Currentbun

Hi,
I'm hoping someone in the know can advise me on our up coming trip I am trying to plan as there just seems to be too much to choose from! We have a few days in Las Vegas and then want to do a road trip around the Arizona/Utah parks including the Grand Canyon. We have 7 nights after leaving Las Vegas to either get back there to fly home to New York or alternatively we could look at flying out of a different airport - eg Salt Lake city, to avoid having to do a loop as I'd really like to do some river rafting from Moab....
Anyone with an itinerary or suggestions??
I just don't know what is realistic to try and include and how far the driving distances are. We also want to be able to relax on this trip and not spend the whole time on the road - maybe a spa or something??
Thanks in advance!
Niki

spirobulldog

I vote for only spending a day or two in Vegas and then probably only a day in Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is spectacular, but I like Utah much better. You can do the Grand Canyon in a day, unless you plan on hiking into it or rafting it. Which both are worth doing, but require time, effort and generally pretty expensive to raft.

Consider spending a day and night in Bryce, Zion. Zion maybe 2 days. See Goblin Valley before heading on to Arches/Moab. You will probably need 3-4 days in Moab. There is a ton of other options that are also available in each park. I think a person could spend a week in each spot and there is a lot to do on HWY 12.

When are you going? That could make a difference
Get reservations "in park" for Bryce and Zion ASAP.

Do you want to do white water rafting or calm rafting in Moab?
I really like www.deserthighlights.com for canyoneering. Which I would highly recommend. They also do a little rafting in Moab. However, I haven't done any rafting with them. I don't think they do an overnight trip, but I think that would be the best trip to do in Cateract Canyon. That one is pretty serious white water. There are others that do canyoneering, but I would definately use them if you do any canyoneering. There are many raft companies that do raft trips in Moab.

This really isn't the way I like to do a trip. Perhaps you should limit yourself to Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon, and Vegas. Lake Powell isn't far from the area, so you could do that. It might be better to see the Grand Canyon from the north rim instead of the south, since you are heading to Utah. But, if you do the south rim then you would get to see Hoover Dam. The south rim is busy, the north rim only sees 10% of the visitors while the south rim sees 90%.

emalloy

We've done a loop in both directions from Vegas in 8 days. DH likes to drive and the area is beautiful.

We usually only spend the first and last night in Vegas and spend the rest of the time in the Parks.

If you don't do a lot of hiking, you can do a large loop. Up to Zion for a day, head to Bryce for the night. See sunrise and the views along the road then head out to Moab on the beautiful roads ever. Spend a couple of days and viisit Arches and Canyonlands. Head down through Monument Valley spend the night along the way, go to Grand Canyon (north rim is not open from mid Oct. to mid May) spend a night or two then head back to Vegas. This will give you a small taste of the area and a lot of time in the car. Then you can plan your next trip and spend longer time in each place.

A slower pace will give you time to explore a couple of parks a bit more in depth and do more hiking, less driving.

Lodging will be much more flexible and temperatures nicer in fall or spring.

Only you can decide what pace suits your style.

tomfuller

You can do the same loop emalloy suggests by using Salt Lake City as your airport/ car rental center. It would shave about 3 hours total vs. Las Vegas. 1 day in Vegas is plenty. I've seen it enough times that I now stay in Henderson when I fly there.
My DW and I went to Moab and Arches NP in early November. We took Amtrak to SLC and rented a car. From SLC to Moab is 4 hours plus any stops you make.
If you really want to rent in LV and return to SLC I know that Fox Car Rental can do that. The extra 3 hours of driving might save a big drop off fee.

Myer

bun,

You mention rafting and relaxing/spa but you did not mention hiking. Also, you don't mention when you'll be going.

All of these questions would help in making suggestions.

If you start in LV and stretch out to Moab you will be doing a lot of driving.

I don't think there's an easy, direct route to go from LV, GC, Zion, Bryce and Moab.

And we haven't even looked at some sights not in national Parks.

You've got Zion, GC, Bryce Canyon, Page, AZ (Antelope Canyon), Escalante (Devil's Garden, Lower Calf Creek Falls, Scenic Rte 12), Goblin Valley (I skipped Capitol Reef NP), Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Dead Horse Point and more.