Four Corners Area of U.S.
 

My family is planning a trip to the Four Corners area. Will probably fly into Salt Lake City (is there a better airport for that area) then rent a car and drive to different locations. One place of interest everyone agrees on is Bryce Canyon. Can anyone give me info on other area sites that can been seen within one week? Also, what about lodging in that area. i.e. B&B v. hotel/motel/cabin. Thanks.

Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Albuquerque have airports served by Southwest Airlines, and they may be good choice depending on where you decide to visit. I found the book Journey to the High Southwest helpful in planning a vacation to the Four Corners area. For some reason, I have never thought of Bryce as being in the Four Corners. You could easily spend a week visiting Utah national parks (others nearby are Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, etc.) and feel you had barely scratched the surface.

Mesa Verde and Monument Valley are both close to the 4 corners. I would highly recommend both, especially a jeep tour of MV.

I agree about Mesa Verde and Monument Valley ( & the jeep tour of Mon. Val.) of last posting.

Bryce is further away but definitely worth the visit if you have time.

Grand Canyon. Also agree with others about Arches NP and Canyonlands NP. Moab area does some fun/informative jeep/boat tours as well that your children might enjoy.

Las Vegas is also a consideration for an airport. Depends how much driving you want to do. It would be closer to Bryce since you say you definitely want to go there.

Stop at the "four corners" - just a tourist trap really - but interesting to say you were there & take a picture of your feet standing in "4 states at once" :-)

Salt Lake City and Las Vegas are about the same distance away from Bryce. But depending on what else you decide to do will probably best decide which airport to use.

A week is not a long time in this area. You will need to narrow down what you really want to see.

In the four corners area is Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly but all of those are a lot of miles from Salt Lake or Vegas.

If Bryce is the top of your list you might want to fly into Las Vegas and do a small loop including Zion National Park, N. Rim of the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon. If you have extra time you can take a drive from Bryce out on Scenic Hwy 12 to Boulder, Utah and back.

Utahtea

The closest airport to the Four Corners is probably Durango, which, I believe, is still served by United Express.

If you decide to fly into Durango, consider spending a day riding on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. It's an old steam train that parallels the "million dollar highway". The views are breathtaking and nobody has to drive. The train leaves Durango early in the morning heading north and stops in the old mining town of Silverton for lunch. You have the option of a one way or round trip ticket. Book it now as it fills up fast!

We will be visiting this area later this month. We are flying into Phoenix - found a really good rate on Southwest. Last year we flew into Vegas (also on Southwest) and visited Bryce and Zion. If time would have permitted we would also have visited GC North Rim & Lake Powell. This trip we will be spending a week and plan to visit Monument Valley, Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Four Corners, Canyon de Chelly, and travel back across the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest on our way back to Phoenix.

Bryce was very beautiful and we enjoyed it greatly. I think to visit both it and the Four Corners area in the same trip is going to require you to spend much of your vacation driving.

Durango is served by United Express out of Denver (I don't know how long) and America West out of Phoenix. Cortez has an airport, and is even closer to the Four Corners. I think it's served by Great West.

Thanks to all of you who replied. This will certainly help me in completing our plant.

I did a similar trip to Utah in a week's time and it is doable. You will do alot of driving, but the scenery is so incredible it didn't matter. The pace was slow and relaxed and we had a fairly loose agenda. Flew into SLC and made a loop to Arches, Lake Powell, Monument Valley, and Bryce. They were all beautiful yet unique in their own right. As far as lodging, we were pretty spontaneous, but I know that is sometimes risky. We had no problems finding decent places to stay in every stop. All were small detached cabin-type units, some had community baths, some had private. They were all nice, clean, and comfortable; unfortunately, I cannot remember the names of any of them. Have fun!

One of the previous posts mentioned the Durango-Silverton Railroad. If you are not familiar with it, check out a short article I wrote about it a few months ago at:

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/places/durango.htm.

Have fun.