Canyons Trip Report
 

First, I'd like to thank all of you who helped me plan this trip: BBEAR, ellen griswold, travellyn, utahtea, richbutnot, LarryT, gail, Rob, Ready4AVoyage, bob brown, Neil, shmily, Photodog and all those whose questions and comments I also enjoyed reading. We had a great trip thanks to you wonderful people!

We started by driving to Barstow from the Bay Area and stayed at the Best Western there (nice room and great pool.) My kids were ready to spend the rest of the vacation there but we had something else in mind...

Next stop was Zion for 2 nights. What a treasure! The park is so beautiful, clean and uncrowded. The shuttle system is excellent -- I don't think we ever waited more than 3 minutes and there were always plenty of seats. We stayed at the Zion lodge and our room faced the large lawn out front where we got to watch the deer come and graze from our porch. Meals at the lodge were quite good and the service was friendly. We took several small hikes we enjoyed but the highlight was wading through the Narrows -- a bit of a challenge but lots of fun in beautiful surroundings.

We next went to Bryce which we also enjoyed. I think we'd vote for Zion, though, if asked to take sides on the Zion vs. Bryce debate. At Bryce we also stayed in the lodge and ate most meals there which we were satisfied with. We drove and walked to many lookouts -- unbelievable scenery. We took the 3 1/2 hr. mule/horse ride which went through beautiful parts of the canyon but were quite sore afterwards -- we'd never make it cattle rustling! If you go, avoid Maggie the mule (stubborn as a mule, ornery as a mule and a few phrases not repeatable come to mind.) My other family members, however, enjoyed their mounts.

We were fortunate to be at Bryce during the full moon and were able to take the ranger led night hike into the canyon -- a real treat. Tickets for this were available only the morning of the hike and we were warned to get them first thing so we were in line at 6 a.m. (and not the first ones there, either.) By the time the visitor center opened (8 a.m.) we had bonded with the others in line and had a great time. We felt like old friends by the time we met up again for the hike.

After a beautiful drive, our next stop was the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We only stayed the night but were able to attend several ranger talks and visited many overlooks. We really enjoyed dining at the lodge and watching a spectacular lightening storm over the canyon. We stayed in a Pioneer cabin which my kids thoroughly enjoyed and I found to be better than expected. We were able to pick from several available Pioneer cabins which was nice (couldn't upgrade to a Western cabin, though.) I somewhat regret that we didn't drive to the South Rim, but we'll just have to do that another time!

Lake Powell was our next stop after a tour of the Glen Canyon dam. We had interesting discussions with dam employees and other local residents about the dam as is is quite controversial. Watching all the boaters on the lake seemed rather surreal while trying to imagine what the canyon underneath must be like. We stayed at the Wahweap lodge which was OK (the kids loved the pool.)

The highlight of our stay at Lake Powell was a tour of the Antelope Slot Canyon. We took the tour Utahtea recommended (can't remember the name right now) and were delighted to drive in the air-conditioned van from Page to the canyon (thanks Utahtea!) Our guide, Jesse, was quite a character and even let the kids take a turn at the wheel driving in the sand. The canyon was incredible and my husband, the photography enthusiast, was in his element. I would highly recommend a visit.

The hour is late, so I will continue another time...

I just remembered, our Antelope Slot Canyon tour was with Grand Circle Adventures. We booked through the John Wesley Powell museum site as they get a donation that way as well. We did not do the Lower Canyon, just the Upper Canyon.

KathrynT,

GREAT TRIP REPORT! We were in Zion and Bryce earlier in August and had no moon. We were able to see the milkyway on a few nights when it wasn't overcast, but we missed seeing the moon rise over Watchman.

Glad you had such a good time!

Utahtea

Trip report continued ...

We next drove to Monument Valley after a brief stop in Kayenta to see the Navajo Windtalkers exhibit at the Burger King restaurant. A fast food restaurant/museum was a first for us!

In Monument Valley we did a self-drive of the unpaved road. The road was doable (barely) but we had a few second thoughts about driving it in our non-4 wheel drive minivan. However, we did appreciate the covered car and air-conditioning! The drive was beautiful and the monuments are amazing (lots of picture taking there.)

We stayed at Goulding's Lodge in Monument Valley and loved being able to watch the sunrise and sunset over the monuments. The little museum at the lodge is worth a stop as we learned quite about about the Gouldings and Hollywood movie-making in the valley. The lodge has a nice little indoor swimming pool and we enjoyed the Navajo fry bread in the restaurant.

We next headed to Mesa Verde after the obligatory photo stop at the 4 Corners monument. We stayed at the Far View lodge in Mesa Verde and found our room to be on the older side and a bit small for 4 people but adequate. The lodge restaurant, however, is wonderful and we probably had the best meals of our trip there.

We were fortunate to be able to do both the Balcony House and Cliff Palace tours on the same day despite the fact the park literature states you can only reserve tickets for one of those tours per day. This rule seems to be in effect only when the park is quite crowded. We really enjoyed both tours and did not find the Balcony House tour too strenuous. We also visited Spruce Tree House where you can climb into a kiva.

The next day we detoured to Durango and enjoyed walking through the old town and visiting the railroad museum. We decided against the Silverton/Ouray drive as a big thunderstom was brewing and took the less scenic but shorter route to Moab.

To be continued ...

<tapping foot>

I'm waiting for the next installment!

;)

Utahtea

KathrynT,
Thanks for the trip report. We will do a similar trip next year, and your first hand experience helps me planning :)
We made reservations for the Zion Lodge, so we can be in the park; but now I have second thoughts - everybody is raving about Desert Pearl.
You and the rest of the fodorites, which one do you think is a better choice?
So many decisions...so much to see...so little time. But planning is great fun.
Thanks all

Great report, KathrynT!

xyz99, although I am a fan of in-the-park lodging, I preferred Desert Pearl in this instance. You can see look up at the red rocks, as you can in Zion, so we didn't feel we lost anything by staying there and as other Fodorites will attest, it is a great place to stay. For Bryce, however, I'd recommend a cabin in the park for its proximity to sunrise and sunset views of the canyon.

Xyz99,

Since we have only stayed at the Zion lodge, I can't really compare it with the Desert Pearl (which certainly sounds great.) The town of Springdale looked very attractive and is so close to the park entrance that I think staying there would still be very convenient to the park. Has anyone stayed at both places?

Great report, Kathryn! So glad you had such a wonderful time. Looking forward to reading the next installment, too!

xyz99: We've stayed in both Zion Lodge and Desert Pearl and thats a tough call. They're so different. Desert Pearl is like a treasure in the desert, they've thought of everything and the views cannot be beat.....except by Zion Lodge. However, while we love the atmosphere of Nat'l Park Lodges and stay in them as much as possible, this one is a bit lacking imo. Its comfy enough but doesn't have the grandeur as most of the others, and i don't mean just Paradise Inn or El Tovar types.

Difficult to explain, in fact it's almost like comparing apples and oranges. Both are wonderful and you can't go wrong with either.

OK, hopefully this will be the last installment. Thanks for all your kind words!

We stayed in Moab for three nights and wish our stay could have been longer. The town itself is OK (lots of motels and a crowded main street) but there is so much to do in the surrounding areas. We stayed at the Aarchway Inn which we liked -- very large room with good A/C, nice swimming pool and complimentary breakfast. The Inn was at the end of town near Arches NP which seemed quieter than being in the center of town. We did happen to be there the weekend of a large Harley motorcycle gathering which may have colored my perception of central Moab's noise factor a bit!

The highlight of our Moab stay was an all day whitewater trip of Westwater Canyon with the Tag-a-long tour company. The scenery was beautiful (bald eagles, herons, Vishnu schist (spelling?) cliffs, etc.) and, boy did we get wet! I don't think I'll ever get all of the Colorado mud out of our clothes (definitely not a place for designer duds and tiaras) but it was worth it. I was a bit apprehensive after they reviewed all of the procedures for what to do if you fall off the raft, but we all managed to stay put and had a marvelous time.

We next did a day in Arches NP with many short hikes to those amazing arches. We have to go back another time for the hike to Delicate Arch (the spirit was willing, but the heat and fatigue factor by this point in our trip won out.) We also briefly visited the amazing Dead Horse State Park and Canyonlands Island in the Sky viewpoints.

Reluctantly we left Moab and headed to Baker, NV for a stop at Great Basin National Park. On the way we ate at Mom's Cafe in Salina (highly recommended if you like old time diners.)

In Baker, we stayed at the Silver Jack, a small older hotel with friendly owners. We toured the Lehman Caves and enjoyed its fascinating formations (and cool temperature!) We were fortunate to catch a ranger stargazing talk that evening complete with many shooting stars and one of the best views of the Milky Way I've ever seen. This is definitely a great place for amateur astronomers!

Our last stop was Eureka, Nevada, birthplace of my grandmother. We stayed at the Best Western there -- quite nice. I loved being able to show my family the street where my grandmother lived, the Opera House stage where her high school graduation was held, my great-great grandmother's house (amazingly still standing), and the graves of my great-great grandparents. Time has not changed much in Eureka and we enjoyed a self-guided walking tour of the old town where, it seems, almost every building was at some time or other a saloon!

Whew, that's it for now. We enjoyed our trip so much that I'm already starting to plan our next one. I think we'll try and tackle Yellowstone next summer so I'll soon be posting lots of questions. Travel is certainly addictive!

That was so interesting about your relatives in Eureka, NV. HOW SPEICAL! Did you like driving Hwy 50?

Utahtea

Hi Utahtea,

Yes, we did enjoy driving along Highway 50 -- much more so than I thought we would. The scenery was more varied than I expected. We did stop to view the petroglyphs at Hickison summit but otherwise didn't make many other stops as we had a long drive to get back home.

Hi Kathryn, can you tell me more about Great Basin Nat'l Park? That's one of a few that we haven't explored and i'm hoping its part of an upcoming trip as it will be on our route. Anything you can tell me would be great, such as how much time is needed, what were the highlights, can you compare it to any other park or area...any and all info would be greatly appreciated!

Hi ellen griswold,

I feel like we barely scratched the surface of Great Basin NP as we only toured the Lehman Caves (worth seeing unless you've already been to many caves), visited the visitor's center and attended the stargazing talk. That being said, I can tell you what I know.

It surprised me that this park is a National Park as it seems uncrowded, is fairly remote, and doesn't charge a visitor's fee! There are several campgrounds but no lodging facilities which is why we stayed in the small town of Baker which is close by. The park does have a cafe which closes early (we did not eat there.) Note: the restaurant in Baker (only one was open) also closed fairly early.

I think we would have gotten more out of the park if we could have been there at a cooler time as we would have hiked a bit, but I'm glad we got to see what we did and hope to go back again.

I know this park has lots of hiking and fishing with high temperatures in the summer and snow in the winter. I'd heard the Bristlecone Pine Forest was worth seeing as it has ancient, gnarly trees, but we did not visit it as our time was limited and it would have required hiking in the heat.

Hope this helps. Any other questions?

Great report--it brings back fond memories of our 2002 trip. It's nice to know that people really make use of the advice and experience shared on this board.

We did a Grand Teton/Yellowstone/dude ranch trip in 2000, so I might be able to help on that, too, when you're ready to start planning.

To ellen_griswold,

We've been to Great Basin National Park a couple of times. The first time before it was a national park and did the Lehman Cave tour. The last time was just a couple of years ago and we only had a limited time there. We considered doing the caves but were told that they don't even take you to all the place we had seen before so we decided instead to do the 12 mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. This drive almost goes to 10,000 feet. DH and I were feeling the effects of the high altitude so we only stayed long enought to enjoy the views and take a few pictures. We didn't do any hiking, but I wish we could have.

I guess most people don't expect to see snow caped mountains in Nevada, but Wheeler Peak is 13,065 feet and when we were there at the end of June there was still plenty of snow on the surrounding mountains.

If you camp, the campgrounds are really nice and do fill up at night in the summer. The lowest elevation campground is at 7,300 feet. If you are lucky you can get a site next to the creek.

Utahtea

KathrynT,
I'm thrilled you had such a wonderful trip and enjoyed your trip report. I'm also happy to know I may have helped in some way! The information you receive from people who have "been there, done that" makes planning easier and helps you include places/activities you may not have planned otherwise!

My 3 boys still talk about our trip out west and I'm planning one for next summer (if finances allow) to Yellowstone, Rockies, etc. My 15 y.o. DS took Earth Science/Land Formations class last year and while all of his classmates were bored looking at slides, he loved it because he had been there!

xyz99,
We stayed at Zion Lodge and LOVED being in the park. Only those staying at the Lodge are permitted to drive into the park. The Emerald Pools hike begins directly across the street from the Lodge and the shuttle bus stops there frequently. We have no experience with Desert Pearl, but it does sound wonderful. Tough choice!

Thanks BBear.
We already have reservations to Zion Lodge, but I think we'll make a reservation to Desert Pearl, too. We're going next Sept, so we still have time to decide and cancel one of them.

Thanks Kathryn and Utahtea! I'm just now seeing your replies about route 50 and great basin! This is definitely a stop on our next tentative itinerary. We'll be crossing nevada from the tetons to yosemite - would you recommend RT 50 with the various "i survived rt 50" (the pony express sounds interesting) or taking rt 50 thru great basin to SR 6? The latter seems more direct but maybe not as fun?

ellen,

To do Hwy 50 to Carson City is an extra 130 miles out of your way. I don't know how much time you have. Carson City can get busy so there is traffic to deal with. On the plus side you can SAY you did the Loneliest Highway in the USA and get all the goodies that come with completing the package. And then there is all the interesting things to see like Sand Mountain, pony express stations, petroglyphs and old mining towns. You also aren't far from Virgina City which is a neat old tourist trap town. As you come down Hwy 395 from Carson City you aren't very far from Bodie State Historic Park http://www.bodie.net/
This is the neatest and best preserved non-tourist trap ghost town I've been to.

It's been well over 25 years since I've done the section of Hwy 6 between Ely and Tonopah, but if you go, you have to tell me if you spot a tall rock formation that just jets out of the ground. (I know it's somewhere in Nevada on one of the back roads!) A plus to this route is it is 130 miles shorter and at Benson, CA you pick up Hwy 120 and this is a very scenic drive to Lee Vining.

Utahtea

Hi Utahtea! Thx so much for your reply.

I realize RT 50 is longer but it did sound alot more fun. And if RT 50 is 'lonely' then Rt 6 looks totally desolate! Not really a concern as our vehicles are always new and in great shape but i'd rather travel a route with something to do then just stare at nothing, kwim?

Any other thoughts? Thanks again!