Hi everyone,

I have been researching for a couple of weeks about visiting Utah and Arizona National Parks for 2019. We are in our 40s and we would have our 11-year-old with us. He is a Billy Goat. We love to hike, but don't get to hike as much as we'd like, especially in the winter. We are usually in better shape in the summer, though we are not runners or weight lifters due to some knee and neck issues. They usually doesn't hold us back. We are East Coasters who technically live on an island, so we will not be able to train for the altitude very well. We want to do these parks before we're too old to physically do them!

We feel we should not pull our child out of school after 5th grade so we feel 2019 either May or early June for this trip. I am confused because I read do not do Zion over Memorial Day, but some of the roads (GC & Bryce) may not be open until May 18th. We heard June is super hot and crowded. We would love to be able to do the fall, but can't because of the school year. What is your recommended best time to visit using the following basic itinerary as your guide: What about the 1st week of June?

Day 1: Fly to Las Vegas & stay overnight or drive to Zion/Springdale
Day 2 and 3: Zion (stay in Springdale or outside the park Night 2 & 3
Day 4: Drive to Bryce, possibly stopping at Kanarra Creek Falls, Calf Creek Falls or other Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument hike along the way)
Day 5: Bryce Canyon
Day 6: Drive to Moab, Arches
Day 7: Arches
Day 8: Drive through Monument Valley to Page
Day: 9: Lake Powell, lower Antelope Canyon, Big Bend, boat/rafting? (Possibly extend through Day 10)
Day 10: GC South Rim to save time? Cut GC?
Day 11: Drive back to Vegas & stay (maybe see Hoover Dam, but not necessary
Day 12: Fly home

Is this too ambitious? Any suggestions after Bryce Canyon? Should we save Arches for another time and go straight from Bryce to Monument Valley & Page for a couple days?

Thank you for your help!

First point: I doubt you'll be doing the long/strenuous hikes on this trip, so I would bet you will be physically able to do them all in 7-8 years when your son is out of school and you're free of the school calendar restraints. Having said that, since I'm also betting you would like to do the trip with your son...when does he finish the school year? You mention Memorial Day and May 18th...if you can start in May that would be better than June. Early June would be better than any other time in summer in terms of hot weather and crowds.

Zion is a mess over Memorial Day. You could consider starting your trip on Memorial Day weekend by going to Moab, then hit the other parks the week after (or the week before). Otherwise, delaying a week will not change the weather by much. Average highs in Moab and ZIon are 83 in May and 93 in June, so it should be somewhere in the mid to upper 80s if the weather is normal. Late June will be hotter (high temps in July average 100).

The only road in Grand Canyon that will be closed for winter is the road into the North Rim, and that is always scheduled to open May 15th. The roads in Bryce don't close unless there's a major snowstorm, and then the closure is temporary so the info that roads "may not be open until May 18th" is not accurate.

I don't think your itinerary is too crazy but it's busy. I would not skip the Grand Canyon to save time - you will be so close that it would be a shame to skip it. You can also do some boating/rafting in Moab, not just Page.

This will be a busy trip, but it can be done and since it is a loop from/to Vegas, you could do it in either direction. See where you can get lodging before you decide on which way works best.

I would add a day to Moab, there is much more to do there than just Arches. Canyonlands, Fisher Towers, rides on the Colorado River, etc. I'd do one less day in Page area.

Do go to Grand Canyon, I prefer the south rim, but if the North Rim works better for you and you can get lodging, it might make for less seats in the car time. You could go to the north rim either after Bryce or between Zion and Bryce.

We are from elevation 0 or so and have not had any altitude sickness, but we do find we need to go more slowly or we will be sucking wind. Do drink much more water than you think you need and don't drink alcohol.

Do fill the gas tank when it gets to half and there is a station. Keep drinks and food in the car. Try to avoid driving after dark as there are large animals, like elk, deer, cows, horses that cross the roads. Some places have open range.

You can click on my user name for trip reports to all of the Utah National Parks with kids. We just got back from our annual Presidents Day visit to Moab. I would skip Page/Lake Powell and add Canyonlands to your agenda. Really nice and so much less crowded. At this point, you are going to have to look for lodging outside the parks. I prefer to stay outside Zion and Bryce--more variety and different places to eat.

Check a map again for your drive to Bryce. Zion and Bryce are pretty darn close. You won't go past Calf Creek on your way to Bryce. You could drive highway 12 between Bryce and Moab. That is an amazing stretch. You could do Calf Creek or even my favorite--Peekaboo slot Canyon. (see my trip report for Escalante and for Capital Reef) Raft in Moab, not Page.

I like the North Rim of GC better--much less crowded. But it doesn't open till the middle of May--depends on when you do this trip. The Hoover Dam is really cool and is a great stop.

Check out the nps.gov websites for each park you are visiting. They will give you info on the hikes available etc. Also check out the Park newsletters online--they tell you what ranger talks will be held when you are there etc.

Thanks everyone for the responses. So you think park lodging would already be sold out for May 2019??!!! That is insane!just to clarify this would be for next year. What do you refer to as a big hike? Wpikd love to do angels landing and the Narrows, but don't know if I feel comfortable doing all of angels landing with my son.

Lodging for next year is not sold out yet. Call as soon as it becomes available, if it says it is sold out when you call, as time gets closer call every day as people do make reservations a year in advance and then cancel when they find they can't make the trip.

As to what is a big hike, that depends on the individual, some call a long one "big" some a lot of elevation change or difficulty with surfaces. For me in Arches, Delicate Arch was a big hike, a few hours round trip, some elevation and surface issues. To see the trail, go to:

www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009

scroll down to the picture of us at Delicate arch and then click the next picture, you can zoom in to see the beginning of the trail way below the slick rock.

Thanks everyone. Is you had to go to that are a a specific time of year, what would your recommendations be? Our son gets out of school June 15th and starts after Labor Day. We largely have been missing or losing Spring Break days due to usijg all snow days. Our goals are for it to be warm enough water for hikes like the Narrows, but not so hot that it is in the 90s or higher and full of crowds (at least more than usual. I know Zion and GC are always popular).

I would not base the time of the trip on hiking the Narrows. In the spring there is sometimes too much water to hike, in the summer it is HOT, or then or in the fall a thunderstorm could make for a surge that would make it unsafe.

We've gone in spring and fall when the temperature is generally very nice. If you go in late September/early October, the disadvantage to those times are that some areas/facilities are not fully open and we have had storms with thunder/lightning/hail. The advantage is that crowds are not a problem. The disadvantage to spring is that at the higher elevations there is often still snow on the trails, some areas can be windy and some areas/facilities are not fully open.

So do what works best for your family. If you take your child out of school, will he/she miss the springtime or year end activities or will missing the early part of the year get him/her off to a rocky start academically and/or socially?

It might be best to go in June right after school ends, before the big crowds get to the popular parks and expect some areas to be quite warm. If you can get reservations in the park, you will have time early and late in the day when the crowds from the tours/day trippers are not there and you don't have to drive when it is dark.

Angel's Landing hike was one of my great life experiences. That said, I experienced it with dozens of people who were squeezing along what was a fairly strenuous scramble to the top. Can you and your son do it? Hard to say. It depends on both of you. You'll be able to assess at the halfway point, which you'll be able to reach along a wider section of the trail and then you can assess whether you want to keep going. emalloy has provided good advice here. As far as altitude, I think Zion was lower than some of the other parks, so that might be a good way to get used to the changes. When I was in Utah, I started with Arches and had a slight headache the first day which some caffeine seemed to take care of. And the only time I really felt the altitude was in Bryce walking from the valley of the hoodoos to the rim.

Thanks. We hiked two 1500-2500 feet mountains last year without issue, but on the Virginia and West Virginia. Our lungs do tend to need adjusting because we live where the "altitude" is probably 6 or 8 feet! ;-)


We do Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls NP regularly. It is is rated as difficult/strenuous and involves rock scrambling. Of course the altitude there is nowhere near even the Shenandoah mountains.

We rarely drink alcohol, but drink caffeine. I will just have to balance that with way more water.

Most of the National Park hikes are not really big--you kind of have to work at it to get some big hikes in. If you start at the top of the Narrows and walk all the way down, that's a big hike. But if you start at the bottom and walk up and turn around, it's as big as you want it. Angels' Landing isn't necessarily a hard physical hike. Its the steep drop offs that impact you. I have known people who were in great shape who stopped before "the chains" because they were not going to do that! I am not fond of heights in crowded spaces so I am not sure I will ever do Angels Landing. On the flip side, young kids do Delicate Arch all the time. I think mine were 4 and 6 the first time we did it. But we live at 5,500 feet so there's that.

I only go to the parks in the spring and fall but I live in Utah. You will be fine in June. I've had snow in Canyonlands in June. Just drink lots and lots of water and eat salty snacks and you will be ok. (like a gallon a day)

I have done the Billy Goat Trail but it was some years ago. Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah NP as well. Both are rigorous but agree with StantonHyde, neither has the dropoffs and scary factor of Angels Landing. You shouldn't miss Delicate Arch for sure. Lots of nice walks in Arches. Agree with emalloy, add a day to Moab.

Old Rag is still on my bucket list as Well! I am starting to rethink the itinerary and that we are trying to cram too much in one trip. My other thought is fly to Salt Lake, drive to Moab for 3 nights, see Canyonlands and Arches and do whitewater rafting, then go to Bryce and Zion for another 3-4 nights and fly out of Las Vegas. Have more of a 7-8 day vacation. Not sure though about costs in doing so. The idea of cramming everything in is not very appealing.

Check with the car rental companies to see what the drop off fees will be, and if it makes a difference if you go Vegas to SLC or SLC to Vegas. Sometimes they want to move cars in a particular direction.

Have you checked on lodging yet? That might make a difference too.

The other thing to check is the time of your arrival and departure from both cities, since you might be able to squeeze in an extra half day on each end of the trip with an early flight in and a late flight home.

If you are concerned about temps in the 90's, I wouldn't recommend Moab in June. I've cancelled trips the first of June because it was already over 100 degrees. When I was in Moab late last August, it was high 90's.. if you can plan your whole trip to occur before Memorial Day, it would be best for weather.

Moab is great and Delicate Arch is not to be missed. Physically, it doesn't sound like you will have a problem. I would add a day to Moab and not do Escalante hike. Bryce only needs one full day so if you leave Zion in the morning and spend an overnight in Bryce, you should be able to hike the entire loop into the canyon and walk the rim. Between Bryce and Moab, I recommend you take rt. 12.

If I were you, I would stick with your original plan of including Monument Valley, Page and south rim G.C., one day each.

As far as park reservations, the only two locations you need to consider are Bryce and G.C. Reservations become available 13 months in advance so you have at least a month to firm up your plans. The rest of your locations, stay outside the park.

i'm not a fan of steep drop offs so I only go to Scouts Lookout instead of the last push up Angels Landing; you will still have a good hike and see good views. If you want to continue up Angels Landing, you can decide when you see it at Scouts Lookout. As emalloy mentioned, weather can affect your Narrows hike but if you are able to do it, it is a different experience and worthwhile. You can turn around at any point. Going to Wall Street is a good turn around point and will take several hours including the shuttles.