Utah trip and Altitude
 

We have been to Zion and Valley of fire and other parks in the area. We would like to see more of Utah, but need to stay and travel through ( if possible) areas that are not that high in altitude. 4000-5000 feet tops. Any suggestions for scenic Utah or surrounding states areas that are not that high? Arches? Monument valley? etc.
Or is it really impossible?

Thanks.

Moab is under 4300 feet. Parts of Arches will go higher than that, so you'll be pushing your upper limit.

If you really shouldn't go over 5,000 feet then Utah is probably not a good place to visit for you.

You won't want to exit Zion through the tunnel. The east entrance is at 5,700 elevation.

Cedar City is 5834 ft.

Bryce is between 8,000 and 9,000 feet. Scenic Hwy 12 over the Boulder Mountains is over 9,000 feet. Capitol Reef National Park near Torrey, Utah is in the 6,000 ft. elevation. Even the town of Escalante is at 5800 ft.

Canyonlands, Island in the Sky district is 5920 ft. elevation. Dead Horse State Park is 6,000 ft.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park 6,000 ft.

Kayenta, AZ is 5641, Blanding, Utah is a little over 6,000 ft. and Monticello, Utah is 7066 so I can't see you getting to Monument Valley.

Moab is around 4,000 ft. but Arches is higher and not sure how you will get to Moab without going over 5,000 feet.

Try this website for elevations:

http://stuff.mit.edu/geo?location=page

The only place you might be able to go is Lake Powell near Page, AZ but I'm not sure of the elevation on Hwy 59 between Hurricane and Kanab are or Hwy 89 between Kanab and Page.

Utahtea

thanks for the info and the link. will put Utah on hold for the time being. New Mexico is not any better I think as well as a lot of Colorado? (Plus have been to much of Colorado)

No, I don't think New Mexico will work either.

I don't know where you are coming from and I don't know if you can fly or not, but what about the California coast?

Utahtea

Just curious...why the altitude limit?

Aren't planes pressurized to something like 8-10,000 feet of altitude? If you fly, you're already above the 4000-5000 ft. limit for several hours.

planes not a problem. maybe because not moving around. high altitude seems to cause symptoms. Had some trouble at zion last year. have seen dr.

Well, if altitude sickness is the problem, it seems the best thing to try to prevent it is to drink lots of water and acclimate before going too high. Because that area is so dry, the hydration aspect is even more important. It's recommended to even start drinking (water) on the flight in, and continue to do so, even though it means more trips to the bathroom.

If you're OK driving at higher elevations, you should be able to get to Moab and stay there, and at least drive through and see some of the area parks. Hiking would be at your discretion depending on how you feel.

An obvious choice in the other direction from Las Vegas is Death Valley. You do have to go up in elevation to get there, but it's less than Utah, and of course once in the park, the elevation drops drastically. Heat would be more of a concern there. And for my money, it's not as scenic as Utah.

New Mexico and Colorado would be similar to Utah, as well as northern AZ.

Joanel...just back from an Arizona-Utah trip. I was affected by altitude myself in certain places but generally got along. When we were at Canyon de Chelly and also Grand Canyon I had trouble breathing and walking but thought it was more of a reaction to heart valve surgery-pneumonia and perhaps coming down with a cold (but cleared up). Then it struck me that these were altitude related symptoms reminding me of mountain climbing years ago in New Mexico.

We then went south into Arizona and returned to the north where again I had very minor symptoms at Zion and Arches and Colo Nat'l Monument. Didn't get to Bryce because of weather and the much higher altitude.

I did find that the body can adjust and wouldn't refrain from exploring further how to cope.

ozarksbill

How did you go from zion to arches without going through bryce?

There are several routes you can take to get from Zion to Moab without going by Bryce or driving Hwy 12.

One would be to take I-15 & I-70. Other option would be to take Hwy 89 north, then Hwy 64 to Hwy 24. This way you can at least drive by Capitol Reef National Park.

Another option would be to go to Page, AZ, drive by Monument Valley and then take Hwy 191 north to Moab.

I don't know all the elevations of these other routes, but it would have to be lower than Hwy 12. Hwy 12 goes over the Boulder Mountain pass and I think you get well over 9,000 feet on that pass.

Utahtea

Going from Zion to Arches? Simply take rtes 9 & 17 back to I-15, shoot up to
I-70 and over, then down U.S. 191. All good road, a distance of 236 mi. All the way over to Green River forlunch at Ben's Cafe. You can also take U.S. 89 north to connect up with I-15 which is more scenic I'm sure. We very much enjoyed both destinations with snow on the rocks adding to beauty.


ozarksbill