I'm planning a trip to visit grand canyon-page-zion for the last week of april with my family. Our group of 6 will be my parents, 14 year old brother, my husband, 2 year old son and me.
I'm thinking of flying into vegas early (hopefully), drive straight to hoover dam, then drive to grand canyon before nightfall, stay in GC for 3 nights and 2 full days at the GC to do walk around rim and maybe a few hour hike down the canyon on one of the days.
On day 4 morning, drive to Page to see antelope canyon and horseshoe bend in one day, then drive to zion to stay overnight, hike around zion for the next day, stay night 2 at zion.
Day 6 drive to vegas to spend a night then fly out.

Questions
1. Is april a good time of the year to see these places?
2. Can I do antelope and horseshoe bend in a drive-by day-trip without staying overnight at Page? Maybe with seeing just one of the antelope canyon plus horseshoe bend? Which one of the antelope canyon do you recommend if only one is realistic?
3. Any opinion on the itinerary otherwise? Too many days/too few days at a certain destination? Any must see destinations I missed?

I would maybe only do one full day at GC, and use that other full day in Zion. Or if you don't fly out until later on Day 7, then spend Day 6 in Zion, which would give you 2 full days at both parks. Zion is beautiful in April, and is one of my favorite national parks. It won't be unbearably hot either. For Zion, you can either get lodging in the park or in Springdale. Either is fine as there is a shuttle that you can hop on from the town of Springdale into the park.

I've been to GC in mid-May and it was still a little chilly and windy up on top, but once you got down below the top of the canyon was quite warm. I believe they say the temperature difference from the top of the canyon to the bottom is 20-30 degrees, so just be prepared with layers if you are planning to go below the rim. Try to get lodging in the park, which means that you will need to do so fairly early. We stayed at Maswick Lodge and it was nice.

Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend can absolutely be done in a few hours as you pass through Page. The tours into Antelope Canyon will take about 1-1.5 hours, and maybe 1 hour at Horseshoe Bend (only about 1.5 miles roundtrip from the parking lot). I would try to go through Antelope Canyon midday, as this is when you will see the shafts of sunlight coming through. I've only done Upper Antelope Canyon so obviously that is the one I recommend

You've missed Bryce Canyon, which is beautiful as well and close to Zion, but doesn't look like you will really have time to include it in your trip. Save it for another time.

Altho' I don't know the driving time between Page and Zion, I think that would be a very long day in Page and you'd be better off staying overnight.

As I recall, when I was there in April a few years ago, there was a wait for guides at Antelope Canyon so you might not be able to just go as soon as you arrive. I wound up having to skip it.

Also, were you planning to take the float ride around Horseshoe Bend? It took several hours, with a stop off for lunch along the river. I recall leaving GC early in the a.m. to get there in time for the morning tour. Be sure to book in advance. It was very worthwhile, rather than just seeing it from above.

I think you could probably do only 2 nights in GC and see and do everything you want to in one long, full day. At least you won't have to drive anywhere that night.

As for Zion -- I could have stayed there forever. IMO, it is by far the most wonderful of your three destinations and warrants more than one full day.

Do you plan to take your two year old son to each of the stops you mentioned? That may be a challenge.
(1) To see Horseshoe Bend requires a 1.5 mile hike (round trip), sometimes through deep sand. A stroller won't work.
(2) Lower Antelope Canyon requires climbing up and down some tall ladders (as much as 25 feet). I haven't visited Upper Antelope Canyon, but have the impression that access is easier, and might be a better choice.
(3) "a few hour hike down the [Grand] canyon". Wow! Most people have enough trouble carrying themselves on such a hike. Perhaps a somewhat shorter hike, or you could take turns doing this hike?

April can be hit and miss as far as weather. We had great weather this last April in Zion but keep in mind that the Grand Canyon is around 7,000 feet and Zion is around 4,000 feet.

If you do Horseshoe Bend keep an eye on the two year old because there are absolutely no barriers to keep him from falling down the 1000 foot drop! http://www.nps.gov/glca/planyourvisi...oe%20Bend2.pdf

Upper Antelope Slots Canyon is the one where you see the beam of light and it is a super easy walk. My BIL has bad knees and was able to do Upper.

I would not recommend taking the 2 year old down into the Grand Canyon. If you want to walk along the rim with a stroller there are paved places to do that at Grand Canyon Village. The shuttle buses are fun for 2 year olds and you can go to many of the overlooks.

Utahtea

BTW, I had a full blown snowstorm on my one full day in the Grand canyon in late April. The rest of the time the weather was great, altho' it can get very chilly.

I'm thinking I should cut back the stayover at GC to just 2 nights if its more worth it to spend an additional night at Zion. And it looks like flying into Vegas in the evening is much cheaper than flying in on the morning. So I think we should try to add an overnight stay in Vegas or right outside of vegas for the first night. This way, we can make sure to get up early to do hoover dam then get to GC fairly early and stay there for 2 nights before moving on to Page and Zion. This should give us more time in Page and Zion. Either 1 night in Page and 2 nights in Zion or all 3 nights in Zion before going back to Vegas.

Regarding the concerns on hiking with the 2 year old, we have a back carrier and plan to carry him on our back for any unsafe hikes. Definitely do not want him running around horseshoe bend from the look of it! And I don't think we are going to hike all the way down to the bottom of the GC. Probably will just go down for an hour before heading back up.

Thanks to everyone for the great tips!!

The only reason to spend two nights at Page would be if you plan on doing a float trip on the Colorado River or a boat tour on Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge. I'm not sure if there are age limits on these tours.

Child backpacks are great! In Zion you will be able to do many more hikes with the two year old in the back pack. He should be able to do some of the 2 mile round trip Riverside Walk. The Emerald pools, Canyon Overlook and Weeping Rock are great hikes.

The rule of thumb for hiking down into the Grand Canyon is for every hour you hike down plan on 2 hours to go back up. When I was in my early twenty's it was closer to 3 hours for me. We made it to Indian Gardens and back on the Bright Angel Trail.

Utahtea



Utahtea