sarahlizpa

Our family of five (kids ages 10, 8 and 4) are planning a summer vacation to Arizona and Utah. We typically do quite a few activities including hiking on our vacations and our kids are great travelers. Two years ago we spent two weeks and traveled from Denver to Mount Rushmore, to Cody, WY, to Yellowstone then through the Tetons. It was a blast! We would love a similar experience exploring this region.

We live in Ohio and are planning to fly into Phoenix. I have a conference in Sedona at the beginning of August for four days. We will likely stay in an Airbnb/VRBO property near Sedona. From there, we would like to experience the Grand Canyon. After a couple days at the Grand Canyon, we would like to explore as much of Southern Utah as possible. We will likely say in Moab to explore Arches and Canyonlandsand perhaps stay in Springdale and explore Zion.

I would love your advice about our Utah experience. We'll likely fly out of Vegas at the completion of the trip. Appreciate your input!

WhereAreWe

First, how many days total do you have after the work conference? Without that piece, it's virtually impossible to give recommendations for southern Utah.

Secondly, I would recommend flying in and out of Las Vegas unless you find a good deal on a car rental and flights. I've typically found that flights and car rentals are cheaper using Las Vegas rather than Phoenix, and you will almost certainly have a one-way drop fee if you rent Phoenix and drop it in Vegas. Drive to Sedona is a couple hours longer if you fly into Vegas, but that's not a big deal.

sarahlizpa

We're flexible on the dates. We plan to spend about 2 weeks total on vacation/conference. The conference is four days. It sounds like a loop from Vegas may be the best option. Thanks for the advice!

Virginia1990

It sounds like your flight to Vegas, driving to Sedona, conference in Sedona and the Grand Canyon for a couple days is going to take up nearly a week in itself. What if you cut out Moab and focused further south in Utah? You could do Lake Powell/Page, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and return to Vegas with a stop at the Hoover Dam in the second week. It would allow you more time in each place, and a chance to relax in the pool in Vegas before coming home. There are also some smaller state parks around the area as well I believe, but I haven’t been to any of them to make recommendations. From what I’ve done, I’d recommend that you absolutely want to see a Bryce Canyon at sunrise, and do the Navajo/Queens Garden Loop. In Zion, I’d recommend some of the obvious trails like the Narrows (at least for a short distance), Emerald Pools, and Canyon Overlook. I’ve also done Hidden Canyon and that one will actually offer you some shade and had few people. I’d definitely recommend it. But, it does have some “drop offs” that you may not feel comfortable with your children. I didn’t feel they were bad at all but I’m not sure how adventurous you and your kids are.

I also wouldnt think you would be hiking much in the middle of the day with it being early August. I would stick to morning and evening hikes because there isn’t much shade in a lot of the places you mentioned.

I also wanted to mention maybe checking out the Wupatki Ruins near Flagstaff, maybe while you are based in Sedona or on the way to the Grand Canyon. It has some ruins that would be fun for the kids to see, and I thought the lava fields on the way in were really neat to see too. Definitely different from any of the other areas you will visit.

StantonHyde

Oh dear goodness, you do NOT want to be in Moab or Zion in August. ugh. I would consider Bryce but that's about it. Maybe the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It will be over 100 degrees in Moab. Even if you hike at 6am, it will be 80 degrees. Go to Flagstaff. Go anywhere high in elevation. I live in Utah. I do NOT go to Southern Utah between June-August.