UTAH NAT. PARKS PLUS GRAND TETONS/YNP--AM I CRAZY?
 

We had all but made up our minds to spend our August vacation entirely in Montana and Wyoming seeing Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Our original plan was to fly into Kalispell, spend two nights then leisurely drive through Montana (hopefully some scenic routes) on to West Yellowstone where we have a house rented for six nights. Then we planned on going to Jackson Hole and spending three nights before flying out of Jackson on the 12th day.

But after reading posts on several Fodor sites, I never realized that we "could" possibly combine a trip to Utah (Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef) with the GTNP/YNP visit---assuming of course, that we would extend the vacation to at least two full weeks. I originally was "dying" to see Zion, Bryce, etc., but was concerned about the weather in August and started to concentrate on points north.

Am I crazy to consider this new vacation itinerary? I guess what excites me about it is seeing two entirely different regions and topographies. Can it be done "somewhat" leisurely in two weeks and can anyone suggest the ideal itinerary flying into Vegas and out of Salt Lake as they seem to be the most reasonably priced airports for us to use. The second week of the trip would have to be in Yellowstone as we are already committed to the house rental there. Please help!!! I need to make some final plans and purchase airline tickets so I must make a decision soon. As I've mentioned in previous posts, we are not looking to do any real "hiking", but at the same time do not want to feel rushed along the way. Any help or suggestions would be great!!! Thanks!!!

No, if you have two weeks, you can do all that; might want to rearrange the number of nights in Kalispell, Jackson and YNP, though. You won't be camping/backpacking/hiking, except for the day trips, right? We've done that (tho not Glacier too), and added Death Valley and Sequoia on trips from the CO/Utah border to CA! It just needs refining on how much time you want to spend per park and activities.

Hi Sylvia,

Thanks for the reply. If we did change our destinations, we wouldn't do Glacier as that would be much too much driving. We are committed to Yellowstone for six nights starting 8/6, but can work the other nights around that date. We just don't want to be moving every single day from location to location. Can we stay at say The Desert Pearl in Springdale for several nights and see Zion, Bryce (maybe even a quick trip to the Grand Canyon on a daytrip), then move up Rt. 12 toward Torrey and Capitol Reef, then on to Jackson for at least 2-3 nights and then finish with the 6 nights in Yellowstone? I realize when we're in Yellowstone we'll be doing a lot more driving since we're staying in one place, but I figure we'd make lots of daytrips into Yellowstone, then maybe a daytrip over to Beartooth and possibly one to Virginia and Nevada Cities as a change of pace. What do you think?

Seems to me if you could keep the orginial itinerary if you could add 5 more days. I don't know if that is possible.

OK, lets say you drop Glaicer, which is BTW, different than Yellowstone and Grand Tetons.

Day 1 Fly into Las Vegas.
Day 2 Drive the 165 miles to Zion.
Day 3 Drive the 86 miles to Bryce
Day 4 Drive the 115 miles of the scenic Hwy 12 to Torrey & see Capitol Reef
Day 5 Drive the 275 miles to Vernal, Utah with a side trip to Dinosaur National Monument
Day 6 Drive the 285 miles to Jackson, WY.

Utahtea

I would try to include Arches NP in a southern Utah trip. Capitol Reef is nice, but a secondary sight compared to Zion, Bryce and Arches.

I am curious about one aspect of your trip. Why 2 nights in Kalispell?
Before you lock that one in stone, check out rental car prices there. I have always found them to be very expensive.

Bear in mind that the southern Utah parks will be hot in August. Zion in particular can be upwards of 100 degrees.

I also don't feel that Capitol Reef is a minor attraction. Perhaps that is because I am planning a trip right now wherein Capitol Reef is the main objective.

I do agree that Bryce, Arches and some of the others are fantastic.

It seems a bit much for 2 weeks.

We spent 2 weeks doing Yellowstone/Glacier and it was great.

We have also previously spent 2 weeks doing Utah/Yellowstone/Grand Tetons.

If you want to include Utah, you might want to save Glacier for another trip (perhaps with Canadian Rockies). This would keep you near the Vegas/Salt Lake City Region.

Thanks to all for the great input!

Bob, we were planning to fly into Kalispell and stay 2 nights to see Glacier. Actually I was excited to get, what I thought, was a great rate from Alamo. Picking up a minivan in Kalispell and returning to Jackson Hole for 12 days would only run me $600!!! I'm actually getting higher rates going in and out of Salt Lake City! Of course the air will run more in and out of Kalispell and Jackson, but at least we eliminate a roundtrip from Salt Lake. Flying into Vegas and out of Salt Lake, with all dropoff fees, would run $780 for the minivan, but the airfare is cheaper.

At this point it all comes down to which parks we'd most like to see but not having seen any of them I can't seem to decide. The weather was initially the motivator to change from the Utah parks, but I must admit I am dying to see them. We are definitely doing Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, it's just a matter of choosing between Glacier or the Utah area. Is the drive from Glacier to West Yellowstone something "not to be missed"? I guess I picture seeing real "cowboy country" driving through Montana, or am I mistaken??

Thanks so much for all your kind help.

All the national parks in Utah are beautiful and scenic. You won't go wrong by picking just one or two. If you want to limit the driving you might choose Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef instead of Bryce and Zion.

Utahtea

The drive from west yellowstone to glacier was not that memorable in my opinion. Of course, we did the drive in one day with minimal stops.

Same here - Glacier to Yellowstone was not that remarkable - not bad - just a way to get to Yellowstone. I should add we stayed in East Glacier so you'll probably be traveling different roads if you make the trip.

Mike Honeycutt

Thank you all for the great advice. I think we're going to go with utahtea's advice and combine one week in Utah (Moab area) with a week in Yellowstone/Grand Teton. I think that way we'll get to see the best of both worlds, mountains and red rock country. Thanks, again!!