Hi-
My family and I will be traveling to Zion national Park and Bryce Canyon the 1st week in August. Due to the heat we decided it would be better to book a few tours as opposed to exploring alone.
I would appreciate recommendations on particular tours and or tour companies. We are a party of 9-all adults and children ages 19-23.

Any other recommendations of a must see or something to do at the parks or nearby. Also some suggestions of things to do when the early afternoon temps start to rise!
Thank you all in advance!

At Zion there are several outfitters in Springdale who likley do tours like this. It's the same outfitters you can rent Narrows gear from. Google is your friend to find a # to call.

search here for Zion and Bryce--lots of people have posted this exact question and you can find answers and trip reports.

The AAA tour book of Utah has an add for Zion Outback Safaris and Jeep Tours. We are going to sign up for a jeep tour. phone 435-668-3756

There is a place called the Zion Guru in the LaQuinta hotel in Spriteingdale. They seem to do more challenging things - like canyoneering. They rent gear for hiking the Narrows and many other events.

Please post if you hear of anything else

Walk in the Virgin River - August means low water level.
Start at the Temple of Sinawava - NOT from the top Narrows
Rent a walking stick and water-shoes from a store mentioned earlier.
Internet search: youtube Virgin River Riverside

oops! Meant to say "Springdale" in previous post.

My husband, myself and our 13 year old son were there in April and did a Jeep tour through Zion Jeep Tours and at Bryce did a horseback tour into the canyon through Bryce Canyon Trail Rides. We enjoyed both!

dimorph- do you remember what tour operator you used for the jeep ride through Zion

The way read it they used "Zion Jeep Tours...."
Note that don't actually take you to the main points of interest at Zion National Park, that being Zion Canyon itself which you can explore by shuttle bus (might be long waits I hear), private shuttle bus.
The mesas outside the park are quite intersting - there is some great MTB riding in Hurrican Mesa which it looks like that jeep tour takes you to. I've done a full day ride there myself and never encountered another soul... Might be an intersting jeep ride & worth doing, but in no way is it a tour of the National Park nor any terrain equivalent to what's in the park...so don't miss actually visiting the National Park...

Yes, It's called zion jeep tours at zionjeeptours.com. We had originally booked the mesa vista group tour but then switched to a private jeep tour for a little extra money but since you have a large group, you might all be able to be on Mesa Vista tour with your whole group.

Good point about tour not being inside Zion.

it is monsoon season with flash floods. Just be careful. Cell reception is not good there, so warnings could be missed. 2015 was a tragic time esp in the Narrows.

Thank you all for the information!! I booked a 3 hour group tour with Zion Jeep Tours 5:30-8:30pm. I also booked the 1 hour ATV in Bryce. I was not aware of monsoon season. Thank you for that tip!! We plan on visiting the narrows but due to drought the the Bottom Up hike is the only option which is ok since it’s considered to be the easiest hike-however I am concerned with flash floods!!?

if you check the Weather Channel and you see video on July 14th of a flash flood that hit that day.They have had a drought and the ground can't handle the rain that fast.

I booked a tour with ZionJeep tours too- but not until October

We hiked Narrows in early June. I highly recommend renting water shoes and a hiking stick. You can get them at entrance to Zion in Springdale - right before you enter the park and get on the shuttle. It was very crowded for the first mile or so, then (like every other hike) it thins out some. The water was hip-high in places. It was a lot of fun.