This fodorite community never ceases to amaze me. Thanks to all of you for all of these trip suggestions (and even more, for all of your reassurances about my son's allergy). When my son had his severe reaction 1.5 years ago, I had a bit of a hard time initially, but since then, life has normalized again. I know that it will be the same with travel - it's just a matter of gaining that experience. Last Spring, right afterwards, we decided to take a "safe" trip to Florida and spent time at Disney. Disney is so unbelievable for people with allergies that it was easier being on vacation than being at home : ) I know this won't be that way, but I also trust in us that we can be diligent enough to make it happen. We are all SO excited about this trip!

I'm going to read through everything again to take it all in and I'll write out again with further questions or at the least with an updated itinerary.

If anyone else with young kids has suggestions about good hikes in any of the parks we're visiting, they'd be great. We just watched a Youtube video of someone doing the Angel's Landing hike - it looked so phenomenal that we'll be jealous we can't do it this trip, but it reminded us how important it is to take the right hikes so as not to end up in overly scary situations with the kids. We were in Lake Placid last summer and both boys did some amazing hikes with some large scrambles, but the drop-offs that I've seen as being in the Utah NPs are something else!

Jenn

Oh and our dates are actually start near the beginning of May, which will avoid most of the issues surrounding Memorial Day weekend. We were actually thinking of maybe bringing the trip back a week, to the end of April (looks like it may be easier and cheaper for lodging) - does anyone see any potential benefits or disadvantages of doing that? How about weather - will it make much/any difference?

Normally, I would caution about possible snow at the end of April but sadly, this year, snow has been a rare event.

The wildflowers in Zion start blooming about mid May. With the very warm winter, they might be earlier this year.

The only area in Utah with over normal snowpack are the mountains that feed the Virgin River in Zion. So hiking the Narrows in late April will be iffy.

You will have plenty of easy hikes for the kids in all the parks. Just stop at the Visitor's Center, take the map and ask questions. Most all the hikes are beautiful!

Check out the parks on nps.gov. You can actually view the park newsletter for each park. The newsletters list all of the good hikes, times for restaurants or snack bars, shuttle schedules, and ranger talks. You can also download/print the junior ranger books for each park--helps create some excitement and gives them something to do in the car. There is also info about the animals and plants in the park etc. Lots of great info!!

Good for you vacationing as a family. Many years ago we traveled each summer with our three youngsters exploring different sites, e.g., traveling for some weeks through Colorado or Black Hills or Kentucky or New England. However, we had a tent and then camper and then trailer and preferred state or national parks. So our fun was campfires and hiking and historic sites. We shunned Las Vegas and Disney World. OK did stop at Six Flags. Over the years we've enjoyed places mentioned like Zion and Arches.

Now then, I suspect sons 5 and 7 are going to be worn out as well as entertained. Keep in mind you are driving considerable distances. So I would shift from what to see to consider what they might enjoy. What strikes me is splashing in a motel pool and video games and kid's fun parks and maybe collecting pine cones or just digging in dirt (like one of our boys). Of course I should mention ice cream stores. So this does shift the emphasis from just what to see.

Las Vegas - If you enjoy the gangster era when LV was the-the safest city in the US, visit Mob Museum. It is down town.
http://themobmuseum.org/ Have lunch at near by Main Street Casino. They have the original furniture of the past train era. Not many people know there is an upstairs. MUST go up (hidden elevator) and see their gorgeous 1800s classic billiard tables.

Dinosaurs. I was not that impressed with Mill Canyon Dino trail. Hard to impossible to find a bone. There is an abandoned copper mine in that area.

There is one area, essentially across the road from Mill, where two different Dino tracks are frozen in stone. The interesting aspect is that they make a turn - ask at Moab visitor center. Entry is off highway 191 at MP 148.7 driving east. High clearance is probably required.

There is another set of dino tracks at Poison Spider Mesa at Mile 9.4 off highway 279, Potash Road. Drive up the road to the park lot and look behind you to the upper right for a white flat rock. Tracks are visible from the parking lot. Walk up there where there are very good petroglphs

Suggest visiting this real dino museum at Exit 10 off I-15 east about 4 miles of St. George, Ut.:
http://www.utah.com/stgeorge/johnson_farm.htm

Vaga

Hi all - thanks for all of your replies over the weekend! These are all really great suggestions about things to do with the kids. I've started to look on the NP websites for ideas. And as for simple things like swimming, we definitely hope to provide them with a decent amount of downtime at the places we're staying. We're staying almost exclusively at places with pools so as to allow them a lot of swimming and relaxation!

We did a bit of planning this weekend and now have our lodging secured for our first 4 nights. Our first two nights are going to be in Vegas at the Tahiti Village. Funny enough, before we booked the lodging that we wanted on the strip in Vegas, some big Mayweather boxing match got announced for that particular weekend and all of the lodging prices skyrocketed! Seriously -- about 2.5 times what they were last week. It shocked us and needless to say, it didn't seem worth it to spend that much. We've booked a suite at the Tahiti Village and it looks great. Lots of pools and even a little beach. And shuttles to the strip several times a day.

We also booked our two nights in Springdale at the Cable Mountain Lodge in a Classic Suite with Wall Bed (perfect - separate beds for the boys makes for better sleeping all around : ).

We've actually made major changes to the Colorado portion of the trip. Once I talked to my hubbie, he had some thoughts about what he wanted to see in Colorado and I think it makes for a great route. That said, it's all different now and so we'd love any opinions.

Here's the changes:

DAY 11
- We decided not to add any more time to the Utah NPs and to head straight to Mesa Verde on this day (2.5 hour drive).
- Afternoon and evening in Mesa Verde. Overnight at the Far View Lodge.

DAY 12
- half day at Mesa Verde NP (maybe a ranger-led hike).
- head out of Mesa Verde through Durango
- should we stay in Durango on this night or should we continue on our drive up the "Million Dollar Highway" to Ouray or Telluride?
- if you recommend driving the highway, would you stay in Ouray or Telluride?

DAY 13
(depending on far we drove on Day 13...)
- explore Telluride or Ouray/entire area - hiking, etc.
- do people actually recommend Jeep Tours with kids? How does it work with their car/booster seats? Do you think this is safe?

DAY 14
- explore Telluride or Ouray/entire area - hiking, etc.
- should we stay in the area one more night, or move along to get us somewhere closer to Woodland Park (see Day 15)?

DAY 15
— stop at the Woodland Park Dinosaur Museum on the way to Denver
- what is there to see on the drive from Ouray area towards Woodland Park?
— overnight in Denver

DAY 16
- half-day in Denver
- late afternoon flight from Denver to Toronto

Day 12 - 14.
Where to stay Day 12 depends when you leave MVNP. Also, if you aren't used to mountain driving, The Million Dollar highway is best done during daylight,Box Canyon Falls.

If it's late, stay in Durango; if early enough, drive to Ouray. Be sure to see the Falls there - they are just as you enter town, on the left.

Telluride is a pretty decent drive away from the Million Dollar Highway. Telluride is typically WAY more expensive than Ouray.

When you say hiking, how much of a hike vs. a walk are you talking about? 5 and 7 years of age is pretty young for most Telluride/ouray hikes. I would look to see if the are kid friendly walks. Also, are you coming from sea level? Telluride is pretty high up, altitude should be respected. Read up on Altitude Sickness.

As far as the Jeep rides - I see that they take any age. I have done some and they are pretty scary and I was not a newbie on them. Not sure, but doubt car seats will be allowed.

If you do a tour, I would suggest a half day only. And Yankee Boy Basin would most likely be the least scary.

Whatever you do, DO NOT rent a Jeep on your own. Not a good idea at all.

This is a popular vendor. http://soajeep.com/

Just my opinion but you have really short changed Colorado all around. A day in Mesa Verde is truly penny wise and pound foolish. There is much there that is totally captivating to youngsters, let alone adults. It is a wonder of the world--a lost civilization preserved.
Denver also has much more to offer than a day and especially for youngsters.
I would add to MV and then just head to Denver--via Woodland Park if you want.
Telluride and Ouray are fun and beautiful--you will have spent over a week in Utah in National Parks.

DebitNM -- we absolutely will be careful of altitude sickness, thank you for the reminder. Pre-kids, my husband and I did a lot of mountain hiking (including Kili's sister mountain - Mount Meru - a 4-day climb in Tanzania, where we watched many a couple race past us, only to get sick before reaching the summit). Our boys have summited with us before (nothing terribly strenuous, but we were surprised and impressed nonetheless), but we will be very mindful of which hikes we choose. I'm glad that you mentioned how tough the hikes are in the area (particularly because it sounds like a lot of hikes in the Utah parks are kid-doable, and so I wouldn't want to start assuming...). And thanks also for your thoughts about the Jeep Tours. I know nothing at all about them yet, but they automatically made me uncomfortable thinking of doing one with the kids. And now I can absolutely tell the hubbie that we will not be renting our own jeep either : ) Using our two feet will have to be good enough!

Gretchen, I can totally see where you're coming from. That said, we're planning a 16-day trip - 2 days are being spent in Nevada, 8 days in Utah and then 6 days in Colorado. Although it may seem uneven at the outset, I don't think it's too terrible (at one point, we had an extra day and I thought we'd add it to Utah, but then we decided to add it to Colorado). I will definitely re-think on giving Mesa Verda more time - my husband and I are very excited about visiting there and don't want to shortchange it. As for Denver, we're just not going to have time to do much more than the half-day we have allotted this time around. I'll admit that we tend to shortchange cities on our trips. Some people don't understand it, but we live in a big city ourselves and so taking the kids to a zoo and a museum, etc. (no matter how great they are), when we have world-class ones in our own city just doesn't take priority for us over the national parks etc. With unlimited time, yes. But when we're having to make choices, no.

Any more thoughts about our Colorado portion? Where to stay, hikes/drives, etc?

I think the trip has lost a little focus. You can visit cities and alpine scenery in Canada. I liked the previous scheme of a full day (9 hours at least to get in 2 tours) at Mesa Verde and then on to the Sand Dunes which are great fun for children, and also one of the fabulous sights of the SW.

Tom, have you been to MV?
OP, please add at least a day there. The Sand Dunes are wonderful but....
And you are entirely correct about your access at home to your museums. The Denver Art Museum however has an incredible Native American collection, as an example of what might be different when you go to another country/city.
But I also find that young children may not be as caught up in scenery day after day as adults can be, and want "different" things along the way. Just a thought.
with discovering that the jeep and hikes are difficult, maybe re-allocating those days to MV and beyond will work out.

Depending on spring run-off and your dates, Medano Creek at the Sand Dunes may be flowing. If conditions are right, your kids will love playing in the creek and running up and down the dunes.

www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/medano-creek.htm

Monte Vista and Alamosa are also options for an overnight near the Sand Dunes. Both have a variety of lodging. It has been many years since I've stayed there, but your kids might get a kick out of the Best Western Movie Manor in Monte Vista. The hotel is part of a drive-in movie theater. The screen is visible from the rooms with the sound piped in. There is a hospital in Alamosa.

I'm not sure if there are age restrictions, but look into the Fiery Furnace tour at Arches.

alwaysafrica, I am not chiming in here actually to offer advice. Rather, I did want to comment on how much I have enjoyed and benefited from reading this thread. Your efforts to work out a framework and thoughtful comments have allowed some of our best posters to respond in kind.

So, thanks, and I am so looking forward to hearing your experiences. No doubt this will be a memorable trip.

The kids might enjoy the Durango-Silverton train trip ... I think that is still a big attraction in that area.

Agree, edjim, a real highlight of one of our recent trips.

One thing to consider - take the train up and the bus back (or vice versa). The train journey is wonderful, but takes awhile and might be a bit too much for the kids. Besides, the bus gives you a different (and quicker) perspective.

As we went along, we saw people at every road crossing, waiting to see the train and take pictures. Really nice to be IN the train then. :-D

You'll have a couple of hours to eat, visit the shops, and wander Silverton before leaving. When we were there in September, there was a sudden quick snow storm in Silverton that blew open all the doors - yes, I bought a warm hoodie..

Might want to take the tour to see the round house in Durango as well - that's where they turn the train engines around.

I took the Silverton train ride for DH and *I* was bored. Lots of sitting. Lots of looking, but lots of sitting. Not fun for anybody active. If you do it, absolutely take the bus back!

The train would entertain the kids for 10 minutes. I agree with Stanton to a degree ; it's pretty scenery and fun to ride (except for the soot, don't wear white) but after the first dozen "oohs and ahhh" that's about it.

Hi all! Sorry for my delay in writing back.. but we were furiously trip planning : ) The trip is now official -- we have booked our flights! We also booked quite a few of our accommodations and our rental car (we've booked a Jeep Grand Cherokee - hopefully that will give us the high clearance that we hear is often required for driving in the area?). Here's what we have booked:

Las Vegas: Tahiti Village (1BR Suite)
Springdale: Cable Mountain Lodge
Capitol Reef: Austin's Chuckwagon Motel (2BR cabin) (thank you for the suggestion Stanton Hyde - the place looks great)
Mesa Verde: Far View Lodge (although I didn't realize that when you check availability, the site is not actually confirming availability! Once I confirmed our reservation, it then said that they will request our reservation and get back to us in the next 48 hours... so we now wait and see)
We're going to continue booking the rest of our lodgings.

Thanks to all once again for all of the opinions. Gretchen, we've decided to add that second night onto Mesa Verde, so that at the very least, we have a day and a half there (or more, if we'd like). As for all of the other comments, now that we've booked our flights and some lodging, we're going to be giving the Colorado portion of our trip alot more thought. I appreciate all of the insight and I'll keep you all posted : )

Sludick, thanks for the words. As I said at the very beginning, trip planning on these forums is always SO darn exciting for me... I love the idea that people take the time out of their lives to think about my trip and pass along advice. It really is amazing. And yes, I promise to write a detailed trip report when we get back...!