Help with 26 day itinerary
 

I almost have our route worked out, now need to know how much time to allocate to each town. Any suggestions would be appreciated. We are two seniors unable to hike the trails.
Leave Los Angeles May 8, have to be back May 29.
Los Angeles - Flagstaff - overnight
Flagstaff - Albuquerque - Rio Grande Zoo and Sandia Peak tramway.
Albuquerque to Santa Fe
Santa Fe to Angel Fire - stay three days and use as a base for Taos and area
Taos - Durango - steam train
Durango to Grand Junction - stay two nights with friends
Grand Junction to Moab - how long should we stay in that area
Moab - Torrey - sounds like some time here
Torrey to Bryce
Bryce to Kanab to visit Best Friends Sanctuary
Kanab to North Rim Grand Canyon
North Rim to Zion
Zion to Las Vegas - two nights here to see shows
L.V. to Los Angeles.
Sure would appreciate your help. We travel without reservations, that way we can stay longer in one place if we like it.

You'll have problems in some areas without reservations. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is an hour's drive in from the nearest private hotels and motels, if memory serves me right. I doubt that you can stay at any lodge in the National Park itself without a prior reservation. Of course, last minute cancellations can always occur, but I would not count ion it. You probably will have problems staying in Bryce too. I suggest that you make reservations for the isolated places, and keep your options open when you plan to stay in a large town (Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, etc.).

Hi Aussies,

The most important thing you need to know is that you DO NEED reservations at several of the areas you plan to visit. May gets very busy in the US National Parks and lodging options are few.

If you do not make reservations, and at this point you may be too late, you will find yourselves staying far away from where you really wanted to be. Make reservations NOW for Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce. You can probably get by at Moab without, lots of motels there.

Honestly, and no offense to our Albuquerque Fodorites, why do you want to go to Albuquerque? You will see better scenery in Santa Fe, Taos and southern Utah and Colorado.

Thumbs up to you for wanting to visit Best Friends Sancturary. Are you going to volunteer?

I would plan on a minimum of 3 days at Moab, 4 would be much better.

Happy trails!

May should be okay without reservations. Although I would get them for the National Parks, expecially Grand Canyon and Zion. And if Las Vegas is on a weekend, I'd get them for there too. Try not to hit LV on the weekends, as you could pay over double for the same room. And check Tripadvisor.com to see the reviews/ ratings.

When you drive from Grand Junction, CO to Moab, Utah exit I-70 at Cisco and take scenic Highway 128 into Moab. Once you reach the Colorado River the scenery get's better and better as you get nearer to Moab!

In Moab, even if you don't hike, I'd spend 3 nights and 2 full days. One day for Arches National Park and one day for Canyonlands National Park & Dead Horse State Park. If you have any left over time you can drive the Potash Road (Hwy 279) and Kane Creek Road and enjoy the scenery along the Colorado River and look for Petroglyphs. If you are interested in a rafting trip or 4 wheel drive tour, add another day.

At least one night in Torrey will give you time to drive the scenic drive in Capitol Reef.

From Torrey to Bryce take scenic hwy 12. If you have the time, drive the paved part of the Burr Trail at Boulder, Utah. You might also enjoy the Anasazi Indian Village State Park also in Boulder, Utah.

Two nights and one full day for Zion.


Utahtea

As soon as I got onto this forum i realized that we were too late for reservations in the Parks. We shall just cross our fingers. Las Vegas will be on a Sunday night and Monday, so should be o.k.
For Dayle - Dont have time to volunteer at Best Friends. But we do our part all year. I volunteer at Florida Wildlife Hospital in winter and we foster abused and injured cats and dogs for Friends for Life in Cashiers, N.C. during summer. Re Albuuerque - thought the peak tramway would be fun.
Utahtea - your thoughts are just what we needed. Are there any quiet rafting trips without Class 3 rapids. Did those in our youth!!
Have Highway 12 on our route; shall add 128.
How long in Bryce.
Thanks for all the info.

The rafting trip out of Moab that has the put in at Fisher Towers has a couple of III's but otherwise it's not that bad of a ride.

If you don't want rapid's at all, there is a Jet boat tour. I've never done this so can't say how good it is. http://www.moabadventurecenter.com/t...ng/jetboat.php

You won't be that far from Page, AZ between Bryce and North Rim. If you can add 2 nights, I'd suggest the 1/2 day float trip on the Colorado River. This is a fantastic trip. No rapids at all. They use motorized rafts to take you 14 miles down river. My pictures:
http://www.utahtea.lithium.com/pages...2003/float.htm

For Bryce 1/2 to one full day will be plenty if you don't do any hiking.

Utahtea

Sounds like a great trip, but I would uncross your fingers before you leave and make as many overnight reservations as you can. Otherwise you will spend a great deal of your trip driving from motel to motel trying to find a room at the end of the day. And the lack of lodging in Grand Canyon and Bryce could cause you to change some of your itinerary in order to have a place to sleep.

I am certain that you can make quite a few reservations before you leave by using expedia.com or tripadvisor.com to help.

Enjoy this beautiful part of our country!

Hi again Aussies,

The thing you need to understand is that even lodging outside the National Parks will be full. You need reservations for the areas of Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon and Capitol Reef.

There are no major cities nearby these parks where you can find lots of motels.

See what you can do and good luck!

Oh my, everyone was so right. The whole world is visitng the parks in May. Have been successful so far - not with first choice, but at least a bed for the night. Still working on Zion. Then I realized we would be in Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend.
I shall take more notice of this board next time. But all our accommodations seem adequate.

We did the full day combo river and 4 wheel drive tour with Tag-a-long tours a year or so ago. It was a great day. Our guide was excellent and we drove roads in Canyonlands that we wouldn't have attempted ourselves. The river trip was on a jet boat, no rapids. We stopped at least once and got out, walked a short ways to view some fossils and hear more history. It was a care free day and we felt that we covered a lot of territory, learned a lot, and was well worth the money. We spent the next day taking the short walks to the scenic stops in Arches. It was quite warm and you sure need to take water along, but beautiful. Enjoy!

Sorry, message above should have clarified that from Moab we took the full day tour and the next day drove through Arches. We found 3 nights, 2 days in Moab sufficient for a first visit.