RogandLin

We will be in Las Vegas from England during March 2005 for the first time. There are so many places we would like to see. We have 5/6 nights to tour and would like to take in Bryce Canyon, the Arches and Monument Valley if possible. Is this "doable"? Where would be the best places to stay, what kind of travelling time are we looking at and what else could we take in on this sort of itinary? Or, are we trying to do too much? many thanks.

sharondi

Last year we did an 8 day loop from LVegas - Zion,Bryce,route 12 to Boulder-Capital Reef/Grand Staircase, onto Moab- Arches/Canyonlands, then Valley of the Gods/Monument Valley, back to Zion for the last 2 nights. It's an easy 3 hr drive from Springdale (Zion) to LV. We're headed back this fall for a longer trip. I can't wait! Southern Utah is breathtaking. With 5/6 days, you could see Zion, Bryce, Route 12 to Boulder and/or Torrey then back. Or you could hit the North Rim after Bryce instead. Either way, you'll be back. Then you can see Arches next time.

marigross

Arches and Monument Valley are amazing places but they are way out of your route. If you wanted to go there, you would almost need to skip Vegas and do only the parks (a more desireable itinerary in my opinion). Zion is a lot closer and it is a truly wonderful place.

RogandLin

Thanks to both for your advice. Can anyone give me an idea of what the travelling time is from Bryce Canyon to the Arches (probably Moab). we'd like to get there if we can.

peterboy

Mapquest is telling me that it is about 277 miles and will take about 5 1/2 hours to get from Bryce to Moab. Their directions have you picking up Interstate 70 somewhere west of Richfield. No doubt this is the quickest route.

The only problem I have with that route is that it cheats you of the complete drive on Rt. 12, perhaps the most scenic road in the U.S. This route will also take you through Torrey and Capitol Reef N.P. All this extra scenery will mean more stopping and a longer drive. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think that you should plan on an 8 hour drive at least on this scenic route. We drove from Boulder UT to Moab and stopped only briefly at CR and Goblins State Park and it was a very full day.
As you can imagine, I'm going to suggest spending less time in Vegas and add more time to the road trip. Utah is something special and worth every minute.

We're going back this Sept to "finish" the trip we started during out 8 days there last year. Here's some images from that trip:

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_03

Much prettier than any casino I've ever seen. Sorry, I loathe Vegas but, I have to say, flights there are cheap and so are the rental cars....and the highway gets you out of town FAST!

RogandLin

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice. Usual story, want to see it all and not enough time. Linda teaches Geography, so we know many of these places through books and film, but the idea of seeing and photgraphing them for real is Fantastic. We really enjoyed your photo's Peter, you have taken some great shots. We particularly like Monument Valley and the petroglyph shots. It's really giving us something to look forward to but made the choice of where to go harder! I guess we'll just have to make a resolution to go back before we get there first time. Any other advice would be welcome.

peterboy

Thanks Rog. You say you have 5/6 nights to tour. How flexible is that?

Let's see, if I had 6 night to tour what would I do?

Day 1: Leave Vegas in the Am & drive to Zion. That'a only a 3 hour drive so you could do the Emerald Pools hike and then enjoy a nice dinner at Oscar's or one of the other places in Springdale. Springdale is pretty much in the canyon's mouth so the scenery there in town is awesome. Spend that night in Springdale. The next morning get up early and hike up Angels Landing (assuming you're fit). Then drive east out of Zion to Bryce Canyon. Stay at the lodges or cabins in the park near the rim of the canyon. The next morning watch sunrise at the rim and, after breakfast hike into the canyon for most of the day (bring lots of water) and watch sunset form the rim spending this 3rd night at the lodge at Bryce. In the morning drive up to RT 12 and take that over Boulder Mountain to Torrey. Finish whatever might be left of that day auto touring Capitol Reef and picking out a hike for the following day. Spend the night in Torrey and do your hiking there in the morning. Then you could head back over Boulder Mtn. to the Boulder Mountain Lodge and have dinner at the Hell's Backbone Grill. Then you'll have to head back past Bryce and spend one more night in Springdale. This will be your chance to mourn the end of your Utah adventure and wonder why you wasted so much time in Sin City instead of spending more time exploring the wonderland that is Utah.

Anybody else care to give it a crack?

RogandLin

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the itinery, sounds great! 6 nights is probably the limit for us. What do you think about the following? Follow your plan for the first three nights. Then head south via route 89 from Bryce and head for Kanab and then Page. On to Monument Valley following route 98 and then 160. 4th and 5th nights at Monument Valley with maybe one night somewhere on the way back to LV. Linda thinks this is trying to do too much and we should stick with your suggestion. Is she right? Am I being too ambitous?

utahtea

I think two nights in Zion, the day you leave if you're not up to a strenous 5 mile hike you might instead do the Riverside Walk and leave earlier for Bryce. Then one night in Bryce, two nights at Monument Valley and one night before returning to Las Vegas would work. Total miles driven is around 900 miles.

Utahtea

sharondi

RogandLin,
My husband (Peterboy) and I really prefer the Route 12 itinerary over Monument Valley. We love the diversity of the landscape and thought Capitol Reef/Grand Staircase area was just incredible. Lots of places to view petroglyphs and ruins along the way. Seems like you're going too far out of your way for little gain in our opinion. Monument Valley was beautiful even from a distance, but crowded and dusty on the road through the valley. No matter what you decide, you can't really go wrong. It's all breathtaking.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us directly.
Sharon & Peter

seniormsuedu

how much more info do you need after all these top-notch suggestions? zion, bryce, route 12, capitol reef, monument valley. unforgettable country. skip las vegas. just do it.

peterboy

I have to stand by my itinerary for you. For you to include Monument Valley you'll need to do a huge amount of extra driving and forgo Capital Reef after nearly reaching there. I kow you've heard a lot about Monument Valley and it relly is an amazing place. Less known is Capitol Reef but, IMO, it easily rivals Monument Valley and may actually be more interesting to the geographist. My suggestion is based mainly on the fact that you're already visiting Zion and Bryce and Monument Valley is so far afield from these two destinations that I think your time is better spent discovering Capitol Reef. Monument Valley makes more sense to include in a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then to Monument Valley and, perhaps, on to Moab to see Canyonlands, and Arches National Parks among the many other wonders found there.

If you really have your heart set on MV then it can be done of course but your arse will be flattened from all those hours in the car.

How many days are you giving to Vegas? I think that, however many it is, the geographist on the trip will regret every moment spent in Vegas when they could have been spent in Utah's amazing landscape. The ultimate solution is to do what we're doing; return for a longer trip a year later.

KYtravelgal

We did a roadtrip out west this summer. Bryce Canyon and Zion are a must! The arches would be a bit out of the way. It only takes about 3 hours to drive from Vegas to Northern Utah. I would suggest 2 nights in Vegas and 3 to 4 nights in the parks. Bryce is the most spectacular place I have ever been. Here's a tip: one a month the astronomers club meets at the Bryce Visitors Center in the park and set up telescopes for anyone to come look through. We happened to be there for that and what a great surprise. We saw Saturn, Jupitar, and galaxies far far away! Just so you know, it will be chilly in March...bring warm clothes! The Excaliber is a good place to stay in Vegas. It is right in the middle of the Strip by all the swanky hotels, but costs alot less. About $50 a night.

RogandLin

Thanks to you all for your advice and insights. Now we'll just have to make some decisions and DO IT!
You may wonder why we've asked so many dumb questions - well, this is exactly what we did for our trip to California last April. We had so much useful advice from kind people on this website and we tried to bear it in mind as we planned our itinerary. You'll not be surprised to learn that it didn't all work out quite as expected - it never does, does it? However, we had a great time; we've chalked up the mistakes to experience (you really had to be there to see our faces as we realised that every picture ever taken of picturesque Morro Bay has been artfully angled to cut out the nuclear power plant!) and we've been insufferably smug about the little gems we discovered (The Verandah B&B just outside Mariposa was everything I hoped for and more. American charm and hospitality at its best!)

We'll let you know how we got along in due course. No doubt there will be highs and lows but that's what makes it fun after all!

DeniseL

We toured southern Utah last March. Forget about Capitol Reef, it was closed. I asked a ranger at the next park and he laughed, Capitol Reef was under 6 feet of snow. Bryce is a must see. You can see all you need to of Vegas in a single evening.

seniormsuedu

hurrah rogandlin! you are going to have a wonderful trip. a good source for info are the natl. park headquarters. they have insights on roads and everything else. they also have natl. park passes. $50 for a year.

this year, i'm stopping in bluff utah at recapture lodge when visiting monument valley. a tiny town just north of the great navaho reservation where you can see to the next state. recommended by a fodor's poster. they have lectures on the area.

loved tiny torrey at the top of highway 12, zion, stayed there an extra day. watch the movie "she wore a yellow ribbon" with john wayne. the photography will tempt you to visit monument valley.

canyonlands and arches are a little far and need 3 days to see a part of it.

altho' you could do it if you skip l.v.!!

happy trails.

utahtea

To DeniseS,

I find it hard to believe that Capitol Reef had 6 feet of snow. The record is only 16.5 inches and last March the record was only 1.8 inches.

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?utcapi

You can easily get snow in Zion & Bryce at this time of the year too. We were in Zion on April 1 several years ago and had 2 inches of snow. Many years ago we left Bryce on Memorial Day weekend and it was snowing as we left and it snowed all the way to Zion.


Utahtea