Grand Canyon/Zion/Bryce/Page Trip Report
May 30th, 2005 | 09:14 AM
#1
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 134
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Grand Canyon/Zion/Bryce/Page Trip Report
WHAT A FANTASTIC TRIP.
The two of us joined by 2 wonderful friends, were off on what we are now calling OUR MOST WONDERFUL ADVENTURE!!!!!!!
We flew from Detroit to Vegas rented a car and were off to Zion. We stayed at the Desert Pearl which was wonderful, the beds have feather mattresses and feather comforters and of course feather pillows.... We had a riverside room and the river was right out our door. The virgin river is RAGING right now, with the melting snow it is downright scary. Needless to say the Narrows is closed and impossible to even think about attempting unless you have a death wish. The Desert Pearl was a perfect place to stay, the location is great and the views from their pool are incredible. We ate at the Bit and Spur the first night which did not impress any of us at all. The second night we tried the Spotted Dog which was better. We did the Riverside Walk which was perfect for us considering our friend messed up his knee before we left for the trip, it was an easy 2 mile roundtrip hike which was beautiful!!!!! It takes you to the entrance of the narrows which as I said looks like it will be closed for some time due to the melting of the heavy snows. Springdale is a quaint little town, we loved Zion!!!!! Zion has shuttles that are very nice, allowing you to get on and off at your leisure and not worry about a someone who is driving missing the fabulous views!!!!! Our big adventure while at Zion was the 4 hour ATV trip we did out of Washington, Utah approx 40 min from Zion. Wilderness ATV tours is the company, and it was quite a trip, I being the ATV virgin was scared to death, but this ended up being the highlight of our trip, you are in the high desert and at 6000 feet elevations, on huge sand dunes, and then you ride along the cliff rims on your way back. Jim the owner was our guide and he was very patient with me considering I got stuck on the dunes 3 times and he had to come rescue me. It was a blast, and I highly reccommend it!!!!!
3rd day onto Bryce.... The drive through the park from Zion to Bryce is awesome!!!! We also stopped at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary which is quite a stop if you are an animal lover. Do a search on the net if you are interested... It is right on your way. Later in our trip we met people at the North Rim who had just adopted a dog from there.
Bryce.... We stayed at Ruby's which is very close to the park entrance, it is quite the place and owns most of the land around there. Lots of busses come in and out of Ruby's but truly that did not bother us, the accomodations are very basic, we had a 2 bedroom suite which was very basic, but suited our needs just fine. They have an indoor and an outdoor pool. No views from Ruby's like there were at the Desert Pearl.
We did the horseback ride from Ruby's which takes you through the Red Canyon which you will see driving into the area it is beautiful in it's own right and different from Bryce. We got to see an old hide out of Butch Cassidy's on our ride. The park service has restored a part of it, but most of it is original and in tact.
Bryce still had some snow, and although we were in tank tops and shorts, it was in the 80's, seeing the snow was very cool. The Hoodoo's will take your breath away, they are quite a spectacle. Do any of you remember Silly Sand as a kid? That is what they remind me of. The diversity of the 2 parks amazed me and the girls vs the guys argued about which was their favorite between the 2 parks, my girlfriend and I loved Zion and our husbands voted for Bryce. We ate at Ruby's the first night and it was quite good for the price, We had lunch at the Bryce Pines which is famous for their pies, it was good, and we had pizza the last night at Ruby's casual diner. Nothing fancy, but all good.
Day 5 onto the North Rim. WOW was all I could say at my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. We had made our reservations months ago and because of all the snow the North Rim just opened the week before we got there WHEW!!!! Still lots of snow in the area, but not in the canyon itself. We stayed at the only place to stay the Grand Canyon Lodge, very rustic, stayed in a Motel Room (no TV's) but fit the feel of the area and was just fine. Ate at the Lodge for dinner (again the only place around other than the deli at the lodge) it was quite good. We were sitting in the Saloon having a few drinks to celebrate being at the Grand Canyon and a woman I was talking to earlier came in to say "you are missing the Condors get out here" boy does it pay to talk to people or what? Sure enough 5 of them were circling high above, and we were still not sure that was what we were looking at because they were so high, a ranger confirmed it for us. More Condor stories to come from the South Rim later..... We did the Bright Angel Point hike which is kind of scary, but well worth it!!!! It is also the point we watched the sunrise over the canyon the next morning!!! Well worth getting up for.
Next the drive from the North Rim to Page, Arizona for the 4 hour float trip on the Colorado River........... This drive is a highlight of our trip, it takes you though Navajo Reservation land which is untouched and you truly feel you can picture Cowboys and Indians traveling through this area, no signs of civilization at all, and I mean other than the road you are traveling on nothing else, no wires, nothing. It was incredible. We stopped at a little town for lunch I believe it was Marble Falls where you catch your first glimpse of the Colorado River, and we walk into the restaurant to a family of Indians having lunch and our waitress was Navajo as well. Talk about adding to the feel of what we were feeling earlier. It was wonderful!!!!!
We did not realize we would also get to see Lake Powell on this trip, so that in itself we condidered a BONUS!!! The Glen Canyon Dam where Lake Powell and the Colorado River meet is where you board your raft. The dam is the second largest second only to the Hoover dam..... Lake Powell is the 2nd largest man made river.... and beautiful in it's own right. Again it was a bonus to see and get pictures.
The rafting trip was great, I highly suggest doing it if you have time, but boy our entire trip was HOT, we had 104 temps in Zion, 80's in Bryce (which is as hot as it gets there we were told) and on the river that day it was over 100.... The half day trip on the river was an unforgettable experience, where your trip ends at Lee's Ferry is the start of the Grand Canyon at the Vermillion Cliffs which is where the Condors are released from. That became important for us to have seen considering the next day was our real Condor expereince... This was our long day, as right after the rafting trip, we were off to the South Rim and El Tovar!!!!!
Our arrival was a late one about 9:30 and El Tovar was a beautiful resort, I only wish we had more time there.... They knew of our late arrival and we arrived to our beds turned down with chocolates.
Next morning we go out to walk along the rim and Condors were flying in their grandeur at least 6 of them. We got wonderful pictures, and caught a ranger about to do a condor talk who gave us our own talk.... They are all numbered with transmitters on them. If you see a condor and can see the number the rangers can tell you the history of the bird from the number, when it was released, male or female etc. This was a thrill beyond thrills there are 52 birds in the park and only 254 in the world. They stared with 17 when they released them at the Vermillion Cliffs.
We left to return to Vegas for 2 nights which ended our trip.
If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them. This board helped us immensly in planning our trip.
I think Utah is one of this country's best kept secrets, it has incredible diversity and immense beauty, and yet you do not hear much about it, at least not in the eastern states.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: mzambo
Date: 05/30/2005, 12:52 pm
One other "bonus" I forgot to mention.... In our drive from the South Rim back to Vegas. We found ourselves having lunch on historic Route 66....... Got pictures next to a sign that said Scenic Historic Route 66............. Another little piece of history and one more unexpected BONUS!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: mzambo
Date: 05/30/2005, 12:54 pm
I must be tired and should have waited to post this review. The Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is actually on your drive from Bryce to the North Rim.....
The two of us joined by 2 wonderful friends, were off on what we are now calling OUR MOST WONDERFUL ADVENTURE!!!!!!!
We flew from Detroit to Vegas rented a car and were off to Zion. We stayed at the Desert Pearl which was wonderful, the beds have feather mattresses and feather comforters and of course feather pillows.... We had a riverside room and the river was right out our door. The virgin river is RAGING right now, with the melting snow it is downright scary. Needless to say the Narrows is closed and impossible to even think about attempting unless you have a death wish. The Desert Pearl was a perfect place to stay, the location is great and the views from their pool are incredible. We ate at the Bit and Spur the first night which did not impress any of us at all. The second night we tried the Spotted Dog which was better. We did the Riverside Walk which was perfect for us considering our friend messed up his knee before we left for the trip, it was an easy 2 mile roundtrip hike which was beautiful!!!!! It takes you to the entrance of the narrows which as I said looks like it will be closed for some time due to the melting of the heavy snows. Springdale is a quaint little town, we loved Zion!!!!! Zion has shuttles that are very nice, allowing you to get on and off at your leisure and not worry about a someone who is driving missing the fabulous views!!!!! Our big adventure while at Zion was the 4 hour ATV trip we did out of Washington, Utah approx 40 min from Zion. Wilderness ATV tours is the company, and it was quite a trip, I being the ATV virgin was scared to death, but this ended up being the highlight of our trip, you are in the high desert and at 6000 feet elevations, on huge sand dunes, and then you ride along the cliff rims on your way back. Jim the owner was our guide and he was very patient with me considering I got stuck on the dunes 3 times and he had to come rescue me. It was a blast, and I highly reccommend it!!!!!
3rd day onto Bryce.... The drive through the park from Zion to Bryce is awesome!!!! We also stopped at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary which is quite a stop if you are an animal lover. Do a search on the net if you are interested... It is right on your way. Later in our trip we met people at the North Rim who had just adopted a dog from there.
Bryce.... We stayed at Ruby's which is very close to the park entrance, it is quite the place and owns most of the land around there. Lots of busses come in and out of Ruby's but truly that did not bother us, the accomodations are very basic, we had a 2 bedroom suite which was very basic, but suited our needs just fine. They have an indoor and an outdoor pool. No views from Ruby's like there were at the Desert Pearl.
We did the horseback ride from Ruby's which takes you through the Red Canyon which you will see driving into the area it is beautiful in it's own right and different from Bryce. We got to see an old hide out of Butch Cassidy's on our ride. The park service has restored a part of it, but most of it is original and in tact.
Bryce still had some snow, and although we were in tank tops and shorts, it was in the 80's, seeing the snow was very cool. The Hoodoo's will take your breath away, they are quite a spectacle. Do any of you remember Silly Sand as a kid? That is what they remind me of. The diversity of the 2 parks amazed me and the girls vs the guys argued about which was their favorite between the 2 parks, my girlfriend and I loved Zion and our husbands voted for Bryce. We ate at Ruby's the first night and it was quite good for the price, We had lunch at the Bryce Pines which is famous for their pies, it was good, and we had pizza the last night at Ruby's casual diner. Nothing fancy, but all good.
Day 5 onto the North Rim. WOW was all I could say at my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. We had made our reservations months ago and because of all the snow the North Rim just opened the week before we got there WHEW!!!! Still lots of snow in the area, but not in the canyon itself. We stayed at the only place to stay the Grand Canyon Lodge, very rustic, stayed in a Motel Room (no TV's) but fit the feel of the area and was just fine. Ate at the Lodge for dinner (again the only place around other than the deli at the lodge) it was quite good. We were sitting in the Saloon having a few drinks to celebrate being at the Grand Canyon and a woman I was talking to earlier came in to say "you are missing the Condors get out here" boy does it pay to talk to people or what? Sure enough 5 of them were circling high above, and we were still not sure that was what we were looking at because they were so high, a ranger confirmed it for us. More Condor stories to come from the South Rim later..... We did the Bright Angel Point hike which is kind of scary, but well worth it!!!! It is also the point we watched the sunrise over the canyon the next morning!!! Well worth getting up for.
Next the drive from the North Rim to Page, Arizona for the 4 hour float trip on the Colorado River........... This drive is a highlight of our trip, it takes you though Navajo Reservation land which is untouched and you truly feel you can picture Cowboys and Indians traveling through this area, no signs of civilization at all, and I mean other than the road you are traveling on nothing else, no wires, nothing. It was incredible. We stopped at a little town for lunch I believe it was Marble Falls where you catch your first glimpse of the Colorado River, and we walk into the restaurant to a family of Indians having lunch and our waitress was Navajo as well. Talk about adding to the feel of what we were feeling earlier. It was wonderful!!!!!
We did not realize we would also get to see Lake Powell on this trip, so that in itself we condidered a BONUS!!! The Glen Canyon Dam where Lake Powell and the Colorado River meet is where you board your raft. The dam is the second largest second only to the Hoover dam..... Lake Powell is the 2nd largest man made river.... and beautiful in it's own right. Again it was a bonus to see and get pictures.
The rafting trip was great, I highly suggest doing it if you have time, but boy our entire trip was HOT, we had 104 temps in Zion, 80's in Bryce (which is as hot as it gets there we were told) and on the river that day it was over 100.... The half day trip on the river was an unforgettable experience, where your trip ends at Lee's Ferry is the start of the Grand Canyon at the Vermillion Cliffs which is where the Condors are released from. That became important for us to have seen considering the next day was our real Condor expereince... This was our long day, as right after the rafting trip, we were off to the South Rim and El Tovar!!!!!
Our arrival was a late one about 9:30 and El Tovar was a beautiful resort, I only wish we had more time there.... They knew of our late arrival and we arrived to our beds turned down with chocolates.
Next morning we go out to walk along the rim and Condors were flying in their grandeur at least 6 of them. We got wonderful pictures, and caught a ranger about to do a condor talk who gave us our own talk.... They are all numbered with transmitters on them. If you see a condor and can see the number the rangers can tell you the history of the bird from the number, when it was released, male or female etc. This was a thrill beyond thrills there are 52 birds in the park and only 254 in the world. They stared with 17 when they released them at the Vermillion Cliffs.
We left to return to Vegas for 2 nights which ended our trip.
If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them. This board helped us immensly in planning our trip.
I think Utah is one of this country's best kept secrets, it has incredible diversity and immense beauty, and yet you do not hear much about it, at least not in the eastern states.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: mzambo
Date: 05/30/2005, 12:52 pm
One other "bonus" I forgot to mention.... In our drive from the South Rim back to Vegas. We found ourselves having lunch on historic Route 66....... Got pictures next to a sign that said Scenic Historic Route 66............. Another little piece of history and one more unexpected BONUS!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: mzambo
Date: 05/30/2005, 12:54 pm
I must be tired and should have waited to post this review. The Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is actually on your drive from Bryce to the North Rim.....
Jun 2nd, 2005 | 08:24 PM
#2
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
Sounds like a fantastic trip! We are coming up on ours and you have really excited me.
You briefly mentioned your trip to the North Rim. My question is...would you suggest making the trip to the North Rim
while enroute from Las Vegas to Lake Powell. Is it worth the trip down and back? What did you think of the North Rim? What are the attractions in that area?
You briefly mentioned your trip to the North Rim. My question is...would you suggest making the trip to the North Rim
while enroute from Las Vegas to Lake Powell. Is it worth the trip down and back? What did you think of the North Rim? What are the attractions in that area?
Jun 3rd, 2005 | 05:36 PM
#5
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 134
Likes: 0
To Happytrip,
We did Vegas to Zion then Bryce then the North Rim, then Page to the South Rim, so I'm not sure how far it would be straight from Vegas. I will tell you the drive from the North Rim to Page was very cool. You are on this road that is on Navajo Indian Reservation land and the road you are on is the only sign of civilization there is absolutely nothing else for miles. You can truly picture cowboys and Indians, and covered wagons. We enjoyed that drive. Red Rock mountains to one side and prairie and more mountains to the other, no wires, no houses nothing but road and beauty.
The North Rim and the South Rim differ in minor ways, but the "feel" of both is somehow different. I can't quite explain it.
The North Rim is the area few people who visit the canyon see, which is why I wanted to go there. It is not as "touristy" only one Lodge the North Rim Lodge and Cabins and that is IT!!!!!! There was still snow there last week while we were there, not in the actual canyon, but the entrance area to the park. I liked the feel of the place.
We only spend one night at the North Rim and one night at the South Rim (not enough time).
We had a motel room at the Grand Canyon Lodge in the North Rim all cabins were booked and we reserved months in advance (no tv's pretty rustic) the Dining Room was nice and dinner there was quite good. They also have a Saloon which doubles as a Coffee House in the morning. A Deli with sandwiches, hotdogs, salads, pizza. That is about it!!!!!
The South Rim we stayed at El Tovar which was very very nice I still don't know how we got that reservation you are suppose to have to book a year in advance!!!! Only 100 rooms and 100 years old!!! The South Rim is the much more visited Rim and much more touristy and populated.
I did not know if we would ever get back so we chose to do both. I'm glad we did.
The amazing thing is that it is only like 12 miles across rim to rim, but over a 4 hour drive.
Have a great trip.
If you'd like to see my pic's of each rim e-mail me, I'd be happy to send them to you.
[email protected]
Marie
We did Vegas to Zion then Bryce then the North Rim, then Page to the South Rim, so I'm not sure how far it would be straight from Vegas. I will tell you the drive from the North Rim to Page was very cool. You are on this road that is on Navajo Indian Reservation land and the road you are on is the only sign of civilization there is absolutely nothing else for miles. You can truly picture cowboys and Indians, and covered wagons. We enjoyed that drive. Red Rock mountains to one side and prairie and more mountains to the other, no wires, no houses nothing but road and beauty.
The North Rim and the South Rim differ in minor ways, but the "feel" of both is somehow different. I can't quite explain it.
The North Rim is the area few people who visit the canyon see, which is why I wanted to go there. It is not as "touristy" only one Lodge the North Rim Lodge and Cabins and that is IT!!!!!! There was still snow there last week while we were there, not in the actual canyon, but the entrance area to the park. I liked the feel of the place.
We only spend one night at the North Rim and one night at the South Rim (not enough time).
We had a motel room at the Grand Canyon Lodge in the North Rim all cabins were booked and we reserved months in advance (no tv's pretty rustic) the Dining Room was nice and dinner there was quite good. They also have a Saloon which doubles as a Coffee House in the morning. A Deli with sandwiches, hotdogs, salads, pizza. That is about it!!!!!
The South Rim we stayed at El Tovar which was very very nice I still don't know how we got that reservation you are suppose to have to book a year in advance!!!! Only 100 rooms and 100 years old!!! The South Rim is the much more visited Rim and much more touristy and populated.
I did not know if we would ever get back so we chose to do both. I'm glad we did.
The amazing thing is that it is only like 12 miles across rim to rim, but over a 4 hour drive.
Have a great trip.
If you'd like to see my pic's of each rim e-mail me, I'd be happy to send them to you.
[email protected]
Marie
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cherylforeurope
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Feb 15th, 2004 12:39 PM
