Grand Circle in 1 loop

Hi Everybody,

I am planning on a 1 week trip, which starts and ends at Las Vegas and
driving into Zion, Bryce and Moab. Any suggestions on what to see,
where to stay and whether the plan seems feasible?

Thanx
Bali

In article .com,
wrote:

Hi Everybody,

I am planning on a 1 week trip, which starts and ends at Las Vegas and
driving into Zion, Bryce and Moab. Any suggestions on what to see,
where to stay and whether the plan seems feasible?

One week? With that itinerary, what you see most of is the interior of
your car.

wrote:
I am planning on a 1 week trip, which starts and ends at Las Vegas
and driving into Zion, Bryce and Moab. Any suggestions on what to
see, where to stay and whether the plan seems feasible?

I did this a few years back (drive by visitation, mostly)...
Arrive + Spend 1st Nite at no-name motel in Vegas.
2nd Nite at Bryce (1/2 of next day in Bryce).
3rd+4th Nites at Zion (Southern entrance).
5th+6th Nites at South Rim of Grand Canyon.
Then back to Vegas for a few days.
I suggest staying in lodges/hotels just outside each park.
Cnsult a map and go to www.tripadvisor.com =R=

I am planning on a 1 week trip, which starts and ends at Las Vegas and
driving into Zion, Bryce and Moab. Any suggestions on what to see,
where to stay and whether the plan seems feasible?

One week? With that itinerary, what you see most of is the interior of
your car.

Don't be silly. The farthest point from Las Vegas that he mentioned
is Moab, and that's only about a 7-hour drive via the Interstates.

In fact, that's exactly what I'd suggest to start with -- drive to
Moab on the first day via I-15 and I-70, and then visit your various
national parks (NPs) on the way back. As an appetizer, though, do
get off I-15 at exit 40 in Utah to visit the Kolob Canyons section
of Zion NP; this section has its own entrance separate from the rest
of the park, and will be out of your way when you're coming back. It
has one main viewpoint, not too far from the freeway, overlooking a
beautiful group of canyons.

The direct route from I-70 to Moab is US 191 (exit 182 off I-70), but
if you get there while the sun is still fairly high in the sky, then
I'd recommend detouring via state highway 128 (exit 204). The drive
to Moab on this road includes a twisty canyon section following the
Colorado River, not a spectacularly deep canyon but very pretty.

You will want to stop for two nights at Moab, maybe three depending
on your route. Both Arches NP and Canyonlands NP are nearby.

Arches is one of my favorite parks and features some beautiful places
to be seen by walking for 1/2 to 1 hour as well as views you can see
from your car. My favorite features in the park are the formations
called Double Arch (seen in the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the
Last Crusade) and Park Avenue (although the trail through this one
requires returning via the road), but these are just the best of many.

Canyonlands has a completely different kind of scenery, and while
it does include some lovely views down into the canyons, they are
at the ends of relatively long roads and I'd say don't bother trying
to squeeze this one into your schedule if you're enjoying other things.

Going back west from Moab you have three choices of route. The shortest
way is back up to I-70 and west to highway 24, then southwest; if you
want to have plenty of time for Zion NP, or if you don't want to pile
up the miles too much, this is your best choice.

Second, from Moab you can head south to Blanding on US 191, then go
west on highway 95. This includes several scenic zones, especially
the part where 95 crosses the Colorado River (part of Glen Canyon).
If you want, you can take a couple of hours to see Natural Bridges
(which is not an NP but an NM, National Monument -- that means about
the same thing, though). This includes a loop road with three places
where you can stop and take a short walk to look down into a canyon to
see a natural bridge (an arch-like formation) at the bottom. To get
a *good* view of these formations, though, you need to take the much
longer trails down into the canyon. Like Canyonlands, I'd say Natural
Bridges is not a top priority for your limited time. Anyway, 95 ends
at highway 24 and the route comes back together with the first route.

Incidentally, somewhere south of Moab on 191 you will pass a man-made
tourist attraction called Hole in the Rock, whose sign includes the
largest error in apostrophe usage I've ever seen. Painted on the
cliffside in letters at least 12 feet high, it reads "HOLE N''THE ROCK"!

Third and longest, from Moab go to Blanding as above, then continue
south and southwest to Monument Valley, where many westerns were
filmed. The term "Valley" is misleading here; the high land that
surrounds the lower land does not form continuous walls but rather a
series of separate steep-sided buttes. Or maybe there's a real valley
as well, but if so, you can't see it from the road. This again is not
an NP, but is a Navajo tribal park; there are guided tours available.
From here either return to Blanding or cut north up highway 261, either
way picking up highway 95 to go west as above.

I'm not going to make suggestions for where you should stay next after
Moab, because it depends on which way you go and how you want to time
things. One option is Blanding (or nearby Monticello) if you go that
way; I don't think there's much in the way of accommodations along
highway 95 or in Monument Valley.

All these routes lead to Capitol Reef NP, which you cross from east to
west on highway 24. There are motels west of the park, around Torrey.
Capitol Reef itself is a ridge or escarpment running north-south, and
the park includes a scenic drive parallel to the base of the ridge,
which takes I think 30-45 minutes each way if you go to the end of the
paved road.

At Torrey turn southwest on highway 12, another very scenic road,
passing through the Grand Staircase - Escalante NM. This includes one
section where the road runs along the summit of a ridge so you have
views downward on both sides!

This brings you to Bryce Canyon NP. There are several accommodations
just outside the park entrance. Of these, Ruby's Inn is sufficiently
well known that it's marked on some highway maps, but it's not so
cheap, with nightly entertainment and all. I don't know about other
places in the immediate area. When I visited the park this year,
I went on past the park to Panguitch and stayed at an independent
motel there.

Again, Bryce Canyon is something of a misleading place name -- the
formation is really a gigantic escarpment, again running north-south.
In this case the park road runs southward along the top of the ridge
and provides spectacular views down the steep drop-off, festooned with
hoodoos, to the land below.

All of the views from along the road are lovely, but the very best and
most famous ones are near the north end of it. So the thing to do is
to drive all the way to the south end of the road (Rainbow Point), then
see all the viewpoints as you come back north. This puts them all
conveniently on your right and also means you save the best for last.

If you only wanted to see the best views, you wouldn't drive to the end
of the road -- in fact, you don't need to drive into the park at all
in that case, because there's a shuttle bus service from Ruby's Inn
covering the northern group of viewpoints. But I say to do the whole
road; it's worth it, and only takes half a day. As always, the park
also has hiking trails if you want to take more time there -- some on
the rim, some going down.

From Bryce Canyon NP it's less than 2 hours' drive to Zion NP, this time
the main section. This park includes several quite different kinds of
scenery and is worth spending a fair amount of time in, but I won't get
more specific as it's been a relatively long time since I was there.
There are many motels in the towns west of the park (between the park
and I-15) along highway 9, as well as the Zion Lodge inside the park;
I don't know about accommodations east of the park.

Another option, of course, would be to do the same route in reverse.
If you're uncertain as to how much time you'll want to spend in Zion
and Bryce Canyon NPs, the reversed version would allow you to tune the
eastern part of the route accordingly.

If you want to stay in chain motels, Best Western are probably the most
numerous (and Ruby's Inn is one of theirs); I prefer Comfort Inns, which
also have plenty of locations around there. I don't know about the
cheaper chains. As you're traveling outside of peak season, you may
prefer to just look at motels as you pass them and pick one.

In any case, have a good trip.
--
Mark Brader "Just because the standard provides a cliff in
Toronto front of you, you are not necessarily required
to jump off it." -- Norman Diamond

My text in this article is in the public domain.

In article ,
(Mark Brader) wrote:

I am planning on a 1 week trip, which starts and ends at Las Vegas and
driving into Zion, Bryce and Moab. Any suggestions on what to see,
where to stay and whether the plan seems feasible?

One week? With that itinerary, what you see most of is the interior of
your car.

Don't be silly. The farthest point from Las Vegas that he mentioned
is Moab, and that's only about a 7-hour drive via the Interstates.

I guess so. For me, I would not bother driving seven hours just to spend
a day or two in one place before moving on.

Shawn Hirn wrote:
I guess so. For me, I would not bother driving seven hours just to spend
a day or two in one place before moving on.

Thing is, many of us have only a limited amount of time for travel.

I can't say to my boss "Seven days isn't enough time to see Zion
National Park, I'm going to take another week off."

If I can't see Yellowstone in seven days, I won't be spending two weeks
instead -- I simply can't go at all. IMHO a quick, cursory visit beats
the heck out of settling for picture books & the NPS website.

--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Everybody,

I am planning on a 1 week trip, which starts and ends at Las Vegas and
driving into Zion, Bryce and Moab. Any suggestions on what to see,
where to stay and whether the plan seems feasible?

Did you purposely omit the Grand Canyon North Rim, which is close to these
destinations?

What time of year do you plan this trip? Bryce is at 7500 feet and gets cold
soon.

We about to take off on a similar trip and are staying in the national
parks, on the principle you're closer to the sights. We are also going to
Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly, but the latter would be definitely off
your path.

I think you could see a lot in your week, but you won't have much time for
hiking or really getting into these destinations.

Marianne

Mark Brader wrote:
I am planning on a 1 week trip, which starts and ends at Las Vegas and
driving into Zion, Bryce and Moab. Any suggestions on what to see,
where to stay and whether the plan seems feasible?

One week? With that itinerary, what you see most of is the interior of
your car.

Don't be silly. The farthest point from Las Vegas that he mentioned
is Moab, and that's only about a 7-hour drive via the Interstates.

In fact, that's exactly what I'd suggest to start with -- drive to
Moab on the first day via I-15 and I-70, and then visit your various
national parks (NPs) on the way back.

A long but good piece. I did that area two summers ago,
in just a little more time than he proposes, though my loop
started and ended at essentially Moab.

My suggestions different from his: I would not want to miss
the Needles section of Canyonlands. I would prefer it to
Natural Bridges. I agree that if time is short, don't visit
the Island in the Sky road at the north part of Canyonlands.

Doug McDonald

Doug Smith W9WI wrote:
Shawn Hirn wrote:
I guess so. For me, I would not bother driving seven hours just to spend
a day or two in one place before moving on.

Thing is, many of us have only a limited amount of time for travel.

I can't say to my boss "Seven days isn't enough time to see Zion
National Park, I'm going to take another week off."

If I can't see Yellowstone in seven days, I won't be spending two weeks
instead -- I simply can't go at all. IMHO a quick, cursory visit beats
the heck out of settling for picture books & the NPS website.

I had that situation, and I got almost four weeks off (rather then the
two I'm allowed to be paid for, the rest was no-pay holiday). Yeah, I
saw a lot of the inside of my car, and didn't get to hike a bit. But
considering driving around is something I really like to do, and my
idea of a little break is to pull over to some nice scenery, recline
the seat and have a snack... well a road trip in the car works for me.
I never travelled much to spend all my time in a bunch of places
outside, and since I can't walk very far anyway, I enjoyed seeing what
I could see from the dashboard.

If I had to do it again, I'd reduce the number of miles driven each
day. I had a lot of 12 hour sightseeing days, but I wasn't driving for
12 hours. Most of the time I did around 250 miles. I might do slightly
fewer in certain areas next time I plan, and slightly more when I'm
trying to get moving from A to B.

I can't comment on this guy's route, because he's going to a city and a
bunch of parks I haven't been to yet. But I plan to do Vegas and parks
within driving distance of Vegas on the next trip.

S.

Oh, by the way, I should point out that a national park system pass
will probably save you money on admissions on this itinerary. It's
in the form of a wallet card, good for 12 months, and costs $50
(good for the bearer and anyone else in the car). Admission fees
vary from one park to another, but Arches, Zion, and Bryce Canyon
will cost that much by themselves.

You can buy the pass at the first park you enter, but for people who
aren't sure it'll be worthwhile because they aren't sure which ones
they're going to, they also have the option of deciding later. Pay
cash for the first few parks and save the little cash-register receipts;
if you buy a pass within a certain time limit (I think it's two weeks),
then you can get the admissions refunded. A nice idea, that: very
traveler-friendly.

There is one catch, which is that some park entrances at some times
may be unattended, in which case you are still expected to pay but you
don't get a receipt and therefore no refund is possible later. On my
trip this summer I ran into this system at Canyonlands, so I ended up
paying $60 total instead of the $50.
--
Mark Brader | "I don't have to stay here to be insulted."
Toronto | "I realize that. You're insulted everywhere, I imagine."
| -- Theodore Sturgeon

My text in this article is in the public domain.