Hi CP..We have done several road trips to Utah, including one with the "2 big teens" in summer, to this past May flying into Vegas with my 9o yr old mother in law. We are now returning this coming spring and still in the planning stages. We LOVE Vegas, even though we don't gamble, and stayed our first night there. Next day we left for Zion, stopping at Snow Canyon Park on the way and then 3 nights at Desert Pearl. Actually,after hiking all day, this place is just so nice & relaxing I could stay a week here! Fabulous pool/hot tub area. Did lots of hikes & explored the region including Coral Pink Sands & Kanab..then back to Vegas for 2 days but stopping to see Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon. This upcoming trip will again include my mother in law. We land in Vegas & overnight. We already booked 2 nights at Desert Pearl and will see more Zion & day trip to Bryce. We had visions of either then returning to Capital Reef & Moab,(stay in town if you are going to be out all day and about) or should we head directly to Lake Powell (where we have previously rented houseboats 2 summers in a row, but not on this section of Lake). We really want to see this area & Antelope Canyon. We may also rent a power boat half day. From here we head to Grand Canyon S. Rim. We had also pondered which direction to do first. We are leaning toward Zion first because at this point I could only get Grand Canyon Rim rooms later in the week..and after lots of "re-thinking" we are prbly giving Reef & Moab up, because its a ton of driving and we only have a week..My days of killer road trips are at an end. Moab was lots of fun. Arches is great, hike Delicate Arch..a must..my boys rented bikes in town and rode Moabs famous SlickRock Trail. We hiked about. Beautiful landscape! Canyonlands was lots of drivng, wished we could have 4X4 the White Rim trail..we always say "next time". Capital Reef is great as is Boulder Mtn Lodge and the ride down Hells Backbone..Calf Creek Recreation Area is worth the stop also. Are you doing the North or South Rim? We did the N. Rim with the teens, though only one night. In the end that was good, cuz forest fires were causing lots of haze & road closures. If you land early I would head to Grand Canyon first and save the short ride back from Zion if you are spending time in Vegas. I would suggest maybe skipping Lake P? and one night at the Canyon if you are not hiking down.If you go to N rim then you could do Powell, but make your reservations now. 2 nights at Zion, one at Bryce is good. Moab you could get away with 2 days also. If your kids like hiking better than driving about, head towards doing that, more so than trying to cram all the parks in! We loved the Delicate Arch hike so much we stopped again on our way out of Utah at the end of the trip to hike it again. As much as we LOVE the Parks, we LOVE Vegas & plan to spend the very last day there, hopefully see a show & enjoy a stoll past the Fountains!

My friend suggested that we fly into Salt lake city, then go to Moab, bryce, North Rim, Zion and fly out of Las Vegas. The mileage seems better because the day driving from the south rim to Moab was very far. What do you think?

Your friend is right..that sounds like a great idea! You may have to pay a premium on the rental car though for not returning to original pick up place..maybe..

Moab is about 4 1/2 hours from SLC - and yes I'd also elect to stay near or in the town - it is funky and fun! A brief river trip would be in order. The Desert Pearl is a wonderful accomodation for around Zion, recommended by lots of my friends, Utah locals. Capitol Reef is an amazing Park, and you might check out the Pine Shadows Cabins nearby in the tiny town of Teasdale. Yes it can be very hot in summer depending on altitude.

If you want to stop between Capitol Reef and Bryce, stay in Torrey and eat at the Diablo Cafe. Ambitious food in a down-home setting. Quite good.

Well, I think I have an itinerary. We will fly into Salt Lake and drive to Moab. The dreamkeeper inn was closed the week we are there in July so I booked the Sunflower inn for 2 nights. Then we are going on a three day pack trip in the Fish Lake Forest and white mts. After that we go to Bryce for one night staying at Ruby's. Then the Grand Canyon Lodge for 1 night. Next to Zion staying at the Desert Pearl for 2 nights and finally to Las Vegas staying 2 nights at the Mirage(I read their pool is very nice). For some reason this was a difficult trip to play. Probably because there are so many places to see. I know we will be a bit rushed...particularily in Moab where there seems to be so much to do and see. The kids are going to want some time to relax by a pool and just hang out too. I have a tendency to want to do alot of things.

If you can possibly get rooms in Bryce park, stay there instead of Ruby's. It's so fabulous to be able to walk from your room to the edge of the canyon in a matter of minutes and see the amazing scenery. We also spent a night at the North Rim of the GC and liked it better than the South Rim--a little less hectic, although still plenty of buses and folks.