yk

Hello, I am in the early stages of planning our trip to Zion and Bryce national parks for mid-June 2023 for our family of 3 (our son is 10). I just made our flight reservations to/from Las Vegas. We arrive Vegas on a Wednesday evening, so we need to stay in Vegas overnight before driving out the next morning. We fly out of Vegas the following Saturday midday. So we will have 8 nights for the national parks (Thursday through Thursday, then Friday we drive back to Vegas for one day/night before flying out on Saturday).

My plan is to stop in Zion first and Bryce second (since Zion is hotter than Bryce). I have read a number of threads here and most recommend more days in Zion than Bryce as there are more hiking options. I am thinking 3-4 days in Zion, 2-3 days in Bryce. Then where? One of our friends went to antelope canyon last year and highly recommend (and needs advanced booking), but it's a bit out of the way. We would need to stay over night there I think. I also read here that another option is North Rim of Grand Canyon. But is that just a drive-by, hike a bit, then continue on without staying overnight? I want to have a sense of where else we could go for another 1-2 days, or should we just add it onto Zion and Bryce without being too greedy? Is Antelope Canyon really worth it?

I have a few more questions:
Zion lodge is fully booked for June, save for a single night here and there, so we will look to stay in Springdale instead. But Zion Lodge is wide open for booking for the months of July and August. Why is that? Am I missing something?

Bryce Canyon Lodge still has availability, should we just stay there rather than outside the park?

finally, the first night in Vegas, I read that we should stay somewhere with easy access to the highway to get on I-15, but isn't every hotel on the strip is fairly close to the highway? There are lots of hotels to choose from on the strip.

I haven't looked into the nitty gritty portion of the trip yet, but places/hikes that our friends recommend include Kolob Canyons, Narrows, Emerald Pools, Capitol Reef, Grand Staircase Escalante, Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Thanks in advance!

Melnq8

I found more hiking options in Bryce than in Zion. Three nights in each spot worked well for us - we visited in January and were still surprised at the crowds in Zion, so be prepared.

How about Kodachrome Basin State Park after Bryce? Or Escalante?

But Zion Lodge is wide open for booking for the months of July and August. Why is that? Am I missing something?

Highs of 97 F? Just a guess.

MichelleY

Have you been to the Grand Canyon? If not, at least do an overnight.

mlgb

Plus risk of flash flooding during thunderstorms.

Yes I do think it is worth staying inside Bryce.

It is a long day to drive back from the North Rim to Las Vegas.

I might add in a night in Kanab and a visit to Angel Canyon (Best Friends) if you are animal lovers. Or go out and back to Capitol Reef.

J62

My go-to place to stay at Zion is Cable Mountain Lodge. It is literally right outside the pedestrian entrance to the park, so you simply walk across the bridge to the park shuttle. They have suites which are ideal for a family stay, and it's located right next to a small but complete supermarket.

There is more to do in the immediate Zion area than just the canyon floor. I have spent a full week at Zion and never ran out of amazing things to do and enjoy.
Additional activities include:
- guided slot canyon hike - I believe this is accessible from the Kolob Terrace road.
- mountain bike riding outside the park, near Hurricane. You can rent bikes in Springdale. Some amazing mountain bike trails, ranging from less to more difficult. IIRC you are a family of bike riders, but usually along flat, paved bike trails in the northeast. The bike shop in Springdale may have guided half day rides that are appropriate for your family.
- likely some horseback riding in the area - maybe along the same mtb trails, or at a ranch near Zion. google is your friend here.

If you have an extra day or 2, then by all means consider a side trip to GC NorthRim. I believe it opens up sometime mid May.

Nelson

We also never ran out of things to do in Zion in a week or more. (However, that's true of any of those parks.) Another nice lodging option:
https://www.desertpearl.com/en/homepage

I'll bet you guys would enjoy a visit to Grafton ghost town, just outside of Springdale. Try to watch "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" shortly before your trip.
https://www.americansouthwest.net/ut...host_town.html

yk

Hello! Thanks for all your input so far. I've spent more time researching and reading trip reports here. This is what I'm thinking now:

Wednesday arrive in Vegas, stay overnight in Vegas
Thursday drive to Zion, check-in, stop at visitors center for maps, pick up food supplies etc
Friday Zion
Saturday Zion
Sunday drive to Grand Canyon North Rim
Monday GC north rim, then drive to Bryce
Tuesday day Bryce
Wednesday trip to Capitol Reef and Escalante
Thursday Bryce
Friday drive back to Vegas, overnight in Vegas
Saturday fly home

(1 night Vegas, 3 nights Zion, 1 night GC north rim, 4 nights Bryce, 1 night Vegas)

How does this itinerary look?
Is that too much time in Bryce? Should I switch to 4 at Zion and 3 @ Bryce? Just wondering if Zion will already be too hot in mid-June and therefore we are limited to how much we can hike and see?

It turns out my spouse has never been to any of these national parks (not even Grand canyon). I understand some of the drives are long but we aren't driving every single day. For Zion, I think we will stay at Cable Mountain Lodge. I prefer to be walking distance to the entrance, and it's either Cable Mountain or Desert Rose. Desert Rose is slightly cheaper but it's probably 1/2 mile farther away.

For Bryce and GC North Rim, it looks like the in-park lodges still have availability.

Patty

July is the start of monsoon season.

Definitely grab the room at the North Rim Lodge as there's no other place nearby to stay.

If it's too hot to hike in Zion Canyon, you can try the higher elevation parts of the park like Kolob Canyon or along Kolob Terrace Rd up to Lava Point. Both of these options will be around 45 minutes to an hour drive from Springdale.

You could detour to Cedar Breaks on the drive between Springdale and Bryce if you end up deciding against Grand Canyon. Cedar Breaks is over 10,000 ft in elevation and is like a mini version of Bryce and will be less crowded than the national parks.

Bryce to Capitol Reef and back will be a long day trip. Hwy 12 is very scenic so with multiple photo stops can take 3 hours or more each way plus time spent at Capitol Reef. There are some nice hikes in Grand Staircase but most will require driving on unpaved roads to get to the trail head. One that's right off of Hwy 12 is Calf Creek Falls. However it's very popular so parking fills up quickly. An easy detour on a paved road off of Hwy 12 is to Singing Canyon a mini slot canyon that's a short walk from the road.

I think staying on the Strip is fine.

mlgb

I was thinking you could overnight at Capital Reef. Hwy 12 really is an amazing drive.

MichelleY

North Rim is such a long drive, maybe add another night there. It’s all so beautiful!

sunbum1944

We stayed in Springdale and enjoyed staying there. We were at the La Quinta which has shuttle to park just up the street. It also has the "Zion Guru" which is a business which has all the hiking and activity guides about Bryce and Zion you will need. They have rental gear for the Narrows, bikes and lots more.
There is a nice grocery store in Springdale with a deli where you can get sandwiches made to go for your days adventures. We did that a couple of days.
We also did a jeep tour with Zion Jeep Tours which we enjoyed- except for the part where we got caught up in a police shoot out. That was a bit more exciting than we had planned for. The jeep tour takes you to a site where you will see dinosaur foot prints preserved in the dirt and you will learn some of the history of the area. Recommend.
Love that part of the country!

mlgb

I've also stayed at the La Quinta. There is no shortage of decent lodging in Springdale. At the time, they were one of the only mid-priced lodgings with included breakfast.

The shuttle is a PITA though. There are a few hikes you can get to without the shuttle if you go early enough to grab a parking spot (Canyon Overlook is one).

HappyTrvlr

We did more hiking in Bryce than Zion. We enjoyed both of them and they are very different from each other.

sunbum1944

We never had a problem getting on a shuttle but we were there in Oct so maybe less people. If you do the Canyon Overlook Trail make sure you wear hiking shoes and I suggest a hiking pole. I found the area where you are walking next to the canyon wall and on a steep ledge with no guardrail a little scary and I have done a lot of hiking. It was beautiful though. And agree its hard to find a place to park. There is one small parking lot and everyone else parks on the side of road.

mlgb

I guess you didn't go to Angel's Landing if you thought that Canyon Overlook was scary. We did it as test and decided it was enough exposure so just went up Walter's Wiggles but not out Angel's Landing.

sunbum1944

No Angels landing for me! That really looks scary.

oldemalloy

For those spots in the parks, grab the reservation now.

on your way back to Vegas, go to Valley of Fire State park. Check out the petroglyphs along the path to Mouses Tank. We saw a herd of big horn sheep the last time we drove through.

Patty

Here's the section of Canyon Overlook trail with a drop off and no guardrail. At least it's fairly short! I couldn't do Angels Landing.



Valley of Fire will be even hotter but may be worth a drive through. You can enter from one side and exit the other so that you're not backtracking.

sunbum1944

That section of the trail may be short but its a loooooog way to the bottom. Thanks for the pic. Thats is exactly what it looks like. I was not digging it!

mlgb

At least there was a wall to hug on one side!