My family will be spending 10 days this summer taking a trip out west to see some of the sites around the grand canyon area. We will be flying in and out of Las Vegas. Must sees include the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyons. We will be traveling with 3 children (ages 10-16) and would prefer not to spend longer than 2-3 hours of drive time in between the sites. We'd love to combine sightseeing with fun activites like horseback riding, rafting, and easy hiking. I would appreciate any information for anyone who has attempted this kind of trip. Thanks

I have done the zion/bryce piece of this from las vegas. The drive from vegas to zion is surprisingly convenient--all interstate and pretty landscape. St. George is the gateway to zion, as I remember, with many activities.

there is a great famous hike in zion up a canyon--I don't know if the 10 year old is old enough.

If you drive thru Zion, bruce is a short drive north from there. there is lots of rafting all over utah.

If you want to fit in plenty of activities then you will need to stay in each place for long enough. How about doing a loop from Las Vegas as follows: LV - Grand Canyon - Page and Lake Powell - Bryce Canyon - Zion Canyon - Las Vegas?

The longest drive would be the first (Las Vegas to Grand Canyon) so you could stop in Kingman for a night to break up the journey or just plan plenty of stops that day (eg we enjoyed a short stop in Oatman and the children would probably like Mr D'z diner in Kingman).

You have four main stops and so if you had 10 nights, you could stay for 2 or 3 nights in each place.

About a hr north of Vegas is turnoff to Valley of Fire state park. Has petroglphs, many "skylights" in the rock formations including an elephant. In St. George could visit the Johnson Farm where an on going dinosaur dig is happening under an enclosed area. Snow Canyon state park is NW of St. George. Between Zion & Bryce will pass through
Red Canyon in the Dixie Nat'l Forest. Lots of nice hikes into the hoodoos.
Get a National Parks Pass $50 good for calendar year for admission fees to all Nat'l Parks & monuments (you and car load)

Day 1. Las Vegas to the South Rim is almost 5 hours, but you can stop in Kingman, AZ and see the Old Historic Route 66 Museum. This will be the longest part of the trip.

Day 2 Grand Canyon - ride the free shuttle buses and walk along the rim.

Day 3 Exit the Grand Canyon stoping at the scenic overlooks on the way to Desert View entrance. Take hwy 89 north to Page, AZ. Just before you reach Page is the short 3/4 mile hike to Horseshoe Bend overlook. 138 miles less than 3 hour drive.

Day 4 Either the all day boat tour on Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge or the 1/2 day float trip on the Colorado River and the 1 1/2 hour tour of Upper Antelope Canyon.

Day 5 Drive from Page, to Bryce. 155 miles and a little over 3 hour drive. See some of the park

Day 6 Hike in Bryce. The Queen's Garden is a pretty easy hike. If you can do 3miles then I'd recommend the Navajo - Queen's Garden Loop. There is horseback riding at Bryce. If you want to horseback ride IN the park, then you have to book through the park. If you book outside the park, then you ride outside the park.

Day 7 Spend time in Bryce in the morninb before driving the 86 miles (2 hours) to Zion.

Day 8 Zion Easy hikes are Riverside Walk, Weeping Rock & Lower Emerald Pools. You can rent intertubes just outside the park in Springdale to tube in the Virgin River for a couple of miles. They pick you up too.

Day 9 Zion (or you can add a day anywhere else on the trip...like do both the float trip and boat tour at Page, AZ.)

Day 10 Drive from Zion to Las Vegas 163 miles and just under 3 hours.

Utahtea