I'm slowly putting ideas for a trip in Southwest, and at this stage will be travelling alone.
I will be flying from Australia (may 2011) and have been to Las Vegas and on a 9 day tour taking in Zion, Bryce, Arches , Canyonlands, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.
I will be returning for a period of 18 to 21 days.I'm at this stage looking at the following
Arrive in Las Vegas (recover jetlag)
Day 2 and 3 from Las Vegas taking in Death Valley and Valley of fire National park. This will give me time to adjust my bodyclock
Day 4 Catch St George Shuttle from Airport.
What I would like to know is should I have a car while in Zion National Park 3 days, or just use the Zion shuttle service. Both options I plan to stay in Sprindale.
If I won't need a car , is there a way of getting from St George to Sprindale?

Thanks in Advance

What time of year is this trip?

We stayed in Springdale last year for a week in July and did not need, or even want, a car for getting anywhere in Zion canyon. The shutlle starts running early, 5:00 AM I think, and keeps going until about 11:00 PM. It's an excellent system.

Since we had a car anyway and were there for a full week, we did use it for a trip up to the Kolub section, and for an evening wandering around by Grafton ghost town. But it stayed parked most of the time.

Sorry, can't answer your question about getting there from Saint George. Good luck!

I recently stayed at the Desert Pearl Inn in Springdale, and I think I remember seeing a sign in the lobby about a shuttle service to the Las Vegas airport. You might call them for more information. I'm sure you could also take a taxi from St. George to Utah.

As Nelson said, most of Zion Canyon, the most popular part of Zion National Park, is not accessible by car. Even if you had a car, you'd probably end up just leaving it at the hotel when you go into the park, and using the shuttle service, which is excellent. You would of course need a car to visit the Kolob section, but I'm guessing you may not go there if you're only staying for three days.

That said, it still seems to me that you'd want to keep your car while in Springdale. Otherwise, you'd be keeping your first car until day 4, and dropping it off at the airport in Las Vegas before heading to Zion, right? You'll need a car again on day 7, when you drive out toward Bryce Canyon, and I don't think there are any car rental places in Springdale. So you'd probably have to take a taxi to Hurricane, or maybe even back to St. George, to pick up your second car. It seems to me you'd be spending a fair amount of time dropping off the first car and the picking up the second one, as well as spending some money taking the various shuttles and taxis involved. You might save a little money by not having a car for three days, but maybe not, because you'd be giving up the chance to pay a weekly rate. Plus it's kind of nice to have a car even in Springdale, in case you want to take a quick trip in town, to a restaurant or the grocery store or something, without taking a shuttle bus.

Thanks for the replies,
Hawksbill, thanks for the info about the shuttle to Vegas,I will send the hotel an email for confirmation.
St george is 34 miles from Springdale ,so am guessing it would be cheaper to have the car sitting idle for a few days instead of paying for transport from St George and back again to pick up a vehicle for the rest of my trip. May I ask, is most of the accommodation for Springdale outside of the town ?
Any further comments welcome?

DebitNM,
I'm looking at early May 2011 for the trip.

OK, you should be safe from snow.

Ok , thanks, the timing coincides with getting away from the onset of the Aussie winter. I'm not a fan of cold weather.

I would keep the car. There are other great places to explore in Zion that are not covered by the shuttle. The road through the tunnel and points east for one. If you're not set on Springdale there is a great Bed and Breakfast in Rockville, the Rockville Rose, just a few minutes from Springdale and Zion. We stayed there severel years ago and it was great.

http://www.rockvilleroseinn.com/

Thanks dgassa,
In any case I would probably continue my trip through Zion NP and onwards after that. If I don't have a car I could see these areas once I pick a vehicle. Thinking out loud at this point and time.

Tracker, Springdale isn't much of a town. It's basically a three-mile stretch of a single two-lane road, with tourist-oriented businesses along it: hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, and the like, all designed to cater to people visiting Zion NP. I usually don't care for tourist towns like that, but I must say I really liked the vibe in Springdale.

There are plenty of places to stay in Springdale. I don't remember seeing too many more as I drove outside of Springdale on Utah-9. The Rockville Rose Inn, mentioned above, would be one. I would expect that the cost of lodging would drop significantly as soon as you get outside of the range of the Zion shuttle bus, whose last stop is at the Majestic View Lodge. The Rockville Rose is about two miles past that point, so you'd need a car if you stay there. Honestly, I think it would pretty strange to be passing through this part of the U.S. without a car. But I guess somebody must be doing it, if that Desert Pearl shuttle to LAS really exists.

I'll take this opportunity to second dgassa's recommendation of driving through the Zion-Mount Carmel highway on your way to Bryce. It's a memorably beautiful drive. There was major construction on the road this year, which I guess may be over by next May. There were a lot of warnings of major delays on the road, meant to convince travelers to take other routes. I went anyway, and I'm very glad I did.

Thanks again Hawksbill.
As a matter of interest I do not intend going to Bryce Canyon due to my previous visit, but will certainly consider yours and dgassa's recommendation of the drive through the Zion-Mount Carmel highway enroute to my next destination.
Cheers

I contacted St George Shuttle service and received this reply (for anyone who is interested)

We do provide service from Las Vegas to Springdale, there are two options;
1. we have 15 departures from Las Vegas to St George everyday, we can put
you on a shuttle on one of our scheduled departure times and have you
dropped off at our office. At our office we will have a taxi ready for
transportation to Springdale. Total charge on that option would be $180.
Option 2; we schedule you a personal charter to have you picked up at
McCarran Airport and transport you to Springdale in your own personal taxi,
total charge $300.

Cheers