Hello, I have gotten so much information the past few days from others asking the same questions I wanted to know. This is so great! I think I have a plan and wanted your opinions of whether anything should be added or left out.Here goes:
Vegas-3days
Drive to Grand canyon 2 nights
Drive to Monument Valley then on to Mesa Verde 1 night
Tour the ruins then on to Moab 2 nights there
Drive to Torrey from there 1 night
Then drive along route 12 to Zion
Spend 3 nights in Zion
Then drive to Bryce and spend 2 nights there.
Then back to Vegas spend 1 night and go home.
I have all the cool things written down to do in these areas but, I didn't want to be wordy and include them in this.
What I mainly want to know IS:
Should I cut Mesa Verde? Spend more time in Moab, Zion or Monument Valley? Or is what I have planned the best intinerary? I appreciate your opinions.Thankyou

Hi Trisha, if I were doing your trip, I would not change much, but I would make a few tweaks. First, I like Capital Reef NP much more than Zion. Hence I would spend more time in Torrey so I could walk some of the washes and visit some of the arches in Capitol Reef. The geology there is incredibly fascinating and much more intriguing.

I suppose Zion could use up two days, but Capitol Reef can take a long, long time if you do much exploring. And if you, for example, walk along Grand Wash, the route is flat! Yet, you feel like you are in wilderness.

Secondly, given the amount of driving you will be doing, you should factor road time into each day. I think you will find that your visiting times will be a little more limited than you are expecting. I also suggest that if you want to stay within Mesa Verde itself, you make reservations now. Far View Lodge fills up fast because nothing is really that close -- either Cortez or Durango.

I definitely would not spend more time in Monument Valley. I have been there several times and, while it is enchanting, so many wonderful sights are farther down the road that I would not take time away from them.

Should you cut Mesa Verde? Well, how interested are you in ancestral native American culture? I find the place fascinating, but not everybody does.
It is one of the few national parks that is devoted to archaeology rather than canyons, mountains, or deserts.

I do not understand at all why you are driving route 12 to Zion, pass right by the entrance to Bryce Canyon, and then
turn around and retrace your steps to Bryce. That aspect of the trip makes no sense at all. Did you reverse the two? You are going first to Bryce and then Zion?

Finally, you are not planning on Cedar Breaks at all?

You might want to only stay in Vegas 2 days. I think from the Grand Canyon to Monument Valley and on the Mesa Verde will be a lot in one day. We really enjoyed Monument Valley. You might want to stay one night in this area. We stayed in Mexican Hat, Utah at the San Juan Inn. Mesa Verde is definitely worth the trip. It is one of the favorite places we have ever visited. If possible do the tour of Cliff Palace - it was great. I think from Torrey you will want to stop at Bryce first and then on to Zion. Zion is much closer to Vegas than Bryce. Going to Zion and then Bryce and then to Vegas will cause you to do a lot of back-tracking.

Well, your suggestion of not doing backtracking is a good one but, I had to schedule it that way due to the availability of the Western Cabins in Bryce. I wanted to stay there and the end of the week was the only time two nights were open. Now , they do have motel rooms available at Bryce Canyon Lodge. Should I give up the Western Cabin , stay at the motel room instead so that I wouldn't backtrack? Then go on to Zion? I had it in my mind that the Western Cabins were better lodging than the motel rooms for some reason. And what is Cedar Breaks? I thought I had everything on God's green earth written down on my tablet of things to do.

Oh, and the reason for three nights in Vegas is because we want to see "O" and Danny Ganes.We thought one night just to get there and settle in , then two nights for the shows. Thanks for your help.

To bad you couldn't do one of the shows on the night you get back to Vegas.

Cedar Breaks is like Bryce but not as grand as Bryce. Skip it for this trip.

Mesa Verde is wonderful but you aren't going to have much time to really see it. If you stay in the park you will be looking at driving 150 miles that will take about 3 1/2 hours. If you are staying in Cortez then you have to add 25 miles and another 1/2 hour at least.

I would also recommend three nights in Moab to see all the sites: Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse State Park, Scenic Hwy 128.

As much as I love Zion, I also agree that you could afford to cut one night from Zion and spend it in either Moab or Torrey.

Utahtea

What if I do this:
July 3rd, 4th and 5th Vegas
6th,7th,Zion
8th, 9th Bryce
10th, 11th, Torrey
12th, 13th, 14th, Moab
15th, 16th, Grand Canyon
17 th back to Vegas
18th go home
Sound like a winner , further tweaking?
I have to give up the Western Cabin though for a motel room at the Bryce Canyon Lodge , would that matter much? I would also, have to give up Mesa Verde but, does this sound more doable?Thanks so MUCH!

Trisha,

It's do-able and will probably be a lot more relaxing. You will still get to drive past Monument Valley on the way from Moab to Grand Canyon. You should try and take a picnic lunch so you can stop and enjoy some of the scenery at Monument Valley.

I was wondering why you decided to reverse the order of parks. IMHO, I would do the Grand Canyon, Moab, Torrey, Bryce and Zion. The reason being you would get the long driving done first and to me Zion is a really relaxing place. Even in Springdale all you have to do is look outside and you are surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Utahtea

The reason I switched it is because I want to stay in the park at Bryce and that's 8th and 9th are the only nights that have the motel rooms. Thanks so much for helping me with this. Any other suggestions are appreciated. Are the motel rooms in Bryce just as good as the Western Cabin in Bryce Canyon?

I think that the lodge rooms will be just as nice as the cabins at Bryce. In fact, they will be slightly bigger. I would make that trade-off without question to avoid the backtrack situation.

I have stayed in both the motel rooms and the cabins at Bryce. There is little to choose between them.
In the cabins, you have little more of a front porch. In neither case is parking at the door.

The motel unit rooms are fairly large.
So size wise, I don't think there is a major difference. That opinion is of course, like all opinions, subject to discussion.

One thing you could do to add a little variety to your routes would be to drive to Zion one way and come back to Bryce by a slightly different route, which would include Cedar Breaks.

For example, where route 12 junctions with US 89 south of Panguitch, you could turn south to Mt. Carmel Junction. There, you then turn west on route 9 to Zion NP. (This can be a slow section. It is narrow, winding, and one slow vehicle can create a long line because passing is difficult on the curves.) At one point this route passes through a tunnel with windows.
It gives some impressive initial views of Zion and is best driven in the daylight.

Coming back to Bryce from Zion, take the main road (I 15) up to Cedar City and then turn east on route 14, which is a spectacular drive from the valley to the top of the plateau. Near the crest, the route turns north to Cedar Breaks. From there route 143 leads to Panguitch. Then drive south 7 miles from Panguitch on US 89 to the route 12 junction and retrace your route to the entrance to Bryce.

The drive from Cedar Brakes is through different country because much of it has been capped with an igneous rock flow. That is one reason that part of the plateau has resisted erosion and rises to higher elevations than some of the other parts.

The drive up the side of the Markagunt Plateau from Cedar City is steep in places, but it is spectacular. Between Cedar Breaks and Panguith you drop down into another fault zone between plateaus on the way to Bryce.

I know once a trip is planned and reservations set up in places where room vacancies are limited, it is difficult to change. If you make the loop trip you will add to what you see.

Thanks SO MUCH for everyone's help. This has been so useful. I managed to change my date of Bryce , 15th and 161h to the 13th and 14th of getting a motel room with 2 Queen beds.
I have it now at:
3rd
4th
5th
Vegas
6th
7th
Grand Canyon
8th
9th
10th
Moab
11th
12th
Torrey
13th
14th
Bryce
15th
16th
Zion
17th
Vegas
18th
Go Home
This way I didn't have to change it all around. I did have to change to motel rooms but, that's okay. I hope 2 days in Zion will be enough. I really appreciate everyone's comments. Any other tweaking or suggestions is appreciated. Actually, I really had not considered the bactracking until you guys brought that up and made me aware of the problem. It's good to get ideas.

I am not sure you will ever have enough time at those places to which you are strongly attracted. I still remember my first visit to Bryce when I was 20. Now, 50 years later, I still like going there, and I have returned several times. The same is true of many other parks.

If 2 days is not enough at any one particular place, look at it as a scouting mission for future trips. This trip will help to define future objectives, and open new windows of opportunity. In some respects, I think it is good when you find a place that lures you back. If you think there was not enough time, it means you liked it. And if you liked it, you will like it again in the future.

I know my son first visited Yellowstone with us when he was first grader. We did not return as a family again, and many years went by before he returned.

But he did return, with his family, and the magic cycle started all over again.

Then he returned to Bryce, Zion, and Glacier. So if the visit is one of quality, you will plan to return.

It sounds to me like you are taking a real adventure type of trip, and that you will enjoy it greatly.

That looks like a really good plan!

On the 17th you can spend a good part of the day in Zion before heading to Las Vegas. It's a fast drive on mostly interstate and will only take about 3 hours.

Have FUN!

Utahtea

You have a nice trip planned. Come back some time and do Mesa Verde in combination with a New Mexico road trip.

Hi Trisha,
While your're in the Monument Valley area, consider driving up the Moki Dugway on Hwy 261, just North-West of Mexican Hat. Great experience and a wonderful view back over the valley. Would also second taking a longer look at Capitol Reef.
We did a similar trip to yours in Oct and there's a trip report posted, but also available on www.freewebs.com/smalley, with extra photo's on http://community.webshots.com/user/marksmalley.

So, your thinking maybe stay 3 nights at Torrey and 2 nights at Moab? Torrey is the best area for Capital reef, correct? I haven't planned lodging in those areas yet so, I'm flexible there. I'm still researching places to stay so, any suggestions are appreciated. I feel confident on my lodging in my other places according to reviews. I'm staying in a cabin at Bright Angel in G.C.(couldn't get rim), Desert Pearl Inn in Zion, and Bryce Canyon lodge motel room. I like your suggestion of driving up Moki Dugway . Thankyou!

I haven't visited Moab yet so can't compare to Cap.Reef. Think 2 nights at Torrey would be fine if that equates to 2 full days in the area. We stayed at Boulder View in Torrey. New and clean. Large rooms. Continental breakfast included.

The premium place to stay in Torrey is a b and b rated 4 stars called Sky Ridge. It is a little more expensive than other place.

I am considering going here for my next trip: http://www.austinschuckwagonmotel.com/motel.html

There is also a Days Inn along the highway as well as some other places like the Wonderland Inn. I have stayed there twice and it is a 3 star standard.