ehku

My sister and I are planning an 9 day trip to Utah this June with our combined 4 children ranging in age from 8 to 12. We are flying into SLC and plan to drive to Moab to stay for 5 nights. Then on to Mesa Verde for 1 night (in Cortez) and back up to SLC for 2 nights. We are meeting next weekend (5/8-5/9) to plan the trip. We have lots of information on different options but would like some input from locals/travelers. We already have accomodations. Your help would be appreciated! We are SO looking forward to the trip. Thank you.

bob_brown

I am curious. What is your game plan for 5 nights in Moab?
I know, Arches and Canyonlands are near there. But to see either park requires walking.

I hope you have booked a motel with a big swimming pool.

I really think 1 night for Mesa Verde is too little. You need a half day to get there, a day to see the place, and a day to recuperate before heading back to SLC.

karens

I may sound like a real downer, and if your itinery is set in stone, just ignore everything that follows.

I love the southern Utah parks. We were there last July and I have to tell you we found the heat almost unbearable. Now you're going in June, so hopefully it will be a bit cooler. We actually cut one of nights in Moab and spent it in Ouray, CO. Now, if I can elaborate on Bob's suggestion - the SW part of Colorado would be a great place to add a few more days. You could do Mesa Verde and add either Telluride or Ouray. (I myself would make the whole loop to include Telluride and Ouray, but I don't know if you are willing to sacrifice your Moab days).

In Moab we stayed at the Aarchway Inn. It was nice and had a small pool.

ehku

We were thinking of a day in Arches, a day in Canyonland, a day of rafting, and evening with the
"Canyonlands by Night" trip, a day at the waterpark
in town, and a day of vegging. As far as walking, our kids are pretty rugged but the park days may turn out to only be 1/2 daysof hiking with the rest of the day devoted to resting. Sounds like we may have to rethink. We can make some changes.

bob_brown

If Ouray can be put on the table for discussion, I will add my vote.
It is in a lovely setting and the road over the mountains to Durango is scenic to a high degree.

I could see making this trip longer than the alotted time, however, so let's us not go overboard.

I can see taking 2 days to look at Arches and another day for the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands.
My concern would be the younger children. How well will they like that kind of stuff?

Mesa Verde, particularly Balcony House with its ladders and low doorways and crawling over entrance obstructions was fun for me as middle aged adult.
My son had fun running up and down the ladders.

utahtea

There is plenty to do in Moab, Utah for 5 days or even more! Your kids will love the rafting trip...I was going to suggest it and the water slides, but you already knew about those.

There is also the Potash scenic drive (Hwy 279) that follows the Colorado River going west out of town on the northern bank of the river. This is a very scenic drive. You will find petroglyphs and dinosar tracks.

On the southern bank of the Colorado river going west is Kane Creek Blvd and again this is a scenic river drive with many petroglyphs.

Hwy 128 going east out of Moab, UT is the same route the white water rafting trip will take you but out this way is Fisher Towers. I've heard about...but never taken a float trip down the Colorado River and then they take you by jeep over the 4x4 Shafer Trail. We've done the Shafer Trail twice on our own and it's really a great drive!

There is also Dead Horse State Park near Canyonlands.

If it gets to hot you can go for a drive up in the LaSal Mountains. There is a little lake at the top.

Yes, the days will be warm in June. They could even get hot, so plan your hikes either very early in the day or late evening and carry plenty of water. We use to always have to go in the heat of July when our boys were young and in school. We kept going back so it wasn't that unbearable.

As much as I love the Moab area and know that you can easily spend a week there, I agree with the other posters that you really need more than one night at Mesa Verde. It's a 3 hour drive from Moab on the direct route. This doesn't leave you much time to really see the park. There are a few ruins you can walk though on your own and they have 3 Ranger guided tours that you will need to get tickets for. You get them the morning or sometimes the night before. There are no reservations. They only cost $2.75 per ticket but well worth it.

Sounds like a fun trip.

Utahtea

ehku

Thanks to all for the help.

Utahtea - I am very glad to have your input. I've been enjoying your advice to others for the past several months. You mention: "If it gets to hot you can go for a drive up in the LaSal Mountains. There is a little lake at the top." Is it possible to swim in this lake? Too cold? ....

utahtea

We've done the scenic La Sal mountain route twice now. The lake is off the main scenic drive and I was only there once many years ago...I don't remember if you can swim there.

Both these links will give you more information on the drive and more about the area.

http://www.discovermoab.com/byways.htm

http://www.go-utah.com/topicDetail.c...DE0050DAB32CA6

This link will give you more infomation on the Moab area:

http://www.so-utah.com/archcany/homepage.html




Utahtea

karens

Hi. I know I might have sounded really negative. I wanted to tell you a bit more about our July stay. It got to about 105 each day and it stayed above 100 well into the night. We checked out the waterpark one evening after it had closed. There was a lot of concrete and no shade and no chairs. Now maybe they put any chairs away, but it did not look like a comfortable place to be in the really hot heat. We did a 1/2 day float trip and we all really liked that. That afternoon we drove our air-conditioned car to Dead Horse SP and checked out the petroglyphs on Potash Rd. The boys liked the petrogylphs, but are underwhelmed by scenery. We had trouble with them hiking. They were 8 and 10 and are very active boys. They love to hike when we parallel a stream (b/c they think throwing rocks into the water is great fun). They also like to hike uphill, go figure. Scrambling around rocks is much more fun to them than walking along a flat trail. We did the very short hike to Double Arch and they loved climbing up and around the bottom and under the large span of rock. But the hike to Lanscape Arch (about 2 miles) was sheer torture. It was flat and getting hot. My husband and I were thrilled at all the amazing scenery, but all the boys did was complain about how hot they were and how incredibly boring it was, and why did we need to go see a stupid arch. Who cares that it is the longest arch in the world? Another mother overheard us and said, Boy, if I could have a $1 for how many times I heard that hiking is boring! So we are not alone in our experience. It's just something for you to think about. Moab is an amazing area. Locals told us the best time to visit, temp-wise, is March. But who can take a family vacation in March?!

utahtea

Karen,

I guess it ALL depends on the kids. Like you, we had no choice but to go on vacation in July and August when our two boys were growing up. It was always 100+ every time we went to Moab. Our boys were ages (2 & 5) (3 & 6) (6 & 9) (8 & 11) (10 & 13) and (12 & 15) the SIX different years we went to the Moab area. I think it was when they were 10 & 13 they said they had had enought of the Moab area and NEVER wanted to come back. YET, they were the ones that suggested going two years later. They are the ones that want to go back now that they are grown men.

I can only remember one time our youngest complained about going on a hike. I think he was just tired..not bored.


Utahtea