With reference to my other recent posts where I'm building an aggressive itinerary for a very short trip I'll be taking with my daughter.

Depending how I continue to build this, I may have room for a "level 2" sight (Canyon Overlook at the east entrance to Zion may not be an option due to construction) on the way from Page to Zion (I may have to loop around south of Zion and enter thru the south entrance).

Wire Pass. I've seen a few very interesting photos but I'm concerned that there may be one or two spots requiring a 6 to 10 ft scramble. That would basically end that idea. I'm also not excited about another 8-10 mile dirt road drive. Has anybody done this? I'm not referring to Buckskin Gultch just the much shorter (and easier) Wire Pass.

Paria Rimrocks. This appears similar to Devil's Garden Escalante (maybe not similar but an easily accessible, contained area of interesting rock formations). Anything difficult getting there? Worth the time and effort?

Myer,

The abandoned pioneer town of Paria is kind of cool to see. They built a movie set there and filmed parts of "Outlaw Josie Wales" there (or one of those other ones with CE). We actually drove my Jeep out past the town and through the river bed as far as we dared, the water was very low. Totally cool. Beautiful canyon and surrounding candy-stripped bluffs. Worth a short stop.

I haven't heard of an area specifically called Paria Rimrocks. I search and see if it's the same place I'm talking about. I know hiking the Paria canyon wilderness is an incredible backpack trip requiring canyoneering skills and equipment.

Agree with Dayle about making a short detour to the Old Pareah movie set, I think the turn-off is about mile marker 33 or 34. Beautiful Chinle rock formations, better than much of the Painted Desert (same rock formation).

Wire Pass. I've seen a few very interesting photos but I'm concerned that there may be one or two spots requiring a 6 to 10 ft scramble. That would basically end that idea. I'm also not excited about another 8-10 mile dirt road drive. Has anybody done this? I'm not referring to Buckskin Gultch just the much shorter (and easier) Wire Pass.

Not totally clear on what you are asking here ... there's a Wire Pass trailhead parking lot. After a short distance on the trail there's a spur trail to the right ... keep going straight and you face a couple of 4-6 ft drop-offs, then join the main Buckskin Gulch canyon, a beautiful, steep, narrow slot that's great for hiking when dry. The drop-offs usually have rock steps built up but when it floods these are often washed away, so this can be a tough hike.

I would personally NOT hike into here if there is the slightest chance of rain anywhere in southern Utah as this will flood even with run-off 50 miles away and anything in the slot is dead meat. June is the best (driest) month, August - Sept are risky with the chance of PM thunderstorms.

If you take the right trail spur a bit earlier then you will be on the trail to Wire Pass and the famous Wave rock formations at Coyote Gulch, one of the most beautiful areas in Az/Utah. There is nothing at Wire Pass per se now. When I first started hiking in here there was a barbed wire fence marking the Utah/Arizona border, hence "Wire Pass", but it has been knocked down and finally removed a few years ago. The "Pass" is about half-way to the Wave area.

To hike into the Wave area requires a special day-use permit. 10 are available on-line, 10 are available at the Ranger Station near mile marker 21 on first-come basis, with a drawing each AM if more than 10 show up (which is normal). This hike into the Wave is not hard, a couple of miles of scrambling over rocks etc, but is unmarked and takes most people a couple hours each way. Highly recommended if you can snag a permit and can do the hike.

Here's a sample photo taken about 50 yards from the Wave at sunset (the photo at the top of that page of water with a stick was taken near the entrance to the Wave early in the morning):
http://www.hiltonphotography.net/sw/...m#cb_late_wide

Since we're goimg in the middle of Sept I think we'll pass on Wire Pass. Thanks.

What I was referring to is something called the Paira Rimrocks Toadstool Trail. It's in Utah between mile marker 19 and 20. There's a parking lot on the north side of the road.

I did a search and came up with some pretty good photos.

What I was referring to is something called the Paira Rimrocks Toadstool Trail. It's in Utah between mile marker 19 and 20.

Ah, OK ... I've been there and it's nice but a small area. At least it's just off the highway so you don't have to drive a long way on gravel roads.

The Old Pareah movie site is good in Sept (easy access, good road) but I would probably skip the Wire Pass area unless you can do the hike into Coyote Buttes. For sure I wouldn't venture into Buckskin Gulch.

Myer - my wife - and I - both could use a few pound loss did all the above that you requested - Toadstools are awesome - parking right off of Highway 89 and you will not regret giving it a try - as I mentioned in one of my other posts - we stayed at a bed and breakfast right in the center of all the trails and canyons in Big Water Utah - and September is the nicest month to travel and explore - right across the street from the bed and breakfast is Escalante the Grand Staircase where Charleton Heston made the Movie - Planet of the Apes - there are spectacular hiking trails in that area as well - in fact I read that they are shooting a movie there this month - it looks like you could be on the moon - if you like to take fantastic pictures - this is the place - main roads to the hiking trails are not bad - and you can park off the road and do your hikes - Toadstools were one of my favorites - we were able to do The Wave - lucky that we were staying only 15 minutes away so we went every day and we got in on the lottery one of the days - another awesome experience - you mentioned your daughter - hopefully she is older than 10 or 11 - as some places you have to watch your footing as you hike - not that this is the magic age - but if she is experienced at all with hiking then it will be fine

we stayed at a bed and breakfast right in the center of all the trails and canyons in Big Water Utah

Anybody thinking of staying at Big Water should know it's notorious for the polygamy sect started by Alex Joseph, the founder of the 'town' and long-time mayor. You get some weird vibes from these small fundamentalist places.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Joseph ... sample quote:

"Alex Joseph ... was a Mormon fundamentalist leader and founder of the Confederate Nations of Israel. As mayor of Big Water, Utah, Joseph was the first Libertarian mayor of a community in the United States"

He had at least seven wives. If you are aware of how childern are treated in these communities (boys seen as competition and often forced out, young girls given as 'celestial brides' to the church elders) you might not want to support them by spending your money in their community.

Well Bill H - I am no expert on the area since that was why I was responding to the question - however - I have stayed three times in Big Water and did not notice anything that seemed out of the ordinary - I was just visiting there not living there - certainly the owners of the Bed and Breakfast were not a problem for my wife and I - I generally dont judge the people on my vacation trips.

Hi folks, as a frequent traveler to Lake Powell,I can't refrain from posting my own comments to what I've just seen. Bill - Alex Joseph passed away sometime in the mid/late 90's and hadn't been a part of the town government for over a decade. Anyone that you talk to in Page AZ knows this and I've talked to many that have friends next door in Big Water. Most of the residents aren't even from Utah. The town of Big Water is actually an incorporated city of many part & full time homeowners reaching from Florida to California. The major commercial element consists of modern boat storage facilities. How you've concluded this area has a 'weird vibe' and remains wholy fundamentalist may be the most ridiculous mis-stated comment I've ever seen or heard.

An impressive 3.5 million tourists annually come from all over the world to see the area. Either you are really afraid of Europeans (look at THEIR history...)or the second largest manmade lake in the nation frightens you because you hate water or can't swim. Or is it simply just out-of-state people wanting to build a vacation home and retire in one of the most amazing areas of America? I've driven through one neigborhood of gorgeous homes and envy those homeowners! Whatever your weird vibe, your arrogance shines all too clearly to warrant dialogue in further redirecting your ill equipped experiences with the Glen Canyon Recreation area and Big Water. People like me come here to enjoy Lake Powell and the surrounding areas (for the last 5 years) and hopefully match the lodging to boot.

I could care less what happened over 30 years ago in creating towns. Lake Powell is incredible and takes your breath away as you drive through this one last area before the state line. I'm now interested in finding this B&B! Any help out there would be appreciated!

Thanks to those last few posts. To summarize this and a previous post. I'm glad you liked the Toadstools.

My daughter is married and has a 3 1/2 year old daughter (my daughter is older than 10 or 11). A few weeks ago she decided she wanted to go on one of my hiking/photography/sightseeing trips. She only had a couple of requests: the trip be no more than 3 days in length (4 nights away) and we leave on a flight no earlier than 10:30AM so she can see her daughter before we leave. We live about a half hour apart.

While her travel style is at a much slower pace than mine, she's happy to do this one my way. I normally plan very efficiently and see a lot without rushing.

I'm trying to fit in Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend but they're out of our path.

So far my plan is to arrive in Escalante around 9:30PM and sleep there. On Day 1 hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls, Willis Creek and do the Navajo Loop/Queen's Garden hike in Bryce. We'd sleep in/at Bryce Canyon. If I see we're not going to make it we'll skip Willis Creek and do it the next morning after seeing the sun rise at Bryce Point.

If we get Day 1 done then we'd leave for Page after the sunrise at Bryce and do Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and the Paria Rimrocks Toadstool Trail with the priority being getting to Antelope Canyon when the sun is high in the sky.

If we don't get Day 1 done, we'd leave for Antelope Canyon after going to Willis Creek or add something else in the Rt 12 area and pass on Page (I'd hate to do that but if it doesn't fit then it doesn't fit).

If I see when we complete Lower Calf Creek Falls that we we're not going to get Day 1 completed, I may add Devil's Garden Escalante on the way back west and plan on skipping Page.

In any event we'd get to Zion late in the day and maybe have enough time to walk Riverside Drive. Day 3 would be in Zion.

Depending upon what time we leave Zion to get back to Las Vegas, we may stop in Valley of Fire for an hour or so.

I'm may be looking for an additional option in the area of the west end of Rt 12 should we decide to skip Page.

Any ideas?

The drive to Zion gets complicated due to planned road construction near the east entrance. Depending upon the state of the construction we may have to loop around the north or south and enter from the south entrance. That would eliminate the possibility of doing the Canyon Overlook hike.

A lot of writing but I'm basically trying to squeeze in a lot in a short period of time without rushing while at any sight.

I also need several options if we don't get all of Day 1 done on Day 1.

PS. I've been to Utah twice in the past few years. The people I've met have been nothing short of friendly and helpful. I'm going to see the sights and not live their lives. What I do is my buisness and what they do is there's.

Myer - I especially liked your last comment regarding doing what you want to do without concern of what others have going on - I completely agree with you.

I think you are planning this trip very very aggressively - I do not see how on Earth you will be able to fit all those into your plans - Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend and even the Glen Canyon Dam Tour are spectacular - but at best 30 to 45 minutes as I recall from the Toadstools - I think maybe this trip you might have to pass on the Page activities and come back another trip to do those - we have done exactly that - reason we come back so often -

I think you should do the Bryce and Zion activities for sure - and perhaps work in something on the way back to Las Vegas -
you dont want to cram so much into your schedule that you are not appreciating the beauty of the area - and since you mentioned you have done this before I know you know what I am talking about.

Southwestfan,

You are 100% correct. After sleeping on it I've decided something has to be removed or consolidated.

"If" my packed Day 1 worked, I would still end up with over 6 hours of driving on Day 2.

I think I have two itinerary choices:
1) Upon arriving in LV drive to Kanab for the night.

On Day 1 do the Paria Rimrocks Toadstool Trail, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Ben and The Best Dam View (never had any intention of taking a Glen Canyon Dam tour) (and maybe stop somewhere else in the area) ending with a 3 hour drive to Bryce Canyon to walk on the Rim and see the sun go down and/or drive to a few viewpoints.

Day 2 would include sunrise at Bryce Point, hike Navajo Loop/Queens Garden then drive over to Cannonville (30 minutes) for Willis Creek slot canyon and possibly Grosvenor Arch since we're right near there (9 different miles on a dirt road for each of them each way but little work) ending with a 3 hour drive to Zion (could be shorter depending upon the state of the Zion East entrance construction). Depending upon what time we get to Zion we could walk the Riverside Walk.

On Day 3 we would do Angel's Landing until Scout's Lookout (no desire to go further) and either Emerald Pools or Canyon Overlook if it's accessible (again the construction) and end with the 3 hour drive back to LV stopping in Valley of Fire for an hour or so if it's early enough.

The upside to this is there's no more than a 3 hour drive on any day and I will have done three things I haven't done (Toadstools, part of Angel's Landing and Valley of Fire). The downside is we've missed Lower Calf Creek Falls.

Or Itinerary 2)
Arrive in LV and drive to Escalante for the night.

On Day 1 do the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike, Devil's Garden Escalante and maybe Willis Creek ending with the sun going down in Bryce Canyon. This day has little driving.

Day 2 would include sunrise at Bryce Point, hike Navajo Loop/Queens Garden and stop at some viewpoints. We would go to Willis Creek if we didn't do it the day before. This day would end with a 3 hour drive (depending upon Zion construction) and possibly Zion hikes of Canyon Overlook or Riverside Walk depending on the time and state of Zion construction.

Day 3 would be the same as Day 3 above.

The upside to this is there's less driving on any day, I will have done two things I haven't (part of Angel's Landing and Valley of Fire). The downside is we've missed the Page area sights.

Comments and opinions please.

Myer - after reviewing on the map and your ideas - I say go for your Itinerary # 1 - you will definitely still have a lot on your plate but that has to be the way to go - you can always plan another trip back that way again and something to look forward to on the areas missed -

There is even a hiking trail around the Golf Course of Page and a fantastic view of Lake Powell if you should run short of things to do - lol - enjoy the area we always have.

I'm also leaning toward #1 as it might be possible to include Devil's Garden Escalante.

That way the only thing we'd miss is Lower Calf Creek Falls and that's a hot 2.5 miles each way.

Thanks.

Any Kanab or Big Water motel recommendations?

Myer - since we think Itinerary #1 looked like the best bet for you I have attached a link from Trip Advisor travellers with their comments - I particularly have liked Holiday Inn Express - Kanab - Utah - right off the highway for easy access - and in walking distance of shops in the Kanab area - in fact there are some very interesting Southwest stores and places to eat - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g5...ah-Hotels.html