Following my recent trip that included Bryce, Zion, Page, GC and Sedona in a week (not rushed at all but it kept me on the go), I'm thinking of a shorter trip that would be placed at the front of another, unrelated trip west.

Is it worth the effort (and expense) to plan a trip that included 2-3 days in Arches and 1 day in Canyonlands?

Or some other combination without increasing the length (possibly a day but preferably not). Arches appears to be very interesting. Maybe even spectacular.

The main goal is scenery with the hiking a distant second.

Arches is well worth the trouble and expense to get to. The whole area around Moab is worth it IMHO. I'd push for as many days as you could in the area. Besides Arches and Canyonlands there are other beautiful drives along Hwy 128 and Potash Road.

Utahtea

utahtea,

Thanks.

Now I'll wait for Dayle to lean on me as well and I'll continue looking at it.

Well, Myer,

You know already what I'll say! Arches is a relatively small park, but with huge payoffs in absolutely spectacular scenery. Plus all the rest of the area outside all around Moab!

Well worth nearly any expense and effort. Take tons of film/memory - you'll need it! If you liked Zion & Bryce - just wait until Moab....

PS - you can buy a bumper sticker in Moab. It's one of my two favorites:

London, Paris, Tokyo, Moab

Arches is well worth the trip. You will not be disappointed.

I'm sold!

Myer, please excuse me adding a couple of questions to your thread....

Is Moab/ Arches a zoo in April? I'm looking at April 20th 2008 for a week (Easter is in March next year).
Would you recommend flying in an out of SLC or open jaw for Arches?
We have friends in Salt Lake City and would like to overnight there.

highflyer,
utahtea and Dayle have been discouraging me from driving SLC to Moab.

It appears USAirways flies it twice a day and it's about $150 return.

The problem is to link it to other flights or take it late afternoon and sleep over at near SLC airport.

Dayle,
I have enough memory for about 800 photos at the highest resolution (the only thing I use). I don't think I'll have a problem.

I usually try to travel in June to take advantage of the long days.

The problem now becomes fitting a bunch of trips into June. I guess not.

What's more important is not having cold weather and to have dry weather.

What are my choices?

Thanks Myer,

I just read your other thread. Unfortunately we'd have to combine this with a visit to Salt Lake so maybe an open jaw flight into Colorado and out of SLC would work for us.

Hey Myer,

I didn't mean to discourage you at all from driving down to Moab. Just telling you how long it takes. I always find the drive goes by fast, even when I've made it so many times! I would think for a first timer it would be quite interesting.

Highflyer, April in the Moab area had varied weather - you can have warm sunny days, or windy and rainy. Sometimes even a little snow. It's spring!

April is the start of the busy season, but it's not a zoo at all. Really only Easter week, or if there is some big special event. Just check with the Moab web sites and/or visitor's center. They will have a schedule of upcoming events in town.

In April you get to see the desert green, wildflowers and the snow capped La Sal mountains as a breathtaking backdrop for the Arches. Awesome!

Dayle, utahtea, et al,

Do I read climate charts correctly?

The best combination of mild (low 80s) temperature and lowest chance of precipitation is mid-May. The week before Memorial Day?

June appears to be dryer but much hotter and I guess more crowded?

Is it ever really crowded.

I was in Bryce and Zion in early June and while there were people there I didn't find it too crowded.

For Moab, my favorite times are May and October. Dry months and nice temps. April and November can be good, but iffy. June can be hot, this year it was in the 100's, as we are having temps that are 10-15 degrees higher than normal for the time of year.

July and Aug are HOT! Winter months are high desert winter - cool days, cold nights, occasional snow. The red rock is fabulous with snow!

Dayle,
Thanks for the info. I'll look into it further.

Dayle, Thanks.

Unfortunately all of the places on my visit list are in the northern hemisphere and best visited May-Oct.

Now I've got to start setting priorities/order to the list.

It's NY/Philadelphia for sure this Sept.

I'll start putting together next year over the next little while.

Thanks again.