Trying to plan trip out west to see national parks say early july 2 weeks-16 days with 2 girls 12 and 14 and wife who doesnt want to spend every day driving 3 hrs. Say must see south rim grand canyon, bryce, zion, sedona. Say fly into phoenix, rent car, any suggestions. I would like to go as far north as yellowstone/tetons but maybe to much? Save for another time. Kinda hardy stock new yorkers though. How crowded is everything? Any better sites to visit /plan trip from?Sent away for maps / stuff will plan over xmas.

Paul: You will find a wealth of information on the National Park System's webpage at www.nps.gov -- click on the park you're interested in and you're off, with links to more. Distances are great in the west and you will definitely need to plan in lots of driving time (3 hours is nothing!), but I find this is most palatable if you stay at least 2-3 nights in one place, then drive to the next and stay 2-3 nights there, etc. You just can't drive every day or you'll have a car full of cranky people. You can see a lot in 16 days but I would plan on just hitting what you want in Arizona and Utah and leave Yellowstone/Tetons for another time. Book your stay at the Grand Canyon ASAP if you haven't already -- it books up WAY in advance, sometimes up to 2 years -- so call TODAY if possible. The rest will be easier once you get your stay at the Canyon set. Try to stay in the park if at all possible; a room with a view of the canyon will probably be hard to come by at this point but would be a plus. There are old threads here on this forum on where to stay on the South Rim if you do a search under "Grand Canyon." I just talked to someone who stayed at El Tovar a few months ago and liked it a lot. Get input from the rest of the gang about what activities they're interested in doing because that will determine how long you want to stay at the Canyon. There's a lot available -- mule rides down into the Canyon (if they're not already booked), white water rafting, hiking tours, etc. If they're not interested in any of that then you don't need to allot as much time there, but that would be a shame. I think your girls are the perfect age to enjoy this trip. I think with the time you have available, I'd plan on staying at least 4-5 nights at the canyon, 2-3 in Sedona, and divide the rest of the time up in Utah among Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands & Arches National Parks (or fewer if the group is really driving-averse). Good luck!

Paul: Forgot to mention -- I assume you may already know this, but the Fodor's Home Page (the main one, not the Forum home page) has a link at the bottom to Parks which also has a ton of information available. I can't emphasize enough the importance of getting your Grand Canyon reservations ASAP -- you are going at one of the busiest times of the year.

If your wife does not want to drive more than 3 hrs a day you are not going to see much. Quite honestly the areas you are talking about cover alot of mileage, 3 hrs. is nothing to those of us who live out this way! You need to get a good map and plot out mileage and stops otherwise you are going to have an unpleasant vacation! I'd suggest staying in one place for a few days too, give her a chance to "recover" before you drive to another destination .. which could be 7 or 8 hrs. away! I'd also save Yellowstone for another time, if you don't want to drive that much you can't do it all. People out this way often drive 2 or 3 hours to the nearest big city (or town) just to shop ...

I would also recommend saving Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons for another trip. A few thoughts on your plans:
1. Assuming you fly into Phoenix and arrive during the daytime, I would recommend you drive directly to Sedona as your first overnight stay.
2. As long as you want to go to Bryce and Zion, I'd recommend you consider the North Rim at the Grand Canyon--much less crowded.
2. As long as you are going to Bryce and Zion, definitely include Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelley. Like the Grand Canyon, you should make reservations early at Monument Valley--specifically at Goulding's Lodge (801-721-3231). It's worth an overnight stay just to get up early to watch from the balcony outside your room the sun rise over the monuments--a truly thrilling sight.

Let me see if I have this right.
You want to visit the American west, where distances between worthwhile attractions are huge, and your wife does not want to spend every day driving 3 hours? Let me ask two questions: (1) How does driving 8 hours a day grab her? (2) Is she willing walk 3 hours a day??

If the answer to #1 is ARGHHH!! and the answer to #2 is NO WAY, then I respectfully suggest that you not go. Find a nice hotel in the Adirondacks or New Vermont and enjoy life. I doubt if you will have to dodge any rattle snakes up there, or drink water out of canteen.

It takes longer than 3 hours to drive from the South Rim of the GC to the North Rim!! Or more than 4 hours to drive from the South Rim to Bryce. And you are not going to see much of anything without getting out of the car and getting into the parks by doing a little walking.
And Yellowstone is well north of the Grand Canyon. The distance from Phoenix to Yellowstone is over 1,000 miles by the most direct route. Besides, most of that country is just a lot of dumb sandstone colored red with big holes cut in it. I mean, at the GC all you can do is look over the edge, or maybe ride a mule. And all Yellowstone has is water that spews out of the ground. We got fire hydrants that do that. And all Arches has is grungy red sandstone walls with holes cut in them by the wind. Manhattan has more impressive canyons.