Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon in April?
 

I was originally thinking about taking a trip with my 6 year old to Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon for 5 days around April 6th. I was planning on flying to Las Vegas and driving to Zion, Bryce, the GC, and then back. Weather seems like it's OK at that time of year for the South Rim of GC and for Zion. However, I'm questioning whether that itinerary is reasonable in April because:

1. The North Rim of the GC isn't open until May so it'd be a lot longer drive around to the South Rim from Bryce.
2. It looks like Bryce trails may still be snow covered at that time? I believe they are now and assume they'd still be snow covered 2 weeks from now.

Do you think it's better not to go at this time, esp. with a 6 year old? If I don't go in April, I'm not sure if we'll be able to go anytime soon.

Zion and the south rim should be fine weather wise. Every time I've been to Bryce in April the trails have been covered with snow.

Another option would be Sedona and Grand Canyon. She/he would probably like to take the pink jeep ride in Sedona and there are easy hikes along the rim trail in Grand Canyon.

Check on lodging in all the places. The national parks get reserved way in advance but people cancel as the time gets closer and plans change, so take the Xanterra number and call frequently.

So it sounds like maybe Bryce isn't such a good idea in April for my situation.

If that's the case, and if I still want to go to Zion and the Grand Canyon, would it be better to fly into Phoenix instead of Las Vegas? If I did so, I guess I'd go Phoenix/Sedona to Grand Canyon South Rim to Zion and then back to Phoenix--maybe adding in Page/Lake Powell instead of Sedona. I guess instead of making a round trip, I could go from Zion to Las Vegas and fly out of there, but I'm guessing the car rental would be much more for a one-way, assuming the extra airfare for returning from a different city didn't already get me?

Do check costs both ways. Generally it is cheaper to rent a car in Vegas and you pay extra to drop off at a different city. If you do that it will probably be cheaper to fly into Vegas and out of Phoenix, but you will have to do a bit of checking with different companies to be sure. The airfare isn't usually a real higher factor.

We're doing LAS-GC-ZION-BRYCE-MOAB end of next month..

Flying into Phoenix, etc sounds great Sedona is gorgeous... For one way rental we got Avis... they were a few hundred cheaper, and didn't show up in most search engines..

Thanks for the great suggestions.

After checking air and car rentals, it sounds like a one-way loop isn't going to be any more expensive than round trip so now I'm thinking:

Arrive in PHX or FLG (same cost using miles, but tight connection PHX to FLG)
Spend a day/night in Sedona
Visit Grand Canyon and spend another night in Sedona or drive up to Page to spend a night there instead
Spend 2-3 nights in Zion
Leave from LAS

Anyone know how to get from Flagstaff to a hotel in Sedona at night? I was going to rent a car but it looks like Avis closes at 7PM and my flight wouldn't get in until after 9PM.

I would fly into Phoenix and drive north to Sedona. Otherwise you'll have to backtrack from Flagstaff to Sedona.

Lee Ann