We will be traveling to Utah in early March for spring break. We arrive on a Saturday morning and plan to stay overnight in Las Vegas before driving to Utah. Plan is to see Hoover Dam on Saturday afternoon and Valley of Fire on our way out of town Sunday morning. We were planning to concentrate on Zion, Bryce, and GSENM while in Utah. I’m Looking for ideas on lodging for the beginning of our trip. I have Cable Mountain Lodge booked for Wednesday - Saturday. Thanks for any insight you can share on where we should be basing ourselves for the first part of our trip.

Bryce - I can recommend The Best Western Grand - right outside the park. We spent three nights there in January and really liked the place.

GSENM - if you don't need a lot of space, you might like the Ponderosa Inn - we certainly did.

Bryce might be snowed in in March, and you might need chains which rentals frown upon. From the internet:


"March in Bryce Canyon is typically cold and snowy. The average high is 45 and the average low is 23 degrees Fahrenheit (2/-9 degrees Celsius). March snow accumulation is typically 17 inches on average, the same as January."

That assumes we actually have snow this year--we are DRY. So I would count on Bryce. Just rent a 4WD vehicle and you are fine .

Our trip report to Utah from last month, including Bryce. Photos might give you an idea of what to expect:

Got rocks? A winter visit to Utah’s Orogenous Zones

Suggest purchased a book as there are endless options to touring.
Hiking, horse, ATV/OHV and driving
Fodor's book at Amazon
There are many other choice - go at least 5 pages

I would try to stay in the parks, if you can.

If you would rather not stay in Las Vegas, you could go directly to Hoover Dam and then stay in the Hoover Dam Lodge hotel & casino which is close to Hoover Dam. There is a shortcut to get from Hoover Dam to Valley of Fire without going back to Las Vegas. The shortcut is on the west side of Lake Mead.
When going to Hoover Dam drive across the dam into Arizona to find free parking. Coming back up from the dam, stop at the parking lot that has a paved trail to the high bridge walkway.