Dave_Johnson

We will be going to the Grand Canyon area this spring.

Which place would be best to fly in to if we want to go to Brice canyon and the "Arches"?

PaulRabe

I'm a little confused.

The Grand Canyon and Arches NP are quite far apart from each other, and flying into an airport to get close to one precluded flying into one that is close to the other.

If you want to see the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, then your best bet is to fly into Las Vegas.
There is no airport that is reasonably close to Arches NP. The closest one would be Salt Lake City, but arriving there and then going to Arches NP means going AWAY from the other two.

Placename

Las Vegas

Myer

What caused you to pick these 3 places?

Arches NP is not in the same path with the other two.

If you want to go to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion the Las Vegas is the closest airport.

You could then visit Page and go to Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend on the way.

Depending upon how much time you have you could fly into Salt Lake City, drive to Arches (4 1/2 hours) and then do a loop across Utah that could include Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef (not one of my favorites), Bryce Canyon and possibly even Zion. There are also a few very worthy sights along the way as well. Dead Horse Point, Goblin Valley, Lower Calf Creek Falls, Devil's Garden (Escalante), Willis Creek slot canyon.

Grand Canyon is also not one of my favorites so I would choose the Utah loop starting and ending in Salt Lake.

InSandy

So how much time did you have? Any chance you could fly into one airport and fly out of another? Car Rental drop off fees may preclude that but it would make the most sense.

Grand Canyon is a long way from Salt Lake airport, but very reasonable drives for both Arches and Bryce.
Phoenix is not bad for Grand canyon but a long way from Arches and off the loop for Bryce
Las Vegas is good for Bryce and Grand Canyon, but again a long haul from Arches.

If you could fly into Phoenix or Las Vegas and out of SLC (or the other way) then you could arrive LV/PHX, have brief visits to grand canyon, bryce, arches and some places inbetween all those, leave SLC in about a weeks time.

What would make better sense is to skip Arches, fly into LV, see Bryce and Grand Canyon and add Zion and Page (Lake Powell, Antelope canyons) to the mix. A week would be a quick trip even for that.

However, if you wanted to see the three parks you listed then you could do it from any of the three gateway cities. Salt Lake would give you the fewest miles to travel, but only by a couple hundred. Take the one with the best flight and car rental package. Hopefully you have two weeks for this as these three parks are only the tip of the iceberg.

Don't know how anyone can say that either Grand Canyon or Capitol Reef aren't absolutely spectacular. They both open their true selves to those who take the time to learn their hidden wonders.

Myer

InSandy, I guess if somebody rates Bryce Canyon, Zion, Willis Creek slot canyon, Lower Calf Creek Falls, Devil's Garden Escalante, Goblin Valley, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point and Fisher Towers (of Citi Bank Accessories commercial fame) above the Grand Canyon and Capitol Reef there must be something wrong with them.

Correct?

And all I said is that Capitol Reef and the Grand Canyon were not among my favorite places.

InSandy

Fisher Towers, Goblin Valley, Horseshoe bend are not even in the same category as the Grand Canyon and Capitol Reef. While I would encourage anyone with time to see them all since they are fabulous and bring depth and experience to a trip through the area, they are one stop.

Willis Creek and Devil's Garden being part of the Grand Staircase/Escalante NM are only a part of that huge area and should definitely be included in an exploration of GSE.

You can spend a lifetime in the Grand Canyon and not ever have the same experience twice. It just makes me wonder what your experience there has been. The Grand Canyon is truly one of the seven natural wonders of the world and has awed and wowed and impressed me more every time I visit.

When you say they are not your favorite what I read is that you don't think they are worth visiting. Perhaps you were underwhelmed and the hype didn't live up to the expectation? I have had that happen to me sometimes (Waikiki beach being one that comes to mind. I definitely couldn't see what the attraction was).

emalloy

We have done a loop from Vegas, through Zion and Bryce, to Arches and Canyonlands and back through Grand Canyon in 8 days with stops for a day or two in each and planning the time of arrival/departure so that we can use it as a driving day. Since we have gone back to each several times and spend less time driving, but it can be done just be prepared for a lot of driving through beautiful country. Vegas was chosen because it was the least expensive place to fly into and car rental costs were lower than for Phoenix, Salt Lake City or Denver.

spirobulldog

I have been to the Grand Canyon 3 times, Arches 2 times, Bryce 1 time, Zion 2 times, Capitol Reef 2 times, Canyonlands 3 times, Goblin Valley 2 times. I have rafted the last 90 miles of the canyon (which is supposedly the least spectacular)-which is a short 3 day trip-I still thought it was great.

I just drove by Fisher Towers twice and I haven't done Willis Creek. That said, I truly think the Goblin Valley is one of my very favorite spots in all of Utah. You can easily add a few more things to do there around The Swell too.

I don't know that anything is more dramatic than your first view of the GC, but I'm with Myer--After that it loses it pizzaz with me. I do plan on returning and doing a rim to rim hike at some point and the rafting was definatle good. But I would take Arches, Zion, and Bryce over it easily.


I think perhaps what Myer meant was to certainly see it, but you might not want to devote more than a day there unless you are doing some serious hiking/rafting/mule ride.

Everyong likes different things. Millions of people visit wakiki and the GC. So, I guess someone likes them.

WhereAreWe

Las Vegas sounds like it would be best for you. Like everyone else said, Arches is pretty much out of the way, there's plenty of other places to see and maybe it would be best to skip Arches/Moab and save that area for another trip.

Keep in mind Bryce Canyon will have snow and the south end of the main park road will likely be closed at that time. Shouldn't be much of an issue because the main sights are on the north end.

InSandy

haha, everyone likes different things spirobulldog forsure. I still don't get Goblin Valley either, but I know some people like it, and it is very unique and I would never tell some one not to go. I'd take Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef over that though.

And I think a one day visit to the Grand Canyon is partly why people don't like it. You need more time to really figure out what it is all about.

Connie

Keep in mind that the north rim of the Grand Canyon is closed in winter and spring. It doesn't open until Mid-May. That will mean going around to the south rim--a long drive around from the southern Utah sites.

If you could wait a little later, it's much easier to do southern Utah and the GC when the north rim is open. You won't get any less wonderful views from the north rim than the south rim. I actually like it much better.

I don't know which part of spring you are talking about but you can still get into a lot of snow and ice in March and possibly April.

WhereAreWe

"I think perhaps what Myer meant was to certainly see it, but you might not want to devote more than a day there unless you are doing some serious hiking/rafting/mule ride."

His recommended itinerary was pretty specific, starting in SLC and visiting various places but left out GC.

I agree with Sandy, one day isn't enough but some times that's all you have. I went there a couple times, first for just an hour or so, 2nd time was an overnight visit and me and my friend hiked down Bright Angel for maybe an hour. That inspired me to come back a decade later and do a 3 night backpack to the bottom. Point is, sometimes people don't have time to explore a place in depth but just seeing it can inspire them to want to go back and see/do more. Or they might say, been there done that and don't need to go back.

My opinion is that everyone should see the Grand Canyon at least once, spend at least a few hours driving/walking along the rim if you're in the area, do more if you have more time. There really isn't anything else like it.

starrs

The first time we went (in the late 70s) we flew into Denver, circled down to Great Sand Dunes, over to Mesa Verde, on to the Grand Canyon, up to Arches and stopped over in Aspen to do some skiing before we flew home. This was during spring break, so a week plus the weekends. We didn't know to make reservations at the Grand Canyon, but it was snowing so people were leaving the park. We lucked out and got rooms on the rim. At Arches we were the only ones on the hike to Delicate Arch. The trail was a bit icy in the shadows but the experience was magical. Obviously it was a lot of driving but we had a fabulous trip.

To do all you want to do, you're going to have to drive a lot. IMO it's well worth it. If it's worth it to you, check fares into surrounding airports and make your pick.

Myer

If you go back to my first response in this thread I suggested two itineraries:
One included Bryce, Zion, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and the Grand Canyon flying into Las Vegas.

The other swung across Utah flying into Salt Lake City.

I didn't mention that the Grand Canyon wasn't worth visiting. I wrote that it wasn't one of my favorite places.

I've been to Zion twice and Bryce three times. The only way I'd go back to the Grand Canyon was if I was passing near it with somebody who hasn't been there.

My daughter was in Las Legas a few months ago and she and her husband went to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. I suggested (and they did) they spend a day and go to Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon.

When she returned I listed 12 places she's been to over the past couple of years. I asked her to rate them.

Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon were #11 & #12.

enzian

It is quite possible to be underwhelmed by the Grand Canyon if one's experience of it consists of standing on the rim looking down into it with a few hundred of your best friends. It is so huge, so vast, that one cannot begin to grasp the scale of it. The features all run together and the colors lose some depth.

But take the time to learn about the geology and then hike down into the canyon, to the bottom if you can, and you will be overwhelmed with the beauty. It is a different world down there, and on your waynto and from that other world you pass theprough so much geologic time,each stratum in a different color. The deepest reds are near the bottom of the canyon, just before you reach the river at Black Bridge. And if you cross the Colorado and head up the North Kaibab Trail along Bright Angel creek, you will find some black Vishnu Schist, the oldest rocks of all. It is eerie to touch it, knowing that it is over a billion years old.

And the plants. It is so much greener down there than you can see from the rim. Even the relatively dry Tonto plateau is covered with plants of a lovely grey-green.

I could go on and on. But I remember reading Myer's report where he described the Grand Canyon as " just a big soup bowl" or something like that. I guess that just proves we are all different in our tastes.

Myer

I stand by everything I wrote.

Whether viewing a sight from within 50 yards of the car (as it appears most people do) or deeply getting into it, the Grand canyon doesn't come close to any of the sights I've mentioned.

Just my opinion.

Now, I never suggested anybody not go to see it. If you're in the area, by all means see what it's about.

K_Bot

@starrs - Thanks for your post, I keep forgetting that Denver is a possible gateway airport for those wanting to do a Southeast Utah Canyon park loop. I'm in the Grand Canyon tourism industry and most of our guests use either Las Vegas or Phoenix as their starting/ending points, Las Vegas being considerably more popular 'cause of the abundance of cheap flights.

@Myer & enzian - agree that, as enzian puts, "it is quite possible to be underwhelmed by the Grand Canyon." Believe you me, I've overheard plenty of folks say "meh - it's just a hole in the ground!" Which of course makes me want to say "Are you kidding me?!?!?" But more likely I say "a. get down in it or b. fly over it." One or both perspectives will give you a much better idea of the size and complexity of the Grand Canyon. Flying over it is cool IMO because you actually get to peer down into nooks and crannies that people couldn't walk to if they tried http://youtu.be/hIAczob8Owk

spirobulldog

KBot,
A lot of times a flight into Grand Junction isn't to bad of a price and it is a lot closer than DEN

starrs

I agree that Grand Junction is a good option. We just wanted to do a lot in CO too. It was the first of many loops in the Rockies/SW. I love the combination.