Yosemite to Salt Lake
 

We Canadians are planning a tour of the American Southwest and have week one and week three pretty much sorted out but need some help with some days in the middle. We will be at Yosemite around the 6 or 7 of April. We will have seen San Fransisco and Death Valley beforehand. The last week of our trip includes Bryce/Zion as first stop after Salt Lake City if we do decide to head up there. We are hoping for some advice on the following:

Is a trip up to Salt Lake City worthwhile? If it is worthwhile, what are the high points?
We have thought we might want to see the Bonneville Flats and wonder if we will be disappointed.

What is the best route from Yosemite to Salt Lake at that time of year?

Where along the way would be the recommended stopover for a night enroute?

Coming down from Salt Lake, what is the best route to Bryce/Zion Canyons?

Is it absolutely necessary to book rooms around Bryce/Zion this far ahead, or are there enough choices outside of the canyons that we can wait a bit?

Any tips anyone wishes to share about Monument Valley, the Painted Desert and Sedona would be appreciated as well.

Thank you all for your help!

There is really only one way to get from Yosemite to SLC in April. West into the CA Central Valley and then east from Sacramento on I-80. The mountain pass out of Yosemite to the eat is closed at that time of year. (One ca also take hwy 49 north through the foothills, hooking up w I-80 at Auburn.

Whether you go to SLC or not is up to you.

But I am interested how you are fitting in Death Valley and SF in the previous week. Maybe lay out your whole itinerary to see where things fit. In general but especially in April, SF, possibly Monterey area, and Yosemite make a good combo week . . . And Death Valley fits better with Zion, Bryce, and possibly Las Vegas.

In april, SF > DV > Yosemite > SLC > Zion/Bryce is a WHOLE lot of to-ing and fro-ing much of it through some really ugly or desolate country.

To clarify - the ugly bits are between SF and DV and between DV and Yosemite, the desolate is across Nevada.

What part of Canada are you coming from? Are you driving your own car or flying in and driving a rental car?
You will not be able to drive over Tioga Pass to get from Death Valley to Yosemite in April.
Las Vegas is a better jumping off point to go to see Bryce/Zion than SLC.
One way to get from Yosemite to SLC is to take the YARTS bus to Merced which connects to an Amtrak San Joaquin train to Sacramento. Depending on which San Joaquin, this might involve a bus from Stockton to SAC.
Spend the night in Sacramento and catch the California Zephyr which leaves SAC a little after 11AM and arrives in SLC early morning the next day. There is a good light rail and bus service in Salt Lake City.

Zion has plenty of excellent hotel options right outside the park in Springdale UT, and you won't need to worry about them filling up in April.

Bryce at 8000' elevation will still be in the throes of late winter - so expect cold and snow. The park is open and hiking among the hoodoos in the snow is magical, but just be prepared for snow and cold and ice on the trails. There are fewer lodging options near Bryce vs Zion, so best to book ahead. Either in the park at Bryce Lodge, or a short distance outside the park at Ruby's.

Oh please Tom. You and Amtrak are a broken record. They shoukd pay you for all the PR. Since the OP will have already been in CA for a week by then how on earth would YARTS/Amtrak/Sacramento/more Amtrak make any sense?

I'm still not clear as to whether they have their own car or where they are flying to and renting a car.
I'm taking a short Amtrak trip on Friday and earning some more Amtrak Guest Rewards points. I'm taking a long trip on Amtrak in March on AGR points (20K in a roomette to Chicago and 8K coming back to Oregon in coach).
I earned quite a few points in 2014 with online shopping through the AGR website.

Like I said - Amtrak needs to pay you.

It sounds like a lot of driving so I agree with janisj that if we had the 1st week and 3rd week itinerary we could make better recommendations.

Utahtea

Sorry, guys, I should have given more info to start with.

This is a driving trip. My travel partner loves to drive, and is fairly sedentary. We land in Vegas on 30mar, two nights there then one night Death Valley. Then the **boring**drive across to Cambria. If weather decent, up US 1 to Monterrey. If not so decent, up 101 to Monterey. then a few days San Francisco. Then Yosemite from the west (I know about the pass being closed). My original plan was to go from there up through Salt Lake and down to Zion/Bryce. After that more driving, taking in monument valley and the painted desert enroute to Sedona for 2-3 nights. We have to be at the Grand Canyon by April 17, as I have 2 nights reserved there. On 19th we overnight in Vegas and fly home 20th

We will definitely have our own rental car. Am still wondering what to see other than the Bonneville flats from Sacramento to Salt Lake City and enroute to Zion. Also wondering where to spend the night, it is clear we need to somewhere before Salt Lake City. No idea where. No worries, my partner **loves** to drive so that is not the issue at all. We just want to see as much of the southwest as we can in 3 weeks.

Looking forward to your help, it is always really useful.

Las Vegas to Death Valley 125 miles. Make sure you get an early start when you leave Las Vegas because there is a lot to see in Death Valley and it's a HUGE park. I hope you have your lodging reservations in Death Valley, if not you will probably want to make some. You will be going during the "in" season for this area.

Death Valley - Furnace Creek to Cambria, CA is 400 miles. You won't have much time to explore Death Valley on this day.

Cambria to Monterey 105 miles or 145 miles.

Monterey to SF 115 miles

San Francisco to Yosemite National Park - Yosemite Village is almost 200 miles. Traffic on the weekend can be bad heading east out of SF. Wave as you drive by on 580! ;) Hope you have reservations if you plan on staying in Yosemite. I'd recommend staying in Yosemite Valley if you can.

NOTE: Which ever route you take from Yosemite to Salt Lake City check road conditions. We do get spring snows over the Sierra's and it does snow in Nevada!!!

If you have your heart set on the Great Salt Flats and Salt Lake City, I'm going to make a different recommendation than I 80 though Nevada and it's only about 15 miles longer. Hwy 49 north to Hwy 50 and take that all the way to Ely, Nevada. Hwy 50 is going to be a little slower drive because it's two lanes verses a Interstate but if the getting there is as much as the destination, then this is the road for you. Hwy 50 though Nevada is called the "Loneliest Road in America" but it has so much to see on the way. http://www.roadtripusa.com/routes/lo...on_nevada.html Grimes Point archaeological area has petroglyphs that are from as early as 5000 BC. Sand Mountain is a BIG sand dune you can't miss. Several old historic mining towns like Austin and Eurkea and you will find several Pony Express station sites/ruins and markers along the way. Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area is just off the road and there are more petroglyphs here. I'd recommend spending the night in Ely before heading north on Hwy 93 to Wendover on the NV - UT border. This route is approx. 560 miles to Ely and a total of 805 miles to Salt Lake City. I love driving Hwy 50 though Nevada!

Taking Hwy 49 and I-80 all the way to Salt Lake City would be 790 miles.

Now if you are in Ely and you've decided you've had enough of driving and are willing to skip the Slat Flats and want to make it quicker to Bryce you could continue on Hwy 50 by Great Basin National Park in NV to Delta and then down to Bryce and save yourself 135 miles and a LOT of traffic in the Salt Lake City area! Plan extra time for the SLC traffic! If you do decided to skip SLC you might consider adding about 35 miles and make your way to Torrey, Utah and take scenic Hwy 12 down to Bryce. You can save some miles by going to Bryce first and then Zion.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Utahtea

Bex,

I live in UT and have passed by the Salt Flats a few times. If you are really into speed records, it might be mildly interesting. You can see the race facilities from I-80.

The salt flats are kind of interesting as a natural site. Miles and miles of flat white, some with black tire tracks.

That's about it.

The drive from Yosemite to Reno is very nice. From Reno on to SLC via I-80 is excruciatingly boring. Take the Loneliest Road as recommended by Utahtea.

There is no really special place to stay overnight. Wendover, NV at the state line has casinos and a nice events center where you can sometimes catch a classic rock musician winding down their career. Check to see if there a good concert for your planned night.

I would highly recommend advance reservations for Zion/Springdale in April. That is the start of peak season and Zion gets busier every year. Doesn't Easter fall in April this year? I can never keep track. That's crazy busy in the desert SW.

It sounds like you've got quite a trip planned. Have a good time!

Wow! Thank you very much.

Yes, Easter Weekend is the first weekend in April and we will be hitting San Francisco that weekend. Only question is, do we also have to reserve SF ahead??? for that weekend. We like if we can to use Hotwire and book ahead from the road. We have saved a ton of money that way, but I think we kind of do need a place to sleep :)

You just about always need to book SF ahead. The problem isn't necessarily all rooms are booked up (and there are fewer convention/business travelers that week)

But arriving at the last minute you'll pay close to rack rate.

Hotwire/priceline are good options but if you are unsuccessful w/ them you are back to being at the mercy of the hotels. Plus you'll have a car and parking (unless you stay in one of the motels along Lombard Street) can run $40 a day. So that Hotwire 'bargain' may end up really expensive. Booking ahead, many hotels offer special packages including parking or other perks. Especially if you pre-pay.

bex,

If you have 2-3 days to spend in Salt Lake, there are some great day trips to do. Let me know if you want recommendations. I also believe there is an old post on here where we local Fodorites gave lots of suggestions for SLC sightseeing and day trips.