makismd

Please give any input

May 21st arrive in vegas and rent car drive to zion and spend 1st night at dessert pearl(sp?)

day 2 hike angels landing and explore the park and set up camp in the park for a 2 night tent camp(ideas where to camp appreciated)

day 3 hike the narrows (not the whole way)

day 4 set off for byrce spend 2 nights(ideas where to camp or stay appreciated. will camp if not too cold. also appreciate ideas on best hikes or things to do at bryce

day 6 back to vegas for 2 nights(this part is a must because meeting friends)

we like to not be too rushed and enjoy the individual parks so thats why we skipped grand canyon and lake powell

any input appreciated

utahtea

Plan looks good. I'd try and stay flexible on the days you do the hikes. If the Virgin River looks clear and the weather is good, I'd do that hike the Narrows first to make sure you could get it in. Even if it doesn't rain in the park, rain up north can play havoc on the river. Make sure you check river conditions before hiking the narrows.

South Campground and Watchman Campground are just inside the park entrance near Springdale. They both border the Virgin River. South Campground is first come first serve only and is the more primitive of the two if that's what you prefer.

Watchman has electrical only sites and tent loops. You can make reservations (but don't have to) at Watchman but you probably won't need them this time of the year in the middle of the week and you will be close enough to get there early to get a spot. One nice thing about Watchman having the electrial sites, you don't have to worry about generators running.
Zion campground reservations: http://reservations.nps.gov/index.cfm

Just outside the park is Zion Canyon Campground which is a private campground. Sites are very close together. If you stay in the park, you can pay a couple of dollars to take showers at Zion Canyon Campground....that's what I would do! There are no showers at the Zion campgrounds in the park.

There are two campgrounds in Bryce Canyon. Both have forest settings. You have to make reservations in North Campground after May 15th if you want to camp here. North campground is closer to the pay showers and the rim. http://www.reserveusa.com/

Sunset campground is a first come, first serve only campground.

Utahtea

makismd

thanks for your fast response. we arevery excited about the trip. do you think bryce weather would permit tent camping the end of may? is there a certain area that might have milder temps? I realize that this can vary quite a bit from year to year. would prefer night time temps above 35 or so. appreciate the input about flexibilty on the narrows.that makes alot of sense.

asdaven

A comment about the narrows, hike at least to orderville canyon! It is 1 mile on the paved trail and then a 1.5 miles of wading in the river, then back, so overall 5 miles RT. Orderville canyon is a good destination because it is where the narrows are at its narrowest. Don't be intimidated at the beginning where it is real deep, it is not as bad upstream, at least when I was there. You will know when you are at orderville canyon because it is the first side canyon you will come to. Hike a little ways up orderville canyon, it is very neat. I just hiked a couple hundred feet up it. It has warmer shallower water and is narrower. I did this the day I got there, so it is not to long to hike up there. I would suggest adding Weeping Rock to your itenerary at zion. It is very short hike and will only take you 15 minutes. It is a rock wall with water dripping out of it, pretty cool! For Bryce, I would reccomend the horseback ride/mule ride into Bryce Canyon. There are many places that offer rides but only one is in the park. It is Canyon Trail Rides. The Rubys Inn Trailrides operate outside the park. Canyon Trail rides operates in the park. They offer a 2 hour ride and a half day ride which is only an hour and a half longer (3 1/2 hours). I would reccomend the half day, it takes you into the canyon and all around the bottom then back up, while the 2 hour just takes you to the bottom then back up. Since you are planning two nights, you will have time to hike too. I would reccomend hiking the navajo loop to queen's garden, then take the rim trail back. This creates a loop hike. You see some different stuff than you see on the horse ride. That is why I would reccomend doing both. I would also reccomend driving the park road to the end and doing the short, 1 mile Bristlecone Pine Loop. Sounds like a great itenerary!
PS: For the narrows, check in the visitor center for the flash flood danger or the water level and weither the narrows is open. Angels Landing is a must do. Be flexible about the hikes. If day 2 is better for the narrows, do the narrows and do angels landing on day 3.

makismd

thanks for your reply. we would love the horeback/mule ride into the canyon. 5 mile narrows sounds very reasonable. i am addicted to fodors!!! always the best advice

utahtea

You are right when you said the weather can vary from year to year. The very first time we went to Bryce was Memorial Day weekend in 1975 and it was snowing when we checked out of the cabin and were headed for our first visit to Zion. We've been in the area many, many times since and it can get HOT in late May!

About 25 miles away from Bryce is Kodachrome Basin State Park at elevation 5,800 feet. That's a lot lower than Bryce's elevation of 8,000 feet and would probably be milder temps. They also have showers. http://www.go-utah.com/utah/kodachro...odachrome.html

I think this would be the closest lower elevation campground, but there could be something else that I don't know of.

Utahtea