My husband and I are planning a two week vacation late September out west. We will be visiting some sights we've seen before and enjoyed and are looking forward to the places we've yet to visit. I have come up with a proposed itinerary but wondered if you might give me some feedback on it as well as "must sees" along the way. We are planning to start the visit September 16th in Arizona, hoping to get to Denver area around September 27th when the fall foliage will be starting to peak. So far this is the plan....

Day 1 Fly into Phoenix and drive to Sedona to spend four nights. This is our first trip to Sedona.
Day 2 Sedona
Day 3 Sedona
Day 4 Sedona
Day 5 Drive to south rim of Grand Canyon on the way to Page, AZ (We've been to the Grand
Canyon several times so this is just a "pass thru". Spend 3 nights in Page, AZ
Day 6 Boating on Lake Powell, which we've enjoyed on a previous visit
Day 7 Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon
Day 8 Drive to Monument Valley and spend the night at The View Hotel
Day 9 Drive to Moab to spend three nights
Day 10 Arches
Day 11 Canyonlands
Day 12 Drive to Aspen, along the way stop at Black Canyons of the Gunnison, overnight in Aspen
Day 13 Check out Maroon Bells before driving to Estes Park via Trail Ridge Road, spend two nights
in Estes Park
Day 14 Spend day in Rocky Mountain National Park
Day 15 Drive to Denver for afternoon flight home

This trip is a mixture of "old and new", places we've seen and places we've never been. We are not hikers so we will only be doing short hikes along the way. We've visited Page and Moab on a previous vacation and feel in love with both, so we are looking forward to repeating some of the activities we've done there before. But Sedona and RMNP will be new for us and we are so looking forward to blending the "new" with the "old".

Any feedback or suggestions about the itinerary or things to see would be very appreciated!

I would save RMNP and Aspen for a future trip that starts and ends in Denver.
You're good as far as Moab and Arches and the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands.
Come back to Sedona for 1 night via Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion.
Return the car where you rented it (Phoenix).

I assume that you don't mind paying the drop off fee for your car since you're planning an open jaw trip.

If you haven't been to Mesa Verde or up the Million Dollar Hwy, I would plan to do that between Canyonlands and RMNP.

We were there the first week in October and the color was beautiful. Enjoy!

Thank you both for your replies. Yes, we did take the expense of a one way rental in mind when planning this trip, but I really wanted to do the Arizona/Utah end of the trip (which other than Sedona we've already done) and my husband was interested in "seeing something different" if we did. This itinerary seemed like a good compromise of old and new. At least this way we start and end the vacation with a new adventure!

Emalloy, the last time we were out to the Arizona/Utah area we did the Grand circle and added Mesa Verde to that trip. This will be our first excursion into Colorado and wondered what route would take us on at least part of the Million Dollar Highway, or is that too far off course from our drive from Moab to Aspen?

Thanks, again, to both of you for taking the time to share your thoughts!

dmpalana, From Moab to the Million Dollar Hwy (550) go south on 191 to Monticello then 491 to 184 to 160 east to Durango and north on 550. 160 goes right by the entrance to Mesa Verde, so we did stop in there and spent the night after in Durango as I recall.

We stopped in Silverton and had breakfast at a cute place there. Friends recommended that we do the drive instead of the railroad so we could stop and see things along the way. If you click my name you can scroll down to the TR for this trip (the 2015 trip) with a link to the photos, one of Silverton, which was a very charming town.

Been giving more thought to our initial itinerary and am starting to think we may want to cut a night or two off the front end of our first week so we can take more time driving through the southwestern towns of Colorado, Durango, Telluride and up the Million Dollar Highway on the way to RMNP. Hesitant to cut anything from Sedona since this is our first time there and it sounds like there is a lot to do there. Originally thought we would stay three nights in Page, but two should be more than enough for what we intend to do, which is boating on Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon.

From all that I've read so far it sounds like we may actually get to see some great fall colors in Colorado since we will be hitting there the last week of September. Would really appreciate any suggested routes that would maximize that experience in our travels from Moab to RMNP. Perhaps if we take two full days to get to Trail Ridge Road in RMNP, we can at least pass through some pretty awesome parts of the state and see some of its prettiest cities, like Telluride and Aspen.

Any thoughts on how we should break up the trip when we leave Moab? Since we did Mesa Verde on our last trip out, I would be fine with skipping that one this time. Would much rather see something new this time around.

I would suggest staying in Ouray, Colorado(just north of Telluride) - less touristy and you can enjoy the wonderful hot springs in town. There are several nice lodging options in town that have tubs and pools heated by the hot springs. Ouray is a very scenic town.

I would suggest skipping Page (since you've been there.) Have you already been to Zion and Bryce? You might also want to cut a night from Sedona (very touristy) and spend a few nights at Zion and Bryce, then drive east toward Moab via Scenic Rte 12 through Grand Staircase, over Boulder Mountain (colors will be gorgeous) and through Capitol Reef Nat'l Park. This route is far more scenic with lots to see and do versus the southern route across Utah through Page, which you've already seen.

Since you've already been to the Grand Canyon, maybe stay in Kanab Utah instead. You can visit Best Friends Animal Sanctuary or spend a few hours in Coral Pink Sand Dunes just outside Kanab. Just trying to give you some options you may not have considered.

Seconding Sharon's excellent suggestions As well as Ouray, incredible scenery!

Thanks Sharon and Dayle for your suggestions. Will definitely look into an overnight in Ouray on the way to RMNP. We have actually visited both Zion and Bryce twice in the past and loved them both! Honestly our first national park visit was Yosemite and I thought nothing would top that. Then we saw Zion and Bryce, Arches and Canyonlands and last year Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Glacier. Can't get over what beautiful places there are to see in this country and especially out west. Can't wait till September