The stretch of highway between Bryce and Cap. Reef is a worthy destination by itself. Scenic Byway 12...we made a whole vacation of an out and back to Torrey from Vegas. We've included it in every trip we've made to Utah. Here a trip report:

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_tr

You're gonna love your trip!
We expect to hear all about it.

Myer, can you drive Devils Garden Escalante without 4 wheel?

Thanks Janis

peterboy, your pictures were great, thank you. We are really looking forward to driving Scenic Byway 12. I do have Fodor's Utah and will concentrate on reading it now that I have all my lodging sercured.

cd,
why 3 days at Lake Powell? Are renting a houseboat?

Trip plan now is much improved, but you will still want more time in Moab!

Hi peterboy! Have a happy, busy spring and summer!

Ciao,
Dayle

Dayle, we love boating and the water! No houseboat, just power boats and a day tour to Rainbow Bridge. We have our days filled so no more available for Moab. :-(

cd,
Yes, driving on the dirt road to Devil's Garden Escalante is no problem in a regular car. It's level and smooth.

Past Devil's Garden it starts to get bumpy but fine until there. We had a regular car both times I was there.

Willis Creek slot canyon is somewhat of an adventure driving there but I've been there twice with a regular car and did ok. This road has a few small hills and sand on the road with some ruts. But drivable.

You can see photos of my trips to Southern Utah at:
www.travelwalks.com

The advice on driving is great for dry weather. If there is or has been rain, however, do not drive on the unpaved roads. We were on one and it was bright and sunny, but must have rained in the area the day before, after we were a few miles in it turned into a very greasy muck and we were very glad to have a 4wd and also that we were used to driving in heavy snow.

If water is flowing through the low spots don't try to cross it.

Myer, your pictures are beautiful!
emalloy, we don't plan on driving on unpaved roads but should we rent 4wd anyway?

No need for 4wd, if you are on paved roads.

I really wouldn't be concerned with Devil's Garden Escalante. If it hasn't rained in a few days you'll be fine.

No hills, not bumpy. Very smooth road.

I would repeat what tomsd has said ~ check out whatever you can find by Spirobulldog; his recommendations were on the money for our trip. Hope you have a great trip!

Hi cd,

Your last itinerary looks really good. Sorry I haven't been around but my excuse is I've been in Zion for the last 7 days.

You said you did walks and not hikes. The Riverside walk in Zion is 2 miles round trip and very easy. Lower Emerald Pools is easy and Middle Pool is a little harder but still very accessible. Upper Emerald Pools gets even harder. Weeping Rock is short and easy. The Pa'rus Trail is an easy 1.8 miles one way but it's out in the open and can be hot so do it in the late evening. You can see the same views from the shuttle buses but if you want to just be out and enjoy the views it's a nice walk. You can do it one way and ride the free shuttles back to the visitor center. You can also go down to the Virgin River to cool off in.

In Bryce an easy walk is between Sunrise and Sunset points.

In Capitol Reef a short and easy walk is Capitol Gorge to Pioneer Register. Grand Wash is easy but longer but you can go as far as you want and then go back. Make sure to stop at the Petroglyph panel on Hwy 24.

In Arches, Landscape arch is a little over 1 1/2 miles round trip. Double Arch and the Windows are short and easy. Park Avenue can be easy if you park at Courthouse Towers parking area and walk up Park Avenue and stop before you have to climb up to the overlook. You can stop at the Park Avenue overlook driving in or driving out.

In Canyonlands, Mesa Arch is 3/4 miles round trip. Make sure you stop at Green River Overlook and Grand View!

I love the boat trip to Rainbow Bridge on Lake Powell. You might also be interested in the Colorado float trip out of Page and the Antelope Slot Canyons.

Utahtea

Sorry cd, just seeing the other part of your new agenda. We did 1 Ranger program in Bryce and 3 in Zion. They were all excellent. I'm a bider and the bird walk was really fun in Zion. Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks Utahtea, I will print this post out and take with so I have a copy of the walks and their length. and I will check on the Colorado float trip out of Page.

birder, I think we would like to do a Ranger program in Zion. We will have the time since we will be there 3 nights.

cd, we did the half day float trip from Page. It was very nice with a stop at a place where there were petroglyphs (also pit toilets). The ride down to the base of the dam through the access tunnel in the cliff was neat too.

Utah, I just reserved the Colorado Float trip. I'm excited! It sounds wonderful! I also downloaded the acknowledgement of risk that we have to sign, man, they make you sign your life away! :_)

emalloy glad to hear there is a pit stop! I was wondering about that!

cd,

I hope you enjoy the float trip as much as we did. NOW that you are doing the float trip, you HAVE to do the 3/4 mile hike to Horseshoe Bend.

WARNING: There are no guardrails at the end of this hike which drops 500 feet to the Colorado River below... so watch your children carefully! We did this hike the day after we did the float trip and just happened to get there when the rafts were going down the river. Here's information on the hike to Horseshoe Bend. http://www.travelsw.com/southwest-tr.../horseshoe.htm

Utahtea

Thanks Utahtea, I'm not sure about Horseshoe Bend, the no guardrail thing is unsettling and DH has a fear of heights. Actually, I've been reading about HW 12 from Zion to Bryce and it was said that a lot of the road is narrow with no guardrails and sheer drop-offs on both sides....that concerns me...how dangerous is it?

There is only one really scary section--called the Hogs Back. I just stay as close to the middle line as possible and look straight ahead and don't drive too fast. It's not like people go plunging to their deaths on a weekly basis--LOTS of people drive this road and do just fine. You will too. (and your passengers will love it if they aren't afraid of heights!)

Thanks Stanton, How long is that section? Are there signs that it is coming up?

Horseshoe Bend isn't a problem.

The no guardrail part is the end and not along the walk there.

I was there in 2007. It's a 3/4 mile hike on level ground.

When I got to the end I was afraid to go to the edge to look down. But I knew I had to see and photograph it.

I lied down on my stomach and crawled to the edge. It was fine.

As Utahtea said. Watch the kids and don't let them run around.

From Horseshoe Bend I took the short drive over to Antelope Canyon.

I would make sure to do both of those when the sun is high in the sky and for sure before the sun starts to go west as it would be in your face at Horseshoe Bend.

While in the area there's one other very short sight to see.

The Best Dam View.

Going on Rt 89 and a little after crossing the bridge over the Colorado River. There's a road on the right (west side) with the name Scenic View Road.

This is above (north of) Horseshoe Bend and Rt 98 to Antelope Canyon. So if you're coming from Utah you stop here first.

Near the start of the Scenic View Road you'll see a parking lot on the right. There are some rock stairs and a built viewing area. This gives you a perfect, straight on view of the dam.

Definitely worth a half hour.

Parts of Rt 12 definitely got to me a lot more than Horseshoe Bend. Just go slowly. I used to laugh a write that the yellow line in the center is meant to straddle.

I didn't think the Hogs Back was so bad. It's pretty straight. It's those steep, curvy roads that I don't like.

This is a beautiful part of the country. Use suntan lotion, cover your head, drink a lot of water and drive slowly.

Do the steep, curvy roads have drop offs with no guardrails?

Some do, some don't. But think about it--how many times do you bump the guard rails when you drive??

You're right

cd, The hogback is only about a quarter mile stretch. Here's a picture of it from the air. http://www.mattwatkins.org/images2/hogsair.jpg This section isn't that curvy. There are other sections that are curvy but don't have the drop offs.

Here is a link to the Hwy 12 guidebook. http://www.scenicbyway12.com/wp-cont...oute_guide.pdf

The first time we did the hogback it was POURING down rain. We could hardly see the road, let alone the drop offs. We were coming from Bryce and we were just making a day trip to Anasazi State Park. Once we arrived in Boulder, Utah the sun came out. Imagine our surprise as we drove back over the hogback and could see the drop offs! None in my family have height issues but we were amazed at the scenery.

Utahtea

I guess the problem isn't the car. It's in our heads.

It's amazing how much easier it is to drive when you go slowly. Don't be intimidated by somebody up your butt. Pull over at the next pullout and let them by. Until then, too bad for them.

Thanks Utahtea for the links. I really can imagine your surprise, I dearly hope it is not raining when we are driving there.

Myer, DH will drive slowly because I am such a winnie. I remember driving into Yosemite and being almost catatonic I think that was Hwy 20. When we left, we took hwy 40 and it was fine. Falling off a cliff is a fear of mine.

cd, I'm sure it was Hwy 120 that you drove into Yosemite. So you're not taken by surprised, there will be other roads on your trip that are going to have drop offs. On Hwy 12 after you leave Boulder, Utah you do drive a mountain road but it's not a bad one. In Zion from the valley floor up to the tunnel but there are short guardrails on most of that. The drive into Arches has a few switchbacks right after you enter the park.

Hopefully the beautiful scenery will help lessen the fear.

Utahtea

Thanks again Utahtea. Sure hope it's not raining. I guess prayer and Xanax will help. :-)

Just returned from this trip and want to again thank everyone who helped me plan it.
We started with 3 days in San Diego on a friends boat, the weather there is absolutely perfect!!70's and sunny!
We then drove to Las Vegas for 2nights and that was one night too many :-) We then drove to Zion for 3nights, Bryce-one night, Capitol Reef 2 nights LOVED Capitol Reef! Moab 2nights for Arches and Canyonlands, did not really realize Canyonlands was a 140 mile round trip from Moab, would not do that again. Then on to Monument Valley for one night and then Lake Powell for 3 nights before returning to LV to fly home.

One of the highlights of our trip was Scenic Byway 12 in Utah between Bryce and Capitol Reef. Awesome! The Hogback was a little scary with no guardrails but at 25 MPH not too bad and just beautiful!

Once we left San Diego the rest of the trip was really hot, between 100 and 111 everyday, I don't care if it is a dry heat, a sauna, is a sauna, is a sauna, :-) We used one day at Lake Powell for a boat trip to Rainbow Bridge and 5 hours on the water was heaven with the stone gaps raising on either side of our boat once we neared Rainbow Bridge was again awesome. DH hiked to the Bridge, I stayed on the boat...it was 111 degrees and just too hot.

The next day we did the float trip down the Colorado beginning at the Glen Canyon Dam. The interesting part of that trip was the ride on a bus thru a long tunnel in the stone to the bottom of the dam where you boarded the floats. Again, it was so hot it took some of the enjoyment away for me. I'm such a wuss, I can only imagine how bad it would have been in August! Thanks again one and all, even with the heat it was a great trip!

cd, Your trip sounds great.

Where did you stay for the two nights around Capitol Reef? What did you do there?

At Capitol Reef we stayed at: http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwest...ertyCode=45068 We asked for a balcony room overlooking the mountains and it was very nice. A balcony with a view is so nice for morning coffee. There is a restaurant and motel across the street. The restaurant has a fantastic view so we had dinner there. We just spent one and a half days driving and exploring Capitol Reef, the little dirt roads that you are allowed to take are wonderful, views surround you with tall sandstone mountains right beside the narrow roads. We loved it. However, I think if you are not going to take hikes one day would be enough. We spent some time in the tiny town of Torrey, they have a great bakery/deli with homemade donuts every morning in the Trading Post.

Thank you!

Ive done most of the major stuff and some off the beaten path stuff in Utah. One of the things I hope to do sometime is Rainbow Bridge. It's high on my list. Capitol Reef is my least favorite park in Utah, but I did stay there 4 nights and hike about 30 miles during that time. The colors are better there than anywhere else and very few people there. The hiking is very nice, but just no super spectacular destination. I like a serious awesome arch or a waterfall or even a tremendous view on my hikes. CR doeesn't really have that, but does have a little bit of everything. I might try backpacking there sometime as I think it would be nice too. Only trick would be having to carry a ton of water or finding it.
Thanks for reporting back.

The colors of Capitol Reef is what we loved about the park, that and the fact that we only drove, not hiked, so driving on the narrow dirt roads with the walls so close to us was a treat.
Hiking to Rainbow Bridge will be an easy hike for you, a mile and a half each way, but we are not hikers and it was 111 degrees, so hard for us. That is why my husband did it and not me. We loved the boat ride there. The closer you get to the bridge, the narrower the walls become and is quite beautiful.

cd,

Glad you enjoyed your trip. You just never know when it will be hot and when it won't. We went in August two years in a row several years ago and the heat wasn't as bad as you had it. When we did the float trip on the Colorado River our guide gave us little disposable towels to dip in the river and put around our necks. It REALLY helped! He also gunned it though another boats wake to get us wet to cool us off. :) I'm so glad you liked Capitol Reef. I was heartbroken last year when we got kicked out in October when the government closed all the parks!

Utahtea

Thank you Utahtea!Thank you!

cd, Sounds like a wonderful trip. I agree that the trip down to the Colorado river to get the float trip was very interesting too, we did it when it was cool, so the boat ride was lots of fun.

Thanks for reporting back

I would have loved it to be cool. :-)