Zion / Bryce Easter Weekend with Kids (13, 10, 8)
 

I am flying from Florida to visit my sister in Las Vegas the week before Easter. Her family and mine are planning a quick visit over Easter weekend to Zion Nat'l Park and Bryce Canyon based on the recommendations from friends. We are staying Friday night at Ruby's Inn at Bryce. Thinking horseback riding through Bryce Saturday morning, and then heading to Zion in the afternoon. We are staying at the Zion Mountain Ranch Saturday night. We will have Saturday evening and Sunday (Easter) to spend at Zion. We would like to hike there with the kids. What would you recommend for hiking trails or for changes or additions to our itinerary to get the most out of these couple of days?

I don't know anything about Zion Mountain Ranch other than it's near the east entrance of Zion.

That said what I do know is you really won't see much of the park from this location. You will also have to travel back and forth on both Saturday and Sunday. This being holiday weekend will probably mean a line to wait in at the entrance and then twice each day you will have to travel though the Mt. Zion tunnel which isn't bad except there can be long waits because RV's have to be escorted though the tunnel. You will then more than likely have to exit at the West entrance of the park to find parking If it's not close to the walk in entrance station to Zion you will have to take one of the free shuttle buses to the entrance and then switch shuttle buses after the visitor center. If you had to find parking outside the park, then you will have to wait in line again to enter the park to return to your lodging. In other words you're going to be spending a lot of your precious time before you can even think about hiking.

Being a holiday weekend you might not have a choice of staying in Springdale, Utah or in the park itself because they might already be booked, but if you can get in on a cancelation then you will save yourself A LOT of time. If you stay in Springdale you will not only have beautiful views of Zion but you can leave your car parked at the lodging and ride the free city shuttles to the park walk in entrance and pick up the free park shuttle to get to most of the hikes.

Riverside walk is a great hike in Zion. Lower, middle and maybe even upper Emerald Pools returning on the Kayenta trail, Canyon Overlook trail & Weeping rock are all on the easier side. Canyon Overlook has a little section that might be considered a little dangerous because it's a narrow ledge with no hand rails.

Utahtea

I agree with utahtea. The location of ZMR is poor. Do whatever you can to stay in the town of Springdale.

Agree. Try for Springdale.

Although, the mountain pass might still be snowy?

Thank you for the information. ZMR is a bison ranch. We just thought it would be fun for the kids to stay there. I am looking into alternative reservations now.

You could always stop on your way from Bryce to Zion and check out the ZMR or even eat there. The bison usually can be seen from the road.

Utahtea

Sherrod

You should also check on the start date for riding IN Bryce. Easter week is likely too early. I think they ddon't start until Mem weekend because Bryce is high altitude and gets lots of snow.

I was able to get a villa at Cliffrose Lodge in Springdale. Whew! Good thought on ZMR. We may just do that.

We've never done the horseback ride at Bryce but we looked into it once. If you want to ride in Bryce National Park you have to book though the national park. If you book outside the park....you ride outside the park!

Utahtea

Good to know. Thank you!

The desk for rides in Bryce is right inside the lobby of the Bryce lodge. If you can't find the number for the horse stable, call the lodge and they may be able to help you connect with them, or tell you when they start for the season. It is definitely before Memorial day - I've seen them on the trails in early May - in several inches fresh snow.... Be prepared for cold weather at Bryce as it is 8000-9000' elevation.

We did horseback riding through Ruby's Inn front desk--you will want to book in advance since its a holiday weekend. Rubys Inn takes you into Red Canyon--where I had not been. I thought it was truly gorgeous. It might also be lower and it might be running when the Bryce Canyon rides are not. And they all might start early this year because we have such little snow. When we went in October--it was cold in the morning!!! Bring extra warm socks and clothing. At least when you are hiking, you stay warmer. The other thing is that the trails the Bryce Canyon ride uses are steep and might be ice covered. The shorter Red Canyon trail ride is along a flat, creek bottom.

In all honesty--I would spend the 2 days in Zion and skip Bryce just because the weather could be so iffy--or it could be warm like it was over Presidents Day! Zion has plenty to do for 2 days. You really can see the cool stuff at Bryce if you drive the road, stop at the lookouts, and maybe hike the Bristle Cone Pine Trail. You could drive up from Zion, do that drive, and go back to Zion. But i would just save Bryce for another time.

Here is my trip report on kids in Zion:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ids-report.cfm

Here is my trip report on kids in Bryce:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-with-kids.cfm

Our new plans...

Drive from LV to Bryce on Friday night. Stay at Ruby's Inn. Try to drive to see sunrise at Bryce on Saturday morning (at the particular spot - I forget the name). We have a 2 hr horseback ridingt trip scheduled for 10am Saturday. I didn't book through Ruby's due to some poor reviews.

Afterwards, we will drive back, hopefully past the bison ranch (ZMR), where we may decide to have lunch. Head for Zion. Spend Saturday evening at the Cliffrose Lodge. Again, hoping to be able to get into the park to see sunset, and then early morning at Zion to see sunrise. Spend Easter at Zion hiking some of the recommended trails (Emerald Pools?) We'll figure it out as it gets a bit closer and when I return from Germany (where I am now for work) and have access to a printer to plan things out better.

Thank you all for your help!

Have a great trip!

Keep in mind that Zion is a canyon and the sun will set earlier the farther along in the scenic canyon you go on the shuttle buses. If the sun is still up and you are at the Cliffrose Lodge, all you have to do is go out back and you can watch the sunset on the red sandstone of Watchman which is in Zion. As the sunsets the mountain get's redder and redder...it's a perfect place to watch the sunset! The Cliffrose Lodge is just across the Virgin river from Zion's Watchman Campground where we stay when we go. If you want to be in the park, the Cliffrose Lodge is just .3 miles walk to the parks walk in entrance. You are that close!

Easter is going to be busy day in the park and the shuttle buses will be packed. Get there early in the morning!

Utahtea

Agree with utahtea about seeing sunset on the Watchman. Best view in the canyon for sunset. For sunrise, the viewpoint across from Court of the Patriachs is awesome. About the first shuttle stop once the bus starts into the canyon.

We had a fantastic time! Thanks to everyone for their tips. We ended up staying at Ruby's Inn for Bryce and Cliffrose Lodge, and for our Zion stay. We stayed Friday night at Ruby's and visited Bryce the next morning for a quick look at one of the trails near Bryce Lodge before our horseback ride down into the canyon. We booked our horseback ride through Bryce Canyon, and I'm so glad we did. It was fabulous. I do wish we'd spent more time in Bryce Canyon, though. In our opinion, you can't compare the beauty of the two, but we did not think that Zion was more beautiful, and would defintely have been disappointed if we had skipped Bryce all together. If I had the opportunity to go back, I would choose to spend more time at Bryce Canyon. We spent Saturday night at Zion at the Cliffrose Lodge. The view was amazing, and the complimentary breakfast the next morning was more than adequate. The walk to Zion's visitor center entrance was very easy. We did the Emerald Pools trails on Saturday night, and then the River Walk and the Lower Narrows on Easter morning/afternoon. It was great fun. We did rent wading gear from the gear shop near the entrance to Zion. It was $45 per person for the suit, shoes, and hiking stick. A bargain considering the water was 41 degrees (they told us). The food in the area was fine, though we found the food at Bryce Canyon to be much better. There as a restaurant at Bryce Lodge that was unbelievable. We had dinner at Ruby's Inn. The service wasn't great, and the prices were quite high, but the food was decent. When we left Zion, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant in the little town just outside the park. It was very bad. I wouldn't recommend it. All in all. A wonderful time was had by everyone, and we would recommend it to anyone that asks.

Hi Sherrhod!

My family of four leaves for Utah on Saturday (we're so excited!) and so it was great to read your trip report. Thanks for posting it! A question about your experience in the Narrows. How did your 8-year-old manage? We also have a 5-year-old? He's a hardy kid, but do you think that the beginning of the Narrows would be possible for a 5-year-old? One further question is about the rental gear. We're concerned because we plan on staying the full day in Zion hiking and that would include the Narrows hike. Given that we can't drive our own car through the park and have to take the shuttle, I guess that means that we have to rent the gear at the beginning of the day and carry it with us or wear parts of it all day? I'm thinking the logistics may not work for us... I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!
Jenn

alwaysafrica, check with the rangers at Zion. They would know if your youngest would be OK doing part of the Narrows.

Lee Ann