spirobulldog

Where I live at, we are used to dirt roads. From the looks of your pictures the roads looked fine to me. We were not in a 4x4, just a standard rental. Nice photos, a lot of the same that I took. Did you miss the Goosenecks? We really thought those were something.

spirobulldog

Wildblueyonder,

I decided to look at all of your pics.

Mercy, you covered a lot of ground in 3 weeks. I would say you saw a lot of the highlights of the USA, some of which I haven't seen. Nice trip!

planning_ahead

We stayed in monument valley in late September for 2 nights and really enjoyed it. As you said this gives a whole day there, I'm guessing the day length is about same as Spetember so 12 hours daylight ish. The sunrise and sunsets were some of the most spectacular we saw as you actually see the sun not just the colour effects on the rocks as in the canyons. Its worth a very short drive in the morning to get a good angle for sunrise behind the buttes. Despite what we'd read here we were pleasantly surprised with the food at Gouldings, wholesome and reasonably priced. We stayed 2 night GC and 3 in Bryce just to be sure of having enough time and we could have stayed longer in hindsight. You are doing a lot more miles in your 3 weeks than we did but each to there own.
Hilary,

wildblueyonder

spirobulldog - you looked at ALL of my photos - wow! Yes, it was a great trip. We always planned to drive right across the USA and this was to celebrate (!) my hub being 60. But I still think we cheated, because we flew between NYC and Chicago!! We'd already covered most of Arizona, Utah parks, Vegas (yick), San Fran, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier and the Pacific NW on a previous couple of trips. We're suckers for long road trips, but are getting old now, so next year we're going to Hawaii for 2 weeks loafing around!

As for Valley of the Gods, I think my hub was probably being very cautious as he was afraid of damaging the hire car (don't think we were covered for unpaved roads) and there were lots of ruts and big stones! It was beautiful though, wish I were there now - freezing here!

sharondi

AlwaysOnTheRoad,
What a wonderful trip you have planned! I'm a little jealous. It looks like you did your homework and came up with a great itinerary.

I really love Tucson and Saguaro NP so I wouldn't suggest changing that at all. Your family will really enjoy the Sonoran Desert Museum - http://www.desertmuseum.org/ - it's an amazing place. Highly recommend it.

I agree with others that 3 nights in Sedona is too many (for me, anyways). You might consider adding a night to the Grand Canyon - it's certainly worth it. You might also enjoy a visit to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab - http://www.bestfriends.org/. Quite an incredible place.

We never have any trouble finding things to do and sights to amuse us in Utah. Goblins State Park is a really fun place -http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/21330430 - and there are lots of interesting stops along Route 12.

I would recommend getting the Delorme Utah Gazetteer. It's an invaluable resource and will help you find some great off the beaten path sites like the Devil's Garden (off Hole in the Rock Road just outside of Escalante) -http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/85698056.

Even if you don't change a single detail of your itinerary, you'll have an incredible trip.

Myer

Always,

You didn't mention your interests.

I agree about the town of Sedona. However, the setting can't be beat.

Last year I spent 3 days in Sedona and it was great. was only in the town to eat dinner.

I was on the go from morning until evening. I did several easy to moderate hikes each day.

Boynton Canyon Vista
Bell Rock
Cathedral Rock
Broken Arrow

They were all very scenic relatively easy hikes.

On the other hand. Capitol Reef was not one of my favorites.

I would rather go to Willis Creek that's about 10 miles south of Cannonville that about 15 miles east of Bryce Canyon.

Lower Calf Creek Falls near Escalante is spectacular.

Devil's Garden Escalante and/or Goblin valley are a lot of fun (I describe devil's Garden as a gronw up version of Goblin Valley).

Moab is great. Arches, Canyonlands, I hike around Fisher Towrs and saw some rock climbers way up.

Easily 3-4 days there.

You can see my photos at:

www.travelwalks.com

There are 2 utah trips.

peterboy

A suggestion; instead of 2 nights
at the Best Western in Torrey, spend the first of those 2 in at the Boulder Mountain Inn in Boulder instead. It is a fine place to stay and the Hell's Backbone Grill is on site and is an outstanding restaurant especially considering that it is in the middle of nowhere.

Here's their respective websites:

BML

http://www.boulder-utah.com/

HBG

http://www.hellsbackbonegrill.com/

This will allow you a more leisurely pace from Bryce so you can visit the Devil's Garden and take the hike into Lower Calf Creek Falls which I highly suggest.

It is only a short drive from Boulder to Torrey which will give you a full day at Capitol Reef which sharondi like a lot contrary to what appears to be popular opinion. If you don't take the time to hike there than I can see that it might not be as impressive as some of the other parks. To each their own.

In Torrey you'll want to eat at Cafe Diablo or Rim Rock Restaurant. We've eaten at both and they are both very good. Cafe Diablo makes their own desserts on site and they are delish.

sharondi linked to a couple of images but here's one to our trip report...you might find it useful.

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_tr

There are other Utah image galleries from previous trips (among other things) on the main page here:

www.pbase/peterb

We love the Utah and the Colorado Plateau and look forward to returning. You'll have a great trip no matter what.

Supercilious

The Boulder Mountain Inn is a fine place to stay but Boulder is at 8500 feet. We were there in that area in mid-May and ran into a snowstorm that lasted several days.

Mid-March will still be winter up there. You would be taking a chance of becoming stranded if a storm came through. The road over to Torrey goes even higher in elevation and it's a long way around if you have to backtrack. Go there later in the year.

Because of the bad weather, we stayed in Torrey at the Wonderland Inn for a night instead of camping in Capitol Reef. The Wonderland is a nice place with a very good restaurant and a fabulous indoor pool.

One night in Torrey should be enough. There's not a lot to see in Capitol Reef unless you have 4 wheel drive and want to explore the back country.

AlwaysOnTheRoad

Once again - thanks to everyone.

Our interests are in hiking. The family is good for easy-moderate hikes of a couple of hours in duration.

We will have a four wheel drive.

I did manage to break a bone in my foot two days ago in Santiago, Chile before making it to Easter Island. Bummer.