Help with Utah Camping Trip Options

[TromboneAl]

In September, Jenny (DW) will fly into Las Vegas on a Thursday morning, and will depart from Salt Lake City on Monday evening.

What do you think of this plan:

We meet her in Vegas, and drive to Zion National Park where we ride bikes and hike the Angel's Landing trail. We have a reserved campsite Thursday night at Zion.

On Friday we'll drive to Capitol Reef, and get a first-come-first-served campsite.

At that point, we could stay there, drive to Arches, or drive to Wasatch National Forest. We'd end up in SLC on Monday.

I guess the main question is whether it's too much to try to go to Zion, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Wasatch. We could also substitute Bryce. I'd need to make a campsite reservation near Arches, since I know those sites go fast.

Lena and I have been to Zion, Bryce and Arches.

What do you think?

 

[sinjin]

I would do at least two nights preferably three in each park. Don't forget about check-in, check-out and travel time between.

Wait, what? You're trying to do three parks in three days!!!!! That's insane. Go to one, explore and relax.

 

[RoccoPacco]

A few thoughts for you. My husband and I were at Zion and Bryce over the weekend -- driving from Las Vegas. We arrived by 11:00 a.m at Zion -- and it was well over 100F and limited how much we hiked. The high heat will continue into September (based on the ave park temperatures). As beautiful as Zion was, Bryce was our favorite of the two, and I wish we had allocated more than one day that we had planned. Bryce is considerably higher elevation, and was much cooler. I would also consider the free shuttle tours at both Zion and Bryce (Rainbow shuttle) if you havent been to the park before. We enjoyed the Rim hike at Bryce -- many others enjoyed the under-the-rim hikes which add a lot of elevation change and challenge. You can make these hikes as long as you wish using their shuttle bus system.

I would also consider biking in the Red Canyon (Dixie National Forrest off of Hwy 12 to Bryce). It appears to be a beautiful bike trail and incredible Red Canyons. We did not make it this trip to Capitol Reef, Arches, etc , but we are definitely planning another trip back to the area and will hike there.

 

[TromboneAl]

Yes, temperature is an issue for Lena. We're seeing an average high of 91 for Sept, so we'll see. We'll escape to Bryce if it's too hot -- it was very cold there when we visited in May:

We love Zion because the road is smooth and closed to cars (tour buses only). Here's video from our last trip:

ZionToZion 035 - YouTube

Blog here.

Thanks for the tip on the Red Canyon Trail!

 

[Ronstar]

I can't give you advice on the places you're thinking of hiking other than to watch out for falling rocks like the one in the 2nd photo of your original post.

 

[ivinsfan]

We are taking almost the same trip,starting next Monday, but it's a SL to SL loop and we are using 7 days.Including Bryce and Capital Reef ending with 4 nites in Moab.

We were worried that would be too much driving for 7 days!
Instead of Capitol Reef you might consider Zion then Bryce followed by the ride on Utah 12 leaving Bryce Canyon..it's considered by some to be the most scenic road in Utah. Kodachrome Basin SP, is a full service park with biking trails and Rv spots...also close Escalante SP and Anasazi SP... we are stopping at all of these points.
Utah my favorite state, it's impossible to see everything! I'd love a quick report after you return.

 

[ivinsfan]

Back from Utah... the Hiway 12 drive from Bryce to Capital Reef is one of a kind. Capital Reef was stunning and a high-lite of the trip. I have tried to post a picture taken along H 12.

 

[W2R]

Back from Utah... the Hiway 12 drive from Bryce to Capital Reef is one of a kind. Capital Reef was stunning and a high-lite of the trip. I have tried to post a picture taken along H 12.

The easy way to post a picture that you already have on your computer, is to click on the "paper clip" icon as you are composing your post. A little pop-up window will appear. Using that, browse and find the picture on your computer and upload it. That's all you have to do.

 

[ivinsfan]

Thanks!

 

[W2R]

You're welcome. What a beautiful photo!!!

 

[TromboneAl]

Utah Car/Bike Trip

 

[SteveR]

You are talking about my backyard. I agree with the post that said 2-3 days per park; not counting travel time. Zion and Bryce are 3 or so hours apart. Both are pretty big and spread out. If you are biking plan on a lot of time in the parks due to elevations changes and stuff to see. Hiking is a whole other story. Lots of elevation changes in the parks and tons of hiking...most are 5-10 miles round trip but well worth it. Plan on spending the time to really see the park.

Keep in mind Zion is a no-drive park. You take the shuttle through the park to your trailhead. You can pick up a shuttle to the park from various places outside the park and ride free to the park.

Bryce is higher elevation so is much cooler than Zion. The temps are "down" to the 90's during the day in Zion; figure about 20 less in Bryce.

Utah is full of parks and National Monuments and State parks that will keep you busy for months. Every part of the state is a different view but all are beautiful (one of the reasons I live here).

 

[meierlde]

Let me add another park, Canyonlands, its just west of Moab, there are 2 parts the Island in the Sky and the Needles both the overlook and the actual needles. Its about 30-40 miles from the main road to each of these places. Of course if your in Moab the biking in general is great all be it hilly.
Actually at Moab for a flat ride, take ut 279 along the Colorado river downstream(its a dead end) or Ut 128 up the river for a distance, since it connects to i-70 in the middle of nowhere.

 

[ivinsfan]

T Al, I'm waiting for your Angel's Landing report, I made it to Scout Lookout 3 times. However, Angel's Landing wasn't in the cards for me, I hope you have some pictures from up there.

 

[TromboneAl]

T Al, I'm waiting for your Angel's Landing report, I made it to Scout Lookout 3 times. However, Angel's Landing wasn't in the cards for me, I hope you have some pictures from up there.

Here it is:

Utah Car/Bike Trip, Page 3

We are back home now. It will be a few days before the blog catches up.

I agree that each park deserves more time, but our itinerary worked very well. Picked Jenny up in Vegas, then drove to Zion and rode our bikes up the canyon. The next day we did Angels Landing, then spent the night and drove to Bryce the next day. We hiked Bryce, and spent the night (temp down to about 38 degrees).

We then drove towards Salt Lake City, camping halfway between Bryce and SLC. We then did sightseeing in SLC and dropped Jenny at the airport. There will be many more details on the blog.

It worked out well for the limited time (five days) that we had with Jenny, and she really enjoyed the scenery.

The route through the desert worked well. It was never hot, although we had problems with thunderstorms.

 

[deserat]

Angels Landing and Bryce

TAl - sounds great - I have two pics - one of me on Angel's Landing and another of me hiking in Bryce Canyon (where all we met were Europeans!!!) Sounds like your trip went well - Angel's Landing reminded me of parts of the Italian Dolomiti Via Ferrata - harnesses, cables and no fear of heights required!

If this trip was the one you lost weight on - uhhh - that hike up to Angel's landing burned quite a few calories....

 

[Dawg52]

Nice photos! Utah is certainly on my to do list.

 

[Moemg]

Gorgeous scenery ! Unfortunately I am afraid of heights and just looking at those switchback photos made me dizzy .

 

[ivinsfan]

Great pictures of Angel's Landing, Thank You...
I wish I wasn't afraid of heights, just looking at the pictures makes me breakout in a sweat. Zion is my number one favorite national park!

 

[TromboneAl]

It's fun to see your pictures of the same places, Deserat. Yes, 85% Europeans -- I haven't figured that out yet.

My favorite is Zion, but Lena prefers Bryce. I just finished the blog page for our Bryce photos, including me getting slapped:

(blog page here).

 

[ivinsfan]

A few pictures from Capital Reef NF, we made a stop at the park because it was on the way to Arches and Moab. What a surprise, it was like a giant version of Zion.More of a looking and driving park because of it's size and not as hiking friendly as Zion.