We will be spending 10 days in Southern Utah/Northern Arizona (driving from Missouri). I would like to see Arches National Park, Bryce and Zion as well as the Grand Canyon. Is 10 days enough to do all this? If not, which park(s) should we skip? How many days would you recommend for each park?

Hi K,

If you scroll down just a little under "Utah", you will find that almost all the topics are about the same trip you plan. That are loaded with very valuable information and details too!

Start reading and getting some ideas.

If your trip is for 10 days, not including driving from MO, then yes, you have enough time. Although, you will want to come back for more!

I hope you mean ten days in Utah, but even that would mean a rather rushed ten days. To try to get from Missouri to Utah, see all these sights, and then get back, all in ten days; would be ridiculous.

ANYWAY, if that ten days involves your total time in the Southwest; I'd divvy it up this way:
1) three days in Arches / Canyonlands
2) one day from Moab to Grand Canyon (South Rim)
3) two days at the Grand Canyon
4) one day from the Canyon to Zion
5) one day at Zion
6) one day, Zion to Bryce (make ABSOLUTELY certain you get to Bryce before sunset)
7) one day in Bryce

The above itinerary assumes you are into day hiking and are traveling at a time of the year when multi-hour hikes in the desert are within your capabilities.

I know full well it won't take one day to get from Zion to Bryce; or even one day from the Canyon to Zion. This allows time to enjoy the hiking joys of Zion; which are considerable.

The Moab area has innumerable treasures for outdoor activity; so take at least one boat ride and one jeep ride. If you like desert hiking or mountain biking; you could spend your entire ten days there!

We did Zion, Bryce, GC, drove to Monument Valley then went up to Arches and Canyonlands in a 13 day stretch. A lot of driving to include Arches and Canyonlands. I would suggest saving the Moab area for another trip. This will allow you to spend more quality time at the other parks. It really depends on how deeply you want to explore the trails. There is so much to take in that a person could spend a week at each exploring.

Thanks to both of you for your help - I will check the Utah topics.

The 10 days does not include driving to/from Missouri - we will spend 10 days actually in the area. We (myself, my husband and our two sons who are 17 and 19) are definitely into day hiking. We really don't like rushing around and packing/unpacking and I was afraid I was trying to pack too much into our 10 days.

kcinmo,
We posted a very long trip report from our 12 day Sept/Oct '04 trip. If you click on my name and scroll down you'll find it. We flew into Las Vegas and spent 2 nights each in Zion (skipped Bryce this year), Boulder where we spent time on the Burr Trail and in Grand Staircase Escalante; to Torrey and Capital Reef, then Moab for 3 nights, and ending at the North Rim for 2 nights. We didn't feel rushed or like we were driving too much. We did lots of hiking and exploring backroads with our 4wd vehicle. Loads of fun!