow Canyon State Park and/or Valley of Frie on the way.

This plan lets you do all your driving in daylight, and you'll hit all 3 parks withi being too rushed. I prefer leaving Zion til the end so you have a shorter drive back to Vegas. I think that would be less stressful knowing you don't have to rush yourself on Friday to get back.

jul4

You all have been helpful. I think we are gonna go to Zion on sun and stay two nites. Leave early tues go to bryce and stay two nites then thurs morning drive to page and fri morning go to Vegas. (We will do another trip in the future hopefully and see gc and Sedona)

On a separate note since seeing pictures of Bryce to me that is the thing ism most loking fowArd to Am I gonna be disappointed? It seems others aren't that excited about it

jul4

Also is vegas the best airport we could msybe fly into phonic or salt lake city is that closer?

MichelleY

I think Where We Are's plan is good.

sludick

jul4 - Bryce is a small park, and so it doesn't take a huge time commitment. We have only gone once, during late June-early July. It was hellishly hot, and we did only one hike of about 2 hours. We are going again, in October this year, and planning some extra time.

It is just stunning. But it just doesn't command the time commitment that Zion does, for example.

Out of curiosity, when are you planning to do this trip:

jul4

We are going the end of June. We are planning to spend two nights best Bryce because I heard there are other things nearby am I wrong?

MichelleY

EMalloy's recommendation is good also. You are so close, so don't skip the GC.

utahtea

There is the group of people who favor Zion and then there is the group who favor Bryce. I will admit that I one of the people who favor Zion over Byrce but every time I go to Bryce I'm still in awww of the scenery! I doubt you will be disappointed. What else do you plan to do while staying at Bryce?

Since you say you will be back to the area, I'd stick to your plan and do the Grand Canyon when you have more time.

Utahtea

WhereAreWe

It sounds like you are planning on 2 nights at Zion, 2 nights at Bryce and one night in Page. I would not skip the North Rim to spend a night in Page. Either add a night to Zion or go to the North Rim.

Bryce can be a one or two night stay, its up to you.