quiUK

Hi all,
Some months back, I learned I had won return flights and 3 nights accommdation in Vegas for me & hubby through my employer and I would be able to extend this trip at my own expense. You helpful Fodorites helped whet my appetite for what we could see back in this post: http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...rary-ideas.cfm and now that some months have passed, it's finally been confirmed by employer we can go (the global recession kind of got in the way unfortunately and I didn't want to get carried away with planning in case we couldn't go!!). The flights and Vegas hotel are booked and I'm frantically trying to plan the more exciting bit our itinerary round the Grand Circle!!

Because it's only 5 weeks until we go (yikes!) a lot of lodging may be booked up already (especially those in the Parks), but I have drafted the following itinerary and would be really appreciative of any feedback or suggestions. Am I committing the usual Fodors error of trying to do too much/drive too far in a short space of time? Have I completely misjudged distance and driving times?

Once we agree roughly on the route, I can finally start to book accommodations (which due to budget will be predominantly motels so hoping they won't be as booked up as the hotels and B&Bs). The only thing on this proposed itinerary that cannot be changed is the time in Vegas at the beginning and end.

09/12 Day 1 – Arrive Las Vegas
09/13 Day 2 – Las Vegas
09/14 Day 3 – drive to Springdale. Night in Springdale.
09/15 Day 4 – Zion NP. Night in Springdale.
09/16 Day 5 – Leave early to drive to Bryce Canyon NP. Drive to and stay night in Escalante.
09/17 Day 6 – Capitol Reef NP. Night in Escalante.
09/18 Day 7 – Drive to Moab. Night in Moab.
09/19 Day 8 – Arches NP. Night in Moab.
09/20 Day 9 – Canyonlands NP. Night in Moab.
09/21 Day 10 – Leave early to drive to Chinle. Visit Canyon de Chelly NP. Night in Chinle.
09/22 Day 11 - Drive to Monument Valley. Night in Goulding/Kayenta depending on availaibility.
09/23 Day 12 – Drive to Grand Canyon South Rim. Night in GC lodging, or Williams depending on availability.
09/24 Day 13 – explore Grand Canyon. Night in GC lodging, or Williams depending on availability.
09/25 Day 14 – Drive to and spend night in Las Vegas.
09/26 Day 15 – Depart Las Vegas

Thanks in advance for any advice!

ElendilPickle

I would want a night at Bryce Canyon so I could see the sunrise there; it's really spectacular watching the hoodoos light up. I would happily sacrifice a night in Las Vegas to do it - but I hate Las Vegas, so your mileage may vary.

If you can't get one of the Grand Canyon lodges, I would go ahead and drive to Kingman. It's about two hours west of Williams and has more variety in lodging and food.

Lee Ann

stpetereb

You might be OK on reservations as you are going after the kids are back in school. I strongly advise that you spend a night in Bryce, watching the sun set and rise over the canyon is too wonderful to miss.

quiUK

Thanks for your replies. Would you suggest that we change the planned accommodation for day 5 to Bryce then instead of Escalante? In which case perhaps we should then change the following night from Escalante to somewhere closer to Capitol Reef NP like Torrey? Thanks again!

ElendilPickle

That would make sense to me, quiUK.

Lee Ann

quiUK

Thanks Lee Ann - that's really helpful. And actually, looking at the map it makes more sense to me too - we'd be double backing on ourselves to stay in Escalante after visiting Capitol Reef.

quiUK

HI all,
Slight update - I have found and booked a room at one of the Grand Canyon lodges, so Days 12 & 13 are now fixed as well. Any additional feedback on the remainder of the trip would be great though, although based on the advice kindly given already I think so far the main changes are to the following:

09/16 Day 5 – Leave early to drive to Bryce Canyon NP. Stay night in Rubys Inn or Bryce Canyon.
09/17 Day 6 – Capitol Reef NP. Night in Torrey.

Any other suggestions for the trip between Bryce and GC, or should I stick with the plan above?

Thanks again!

utahtea

09/16 Day 5 – Leave early to drive to Bryce Canyon NP. Drive to and stay night in Escalante.

I see you are thinking about changing nite 5 to Bryce. That is really an excellent idea.

09/17 Day 6 – Capitol Reef NP. Night in Escalante.

I would suggest spending that night in Torrey on day 6. Other wise you are going to spend 2 hours in the vehicle from Escalante to Torrey and another 2 hours driving back to Escalante, then the next day you spend an extra 2 hours of driving back to Torrey on your way to Moab.

Utahtea

quiUK

Hi utahtea - thanks for these suggestions - we're defintely going to amend these parts of the itinerary.

Days 1-9 and 11-15 are pretty sorted now, so it's just the Monument Vally and Canyon de Chelly bits now that I think we need any advice on? Do these look ok to anyone?

Thanks once again!

emalloy

Canyon de Chelley is awesome, glad you are including it. Do get to the VC early in the morning and arrange for a tour with a Navajo guide if you haven't done so before. You can skirt the rim and look down and hike down one path to White House Ruin on your own but you miss so much if you don't do a trip in the park and having your own guide is the best way to do it.

emalloy

Oh, on monument valley you can do the tour with a guide, but we found that we saw very little that we would not have seen on our own drive through the valley

quiUK

Thanks Emalloy - great suggestions, and I'm pleased that you think this part of the itinerary works ok!

We weren't planning on visiting Canyon de Chelly originally as it's a bit of a diversion from our route. However a work colleague who has recently returned from a trip to the area said they didn't go there due to lack of time but wished they had been able to as so many people recommended it.

Getting very excited now that all the planning seems to be coming together! Just need to confirm accommodations!

Sadly there doesn't appear to be any lodging availability at Gouldings or The View for Monument Valley, so we'll have to look further afield. Either Kayenta or Mexican Hat (love that name!). Any suggestions as to which town would fit in with the route better? I'm thiking Kayenta as we'll be driving up from Chinle.

Thanks

emalloy

Kayenta has a couple of places to stay and is very close to Monument Valley. I think we stayed at one of the chains, maybe Holiday Inn, and there was a breakfast buffet free with the overnight, if that matters. Very short ride from there to MV.

quiUK

Thanks Emalloy - I think we'll look at Kayenta rather than Mexican Hat. Looking at the maps, I think it appears to make more sense for our itinerary rather than Mexican Hat.

So - I think we're all sorted then! Just need to research and book the remainder of the accommodation and our car rental then!

Thanks for all your responses. I'm sure I'll have a few more questions in the next few weeks - in fact, here's a quick one now re vehicle rental. Would it be at all necessary to get an SUV/4x4? Or will we find that we won't be limited in our adventures by having to stay on paved roads?

emalloy

We usually rent a 4wd and there are lots of times we were glad we did. In Canyon de Chelley one is needed but you can find Navajos to take you in in theirs but our guide drove our car. Parts of Monument valley would make it in a regular car or you could use the guide there too.

maj

It has been about 10 years since we have visited that area so some of the roads may have improved, but we were really glad to have a high clearance car (SUV) in both Capitol Reef and Monument Valley. In fact, if we go back to Monument Valley we would take a tour (not sure if there are different ones). The road through the park (if you could call it that) was very rough and we didn't even know what we were looking at half the time. Also, very dusty. At Capitol Reef it seems like the first part of the road was fine, but when we went back near the end it was also very rough.

Natural Bridge is also on your route. We saw the sign and stopped -- it didn't take long to go to the viewpoints. We were glad we did.

Glad you got rooms at Grand Canyon. That is one park where IMO it really makes a different staying on the Rim.

Have a great trip. And please write a trip report when you get back. I still have the one you wrote about NYC about 3 or so years ago. I'm saving it for when I can talk DH into going there with me.

Dayle

quiUK,

If you are lucky, check into lodging at the Valley of the Gods B&B. One of a kind place, literally in the middle of "nowhere" on the edge of MV. They only have a few rooms and Sept will be peak season there, about 1.75 hours south of Moab. Buona fortuna!

quiUK

Hi Maj,
I can't believe you still have my NYC report!! I'm quite touched, and really pleased you enjoyed it! Hopefully I'll have time to write one after this trip. I also wrote reports after a trip to Spain in 2006 and Italy in 2007, but never got round to doing Florida & St Lucia in 2007 and our road trip through the South (FL, AL, MS & New Orleans) last year because of lack of time.

I'm getting so excited about this trip now - we've swapped around the days for Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly from our original itinerary, but all our accommodation is now booked so it feels real now.

Dayle - thanks for the tip. We are now staying in Mexican Hat instead of Kayenta, but have booked into Mexican Hat Lodge. If the TA reviews are to be believed, it looks like a fun place to stay!