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National Park Swing Utah/CO/AZ

Can you take a look at our travel plans for our upcoming trip to several national parks and tell me what you think about the travel/drive plans? Fly into Las Vegas and drive to Zion 8/31-9/2 Zion Lodge 9/3-4 Bryce Lodge 9/5 Torrey & Capital Reef 9/6-8 Moab & Arches & Canyonlands 9/9-10 Mesa Verde & Far View Lodge 9/11 Monument Valley 9/12 North Rim Grand Canyon Lodge 9/13 Hoover Dam & night in Las Vegas 9/14 Depart for home Thanks for your help. Spanky

Your itenerary looks good, especially since you haven't scheduled proportionately too much time in the car compared to enjoying the oudoors. It might be worth considering a stretch of 3 days or so in one place to wind down toward the end of your trip. The North Rim would be a good place for that.

It looks great to me! You are going to drive Scenic Hwy 12 between Bryce and Torrey I hope. You will also be going during a great time of the year. It won't be to crowded. Utahtea

I've heard that hoover dam is currently closed to visitors. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Your itinerary looks fine. There is one suggestion. If visiting Hoover DAm after the North Rim you have to drive past LV to get there. If you go via Flagstaff you add more than 225 miles of extra driving

Just got back from same trip about 2 weeks ago. Your itinerary sounds great. Make sure to get up early to see the sunrise and be sure to catch the sunsets in the beautiful parks you're going to be in. Sunset at Arches was our favorite thing.

Thank you all for your responses. I really appreciate your help. I was able to design this itinerary and find lodging based on all of my searches on the site. Travellyn: I wish I had a few more days to add at the end of our trip, but we just don't. Will have to push it through in the last few days to see all on our itinerary. Utahtea: Yes! We do plan to drive Scenic Hwy 12 between Bryce & Torrey. So many folks on this site suggested it. Any suggestions on where to stay in Torrey? Allan: I will check this out, but so far the Hoover Dam site does not mention anything about being closed. x: I am confused - my map indicates that Hoover Dam is located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, so I don't think we would be driving past it coming from the North Rim. Imsa_mc: So glad you loved your trip! We are certainly look forward to seeing sunrise and sunsets in all of these places. We won't be departing until after sunrise in any case! Will particularly checkout Arches' sunrise. Any particulation viewpoint you suggest? Thanks again, Spanky

Your travel plan looks like the things I used to do. I was younger then, and still scouting out the best places. Now I pick a couple of favorites and visit them more leisurely. I remember vividly my first trip to Zion. There was a hellacious thunderstorm that sent millions of gallons of water gushing into the river that flows through Zion. Huge cottonwood trees were washed along like match sticks. We are at the lodge in Zion when the storm struck full force. I can recall my Dad getting me to go with him to the bridge over the river. It was an awesome sight as the river, suddenly a churning red froth, rose so rapidly that I told my dad we should move off of the bridge before it was flooded. The water never got quite that high, but it was close. Quite a memory. For some reason, I missed out on Capitol Reef until I was 67! Yes, it was a mistake that I did not go there sooner, but better late than never! And Utah 12 is a beautiful drive. Savor it!! I think you will see the sights, and you will decide which ones are your favorites. It is fun to go back for return visits to see what you missed the first time. And I get a double bonus because my son is now taking his boys back to the same places he visited with us when he was a boy. The two boys came back from Yellowstone all fired up over the bison. I think they tried to give each one of them names. I was supposed to find Scruffy and Bruiser last year and say hello.

We really liked staying at the Best Western Capital Reef in Torrey- it's practically the first hotel you see as you are coming into town from the park. They have a great outdoor hot tub, and very handy laundry services- great for putting in a load, and going out for a soak while the laundry is going. It also has a restaurant, although we did not take any meals there (1-night stay.) Our meal at Cafe Diablo in Torrey was one of the high points of our trip- contemporary Southwestern cuisine, nice selection of beverages. Hope you can stay at Goulding's at Monument Valley- being able to take in the sunrise from your room's balcony is a treat, and it's handy to be close to the park so you can go through early when the park opens. Hope this is helpful.

We did most of the trip you outlined 3 years ago and it was AMAZING. WE didn't attempt monument valley just went from Moab back to Vegas. If you don't have a place booked yet near Capital Reef I would suggest the Mulley Twist Inn in Teasdale..If your into hiking the Wonderland Trail in Bryce is long but not too strenous and gives you great viewpoints. Have a great time!