if your boys are into sports, specifically baseball, a tour of Chase Field in Phoenix is fun.http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/ari/ballpark/tours/

Also, a visit to SLIDE ROCK STATE PARK is great. There is a natural water slide made of rocks.... my boys loved it. We traveled there as a mid-day stop from Sedona to Grand Canyon. http://azstateparks.com/Parks/SLRO/kids.html

If you're going to Sedona the pink jeep tour is a must! https://www.pinkjeeptourssedona.com/broken-arrow-tour/

also, when in Bryce make sure you do the mule/horseback guided ride through the canyon. A "cowboy" leads the ride. Wonderful way to see the Canyon and much, much easier than Grand Canyon trail. One of the most memorable moments from our trip.

Good idea to do the second night at MV. The views from Far View lodge are wonderful. I'm guessing that you will have a cooler full of safe lunch/snack/etc food, but the Metate Room at Far view was quite good the last time we were there. Check the menu choices carefully, but they tend to use some local sources. Otherwise, there are cafeteria type places near there and near the museum that is close to the path for Spruce Tree House.

Spruce Tree house is one you can tour by yourself. Be sure to take the mesa top loop and stop at the sites on the way.

Sounds like the trip is shaping up nicely.

This website has some good ideas for family friendly hikes and activities in Utah. There are a couple dino track hikes listed too.

http://climb-utah.com/family.htm

I don't see much talk about the amount of snow/ice at some of the higher elevations. Bryce will still have snow, the upper elevations of Zion will too and for sure some of the trails in Colorado will be covered in snow.

Actually, this year there is NO SNOW. The least snowy winter on record in Utah. Bryce Winter fest in February was a complete bust. People went down planning to ride their bicycles vs. skiing. Unless it snows like gang busters in March and April, there will be no issue with snow. We went to Moab over Pres Day Weekend. Soldier Summit on Route 6--very little to no snow. It is going to be a scary water situation for us this summer.

I would still advise the OP to check on trail conditions close to their travel dates. There's a lot of winter left at the higher elevations.

Bryce Canyon is closed today due to a winter storm.

Hi all!

I'm so glad that people are still adding their opinions! Thank you, thank you!

FPK1005 - with regard to the Mule/Horseback guided ride, do you think it's appropriate with 2 young boys? It sounds fantastic, but neither of my sons have been on horseback before. Would like your thoughts.

Thanks to those who mentioned snow! I can't believe I never thought of the possibility. We'll keep our eyes/ears open closer to the date.

I'm quite disappointed because I tried to get us tickets to do the Fiery Furnace in Arches and they are already all sold out for our dates! Do many more spots open up closer to the date, do you think?

We're still deciding on our options for the Colorado portion of our trip. As I said above, we've decided to stay 2 nights in Mesa Verde to give us extra time there. While I know that there were some comments as to losing the "focus" of our trip, I do think the overall focus is to simply see the most beautiful things (that aren't too out of our way) while on our trip. In Utah, those things are the NPs we're visiting. In Colorado, definitely Mesa Verde. To be honest, there weren't a ton of suggestions outside of that (except for Sand Dunes, which look amazing, but don't seem worthy of 3-4 days and then take us way out of the way of anything else that we'd want to see). We definitely have Rockies in Canada - but certainly (and unfortunately!) not near us in Toronto : ) So if Telluride/Ouray has beautiful scenery and hikes, that sounds wonderful. And from what I've read, the Million Dollar Highway is "one of the most spectacular drives in the US" - do people agree?

So we were thinking of driving from Mesa Verde, up the Million Dollar Highway, to Telluride and Ouray to do some hiking. We were also thinking of stopping by the Black Canyon of the Gunnison - do people think this is worth it? How much time should we estimate?

Finally, during our time in one of the NPs, do people recommend any boating? We can't white-water raft with the kids obviously, but do people recommend a jet-boat experience or any other type of boating that people might know is available? Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Jenn

Black Canyon of the Gunnison is pretty cool but it looks like it is out of the way if you're also going to Great Sand Dunes. There isn't a lot of hiking at Black Canyon, the canyon walls are far too steep for normal tourists to hike down into the canyon and the trails above the rim aren't super scenic.

Arches is only taking reservations for morning tours and their website says they may add afternoon tours if they have enough staff, but you will have to purchase tickets in person. Since you have several days in that area you may luck out and get tickets.

http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/programs.htm
"Afternoon tours in 2015 will be offered as staff is available. Tickets for afternoon tours will be sold in person at the front desk up to seven days in advance. Tours sell out quickly; stop by the visitor center as soon as you arrive in Moab to inquire about the next available spaces."

The website said that everything is booked until June 29th! Can this possibly be true?! You're right though, with a few days in the area, we'll check in there and see if they've added any time slots.

We've actually decided against Great Sand Dunes, because it's out of the way of everything else. And so we're going to go directly from Mesa Verde, up the Million Dollar Hwy to Telluride and Ouray and then may do BC of the Gunnison once we're heading towards Denver. Anything else you would recommend in that area?

alwaysafrica--While Fiery Furnace is really awesome, I still say my favorite hike in Arches is Delicate Arch. Gets me every time!!! So definitely check to see if there are slots but it will be ok if there are not!

Having been a mom of an active boy who liked to "do" stuff - I would suggest coming back to Denver through Glenwood Springs and staying at the Hotel Colorado. You can swim in the Glenwood Hot Springs pool in ANY weather and there are some mellow raft trips (even in late May) that start in Glenwood. On the way in to Denver, you can stop in Breckenridge and ride the alpine slide, the chairlifts, and maybe take in a bike ride along their miles of bike paths. In Breck, there is also the Country Boy Mine tour that my son and his cousins thought was the coolest thing ever! You are doing lots of parks and seeing lots of beautiful scenery, but your boys may want to do some regular "kid things" too!

SaltysMom, we absolutely love your ideas! We've just spent the last hour looking up places in those areas and it looks great. Our boys would be thrilled. Unfortunately, we're going to be there only one short week before a lot of the attractions (and slides, etc. at the hot springs) open on Memorial Day weekend, but that's okay. Here's a tentative plan -- what do you think?

Day 11 - 2nd day in Mesa Verde (stay at the Far View Lodge)

Day 12 - drive the Million Dollar Highway and stay in Telluride (2 hours from MV to Telluride). Maybe we'll have time for a late-afternoon short hike in the area.

Day 13 - leave Telluride mid-day (perhaps fitting in a short hike in the morning) and head into Glenwood Springs. Stay at Hotel Colorado. Enjoy the pools etc.

Day 14 - Go to the Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs. Stay another night at Hotel Colorado.

Day 15 - enjoy the pools in the morning and then drive 1.5 hours to Breckenridge. Do the Country Mine Tour. Any suggestions on where to stay?

Day 16 - in the morning, drive the 1.5 hours into Denver. Have lunch and head to the airport (as I said earlier, I know that we'll be missing a lot of great stuff in Denver, but we've decided to leave Denver out of this trip...). Flight home at 6:30pm.

Thoughts? : )

Can't remember now, but hope you'll look for some dinosaur things in Utah--or around Gunnison, I think. Your kids are just the right age-- older, not so much.

"Day 12 - drive the Million Dollar Highway and stay in Telluride (2 hours from MV to Telluride)."

No, not 2 hours.

First of all, it will take close to 45 minutes just to exit the park.
If you go through Durango, then onto the Million Dollar Highway to get to Telluride, it is closer to 4 hours once you are on CO 160.

If you went on CO 145, it would about 2 hours. It's a pretty ride that way too. Some nice viewing stops along the way.

I can't remember your exact dates, but I don't think the Country Boy Mine opens until late May.

I definitely knew that the MV to Telluride would take more than the stated 2 hours (particularly because we'll also be stopping to take tons of photos I'm sure). Good to know about the 4 hours to start.

We're really happy with the new additions for some kid-friendly things on our way to Denver. That said, we don't want to end the trip with a complete 180. And so we're hoping to fit in some good hiking in the newly-chosen areas. Any recommended hikes (good with kids) in the areas of Glenwood Springs and/or Breckenridge?

Gretchen, you're absolutely right. In my newfound plan, I totally forgot about our plan to go to Woodland Park to the Dinosaur Museum! : ( It definitely is too far to make it there with our current plan. I'm going to peek around to see what else re dinosaurs we can fit in. It's a must for our boys for sure.

Awwww... you're right wtm003. Country Boy Mine is only open on weekdays until May 23rd. And as it so happens, we're going to be there only on a Saturday : (

There was a place fairly close to Denver that had a few dino tracks, and I totally forget the name of it but it was pretty close to Red Rocks park/amphitheater which would be fun for the kids to see and try running up and down the stairs like the fit Colorado folks do.

Are you driving through Grand Junction on your way from Telluride to Glenwood Springs?
I believe there are some dino things in either Grand Junction or Fruita, which is 20-30 miles away. Possibly a museum? Colorado National Monument is also right there if you have time, although it isn't as spectacular as the parks in Utah.

We're excited because we decided to stay, while in Bryce Canyon, at the Bryce Canyon Lodge within the park (rather than at Canyon Pines). We just got confirmation of our reservation - and the place looks fantastic.

We've also booked one of our three nights in Moab in a "tent" at Moab Under Canvas. Sounds really unique and we're looking forward to it. For the other two nights, we've rented a 3BR town home, so we'll be able to spread out a bit for the 2 nights (i.e., our boys will have their own bedrooms, which should help them catch up on some sleep : ).

WhereAreWe, great suggestion. We are indeed going through Grand Junction and so we will stop at the Dinosaur Journey Museum. We'll also still be doing the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail while in Moab.

Just disappointed about the Country Boy Mine, because I feel that would be such a different experience, but I just don't see how we'd be able to be in Breckenridge on anything but a Saturday.

I am getting more and more excited about this trip everyday! As I knew would happen, the trip is continually being transformed by everyone's suggestions and comments, and is becoming more and more wonderful. I can barely wait until we leave!