wendylynne

We are a family of 4-parents, and kids 13 and 9. Our vacation begins 6/16 taking us to LA to visit family. We will stay 3 days, at least, rent a car, drive to Vegas for no more than 2 nights.

From Vegas, we head to SW UT. Our planned sites are first Zion NP (stay in Sringdale?), then Bryce NP (stay ?). I really want to drive USHwy 12, I have heard it is a beautiful drive. We can drive up to Capital Reef or take 1/2 way and come back down through Grand Staircase.

However, I'd really LOVE to get a chance to see Monument Valley while and I am not sure which is easiest to get there, from Capitol Reef or driving down from Boulder off of Hwy 12.

From there we had planned go to the Grand Canyon, looks like we need to do South Rim since the Grand Canyon Lodge is sold out on the North Rim.

I am trying to figure out distances and wondering if MV will just be too much for us. I don't know when we'd do a trip like this again which is why I am pushing for it.

Can anyone who has done something similar (Zion, Bryce, Grand C) advise the length of stay in each area? I was thinking 2-3 nights.

We return back to DC 7/1 from Vegas.

Yeah, it's a ton of driving, I know, but what an adventure it will be (as long as my kids remain interested)

Thanks,

wendy

utahtea

If you do a circle you will only be doing a little over 1000 miles in a 10 day period so that's not that bad.

You said you wanted to visit family in Las Vegas for 3 days, so I figure you will be ready to leave on 6/20.

6/20 Drive to Zion 160 miles and 3 hour drive. Explore Zion
6/21 Spend day in Zion
6/22 Spend morning in Zion and drive to Bryce. 87 miles and 2 hour drive.
6/23 Spend day in Bryce
6/24 Drive scenic Hwy 12 to Torrey. Spend night in Torrey
6/25 Spend day in Capitol Reef
6/26 Drive via Hwy 24 to Hanksville, and Hwy 95 which will take you over Hites Crossing and right by Natural Bridges National Monument on to Monument Valley. 210 miles and approx 6 hours driving time.
6/27 Spend in Monument Valley
6/28 Drive to S. Rim Grand Canyon 180 miles approx 4 hour driving.
6/29 Spend day at S. Rim Grand Canyon
6/30 Drive back to Las Vegas. 280 miles approx 5 hour drive.

Or the route could be done in reverse. You really have plenty of time to do all you want to do.

Utahtea

wendylynne

Hi Utahtea,

Thanks for this quick response.

what you have is doable and we may need to stretch our time somewhere along the line. I just made reservations at the Goulding Lodge in MV for 6/27-2nt, the only 2 nts available for view of the monuments. So, that now gives us only 6/29-30 for Grand Canyon as we need to be in Vegas by early evening 6/30 because we leave out at 8A on 7/1.

We could spend 1 more night in Vegas or add a night in UT.

I think in Zion we will stay at the Desert Pearl and I was looking at the Cliffrose Lodge for Zion. They both look nice unless you have any other suggestions.

Thanks much,

wendy

utahtea

Wendy,

We camp so I won't be of much help on lodging...but I didn't realize you could see the Monuments from the Goulding Lodge. I know from the campground near by you only have a small view. Don't get me wrong, the lodge is set between some bluffs so it's a beautiful setting...I just didn't realize you could see Monument Valley. We've never stayed at the Lodge, maybe someone else will know.

What about spending the night of the 26th in Mexican Hat and only one night at Gouldings, otherwise your trip to the Grand Canyon is going to be rushed. If that's not possible, I'd add another night to Zion and then leave early the next morning for Bryce.

Utahtea

wendylynne

Utahtea,

this is what we ended up doing-

6/19-21-Vegas

6/21-23- Zion NP, staying at Flanigan's Inn

6/23-25-Bryce NP, staying at Bryce Canyon Resort

6/25-26- Capitol Reef NP, staying at the Best Western CP in Torrey

6/26-27-driving to Bluff, one night at Desert Rose Inn

6/27-29-Goulding's Lodge, Monument Valley

6/29-30-Grand Canyon South rim, staying at T-bird Lodge, we hope to get there by 1p at latest and leave for Vegas around 1p next day.

I am not sure if we could make the drive from GC to Vegas for a 1P flight on 7/1, that is why we are leaving afternoon of 6/30 back to Vegas.

We are more flexible at the "top" of the trip than the "bottom" due to the availability of Goulding's Lodge.

wendy

utahtea

Looks pretty good. You are going to have a lot of time to spend in the Monument Valley area with one night in Bluff and 2 at Gouldings. You might consider the Valley of the Gods drive and Hoovenweep National Monument. Hoovenweep is out of the way, but well worth it for a few hours.

http://www.so-utah.com/souteast/homepage.html

Utahtea

wendylynne

Utahtea,

that sounds like a great idea. I want to plan to get to Gouldings by dinner time and it is not too long of a drive from Bluff so we have all day to "putz" around. Hovenweep looks wonderful.
thanks for the idea.

wendy

wendylynne

Utahtea-

should we just skip Bluff (eat/sleep stop only) and drive right to MV? It doesn't seem to be much further and we could add a night up front in Vegas or to the back end in Vegas to veg by the pool.

wendy

utahtea

I think I kind of answered this in your other thread. I'd go all the way from Torrey to Monument Valley in one day and add another night at the Grand Canyon because it really is worth more than just a 1/2 of a day. You don't have to hike into the canyon, but hiking along the rim or just taking the shuttle bus to the many stops you can't drive to takes some time.

Utahtea

Vttraveler

We did a family trip to the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff areas last year, and I think you are really going to regret having only 24 hours at the GC. We stayed there 4 nights, altho we arrived fairly late the 1st night (just in time to check in and watch the sunset, which is a big event).
I agree with utahtea that even hiking along the rim and taking shuttle buses to different areas takes more time than you will have. There are lots of interesting ranger programs that I think the kids (and you) would enjoy. Watching a sunrise is also well worth the extra effort it takes to get up early.

I would not count on being able to make it to the airport for the 1 p.m. flight from the GC, so if you are going to add time in the GC, you would probably have to do it by changing the MV lodging and getting there a day early.

wendylynne

thanks, I have followed the advise of everyone that has answered and will revise my stay in MV to 1nt. We still have time in MV for a tour either on 6/27 or am 6/28. We now arrive GC afternoon of 6/28 for 2nts.

Vttraveler

I think you'll be glad you are devoting more time to the Grand Canyon. With more time you can explore the GC village historic buildings like the Kolb studio, the Bright Angel Lodge and El Tovar in addition to hiking.
One other point I forgot to mention is that you should factor in time for stops along the way from the eastern entrance to the lodge. That part of the southern rim is really spectacular--a better way to approach the Canyon than from the south. Dessert View watch tower is the logical stopping point for your first view. There is also a stop at Tusayan Ruin, a prehistoric pueblo.

A word of caution: the cafeteria food at the GC village was really grim. The village marketplace and deli had better options for lunch

wendylynne

Thanks, Vttraveler-
Would you do a tour or hike on your own? We are not big hikers, just average walkers and the kids are 13/9 and you know how they can be! my thought about the tours is that they are bus tours and we'll be lumped with a ton of people (guess this can't be avoided at this time of year) and it might not be as fun. What do you think?

wendy

utahtea

One great thing about the shuttle service at the Grand Canyon is you can do a little hiking along the rim and when you get tired you can catch a shuttle bus to either take you to the next stop or back to the village.

I'm sure a guided tour might be more educational, but we've always loved being on our own time table. Able to stop and take in the views in certain places as long as we wanted. Last time we were there we hung out at one of the overlooks and huddled under a kioks, munched on snacks with some other couple and watched a thunderstorm in the canyon...it was great! We could have picked up a dozen shuttle buses, but we choose to stay till sunset.

Utahtea

Vttraveler

I agree with utahtea that doing hikes and riding the shuttle on your own would probably work better than taking one of the tours. The walks on the rim near GC Village are really quite easy, and as utahtea describes, you can walk from one section to another point where the shuttle bus will pick you up.
You do have to be aware that at some points the trails are not well maintained. The maps show these sections and you can double-check with the rangers.
The ranger talks are usually very interesting and there are different ones throughout the day with geology or history emphasis--some at the visitor's center, some at the GC village area