alexandervorobiev731

We are going to Zion for 5 full days the last week of March. What would the itinerary for the first time visitors look like? Easy to mid-difficulty hikes, no backcountry. Any other activities (we have a 14 year old)? Is it worth splitting our time and spending a day or two in Bryce? I would prefer to minimize driving (we are flying to Las Vegas). I haven't booked the hotels yet, the original plan was to stay in Springdale for the whole time. Thanks!

J62

Beware that late March at Zion you are likely to find sub freezing temperatures, and that time of year the sun doesn't get high enough to warm up all parts of the valley. Trails are likely to be muddy or icy. And thats just on the valley floor. Be prepared to spend hours at a time outside in the cold. That means bring multiple thermal layers tops and bottoms, cold rated shoes, hand and/or toe warmers. Cold affects different people differently. Myself, i’m pretty cold tolerant whereas my travel partner loses finger and toe sensation relatively quickly if they get even a bit cold. So you have to prepare for everybody otherwise you'll get chased inside to warm up faster than you might imagine. If you’re from a cold area, practice this weekend by spending several hours outside…..if you’re not, then you might want to rethink the trip timimg.

Its still a great time to visit Zion, but I think 5 days is too long for March.

Bryce is all at or above 8000’ elevation so you should expect to find it much colder with snow on the ground everywhere. Hiking with spikes and poles is ok, but not without. Your trail/hiking options will be more limited. There nay be deep snow that completely shuts down many trails. Personally I love late winter at Bryce - less crowded, clear dark skies, and amazing contrast of the red hoodoos covered in snow. But nightime temps can be 20F or less.

Since you are flying thru Vegas consider spending a day at Valley of Fire state park. Some wonderful easy to moderate hiking and temps will be a lot warmer.

alexandervorobiev731

Thanks and lot for the comments and the suggestions! We are from Chicago, so not that afraid of the cold but probably would not want to deal with the snow in the mountains - especially for the first visit, so Bryce would have to wait until the next time. Since spending all the time in Zion would be too long, I actually received a suggestion from a friend to extend our trip to the opposite direction and instead of Bryce drive from Las Vegas to the Death Valley NP instead, spend a day or two there, then back to Las Vegas/Valley of Fire, then finally to Zion for a day or two. Would that work? Would there be time to squeeze something else, for instance it looks like Lake Mead is also not far from the Valley of Fire. Or would it be better to stop at Las Vegas instead and take one of the full-day tours (so that everything is organized), for instance to the Horseshoe Bend and the Antelope Canyon? Thanks again for your help! We are very excited to explore the area.

J62

Going to Death Valley sounds like a good option. Antelope Canyon as a day tour from Vegas, not so much. It's too far - 4 or 5 hours from Vegas. I've never been to DV, but others frequent posters here on Fodors have.

Springdale is the place to stay at Zion. My go-to place is Cable Mtn Lodge which is right outside the pedestrian entrance to the park, which is where you pick up the in-park shuttle.

n.b., Bryce isn't in the mountains - the entire Colorado Plateau is mostly flat, high desert, with deeply cut canyons and gorges by the Colorado River and it's tributaries.... That is the magnificent terrain that you are visiting....

So as long as it's not actively or recently snowed driving to Brye should not be an issue. Crews are well prepated to clear the roads,and it doesn't get the deep deep snow that the mountain ranges to the west (Sierras) or east ( Rockies) get. It's walking / hiking / trudging through ice and snow that is limiting what you can do, as well as deep cold......

Melnq8

As someone who has visited both Bryce and Zion in January, I'd not hesitate to visit in March.

Yes, the weather could be iffy, but then again, it could be quite nice, one just never knows. We found that three nights in both Bryce and Zion were perfect for us - on our second trip, we just drove through Zion.

If you plan to hike, take some traction cleats.

The shuttle wasn't yet running during our visits, so we were able to drive in and out of Zion at will, which is how we prefer it. I don't know when they begin operating, but as March is spring break for a lot of schools, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Zion gets pretty busy around then. It was certainly plenty busy during our January visits.

I agree that Cable Mountain Lodge is the perfect location - we loved our stay there. You can walk right into the park from there - we took a hike right from the hotel.

My trip reports might give you a few ideas.

Got rocks? A winter visit to Utah’s Orogenous Zones

Southwest Winter Wander

Patty

Shuttles start on March 3rd this year and I imagine Zion Canyon will be busy during spring break. There are two higher elevation parts of Zion (Kolob Canyons and Kolob Terrace Rd) that you can also visit weather/road conditions permitting. Those areas will be less busy. My first visit to Bryce was a day trip from Springdale in March so you could do that as well and play it by ear. They haven't received much snow so far this winter. The cross country ski trails there just opened today as they hadn't had enough snow til now.

Death Valley would work. I'd check on accommodation availability as there aren't many places to stay.

Another option would be the Kanab/Page area if you're interested in Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon. To me it's not a day trip destination from Vegas. Lots of other hiking opportunities in the area too and you could spend a few days there. I just left Kanab and Page a couple of days ago.

StantonHyde

If you click on my username you will find trip reports for Zion, Bryce, Kanab, and Page with kids/teens. I would go to Zion at the end of March, no problem!

alexandervorobiev731

Thanks a lot for all the advice! I ended up booking three nights in Las Vegas, which will be two and a half days. The plan is to explore the Red Rock Canyon, do a day trip to Lake Mead/Hoover Dam, and maybe a day trip (likely I'll book a tour) to the Death Valley. Then we will drive to Spingdale where, thanks to the suggestions, I have booked three nights in the Cable Mountain Lodge which will be again two and a half days. One of the two days we will just hike in Zion and for the second day I'll either book one of the "adventure" (canyoneering, etc.) tours in Zion or, again thanks to the suggestion, will drive to Bryce (we like cross-country skiing a lot). Thanks again!

Patty

If you have time, Valley of Fire is worth a visit. It's more extensive than Red Rock Canyon but farther from Vegas. You can also visit Valley of Fire on the drive between Vegas and Zion. You can enter the park from one side and exit from the other.

Red Rock Canyon requires reservations.

There may or may not be enough snow left by late March for cross country skiing in Bryce. Rubys Inn rents equipment.

J62

You dont need to hire an adventure tour to enjoy the best of Zion, which is the canyon itself. There are more than enough different things to explore and enjoy to completely fill 2 days. By all means go ahead - accessible canyoneering is close by - where you could go to may be limited by snow at higher elevations youd need to pass through. A call to any one of the adventure cos located in Springdale and they could let you know more.

about Bryce, XC skiing would be fun if you were there a few days, but the natural beauty of Bryce is the actual canyon amphitheater below the rim where the other worldly hoodoo rock formations are. You can’t ski those trails afaik. Any XC skiing would be in forested areas nearby, or along access roads where you might glimpse the canyon. So definitely prioritize hiking down among the hoodoos first., driving to various canyon overlooks second, dark sky stargazing third (if youre there at night.

Note that there are 2 small supermarkets in Springdale - one right next to Cable Mtn lodge another closer to the other end of the town. The selection is limited at those and prices are high, which is to be expected given the location. There are 2 or 3 large supermarkets in Hurricane which is the last large town about 20 min before you get to Springdale. We always stop there to stock up on goodies / snacks / breakfast & lunch foods, and drinks before driving into Springdale.

alexandervorobiev731

We are back from the trip! Here is what we ended up doing:

Day 1: We had less than half a day in Las Vegas after the delayed flight and also delayed car rental. I intentionally booked the hotel very close to the Red Rock Canyon, so we drove there and did the scenic drive with frequent stops at the parking lots. We also did one short hike. I paid for the timed entry a few days in advance but we were almost two hours late, so I wasn't sure if it mattered. It did not. They also asked for a ticket and my America the Beautiful annual pass worked.

Day 2: I bought a full-day tour to the Death Valley and I was glad I did. The guide/driver picked us up at 4:45am at the hotel and we were back after 6pm. It would have been very difficult for us to visit all those places in one day on our own.

Day 3: Hoover Dam. They have two kinds of tours - a short one (which we took) every 15(?) minutes and a long one for which we would have to wait almost two hours. We then drove to the Visitor Center at Lake Mead and hiked along the old railroad trail for about 2 miles until we got to the tunnels, then turned back. The trail continues for about 6 more miles and ends at the Hoover Dam (that was the reason for the railroad). We then drove to the Owl Canyon trail (used the AtB annual pass again to enter the Lake Mead area) and hiked that whole trail (about 2 miles round trip). We were the only people on that trail.

Day 4: Valley of Fire state park. There was a very long line to enter the park because they had only one ticket booth open (that is a state park so the federal AtB passes are not accepted) and we spent about an hour in the line. We then drove to the Visitor Center and then hiked the White Domes loop and the Petrified Logs trail. After that we drove to Zion.

Day 5: Zion. We stayed at the Cable Mountain Lodge, so the entrance to the park was within very short walking distance. There was a line to enter the park and an absolutely enormous line to the shuttles that started even before the visitor center. There is a trail called Watchman trail that starts at the visitor center, so we did that one. When we were back the line to the shuttles was much more manageable. We finally got in the shuttle and ended up hiking all the Emerald Pools trails.

Day 6: Zion. We rented bicycles and, in hindsight, that's what we should have done on the prior day because there was no line to the rental shop and the whole Zion Canyon is less than 10 miles. They also offer rentals of "wet suits" for the Narrows trail and electric bikes. We rode our bikes to the end of the canyon and hiked the 1 mile trail that goes to the beginning of the Narrows, then back to the parking. We then biked to the stop 4 and did the Sand Bench Trail (4.5 miles loop). It took us a while (2-3 hours) because the trail is also used for horseback riding tours and, being all sand with many uphill sections, was in a very bad shape. The big advantage was that that for the first time in Zion we were the only people on a trail.

Day 7: Drive to the airport.

That was our trip. Thanks again for all the advice, I created the whole plan for the trip mainly based on the replies in this thread!

janisj

Thanks for reporting back. Sounds like you had a great trip . . . It might have been better posted as a stand alone Trip Report. Maybe you could ask the moderators to break it out and create a TR thread??