Preliminary Itinerary for our Southwest trip
 

I am starting to plan our family trip (DH and I and two teens) to the Southwest for next summer. We are looking at mid July. We are flying in from the East Coast. DH and I did Phoenix to Flagstaff to GC to Vegas roundtrip back to Phoenix in 4 days about 18 years ago, without kids. It was a little crazy but we were young. There was a lot of driving. This time we want to try to stop to see a little more and do some light hiking (no chains please) and no scary trails with long dropoffs (I am afraid of heights). I have checked the drive times and they seem to be about 2.5 hours from each destination except the last one back to Vegas (about 5). Please let me know if this itinerary and the order makes sense and please feel free to make suggestions. I know I have a lot more planning to do with regards as what to see at each destination, I have general ideas and can always throw in an extra day at a destination if it merits it. I also have some hotel recommendations from other posts but I want to get the logistical backbone down first.

Preliminary Itinerary

Day 1 Arrive Phoenix drive to Sedona to stay overnight in Sedona.
Day 2 Early Drive to Grand Canyon South Rim preferably check into onsite lodge
Day 3 Explore South Rim do some easy hikes Drive to Lake Powell in the afternoon- stay overnight
Day 4 Do Early Lake Tour in Lake Powell - Drive to Bryce Canyon in the late afternoon and stay overnight
Day 5 Explore Bryce Canyon and then drive to and check into Desert Pearl Inn
Day 6 Explore Zion National Park - stay overnight
Day 7 Drive to Las Vegas - stop at Hoover Dam and do tour
Day 8 Day in Vegas to relax by a pool - catch a show
Day 9 Fly home

Originally, I was thinking of renting a houseboat on Lake Powell for a few days but there is too much to see in this area . So I think the tour is probably better for us.

I would also consider flying in an out of Las Vegas if the Flights/Car Rental would be more economical. In that case, it looks like I would need to drop Sedona, as it looks to be out of the way.

Thank you in advance for your help with this.

Your plan is do-able. Not sure which tour on Lake Powell you were thinking of. The all day one to Rainbow Bridge and then driving to Bryce might be a long day. They do have shorter tours but they only give you a small sample of what's at the lake. Been there, done that and wanted more...LOL!

Besides the flying cost, I hear that one way car rentals are more expensive too. It's not like you are going to have much time to explore Sedona with your tight schedule, so maybe you would be better off flying in and out of Las Vegas, dropping Sedona for another night at Lake Powell to do the all day boat tour to Rainbow Bridge, and you can add the 3/4 mile hike to Horseshoe Bend (not a scary hike, but don't get to close to the edge when you get there) and Upper Antelope Slot Canyon tour.

Utahtea

I have found that both car rentals and air fare will be lower (as in hundreds lower) in Vegas than in Phoenix and drop off charges are terrible.

You could do your loop in either direction, Vegas, Zion, Bryce, Lake Powell, GC south rim, Hoover Dam , Vegas or the reverse. You also might want to do the north rim of GC while you are in the Zion/Bryce area, although I do think the south rim has more wow factor for the first time your kids are seeing it. North rim will be cooler and less crowded, Zion will be hot so plan hiking for early in the am or late afternoon.

If you use the search box for any of the sites you will find lots of threads here.

Have a great trip.

The looooong boat tour to Rainbow Bridge will bore teens. IT is also likely to be hotter than hell on that looong boat ride. Rent a powerboat and go yourself. Faster and way more fun for all 4 of you.

Renting the boat and going yourself will work <b>only</b> if the main channel is open. If it's not open, then it's a HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE ride going though the Antelope Canyon channel. The channel is deep and narrow and the waves are KILLERS and it takes forever to go the 12 miles or so! I speak from experience! And being bored will depend on the person and what they like or dislike.

Utahtea

Thank you for your quick replies. I was looking at the 7:30 a.m. long boat tour 5-6 hours (involves 2 hours to Rainbow Bridge, 1 hour hike and then 2 hours back). I am sure the teens will be bored on the trip back. We did a similar tour in the BVI several years ago but at least they had food, drinks and entertainment on the way back. Does not look like it here. I liked the tour idea as I hope we would get more information of what we were looking at than if we did this on our own. However, I have not ruled out the power boat idea. It sounds good, just a little concerned about not having any experience driving such a thing and it is a vast lake. Utahtea, thank you for the suggestion on Horsehoe Bend and Upper Antelope Slot Canyon tour. I will take a look and it might be worth staying another night.

If you do decide to go out on your own on a power boat buy one of the good maps of the lake. It's very easy to get lost out there. My BIL is an experienced boater and we were on his boat so we didn't have to worry about knowing the rules of boating. The 12 miles I spoke of were just though the Antelope Channel and you have to do it both ways! It's pretty much an all day trip to Rainbow Bridge and back if you go on your own or take the Tour. The only difference is you can stop and go swimming when you want. By the time we reached the channel for Rainbow Bridge, we decided it was to late to do the hike and skipped it.

Utahtea

If you are just looking for some time on the water, rent a boat at Lake Meade. DW and I went out with our son and family and spent some time swimming within 200 yards of Hoover Dam.
Wherever you go on the water be sure to have sunscreen. We all got sunburn that day on the lake.
I agree with others, fly in/out of LV. I used PL for a great deal on a rental car in LV.

I am not sure if your are talking about a real "tour", but the one we did, there was no narration. We got on the boat at Wahweap Marina. It included lunch that was pretty basic. There were lots of people on the boat, it was too hot to eat up top and down below was smelly [head] and even hotter. They ran out of water on the trip back. As with everything, everyone has a different perspective on things.

This is the one we did:
http://www.lakepowell.com/tours/scenic-boat-tours.aspx

Tomfuller. No we were looking to be able to see the views from the lake. I don't think we want to swim in the lake. Although in the hot weather that is July, that might not be a bad thing. DebitNM. This is the same tour I am looking at. Thank you for letting me know. I would want some sort of narration considering the steep cost of the "tour". It sounds like we would be disappointed to go on this boat for 5-6 hours.

I agree that you should fly in-n-out LAS, as one way car drop-off would be expensive. I did LAS-GC-Page (Lake Powell)-LAS loop in 4 nights in 2009.
At Page-AZ, I would suggest to skip rainbow bridge, instead do Horseshoe bend (best for sunrise) and antelop canyons (lower is better anytime, upper is good for noon time only). I did rainbow bridge, too, and its beautiful place - but boat trip is long and boaring.
Zion has several options for small-n-easy hikes. Hoover dam does NOT come on the way from Zion to LAS. (Its on the way from LAS to Grand canyon) I guess, once you see Glen canyon dam (lake powell) then there is no need to visit hoover dam, unless you're specially interested in it. You may do as following -

Day 1 Arrive LAS, night stay in LAS
Day 2 Early Drive to Grand Canyon South Rim. Visit Hoover dam on the way. Try to get in-park lodge, it gives you more time to explore canyons. Night stay in GC.
Day 3 Explore South Rim do some easy hikes Drive to Lake Powell in the afternoon- Do Antelope canyon. stay overnight
Day 4 Sunrise at Horseshoe bend.- Drive to Bryce Canyon in the late afternoon and stay overnight
Day 5 Explore Bryce Canyon and then drive to and check into Desert Pearl Inn
Day 6 Explore Zion National Park - stay overnight
Day 7 Drive to Las Vegas.
Day 8 Day in Vegas to relax by a pool - catch a show
Day 9 Fly home

We've done the Rainbow Bridge Tour from Wahweap twice now. Loved it both times. HOWEVER, we did both when the lake was high enough to see most of Rainbow Bridge from the tour boat and we only had a short hike. We also got to go down another canyon where they parked the boat for lunch. They use to stop at Dangling Rope Marina and I remember getting an ice cream cone because it was a hot day. I don't remember it being smelly down below and I used the head.

Swimming at Lake Powell is fun! There is a swimming beach area near the Wahweap Marina or if you rent a boat you can go just anywhere and jump in. We went by the dam one time and then on that long day we went were ever we wanted when ever we wanted to get cooled off.

Utahtea

I think you're doing a lot of driving and a lot of "staying overnight" but very little time for seeing.

You seem to have a lot of days but they're disappearing somehow.

I consider the day I arrive to be Day 0 unless there is a lot of usable time.

You're allowing a day to drive from Springdale to Las Vegas to do a three hour drive and a day in Las Vegas.

Unless you really want to spend a day in Las vegas with two teens I would spread those two days into the trip.

Maybe Lake Powell and Zion.

I just did a similar trip in August. I am currently posting my trip report (and photos). http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...parks-trip.cfm

Agree with the others about the car rental costs. One way is hundreds more than a pick up/ drop off at the same place. Also agree that trying to have two nights at a stop makes for a more enjoyable trip than all one nighters. With eight nights I'd suggest - one Vegas, two GC, one Page, two Bryce, two Zion. Actually you'd need one more probably unless you could get a late flight out of Vegas. Any chance you could squeeze one more night for the trip.

We did LV - Zion - Page - GC (and later on Bryce) in July/August with our kids (14, 12 and 10).

Of all the canyons we visited in the grand circle, we liked Zion the best (we also stayed at the Desert Pearl Inn)

If you have two nights in Springdale I would suggest the Emerald Pools hike for the first morning, and the Canyon overlook trail on the day you are leaving Zion for Bryce (if you follow emalloys suggestions)

The drive on hwy 89 out of Springdale was the most scenic on our 30 day road trip, and the Canyon overlooks hike is on that road (tricky to find parking at the trailhead, but not impossible)

In Page we saw Horseshoe bend at sunset the day we got there. Also one favorite - you can get as close to the rim as you like (no security) which was thrilling to my teen (and pre-teens and husband with teen spirit).

Next day we visited the lower Antelope canyon - amazing! If you have a semi professional looking camera they will give you a photographers pass and let you visit the canyon on your own (you go down with the group, but are allowed to stay behind to take photos alone). Our cameras did not qualify, but we got some great pictures anyway (stayed up front with the guide). We did not do the boat trip on Lake Powell, but my guess is that the cave-like experience of Antelope canyon is more interesting to a teen ager than a two hour float trip.

Allthough Bryce Canyon was maybe the most beautiful of all canyons in terms of colors and shapes, my kids found the hiking a bit boring and the canyon too crowded. If I were you, I would only stay one night in Bryce.

Good luck with the planning.

I would keep Sedona and stay there two nights. Lots of beautiful hikes, not scary at all. Bryce can be very hot down in the canyon. Lake Powell has a lookout where you can stop, a visitor center.

Everyone is going to have their favorite place and so you'll have to figure out what's best for you. As for the comment of spending two nights in Sedona. With such a limited time, I would not think that would be the best use of your time. What I love about the National Parks is the area is set aside for our use and you don't have to worry running into civilization & private property. Sedona is beautiful but not a national park.

Utahtea

You guys are great. Isabel, thank you for sharing your trip report. I am going to print it and highlight some stuff to take with us. Your pictures are amazing.

I like Ansh's itinerary. I think we will do roundtrip from LAS. It saves us approx $300 on the car return. I would only change that we drive out to Kingman the day of arrival instead of overnight in Vegas in order to reduce the drive time to GC the following day. This way we can get to GC earlier. We could probably toss in an extra day. I really want to do the Antelope tour now over the Lake Powell. It looks amazing. Though, we might want to throw in some afternoon swimming at Lake Powell, off the shore, if possible.

It also seems that it might be better to combine the overnight stay for Zion and Bryce Canyon at one location instead of two different hotels. That would mean a 3 night stay. Open to suggestions for this one.

I know we are throwing in one day for drive to Vegas, but from past experience, at this point everyone will be tired of hiking and begging to sleep in. So if we get started mid-morning for this long drive, it will have everyone well rested and will allow time for leisurely stops along the way, if we see something interesting. We are not gamblers but have had fun in the past just checking out all the themed hotels in Vegas. A day in Vegas is a nice change of pace before heading home. My kids have been asking to see Blue Man Group. This might be a great place to catch it.

Upper Antelope Slots canyon tour takes about a total of 2 hours...that includes getting there and back. Mid day is best for lighting. Another great thing to do in the Page, AZ area is the 1/2 day float trip down the Colorado River out of Page. Our 17 year old nephew thought that was the highlight of our 2 week trip in the area. They have a morning and an afternoon trip.

Utahtea