Myer

My daughter has decided that she would like to take a trip with her dad (me). We're both into photography. Since she's married with a toddler this will have to be very short and efficient if we do it.

She's leaning toward next summer and some place I haven't been to. I'm leaning towards this spring (as I know our summer schedule) and some places I've been to since I can plan a very efficient itinerary.

If this trip takes place and we arrive in Las Vegas early enough, is it possible to make a "worthwhile" stop of an hour or two on the way to Zion/Bryce and beyond?

That would be about the same amount of time I spent in Goblin Valley or Devil's Garden Escalante.

dwooddon

Depending on the amount of rain we get during the winter, spring in VofF can result in wild flowers galore, or not. The park is always interesting for photography but early or late in the day provides the best light.

If it were me, I'd bypass VofF on this trip since your time is so limited and try to reach Zion NP early enough for the good light there.

happytrailstoyou

I don't quite understand your itinerary and I am not a photographer; however, I find Red Rock Canyon more impressive than the Valley of Fire.

HTTY

Myer

For the amount of time we'd have, Red Rock Canyon is too far out of the way.

mrssparky

Myer - We did this a few years ago. We arrived in Vegas @ 11:00am, had lunch, visited VOF (a bit out of the way), I also remember seeing Lake Mead (?), and then we went on to Springdale(?)(Zion) and had dinner there. I enjoyed VOF, but as I recall, it was HOT. That was in mid May.

How much fun to do a trip with your daughter. DH and I spent 10 days out there with his son. We had a ball.

mrssparky

Myer - And to add, we did enjoy VOF, although we were then amazed with the other parks. (Zion, Bryce, GC NR, we did a hike in the Paria River Canyon, and then the float trip down the Colorado).

spirobulldog

I wonder if Cedar Breaks NM would add to much drive time? It has always looked interesting to me. I haven't been to VOF but we did enjoy Red Rock Canyon. It is to much out of the way for your trip, as you stated. If you did Cedar Breaks, you would probably want to do Bryce first, then Zion on your way back to Vegas.

If I were you I would go somewhere I haven't been. Maybe Yosemite, Olympic, Sequoia- All of those places you could hit on a 4-5 day trip. I am with you on Utah-I really love it. But, I also really loved Yellowstone/Tetons, Oregon, and Sequoia. We head to Yosemite in 6 weeks. Only thing I'm worried about there are the crowds. We really liked everything around Portland,OR last summer. Columbia River Gorge, Mt St. Helens, Mt Hood. My daughter is 16 and has gone on two trips with just me. I hope she wants to travel with us when she is older.

spirobulldog

Now thats another thought. What about a 3 or 4 day trip rafting the GC?

emalloy

From i 15 you could probably go to Valley of Fire and take some pictures and then go back to 15 in 2 to 3 hours if you went north on 15 then east at the sign on the highway and back to 15. I think it would take longer to go along lake meade and head in from the east side of it and then out the west side.

Cedar Breaks is interesting to look at, but is at over 10000 feet and had snow when we visited after Memorial day last year. I have one picture of it at www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009/sets in the 2009 set if you want to get an idea of what it looks like. We didn't hike at all because of the snow.

Myer

I've been to the Utah parks twice, my daughter has been to Yosemite and I'll be in Yellowstone and GT this August.

At this stage some details here still have to be worked out before we can plan further.

I guess we could go to either SLC or LAS.

What I'd like to include are:
Rt 12
Lower Calf Creek Falls
Devil's Garden Escalante
Willis Creek (maybe Grosvenor Arch)
Bryce Canyon NP
Page (Horseshoe bend & Antelope Canyon
Zion NP

One way would be a loop and the other an out-and-back.

Myer

Sprio,

Forgot to mention. Did you see the Willis Creek photo link I added to your post?

spirobulldog

Yes, I did. I am considering that one strongly. It's hard to make a decision on what to include and exclude. I don't think you have been to Rainbow Bridge have you? I hate to take a half day to do it, but it is something I have wanted to see. I have about decided to skip "the wave", as it states on their website that in May I would only have about a 10% chance of getting a permit. I wouldn't know until 3 months in advance whether I got the permit, and I like to have things pretty well planned out well before then. I have looked at Devils Garden in Escalante and might do that. Actually, I am thinking about not even doing Lake Powell either, and adding Arches before we do Bryce. My daughter and I did Arches, but I would like for my wife to see it. My parents live in the same town that we do in Oklahoma. They are drving up for 2 weeks of Utah, and we are just going to meet them for about 5 days worth. They have a suburban, so we will all ride together.

I fly Southwest a lot. You can fly into and out of different cities easier and cheaper with them, over than most other carriers. Plus, I usually have at least one or two free reward tickets with them. I have flown on American into Grand Junction Colorado(an hour or so from Arches), which was easy and suprisingly had a good rate. The only problem with leaving from different city, is that the car rental sometimes is higher. Not always, but it is sometimes.

If you ever get a chance to see Mesa Verde it is very interesting as well. Durango is nearby and the train is pretty neat. Mesa Verde, isn't all that far from most of the areas that you mention. I did like Monument Valley just ok. I rank it, Capitol Reef, and Petrified Forest as my least favorites. Mesa Verde requires at least two full days to do it right.

I am anxious to hear about your Yellowstone trip. We were there in June, which is less crowded and better chances of seeing bears(we saw several). But, I sure wish I could have gotten in the Firehole River area or Boiling River area. Rivers were going too fast. I hope to go back in the summer sometime and then again in the winter and fall. That is one place that I don't think I could ever get tired of. Tetons were nice, but I liked Yellowstone far better. We didn't get to drive the Beartooth HWY as it was still closed due to snow. Do you plan on driving it?

Myer

The Beartooth Hwy is on my list but probably too far down to get done. At least on this trip. Just requires too much time.

I haven't looked too closely at Mesa Verde. I may be wrong about it as I picture a lot of native ruins and that's it. I'm really not into that.

spirobulldog

Well, then Mesa Verde may not be for you. That is mainly what it is.

christabir

I fly into one airport and out of another often on a few different airlines. I use kayak.com to find the best options for us and then usually book directly with the airlines. Just double check the car rental drop off fees. Sometimes they make it too expensive to make an open jaw worth the time savings.

bookhall

If you can get anywhre near it, Valley of Fire is worth the stop! http://tinyurl.com/yzjvmxm

We did the drive-through from I-15, and came the back way past Lake Mead and into LV.