Hi!
My husband and I are flying into LV on Sept.17 and leaving the morning of the 28th. We are spending one night in Vegas, leaving the next day and this is our itinerary so far. What I am asking, is this itinerary too ambitious?

9/18 Southern Rim of Grand Canyon spend one night
9/19 Page, Arizona
9/20-9/22 Moab
9/22-9/24 Bryce
9/24-26 Zion
9/27 Las Vegas
9/28 return home

That leaves one night that is unaccounted for. I would like to do all of these and maybe one night in Sedona, but I'm afraid it's too much. Maybe we should do either Sedona or
Page? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank-you in advance!

The thing that jumps out at me is that you are driving 5-6 hours from LV to the Grand Canyon and then only overnighting there. It certainly deserves more of your time.

There a various opinions about the Grand Canyon. For me it's far from one of my favorite plces. If you haven't been you should. You may decide the rest of what you see is far more impressive than GC.

I would get there mid-afternoon, hike down into the canyon for an hour, then prepare a location for sunset. The next morning walk along the rim as thesun comes up, stop at as many viewpoints a possible as you drive towards the east exit towards Page. The reason have the viewpoints in the morning rather than late afternoon is the sun will be in you eyes then.

What do you want to do in Page? This determines how long you want to be there.

The Moab area deserves more time than Bryce. Not more beautiful just more things.

Moab. Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point. I Arches - Delicate Arch sunset, Fiery Furnace ranger-led hike, Windoes section plus others depending upon your interests.

Between Moab and Bryce. Goblin Valley State Park, Lower Calf Creek Falls (this is a 2.5 mile hike to what is probably the only waterfall in the area - also a beautiful one), Devil's Garden Escalante not to be confused with Devil's Garden in Arches), Willis Creek slot canyon or othe en route.

Bryce. Different from any other park. Depending upon your interests Bryce can easily be seen in part of a day. Sunrise at Bryce Point, snack breakfast or short nap, hike Navajo Loop down and Queens Garden back up. So you can take a day from here and put it in paragraph above.

Zion. Beautiful. Depending upon you interests there are multiple excellent hikes.

Your itinerary isn't too ambitious. Just be prepared to be doing a lot of driving.

You can see my photos of these places at:
www.travelwalks.com

Just be careful you don't allow everything to become a blur.

Also, email Fodors and have them add a Utah tag to your post. Most of what you're doing is UT.

Unless you are planning on doing a lot of hiking, one day/night at the Grand Canyon is sufficient.

3 nights at Bryce Canyon is massive overkill. Make sure to see sunset/sunrise and do some hiking, but you can easily take a day off there and add it somewhere else.

Sedona the town is very touristy but it is in a beautiful area. If you drive there from Vegas and just overnight in town you will be disappointed. You must get out of town and do some hiking - if not I would suggest skipping it altogether.

Sorry for the typos, etc. Had shoulder surgery last week and using one hand to type.

I didn't notice you had mentioned Sedona.

WhereAreWe was charitable towards the town of Sedona. And yes, the sourounding redrock area is beautiful. Requires some short hikes in bthe area or skip it.

I suggested using a Bryce day for things between Moab and Bryce.

Thanks so much for your input. So far, I'm booked for one night at the south rim of GC and 2 nights at the Sedona Motel. I still have to book 2 nights in Moab, 2 nights Bryce, and 2 nights Zion with and extra night somewhere to play with. Any suggestions?
Myer, I have seen your photographs and they are one of the reasons we are doing this trip. I wish I had a nice camera, but my little canon will have to do. After this I want to go to Banff because of your photos. Is Page worth a day trip or should we just scrap it? I wanted to go to Antelope Canyon, but am not sure it's worth the extra drive since we are going to Moab. Thanks again fellow travelers!

I really like the area between Moab and Bryce.

I would not miss Goblin Valley for sure.
Little Wildhorse Canyon is a great slot canyon nearby
Capitol Reef
Devil's Garden in Escalante
Capitol Reef-I like pie at the Gifford House and orchards
Horseshoe Canyon/Great Gallery in detached area of Canyonlands

You might want to eat at Kiva Koffee, Hell's Backbone Grill, and Cafe Diablo.

Little Wildhorse Canyon is supposedly a better slot canyon than Antelope-according to some people/websites. It does not have the light/shadows that Antelope pictures are so awesome/famous for though. I have not been to Antelope, so can't speak from experience. I have been to Little Wildhorse twice and it is very good. Somewhat like being in a cave, but the ceiling is open.

www.toddshikingguide.com and www.climb-utah.com
Both good websites

You can't compare Little Wild Horse to Antelope Canyon. One is more a hiking place the other is more an attraction. Going to one doesn't take the place of the other.

I would go to Page as it only adds 1.5 hours of driving. While there you can go to Horseshoe Bend as well. You should easily have time.

spiro added some things between Moab and Bryce. Mostly same things I did.

http://www.utahoutdoors.com/pages/bestslots.htm

Here is this guys lists. He list five Family Friendly places at the bottom of the page. I've been to 4 of them(have not been to Bullet Canyon). I have also been to 5 or 6 well-known slot canyons while canyoneering(these require techinal knowledge or a guide). Have also been to several other slots in UT.

I think you will find people at both Antelope and Little Wildhorse. They are both popular, so don't expect solitude.
You will pass by people in Little Wildhorse, you won't be in groups when you stop to take photos.
You will not be on any timetable, have a guide, or have any fees at Little Wildhorse. Google both of them and better yet watch several vids on youtube.

http://www.americansouthwest.net/slo..._horse_canyon/
The last paragraph compares Little Wildhorse to Antelope Canyon.


You mentioned possibly skipping Page and since Little Wildhorse is directly on your route and right next to Goblin Valley(one of my favorites in UT), is the reason I suggested it. If you can do both Antelope and Little Wildhorse. Again, I haven't been to Antelope. I do know that the shafts of light are the big reason that most like Antelope Canyon and you won't find that at Little Wildhorse. Looking at Antelope on youtube, they do appear very similar otherwise to me.

I should mention. Do not do any slot canyon if rain is the slightest threat.

I got to thinking about Little Wildhorse more. The one thing that really irritated me was the several people had dogs. This is allowed on BLM land. I don't like dogs on trails and in tight places made me mad. I think we saw 3 or 4 people with dogs in the canyon.

Thank-you spirobulldog and Myer for your enthusiasm and help. This is such a great forum. I am really glad I joined. I am, however hitting a wall when it comes to places to stay in Moab, Zion and Bryce. Everything is sold out,but I will keep trying...

If you can't find what you want in Moab, Check with places in Green River. DW and I spent 7 nights at the Robbers Roost motel.
Slightly old but clean and friendly.

People cancel all the time. Call several times per day and you will have success eventually. Calling is normally better than checking online, but not always. Surely

Good advice so far. You say you still have one night to work with and though the various places between Moab and Bryce have been mentioned it is worth noting that it would be hard to do them all in a day. I suggest you break up your drive between Moab and Bryce. Torrey would be the most logical as it is somewhat half way between them if you go that route, which you should since there is so much to experience there. It also has the most options as far as hotels and restaurants. That way you would be able to see Goblin Valley and Little Wild Horse slot and Capitol Reef NP on the way to Torrey and then experience Calf Creek Falls, maybe Willis Canyon on the way to Bryce.

Also don't know if you are using a third party website for hotel rooms, but many times I will find those sold out of their blocks, but the hotel website still has plenty of availability.

Antelope Canyon is worth the stop in Page as long as you aren't shortchanging something else. There is more in Page as well, such as the dam and lake and river of course, but it is hard enough already to fit everything in.

I agree with InSandy.

Also, as spiro wrote call, call, call.

Call twice a day. You want to get cancellations as soon as they happen. And they do.

You can stay outside of Zion if you have to, and "commute" in.

Depending on what time you arrive in Vegas - I would consider a 2nd night at the Grand Canyon (they call it Grand for a reason) and maybe cut back to a night at Bryce.

And as advised - just keep calling for reservations as people cancel all the time.

Actually - you could buy a couple of inexpensive sleeping bags and a yoga mat and sleep in the campgrounds if you had to - as it will probably be warm enough everywhere - except for perhaps Bryce, and there - zip the bags together and snuggle.