Utah-Arizona National Parks intinary help needed
 

My husband, 14 year old son and I are planning a trip in July to Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon. We actually have 9 nights we can play with. What I am thinking is:

Zion 3 nights
Bryce 1 night
Grand Canyon South Rim 2 nights

I am thinking about Page/Lake Powell for 2 nights before the Grand Canyon or the Grand Canyon and then Sedona. Also, if we went to Lake Powell, is 2 nights too much? However, I am open to other suggestions about places to go and things to do either between Bryce and the GC or after the GC. I would love to go to Arches, but I think that could be too far and should be saved for another trip. I would appreciate suggestions! Thanks.

Are you flying into Salt Lake City or Las Vegas and renting your car? If you are seeing Zion and Bryce you might want to go to the North Rim instead of South.
With 9 days and good weather, you could spend 1 night in Moab and see both Arches and the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands.
If you wanted to include Sedona, you could also fly into Phoenix but the rental car may be more expensive.

Do you have lodging in/near the parks yet? I would expect that in the park is all booked up by now, but people do make plans way in advance and then cancel when the time gets close and they find they can't make it. Call for cancellations frequently and you will be likely to get a spot.

Pick up a cooler and fill it with ice, snacks, drinks etc. first thing.

Any time your gas tank gets below a half, fill it up.

What are your interests. Hiking, casual viewing, etc?

That may have a bearing on suggestions.

We do now have reservation in the park at the GC in the only place that had a vacancy: Maswick Lodge. I also have reservations in Springdale for Zion and outside of Bryce. But, those are the only reservations we have so far. We will be flying into Las Vegas, but we could also fly into Phoenix.

We are interested in hiking, but not too strenuous ,although we may try Angel's Landing. We will also do the Narrows. In Bryce, I was thinking of horseback riding. Some of the water activities look good in places like rafting or tubing. So, basically, we like a lot of everything.

The hike in Bryce that is the Queen's Gardens/Navajo Loop is a good one.

I might add another day there, and subtract one from Zion.

Oh, I see that you have extra nights. In that case I'd just add another night to allow for the half day hike at Bryce.

You could do that and stay afterwards in Kanab, which has more options and would be on the way to the Grand Canyon.

And you can visit Best Friends in Angel Canyon ;) In fact, the cottages are a great place for a family stay. If your dates can be locked in, I would suggest booking a (nonrefundable) night there. You will probably wish that you'd booked a second one!

Sounds like a great plan. Two nights at Lake Powell isn't to much if you plan to do either the boat tour to Rainbow Bridge National Monument OR the float trip on the Colorado River. I love both! You should also have time to squeeze in the Upper Antelope Slot canyon tour and the short hike to Horseshoe Bend Overlook.

I know the S. Rim is more crowded than the North Rim of the Grand Canyon...but there's a reason for that....IMHO...It's GRANDOR! ;) I always recommend the S. Rim for first timers.

I would save Moab, Arches & Canyonlands for another trip. You can spend a week in Moab and not run out of things to see and do.

Utahtea

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will look into Best Friends in Angel Canyon as we love animals. Any recommendations to stay near Lake Powell?

Our first trip to the Grand Canyon was to the North Rim and we loved it so much we are going back this June for three nights. It is less visited than the south because there is only one hotel there, the access isn't as easy and it is open only May through October due to being at high elevation. It is no less grander than the south, just grander in a different way.

On that first trip we started in Vegas, drove up to Bryce for two nights, then to NRGC for two nights and ended in Zion for three nights. Great trip.