MindTheGap

We have 10 or 11 nights for a trip which must start and end in Las Vegas (our time in Las Vegas is in addition to these nights). The trip covers the last two weeks of Febraury.

I am trying to decide whether to:
(i) do a round trip via the GC, Lake Powell, Bryce, Zion; or
(ii) drive to Phoenix via Zion, Bryce, Lake Powell, the GC, Flagstaff, Sedona.

Option (ii) will work okay if I can get a cheapo Southwest flight back to Las Vegas (which should be easy enough) and that I don't get stung with a big one-way drop off fee or extra charges for dropping the car off at PHX. I know PHX is notorious for sky-high rental taxes/add-ons but am not sure if this only applies to pick-ups there.

My main questions are:
a) is there an advantage of either route, particularly given we will be doing this in late February?
b) can I fit Monument Valley into this trip without too much backtracking?
I thought we would spend two nights each at the GC, Bryce and Zion and so still have quite a few days to play with to fit in the rest.

Thanks for any help you have.

gail

Your screen name brings back fond memories of our trip to London last spring - still sorry I did not buy a t-shirt with the same written on it.

bbqboy

Personally, I would head for the low desert and Phx much faster. You're going to be cold up in Utah and upper Arizona, but February is when the Valley of the Sun is cruising on all cylinders.

MikePinTucson

If it is the scenery you are after, don't spend too much time in Phoenix. It WILL be much warmer than N. AZ & UT, and will have a lot going on, with all of the resorts filled with snowbirds. But not much to see (nature-wise) there. Either of your itineraries would work. But I would also add Sedona to option 1. The scenery there is awesome.

utahtea

i) do a round trip via the GC, Lake Powell, Bryce, Zion is 812 miles round trip.

ii) drive to Phoenix via Zion, Bryce, Lake Powell, the GC, Flagstaff, Sedona is 767 miles total.

Another option if you can't get a good airfare or don't like the drop off fees is just to add Sedona to option #1 and total miles will be 935.

Adding Monument Valley to either route will add another 170 miles.

With that said, I haven't been to the area in Feb. We were there in early March once. Zion was fine. Didn't make it to Bryce but most of the hiking trails will still be closed due to snow so I'd only spend one night in Bryce. It's only 86 miles from Zion so the day you leave Zion you will also have a lot of time to see Bryce.

The float trip on the Colorado River out of Page doesn't start up until March so that's out. I hear the Snow Birds leave Lake Powell by the end of Oct. because it's cold there.

That March we got a lot of snow on the way to Flagstaff. Keep in mind that the South Rim is open all year BUT if the snow gets bad enough the can close the road into the canyon!

Sedona is to touristy for my taste, but your mileage might vary.

One thing to keep in mind for this time of the year is the days are SHORT! OMG, we just got back from a week in Zion. We were lucky to have a total of 10 or 11 hours sunlight! Made the days SO SHORT! The more you add & the more miles to your schedule...the less you are really going to see!


Utahtea

lisatravels

If you decide to fly from Phoenix to Vegas you may want to consider booking a multi-city flight (If you do Expedia - click on one-way flights, then change the pulldown menu to multiple destinations)home to Vegas, fly from Phoenix to Vegas, Vegas to home. You're trip from Phoenix to Vegas will be considered part of a round-trip far, rather than one-way and I've usually found it to be a good deal.

MindTheGap

Thanks to everyone for the replies. The flights to/from Las Vegas are fixed and we cannot change these (they have the advantage that they are direct from London). I am trying to put together a draft itinerary and would appreciate any comments people have on this (particularly in terms of driving distances/possible unpassable roads in February etc). My initial idea is to split up 10 nights as follows in a Las Vegas-Las Vegas loop:

- 2 GC (will we be able to go down part of the Bright Angel trail in Feb assuming we can get to the GC in the first place?)
- 2 Flagstaff (to allow for a day to go down to Sedona/Jerome and Montezuma's Castle and back)
- 1 Monument Valley (Goulding)
- 1 Page
- 2 Bryce
- 2 Zion

Utahtea mentioned that it may be worth only spending 1 night in Bryce due to the trails being closed. I'm happy to go with this but am unsure where to put this extra night at the moment. Additionally, if need be, I can add another night onto this part of the trip by reducing our Las Vegas nights from three to two.

If I do this trip in reverse (so starting in Zion), we could be in Bryce for the Winter Festival - has anyone been to this to know whether it's a good event and worth changing the route the other way?

Thanks again for your help!

utahtea

I would put Flagstaff first or last so you don't have to double back on your driving when you head out/or come from Monument Valley.

If you keep two nights at Bryce and need something to do for the extra day you can always drive out scenic Hwy 12 to Boulder, Utah. If you do this and need an extra place to spend a night you might considerer Torrey and visit Capitol Reef. I hear it's cold there in the winter. Not sure how the drive over the Boulder Mountains will be in winter.

Utahtea

MikePinTucson

You might want to spend extra time around Sedona and do a little hiking or take a jeep ride. At the very least, Sedona / Oak Creek will probably take one full day. Jerome & Montezuma's Castle would be another day. You might want to consider staying overnight in Sedona.

amwosu

Southwest usually has flights many times per day LV_PHX for $39 each way/pretax and it doesn't cost more to do a one way than it does to go both ways like it does on many bigger airlines.