mes3,

I think you should stay in the park at Bryce (really convenient for catching sunrise and sunset at the rim), but stay in Springdale at Zion.

The Desert Pearl is a very nice hotel. The river runs right behind it--you can pull up a chair and sit there. And the pool is beautiful--the red cliffs sort of loom over it! And Springdale is a very enjoyable town. We only had one night, because we were in the middle of a road trip. But, there were a lot of places that we would have liked to try for dinner. We had breakfast at 6:30 in the morning at the "Mean Bean"--local coffee house. Then drove into the park and parked at the visitor center to get an early start on the Angel's Landing Hike. We are definitely going back--so much to see!

caligirl56, thanks for the info. I made reservations for 3 nights at Bryce lodge. That time frame for June 08 was sold out. More pple must think like you about Bryce.
Did you do the horse back ride? Hope to do some of the longer hikes at Bryce as well as the Narrows at Zion. We have/n make our decision yet on Zion accommodations yet. Has anyone have any advise about the short cut off of SR 12 to Page. Is it worth it? What about Jacobs lake on the way to Bryce from GC?

mes3

mes3,

I'm not sure what you meant by the short cut off Route 12 to Page. If you mean the road that starts at Cannonville on Route 12 and goes down to Route 89, it's a dirt road.

I rode on that when I went to see Grovesnor Arch. It's not passable when wet. I was able to drive about 20mph in most places and bounced around the road.

Driving down 89 you'll be going 3x the speed at least on a real rode.

It's there so I image some people have driven it. While I was driving 3 cows were walking along the side of the road and I kept thinking they were going to veer in front of me.

If you need a reservation, persistence pays off. Xanterra kept telling me that very few people cancel.

I was missing the first two nights of my three night stay. I had reservations at Ruby's. Eventually there were cancellations one at a time and I got all three nights.

I've heard that tour companies book blocks and then in the last month cancel the ones they couldn't sell.

Oh. Unfortunately, I reread my post.

Grovenor s/b Grosvenor Arch
The 2nd rode s/b road.
image s/b imagine

Anything else?

That's great. The rode you mentioned is the one I was thinking, and read about. Myers we are going to the "best Dam View". thinks for the directions posted earlier. The photo tips were great too. We are thinking about riding to Kayenta one afternoon/evening to see MV. Does anyone have advice on this while staying in Paige. Any shortcuts or best routes. We will get up our last morning and see Antelope Canyon before heading to Zion. Any good stops/pull offs would be greatful. Persistance is the key word with Xanterra. We finally have 3 nights at Bryce. I think I have to change rooms once. It took 3 phones/2 pple and 3 monthly attempts for Phantom Ranch. I'll keep calling and hopefully that will change.

mes3,

No we did not have time for the horseback ride (one day stop on our road trip from Michigan to California). But it looked wonderful. I've heard great things about it on this and other forums. They take you to the other side of the canyon, so you get a whole different viewpoint!

mes3,

At first I was in a situation where I would have had to change rooms at Bryce.

My first night was for a suite and the next 2 nights in an ordinary room. Eventually an ordinary room became available for the first night and I changed the reservation.

Had that not happened, my plan was to call them from the road on the day of my arrival. I was going to offer my suite to whoever had an ordinary room and I would pay their upgrade of $20 difference for the one night.

That way I would have been able to stay in the same room without changing.
- - - - -
Antelope Canyon. Don't go too early. You want to be there when the sun is high. Between 11 and 2PM.

The turnoff for the Best Dam View is where 89 splits to go into Page. You turn west at the Courtyard by Marriott (it's on the east side of the highway).

Actually, go to your local bookstore. If they have Moon Handbooks Arizona, on Page 477 is a map of Page (too many "Page"es)and it shows The Best Dam View. It also shows the route I took to Antelope Canyon.