Hi All,

Well, a few years ago I planned a fabulous trip to Italy with the help of Fodorites so thought I would try again for our upcoming (very quickly!) trip to New Mexico, Arizona (mostly breezing through), Las Vegas and Utah.

We will be driving from Boulder Colorado and will need to be in Las Vegas for 2 nights for a conference that dh needs to attend (room at the Venetian comes with the requirement though .

A bit of information about us - we are from Australia but are living over here for a while. This very well could be the only opportunity we have to see this area of the country so are trying to fit in quite a bit in a short amount of time. We will be driving in our Audi TT so adore scenic drives but also don't mind driving late at night if we need to in order to get from place to place. We love culture, food, beautiful scenery, quirky character filled cheap accommodation, short hikes with great photo opportunities and experiences that make for great stories. Also, we've been to Sedona/GC/Hoover Dam so happy to skip them.

So, here's what I have so far.

Wed April 18th
- Drive to Taos after work
- it's about 5 hours getting us in late any recommendations for hotels

Thu April 19th -
- Taos Pueblo - www.taospueblo.com
- Enchanted Circle - http://www.taosvacationguide.com/day...ted_circle.php)
- High Road to Santa Fe - http://www.santafestation.com/area_t...backroads.html
- Stay at El Rey - http://www.elreyinnsantafe.com/index.html)

Fri April 20th
- Walking tour of Santa Fe - http://www.accesssantafe.com/aboot_about.html
- Museum Hill - http://www.museumhill.org/index.php
- Jemez Springs to Bandelier Loop -http://www.nps.gov/band

Sat April 21st
- Turquoise Trail - http://www.turquoisetrail.org/map.htm
- Albequerque by 2pm for traditional dances at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center - http://www.indianpueblo.org/index.cf...ipcc&pn=17#apr
- Recommendations for late afternoon?
- Hotel recommendations?

Sun April 22nd
- Highway 53 stuff - http://www.ancientway-route53.com/native.html
--El Morro - http://www.nps.gov/elmo/
--El Malpais - http://www.nps.gov/elma/
--Ice Cave & Bandera Volcano - http://www.icecaves.com/
--Pueblo of Zuni - http://www.ashiwi.org/

Mon April 23rd
- Petrified Forest/Painted Desert - http://www.nps.gov/pefo/
- Wupatki National Monument - http://www.nps.gov/wupa/
- Sunset Crater - http://www.nps.gov/sucr/
- Meteor Crater - http://www.meteorcrater.com/index.php
- Walnut Canyon National Monument - http://www.nps.gov/waca/
- we won't be able to do all of these as we will need to be in LV by about 6pm - any recommendations?

Tue April 24th
- Vegas
- Blue Man Group

Wed April 25th
- Vegas
- Drive to Zion
- Hotel Recommendations?

Thu April 26th
- Zion - http://www.nps.gov/zion/
- drives/short hike ideas?

Fri April 27th
- Bryce Canyon - http://www.nps.gov/brca/
- 1/2 day horseback ride into canyon - http://www.onlinepages.net/canyonrid...ycecanyon.html
- drives/short hike ideas?

Sat April 28th
- Moab
- Arches - http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisi...servations.htm
- what else here?

Sun April 29th
- Moab & drive home (@6hours)


If anyone has thoughts, ideas or advice I'd love to hear it!

Hope you're all having a lovely spring and that your next vacation isn't too far away!

Many thanks.
Heather

Zion is wonderful. We prefer to stay at Zion Lodge inside the park because of the views, quiet, and access to trails. However, it is easy to stay in Springdale also. You can take the free shuttle from town to the Visitor Center and then the shuttle into the park. We have stayed at Canyon Ranch Lodge (very inexpensive, but clean and quaint) and also the Best Western (room had a kitchen) and both places were just fine, but we prefer staying inside the park. Definitely take the shuttle to Temple of Sinewava and walk the Riverside Trail - it's the best. You will get a brochure describing all the other hikes and you can decide then where you want to hike. We enjoy the trail to Observation Point also.

In Bryce, walking or hiking is best. Walk the rim at dusk to watch the sun go down (take a flashlight). Also recommend Fairyland Trail and Navajo Trail.

Moab area: We liked Red Cliffs Lodge - out of town, very scenic. In Arches, sign up at the ranger station for a guided hike into the Fiery Furnace. Also check out Tag-aLong Tours for a fantastic all-day tour of Canyonlands NP. They take you by boat 37 miles into the park, stop for picnic lunch, then take jeep tours up the canyon walls and out of the park. Informative and awesome!

Hi Hez,

From your itinerary, it sounds to me like your main interest is New Mexico? Unfortunately, I think you are seriously shortchanging Moab. The drive from Bryce is long, so you will really only have 1/2 day max to drive through Arches. Driving through is all you will have time for.

Hi elnap29 & Dayle (my middle name is dale

Thanks so much for your responses.

elnap29 - thanks for the info on the hikes, lodging & tours - will definitly check them out.

Dayle - because of the requirement to be in Las Vegas for Tue/Wed we end up with 5 days for New Mexico/AZ and only 4 for Utah. I suppose we could switch the direction around but then we would have to take some stuff away from New Mexico which is where dh really wants to go. Is there anything spectacular on the drive from Bryce to Moab or could we do this at night (on Friday) giving us two full days in Moab (we won't leave until probably 5pm or so)

Hi Hez,

Actually the drive between Bryce and Capitol Reef is one of the most spectacular drives in the world. If yu went at night, that would be a shame!

The reason I asked if you were particularly interested in Native American Culture is because to me that would be the main attraction of NM. NM and AZ both have lots of nice scenery, but NOWHERE near what southern UT has.

UT has more jaw dropping, only place in the world scenery. You should really make time before heading back to OZ to do it justice!

Hi Dayle,

Well, come to find out Moab is booked solid for the weekend we were going to be there - some sort of car show. So, now I may switch things around after all

Actually - this might make more sense as on the Monday when we need to be in Vegas for dinner we would only have a short (relatively speaking) drive from Zion - rather than 6 hours across Arizona.

So much planning - so little time to fit it all in!
Hez

Let us know if you decide to to this in reverse, please give us some idea of your plans.

Utahtea

Yup - I've taken the plunge and am now reversing the itinerary.

Here's what I have so far.

Wed April 18th - Drive to Moab (Morris' Last Resort - http://www.morris-last-resort.com/
Thu April 19th - Canyonlands
Fri April 20th - Arches & drive to ???
Sat April 21st - ??? to Bryce Canyon
Sun April 22nd - Bryce Canyon
Mon April 23rd - Zion
Tue April 24th - Vegas
Wed April 25th - Vegas & drive to Flagstaff
Thu April 26th - Wupatki, Sunset, Walnut, Petrified - drive to Zuni
Fri April 27th - Zuni Pueblo, El Morro, Ice Caves, El Malpais & Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe
Sat April 28th - Santa Fe & drive to Jemez Springs
Sun April 29th - Bandelier/Taos Pueblo/Enchanted Circle/ Drive home.

Thoughts?

I'll post some more details as I get them.

Hi again Hez,

I would spend the entire 1st day in Moab seeing Arches. That will barely be enough if you don't hike.

The second day, drive to Canyonlands, hike to Mesa Arch (short and very scenic), go on to Dead Horse Point. Ooh, Ahh! Skip the rest of Canyonlands and proceed to Capitol Reef. Stay over night in Torrey.

Next day - drive to Bryce via Hwy 12. Oooohh, Ahhh!

Continue on as planned.

I still think that when you are finished, you will wish you had spent more time in UT and less in NM.

Have fun!

I totally agree with Dayle on spending a the full day at Arches and doing Canyonlands the day you drive to Torrey. In Canyonlands make sure you stop at Grand View & Green River Overlook and Mesa Arch is one of the best short hikes. Just leave yourself some time to explore Captiol Reef!

Will you still be leaving Boulder, CO after work on the 18th? If you are going to be driving at night, then you will miss how beautiful I-70 is between Denver and Grand Junction. If you were going to be driving during daylight hours, I'd tell you to exit I-70 at Cisco, Utah and take very scenic Hwy 128 into Moab, but I wouldn't bother if you are going to be driving after dark.

Utahtea

Hi!

Thanks so much for the input. Totally makes sense to do Arches first day and then Canyonlands the next.

We are driving at night so won't see the scenery - although have been as far as Aspen before so at least haven't missed it all. I'm thinking now that we will probably end up wanting to do the Moab area in more depth another time. Maybe seeing Monument Valley/Lake Powell area that time. The in-laws will be over from Australia in September so we may take them with us (although we can only fit 2 in the car so would have to take the truck - but that would let us do some of the 4 wheel drive stuff in Canyonlands)

Do you have any advice on must see's in Capitol Reef? Places to stay in Torrey?

Thanks so much for your help!

Hez

Captiol Reef: The petroglyphs on Hwy 24. The scenic drive and hike either Grand Wash or Captiol Gorge or both.

Utahtea

If you're coming down from Zion to Las Vegas, be sure to catch Valley of Fire--a great Nevada state park.

I'm sure you're aware of this, coming from down under, but don't miss a chance to fill up with gas.