I want to take my first trip ever to the grand canyon next summer. I have ten days and will travel with 4 children ages 5,6,9,11. We will fly from Bhm, al. to Phoenix and rent a car. We want to see Sedona, GC, lake powell, MV, Bryce, zion and end up in Las vegas to fly home. I would like to limit car time to 2-3 hrs a day for the kids unless their are frequent stops. Is this doable? I have been reading and taking notes from your messages...

I would pare your trip down a bit or you will be constantly in the car. You cannot do this with 4 kids if you want to maintain your sanity. In fact, I would not do such an ambitious itinerary with adults unless I had 3 weeks or more.

The more destinations you add to the trip, the more exhausted you are going to be. Distances out West are vast. For example from Las Vegas to the South Rim of the GC driving flat out is 5 hours. There is nothing to see after you pass Hoover Dam unless you want to drive a bit off the highway (and with a 5 hour drive, I presume you do not).

Going the north route through Zion to the South Rim would take 8 hours or so without stops.

You cannot limit the in car time to 2-3 hours with the vast distances you are dealing with. Also, be prepared with in car snacks. Many of the roads you will be on are not full of restaurants and facilities.

Personally, if I were you I would go to Lake Powell and rent a houseboat for a week followed by a trip to GC. Pay attention when they teach you how to drive the boat, as there have been many people who tell horror stories about getting stuck and repeatedly having to call for tows.

If you do not feel comfortable with a houseboat, you could do a week in Sedona followed by GC. There is plenty for the kids to do in Sedona for a week.

Alternatively, you could center your trip in Vegas where there are lots of amusements. A week of Vegas would probably be too much, however.

Feel free to ignore my advice. After all, it's your trip. Even now when I travel solo (kids grown and gone), I do not like to move about a lot. It is much more enjoyable and relaxing to stay in one place and do side trips each day to see things.

We just did nearly the same trip. Didn't do MV, which is more driving than we wanted. The drive from Phoenix to Sedona is 2-3 hours, depending on how many times you stop. A very easy drive with some scenic overlooks. I would strongly suggest staying at the Sky Ranch Lodge in Sedona, and stay 2 nights. A great place for kids - lots of grounds to explore, and away from any traffic. We took the long way from Sedona to the GC, up 89a, stopping for a picnic along the way. This took a good 4 hours. The final 2 hours from Williams to the Canyon seems to take forever, there is nothing on this road. The drive from the Canyon to Page (lake powell) is another long one, about 3 hours. Stop at the Cameron Trading Post to break up the ride. There is a very interesting restaurant and mini shopping area here. The Navajo Tacos can easily feed two adults! Realize that the hotels in Page are not near the lake, which is in Glen Canyon Park, a 15 minute ride from Page. There are lots of nice chain motels in Page with pools. The ride from Page to Bryce is again about 2-3 hours. Realize Bryce is much cooler than Page, and the terrain is similar to the rim of the Grand canyon. From Bryce to Zion is about 1 1/2 hours, and the last 1/2 hour into Zion is quite spectacular. The ride from Zion to LV is again a good 3 hours, and you will be driving thru some very scenic southwestern scenery. Doing MV would have been just too much. Even though we love the outdoors and hiking, we were starting to get overdosed on canyons, mesas and deserts by the end of our trip.

zootsi had some pretty good advise. 10 days isn't a long time in this area and you don't want to spend every day driving. I would drop Monument Valley since you have all those kids to keep happy. Dropping MV will cut 165 miles and about 4 hours of driving time from your schedule. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but even with out MV you will be traveling over 700 miles in 10 days.

To really see the area I would suggest spending two nights at all the national parks so you can have one full day to really see them. That way you're only driving every other day. All the parks have junior ranger programs that your kids might like.

BTW, I'm not sure that Lauren read your post before he/she answered!

Utahtea

Seabama,

Just returned from a similar itinerary. We spent 2 nights in Vegas, 2 in Zion, 1 night in Bryce, 1 night in MV, 1 night in GC, and 2 nights in Sedona. We loved the trip and saw some amazing things, but if I were to do it again, I would not include MV - not that it was not incredible, because it is, just because it was a very long drive to just stay for one night. Looking back, we would have rather spent that night in one of the National Parks. The moving around didn't bother us much, but the drive time to/from MV could have been better spent outdoors than in the car. Good luck with whatever you chose!

Your advice is great and greatly appreciated! I am disappointed about not seeing Monument Valley. I have never been to that area of the country and wanted to see what I recognize from films. That probably sounds silly but you only confirmed what I was discovering for myself. It was too far to drive with kids. Thanks for everything!

Don't worry too much about missing MV - I'm sure it's spectacular, but you will see a LOT of spectacular scenery on your travels. Sedona has been in many movies as have some of the other spots you will pass. If you do Ruby's Horseback ride near Bryce(I don't know if this is possible with small children), you will go past Butch Cassidy's hideouts that are still intact in Red Canyon. Also be aware with small children that there are no guard rails in many parts of Grand Canyon and Bryce, so you'll be on your toes! One thing the kids will like is the 1 1/2 hour boat ride on Lake Powell, which goes up into Antelope Canyon.

When my son was younger (10) we took a similar trip. From Phoenix went to Sedona. We took a stagecoach trip through red rocks....he even got to sit up with driver. He loved the Verde Railroad trip outside of Sedona as well. We went to GC and did some hiking (could be a problem with 5&6 yr olds)and the next day went up to Page for a raft trip (few hrs) from Lake Powell dam just up to where some rapids begin. It was a calm water trip; stopped at a beach to see petroglyphs, then took a bus back to the car. My son loved it. We went to Zion and Bryce but drove and got out of car a few times (no hiking). Then went to MV and down to painted desert. We ended up in Phoenix again to fly home. We took about 12 days for that. I would recommend you skip Vegas and go back to Phoenix.

thanks again for valuable info. We will try to stay at the Sky Ranch Lodge per your suggestions!

Stay at the Desert Pearl Inn at Zion (actually in Springdale) and you can drive to Bryce in a couple of hours to avoid moving accomodation twice.

Some friend's of mine took their small children to Las Vegas and the kid's did not have fun, and neither did my friend's. I'd agree with others on skipping LV. Save that trip for another time for just you and your spouse. You'll have alot more fun, and the kids would have alot more fun staying an extra day in one of the National Parks or an extra day in Sedona.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! Where do we eat that would be kid friendly in those places?