Hey everyone,

The GF and I are headed your direction late September/early October. I was curious as to what you thought about the following schedule.

I'm flying into Phoenix, on Wednesday 9/30. Staying in Phoenix Wed, Thur and Friday morning to golf with a friend for a few days. Heading to the Grand Canyon (South Rim) Friday afternoon for a dinner time arrival.

Spending all day Saturday at the GC, then headed to Bryce Canyon on Sunday. (There is a nighttime, full moon hike and photo op that I plan to be there for).

Spending all day Monday, and Tuesday morning at BC, then head to Zion Tuesday afternoon.

Spend Tuesday night, all day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning at Zion, then heading to LV for a night before flying home on Saturday.

The extra day in Zion can be moved around.

Thoughts? I'd like to get to Arches and Canyonlands, but I think the extra time to do that would take away real time spent at the other parks, and as it currently is, the driving is reasonable to not lose a lot of time (with the exception of GC to BC).

Also - if there is anything a little out of the ordinary at the places mentioned, please let me know. We were planning on doing the normal moderate type trails, photos, etc... not any serious hiking, but rather taking the opportunity to just relax in the environment and get away from life for a little while.

Thanx,

Gary

 

Gary, looks like a fun trip!

A lot of it comes down to personal preference. If it were me, I'd probably cut back significantly on GC and scale up time spent elsewhere. The Grand Canyon is pretty spectacular, but my preference especially for spending time hiking around is Bryce Canyon and Arches. Of all the places you've mentioned, my personal favorite is Arches ... especially if what you're after is hiking and photos.

If you like mountain biking, then +++ for Arches. Rent some bikes in Moab and hit up some of the great mountain biking trails around Arches. Ditto if it's Jeep or ATV off roading you prefer.

Have fun!

 

Thanks - The trip seems to have changed already.

It looks like we're going to fly into Vegas instead. I'm going to scrap golf with my friend in Phoenix.

Just 1 night in LV, catch a show and head out to Zion the next day. The schedule then seems to repeat itself:

Leave somewhere in the morning. Arrive in the afternoon, see a little there. Spend one full day, then repeat.

It looks like the list is now Zion, Bryce, Page AZ (Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Valley), Canyonlands and finally Arches.

We'll likely fly back from Grand Junction (there seems to be 1 stop flights) back to the East Coast.

We've got to do some digging into the specifics. I'm good with hiking and photos, but an ATV rental or something is definitely doable.

 

It will be a blur, but those are some great spots.

 

Zion is awesome. Totally the opposite of vegas. I did a vegas/zion trip at the beginning of the year and hated vegas after being in zion for 3 days haha.