Yellowstone and Grand Canyon in the same trip?
 

I am trying to decide if my family of four that includes boys 16 and 12 should try and do Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon in one trip or two. We do not like to be rushed, but like to accomplish the most for our money in one trip. We live in MS, so we would be flying and probably flying between these two places as well. We like nature, but I am a huge lover of art and have to include that in every trip. Has anyone done both places in the same trip and what was it like for you? We also enjoy staying in nice bed and breakfast type places. We do not usually like economy type hotels. I have to confess I have been concerned about the looks of some the places near Yellowstone from what I have seen on the Internet. Any recommendations here would be nice too. Thanks!

Unless you have 2 to 3 weeks or more, I'd do them as separate trips.

You could easily spend 7 - 10 days in the Yellowstone and Grand Tetons area. There is a lot more to Yellowstone than just Old Faithful!

The Grand Canyon is just one of several National Parks in the area and on the way to Yellowstone. Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Monument Valley Tribal Park, Glen Canyon National Recreational Area (Lake Powell), Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, & Dinosaur National Monument are all nature at it's best!

http://www.so-utah.com/tour/homepage.html

http://www.americansouthwest.net/utah/index.shtml

We camp in our RV, so I'm no good with lodging.

Utahtea

Why not do Grand Canyon and Sedona?! My family took a vacation 2 years ago - flew into Phoenix, rented a car then immediately drove to Sedona for a few days... then drove to Grand Canyon (not a bad drive) for a few days... then drove to Las Vegas for a few days (that was not the nature/art portion of our trip :-) - but it was fun to end in the adult's luxurious version of Disney Land)... In any event, Sedona was actually my favorite leg of our trip - with those red rocks and awe-inspiring vistas - oh my goodness!!!! There are lots of lovely bed & breakfasts, inns and some nice hotels - We stayed in the Hilton Sedona - a very nice, fairly new mostly suite hotel... with a lovely spa! But, you may love the Enchantment -it is a very luxurious, nature oriented inn/spa.

You should go online and check out Sedona, it may be the perfect compliment to your Grand Canyon trip!!

Enjoy!

Utahtea- Don't forget to mention Capitol Reef NP in Utah.

Hello Utahtea! This is Kwilly's wife. You were so helpful with our last trip that I am asking for help with this upcoming one. You mentioned Banff and Jasper. Would this area be too cold in June? Also, what do yu know about Antelope Canyon?
Thanks.

I've done the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone/Grand Tetons in one trip where I did a cross country 4 week excursion. My time in and between these locations was stretched out over about 10 days of the overall trip and was packed with activities AND driving. I went from Grand Canyon to Springdale, Utah to hike Zion National Park for a couple of days and then drove up to Jackson, Wyoming for a couple of days to visit Grand Teton NP and then continued on into Yellowstone. There are some decent places to stay in Sprindale with gorgeous views. Jackson has a wide variety of places you can stay along with a wide range of prices you can spend. Yellowstone is more limited for "nice" places to stay if you are looking for upscale accomodations. I stayed at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel which has lovely views, is pretty conveniently located for visiting different areas of the park and a good restaurant. It was was clean, charming and enjoyable but no matter how you look at it the rooms are basic NP rooms... nothing fancy on the inside, but the wildlife, views, etc. were spectacular.

Overall, I think if you have the funds to make this 2 separate trips you should split them up. There are tons of things to do in both locations and both are very different.

asdaven is right...don't skip Capitol Reef and scenic Hwy 12!

Utahtea

kwilly's wife,

I've been to Jasper and Banff area twice. Once in late June & early July and again in mid-July. Late June was cooler but not bad. We did have a couple days of snow in early July!

Most people want to know about the Antelope Slots Canyons near Page, AZ. This is a land tour of slots canyons. There is an Upper and Lower Slots Canyon. The Upper Slots canyon is an easy walk and takes about 1 1/2 hour to tour. You need a tour guide to do this tour. It's amazing to see and when the sunlight comes in it's twice as amazing. We didn't do the Lower Slots Canyon because it involved ladders and my BIL had bad knees so we didn't do them. The lower slots canyon does not require a guided tour.

There is also Antelope Canyon on Lake Powell which is reached by boat or tour boats. This is a pretty narrow canyon on Lake Powell with sheer sandstone walls that jet out of the beautiful blue water of Lake Powell.

Utahtea

Utahtea....This is long overdue but was on here tonight making another post or two and ran into the questions my wife posed to you about our SW trip(s) last year. I want to say THANK YOU for all of your wonderful suggestions. We planned both of our trips based on many of your suggestions! We took our son and his wife on one trip (Sept 2005) and liked it so much that we took our oldest son back out for almost the same trip in June 2006. The Antelope Slot Canyon tour the second time was great fun and so beautiful the way the light shown in in spots. We did the float trip from the base of the dam on both trips, boated and skied on Lake Powell, visited Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Sedona (Pink Jeep Tour both times). What a gorgeous part of our country and I am sure I could visit again and again and see new things...Thanks again for your great advice and help in planning. By the way...have you been to Bar Harbor Maine?

To do the Grand Canyon right you need some time. I would recommend at least 5 days in the North Rim area. Very cool!

Here are some pictures of our last trip:
http://arizonatrailways.com/cs/blogs...n/default.aspx

Ryan

kwilly,

Thank you for coming back and letting us know how your trips went. No, I haven't been to Maine yet. Hope to come in the next year or two! :)

Utahtea