Southern Utah - Colorado OR Yellowstone - Rocky Mountain NP?
May 7th, 2014, 12:34 PM
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Southern Utah - Colorado OR Yellowstone - Rocky Mountain NP?
Hi Fellow Travelers!
I am planning a sight seeing road trip for late August with two kids (age 5 and 10) and two grandparents in tow. Trip duration is between 8 and 14 days depending on which route we will choose.
Option 1: Fly to Las Vegas from NY/NJ - Drive to Southern Utah national parks/Grand Canyon NP -> drive to Denver via Million Dollar highway and Aspen --> Fly out of Denver back to NY/NJ
Option 2: Airport undetermined -- drive to Yellowstone/Grand Teton NP -- Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park -- Colorado Springs -- Fly out of Denver
Dear husband has only 1 week to 1.5 week of vacation time, so he prefers option 2 which appears to require less time and less driving than option 1, but a quick check of the airfare shows flying into either Salt Lake City or Jackson to go to Yellowstone is almost $400 more than flying into Las Vegas, plus grandparents really want to see the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountains. Option 1 would require about 14 days, which dear husband may not be able to join for the whole trip.
Any feedback would be appreciated!!
I am planning a sight seeing road trip for late August with two kids (age 5 and 10) and two grandparents in tow. Trip duration is between 8 and 14 days depending on which route we will choose.
Option 1: Fly to Las Vegas from NY/NJ - Drive to Southern Utah national parks/Grand Canyon NP -> drive to Denver via Million Dollar highway and Aspen --> Fly out of Denver back to NY/NJ
Option 2: Airport undetermined -- drive to Yellowstone/Grand Teton NP -- Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park -- Colorado Springs -- Fly out of Denver
Dear husband has only 1 week to 1.5 week of vacation time, so he prefers option 2 which appears to require less time and less driving than option 1, but a quick check of the airfare shows flying into either Salt Lake City or Jackson to go to Yellowstone is almost $400 more than flying into Las Vegas, plus grandparents really want to see the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountains. Option 1 would require about 14 days, which dear husband may not be able to join for the whole trip.
Any feedback would be appreciated!!
May 7th, 2014, 06:31 PM
#2
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Option #1: The Zion National Park will still be HOT in August, but you really won't be spending that much time there so not sure that's a big consideration.
Option #2: If you fly into Salt Lake City this route is only 200 miles longer than Option 1, so not a real big consideration.
Eight days is not enough time to really do either one of your options. You really need the 14 days.
If DH has to fly home early, which airport will he be flying home from on either of your options?
You won't go wrong with either of your options! You might let lodging be your deciding factor. Have you looked into that yet?
Utahtea
Option #2: If you fly into Salt Lake City this route is only 200 miles longer than Option 1, so not a real big consideration.
Eight days is not enough time to really do either one of your options. You really need the 14 days.
If DH has to fly home early, which airport will he be flying home from on either of your options?
You won't go wrong with either of your options! You might let lodging be your deciding factor. Have you looked into that yet?
Utahtea
May 7th, 2014, 07:11 PM
#3
Since you are coming from the east coast, I'll give you a third option to consider. Fly to Denver. rent a vehicle to go see RMNP. Return the vehicle early morning and get to the new Amtrak station in Denver and take the westbound California Zephyr (leaves 8:05AM or later) to Grand Junction arriving about 4PM. Rent a vehicle in Grand Junction and go to Moab. See Arches and maybe part of Canyonlands the next day.
How many of the southern Utah parks do you want to see?
If you want to see Zion and Bryce, you may have to settle for a short visit to the north Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Return the vehicle to Grand Junction and take the train (California Zephyr) either westbound to Salt Lake City or back east to Denver to fly home.
The problem with SLC is that you arrive late night.
Glenwood Springs is the train station closest to Aspen.
There is good bus service between Glenwood Springs and Aspen.
How many of the southern Utah parks do you want to see?
If you want to see Zion and Bryce, you may have to settle for a short visit to the north Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Return the vehicle to Grand Junction and take the train (California Zephyr) either westbound to Salt Lake City or back east to Denver to fly home.
The problem with SLC is that you arrive late night.
Glenwood Springs is the train station closest to Aspen.
There is good bus service between Glenwood Springs and Aspen.
May 8th, 2014, 02:25 AM
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Check with the travelers and see what are their highest priorities. Yellowstone is fantastic and very diverse. It has bison, elk, moose, etc. as well as geologic wonders like the guessers, mud volcanoes, hot springs, waterfalls, beautiful mountain views etc. If you decided on that, you could make a road trip by going in/out of Denver as well as SLC.
The Utah parks are fantastic too, mostly eye candy, not so much the animals although we have seen antelope in Bryce and elk and deer in Grand Canyon.
If money really matters, with 6 people flying to Denver might be the thing to do for either trip, but it will involve more driving. We've gone to Arches and Canyonlands in UT from there as well as Mesa Verde, Dinosaur NP, Great Sand dunes, and Rocky Mt. NP in CO.
As Utahtea said, the choice at this point may depend on where you can get lodging, so make reservations that you can cancel wherever you can now, then arrange transportation, then go back frequently and check on the lodging you really want as people often make plans a year in advance and then cancel as time gets close.
The Utah parks are fantastic too, mostly eye candy, not so much the animals although we have seen antelope in Bryce and elk and deer in Grand Canyon.
If money really matters, with 6 people flying to Denver might be the thing to do for either trip, but it will involve more driving. We've gone to Arches and Canyonlands in UT from there as well as Mesa Verde, Dinosaur NP, Great Sand dunes, and Rocky Mt. NP in CO.
As Utahtea said, the choice at this point may depend on where you can get lodging, so make reservations that you can cancel wherever you can now, then arrange transportation, then go back frequently and check on the lodging you really want as people often make plans a year in advance and then cancel as time gets close.
May 8th, 2014, 03:35 AM
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Lots of possibilities and you can't "lose" with seeing these natural wonders.
I would add for your children that in Colorado and Utah there are dinosaur "sightings" that are incredibly good and instructive. Just south of Denver 25 miles from CO Springs is Woodland Park with an excellent dinosaur exhibit/museum.
There are others in western CO if you drove from Denver through RMNP to the million dollar highway (great exhibit there showing how it was built) to Utah.
I would put the Grand Canyon pretty far down--it's a big ditch, no doubt, but kids can get bored quickly with just looking at a natural wonder.
Mesa Verde is a wonder of the world to me. A loop around Colorado could really be a super vacation. There's the Durango Silverton RR for the kids (I'd only do one way). The Sand Dunes are really interesting.
I would add for your children that in Colorado and Utah there are dinosaur "sightings" that are incredibly good and instructive. Just south of Denver 25 miles from CO Springs is Woodland Park with an excellent dinosaur exhibit/museum.
There are others in western CO if you drove from Denver through RMNP to the million dollar highway (great exhibit there showing how it was built) to Utah.
I would put the Grand Canyon pretty far down--it's a big ditch, no doubt, but kids can get bored quickly with just looking at a natural wonder.
Mesa Verde is a wonder of the world to me. A loop around Colorado could really be a super vacation. There's the Durango Silverton RR for the kids (I'd only do one way). The Sand Dunes are really interesting.
May 8th, 2014, 07:23 AM
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In August, I would go to Yellowstone/Jackson etc. There is no way in heck I would go to the desert then!!! I go to southern Utah in spring/fall and then the mountains in the summer. People will say you can go in August--you just have to get going REALLY early. Maybe if you are coming from the east coast, you could get going by 6am (8am east coast time) but in my experience kids and early departures don't work so well!! (too much work for mom) You could do Yellowstone in 8 days. If you search my user name, you will see my trip report on Yellowstone with kids. And it will be cool and people won't be cranky. Much, much better!!!
May 8th, 2014, 08:06 AM
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Seeing the responses so far (THANKS!!), I think I am going to add an option #3:
Option 3: Fly to Denver -- 8 hr drive to Yellowstone/Grand Teton -- Salt Lake City -- Moab, UT (Arches and Canyonland NP) -- Denver (for Rocky Mountain NP and Colorado Springs) -- Fly out of Denver
Both Option 1 and 3 would require about 12-14 days, and dear husband may not be able to join for the whole trip. Option 3 has an advantage of flying in and out of Denver, which saves our airfare and car rental fees. I am not sure if it is flexible enough to be compressed to 10 days or allow husband to fly out of Denver a day or two earlier than us.
Option 3: Fly to Denver -- 8 hr drive to Yellowstone/Grand Teton -- Salt Lake City -- Moab, UT (Arches and Canyonland NP) -- Denver (for Rocky Mountain NP and Colorado Springs) -- Fly out of Denver
Both Option 1 and 3 would require about 12-14 days, and dear husband may not be able to join for the whole trip. Option 3 has an advantage of flying in and out of Denver, which saves our airfare and car rental fees. I am not sure if it is flexible enough to be compressed to 10 days or allow husband to fly out of Denver a day or two earlier than us.
May 8th, 2014, 10:27 AM
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Option 3: Fly to Denver -- 8 hr drive to Yellowstone/Grand Teton -- Salt Lake City -- Moab, UT (Arches and Canyonland NP) -- Denver (for Rocky Mountain NP and Colorado Springs) -- Fly out of Denver
Again, you can't go wrong with any of your locations. They are ALL great.
Where do you plan to get lodging for Yellowstone? Will you be staying in the park or outside the park? It might be hard to get lodging in the park at this late date. If you stay outside the park then West Yellowstone will probably be your best bet for easy access to all the locations in the park. I ask because it will make a difference in the amount of time you will be driving on that first day. If you have to drive to West Yellowstone then plan on over 9 hours of just driving time and then you have to stop for food, pit stops and gas. Driving in Yellowstone will be a lot slower than driving on the highway. Think bison walking on the road and stopping traffic...it's called a bison jam and it happens all the time.
I would skip Salt Lake City and instead head to Dinosaur National Monument from the Grand Tetons. It's pretty much a straight shot. Besides being very interesting it's also a scenic location. Unless of course SLC is where you husband will be flying home early.
Moab - Arches - Canyonlands in August is going to be hot. Again, you will only probably be spending just a few days there and so it won't be that bad. Heck we use to spend 2 - 4 weeks in Utah in the summer because that's the only time our boys had school break. You just do your hiking very early or very late in the day and do your driving around site-seeing in the heat of the day.
Utahtea
Again, you can't go wrong with any of your locations. They are ALL great.
Where do you plan to get lodging for Yellowstone? Will you be staying in the park or outside the park? It might be hard to get lodging in the park at this late date. If you stay outside the park then West Yellowstone will probably be your best bet for easy access to all the locations in the park. I ask because it will make a difference in the amount of time you will be driving on that first day. If you have to drive to West Yellowstone then plan on over 9 hours of just driving time and then you have to stop for food, pit stops and gas. Driving in Yellowstone will be a lot slower than driving on the highway. Think bison walking on the road and stopping traffic...it's called a bison jam and it happens all the time.
I would skip Salt Lake City and instead head to Dinosaur National Monument from the Grand Tetons. It's pretty much a straight shot. Besides being very interesting it's also a scenic location. Unless of course SLC is where you husband will be flying home early.
Moab - Arches - Canyonlands in August is going to be hot. Again, you will only probably be spending just a few days there and so it won't be that bad. Heck we use to spend 2 - 4 weeks in Utah in the summer because that's the only time our boys had school break. You just do your hiking very early or very late in the day and do your driving around site-seeing in the heat of the day.
Utahtea
May 8th, 2014, 07:24 PM
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You have a couple options within option 3.
1) Visit RMNP first, then Yellowstone. Drive to Salt Lake City so your husband can fly home early, then continue on to Moab and back to Denver.
Or
2) Visit Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, Moab and then drop him off in Denver to fly home early while you continue on to RMNP.
It really depends on whether he would rather visit Moab or RMNP. Moab will be hot so its not ideal. However, RMNP is very easy to visit for a long weekend since its close to Denver, so if he skips that you could always go back for a long weekend.
Colorado Springs is not high on my list of places to visit in that area. If he has limited time he should skip it and let the rest of you visit on your own....unless there's something there that really appeals to him.
1) Visit RMNP first, then Yellowstone. Drive to Salt Lake City so your husband can fly home early, then continue on to Moab and back to Denver.
Or
2) Visit Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, Moab and then drop him off in Denver to fly home early while you continue on to RMNP.
It really depends on whether he would rather visit Moab or RMNP. Moab will be hot so its not ideal. However, RMNP is very easy to visit for a long weekend since its close to Denver, so if he skips that you could always go back for a long weekend.
Colorado Springs is not high on my list of places to visit in that area. If he has limited time he should skip it and let the rest of you visit on your own....unless there's something there that really appeals to him.
May 9th, 2014, 07:48 AM
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Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions and comments. After reading your responses, I think we are inclined to settle on the option #3. As WhereAreWe suggested, we can tweak option 3 between Moab and Denver vicinity (RMNP and Colorado Springs). We will probably skip Colorado Springs as many suggested if time is short - I originally included it because of Pikes Peak. Looks like Pikes Peak is not a MUST, right?
May 9th, 2014, 07:51 AM
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Also appreciate the suggestion about Dinosaur Monument, I am sure the kids will enjoy a visit there! Since it looks like Yellowstone's lodging options are limited, I think I'd better start the booking process rolling now...thanks.
May 9th, 2014, 02:14 PM
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If it were me, I would do Yellowstone/Tetons and include Glacier and skip RMNP.
Or Tetons/Yellowstone and include Black Hills/South Dakota area(Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Jewel Cave, Badlands, Wind Cave, Crazy Horse) There is 2-3 days worth of places to visit between the two areas too.
Or Tetons/Yellowstone and include Black Hills/South Dakota area(Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Jewel Cave, Badlands, Wind Cave, Crazy Horse) There is 2-3 days worth of places to visit between the two areas too.
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