Need help planning 1-week trip to Bryce & Zion
 

Before I finalize my itinerary, I'd appreciate your comments. We'll probably camp most of the time. I went to Zion a long time ago and loved the hiking; I'm anxious to show my husband how fantastic it is.

May 25: Drive to Page, stay in motel
May 26: See Antelope Canyon, drive to Bryce (camp or lodge)
May 27: Bryce
May 28: Hike Calf Creek Falls, stay where? Should we go all the way to Capitol Reef?
May 29: Drive to Zion (camp)
May 30: Zion
May 31: Zion
June 1: Zion
June 2: Drive to Lake Tahoe

Thanks!

Hi Laura,

Unless you spend the night in Capitol Reef, don't go all the way there.

You are going over Mem Weekend and don't have reservations? You are going to have trouble getting a camping spot or lodging. If trying to camp in the Natl Parks, arrive at the Park no later than 8:30 a.m. if you hope to snag a spot.

Otherwise, you will have to settle for BLM land outside, or commercial campgrounds. Even those will be crowded.

Likewise, arrive at Calf Creek Falls no later than 8am if you want to find a parking spot.

I am not sure where you are coming from, however I would skip Page and go directly to Bryce. This would be my recommended itinerary:
May 25: Drive to Bryce, stay in Bryce Canyon Lodge (if by some miracle they have availability). Avoid Ruby's at all costs.
May 26: Bryce
May 27: Hike Calf Creek Falls. Be sure and stop in Kiva Koffeehouse on the way just West of Escalante. Stay in Torrey @ Austin's Chuckwagon.
May 28: AM, Capitol Reef, Afternoon - fruit picking in Fruita. Stay in Torrey.
May 29: Drive to Zion. Instead of returning via Rt. 12, from Torrey head west on 24 to Rte. 63 - Rte. 89. At Panguitch take rte. 143 to Cedar Breaks National Monument. It is about 3 hrs. to here from Torrey. It is about another 1 - 1.5 hrs. from here to Zion. <i>You will not regret the slight detour!</i>
May 30: Zion
May 31: Zion
June 1: Zion
June 2: Drive to Lake Tahoe

Normally, I'd say go to Lake Powell and see Upper Antelope Slot Canyon BUT you will be going on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend and that place turns into a MAD HOUSE with boaters. We left Lake Powell on the Friday before Memorial Day one year...and we were glad we exiting the area instead of trying to get in!

You can make camping reservations at Lake Powell, Bryce and Zion and I would STRONGLY recommend it. Zion might not be as bad if you arrive on the 30th early enough in the day to get a spot in South Campground.

Calf Creek Falls has a small campground but my guess it will be BOOKED long before you get there since that is Memorial Day. There is a nice little state campground in Escalante but again, I bet it will already be filled. There is BLM camping along the Burr Trail just outside of Boulder, Utah and National Forest Campgrounds in the Boulder Mountains on Hwy 12 before you reach Torrey. Good LUCK! I'm sure by the time you reach Capitol Reef it will be full.

Utahtea

Hi again Laura,

Out of curiosity, I just checked Recreation.gov for you. It's the site that does Natl Park and other campground reservations.

There are no campground res available at Bryce. There is limited availability for res at Zion, in the Watchman campground. You may have to pay for an electrical hookup slot, however. No reservations at Capitol Reef.

Not all campsites are reservable. If you want one, be there early! Or, camp on BLM land. Primitive camping.

Have fun!

Thanks for your comments! I forgot it would be Memorial Day weekend...we've been really busy getting ready to move from AZ to TN. However, I did manage to make a few reservations, namely:

May 26: Page (Bashful Bob's)
May 27: Bryce Canyon Pines lodge
May 28-June 1: Watchman campground, Zion

If need be, we can stay in Flagstaff on Fri. May 25 (we can't leave Phoenix until about noon, anyway). I'll call the tour companies for Antelope Canyon and see if there are any openings for Sat; if not, maybe we'll skip Page and try to stay in/around Bryce on Saturday night. I suppose we could camp there, but the temps seem a bit low.

As for Calf Creek/Escalante, I'll try calling to see if I can move my Zion reservations back one day so that we can squeeze this in. It's good to know that there's some BLM land we can camp on if we're in a pinch.