Bryce and Zion Canyons - Time of year?

Planning a visit to the west and wonder if Feb/March is too cold to
visit Bryce and Zion Canyons. Or should we plan to be there at
different time of the year.

Any comments?

Thanks



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"TheNewsGuy(Mike)" wrote in message
...
Planning a visit to the west and wonder if Feb/March is too cold to
visit Bryce and Zion Canyons. Or should we plan to be there at
different time of the year.

Any comments?

Thanks

Went to Bryce Canyon at the end of May a few years back. There was still
plenty of snow around and it was pretty cold. Zion was ok though (lower
altitude?)

"TheNewsGuy(Mike)" wrote in message
...
Planning a visit to the west and wonder if Feb/March is too cold to
visit Bryce and Zion Canyons. Or should we plan to be there at
different time of the year.

Any comments?

Thanks

Went to Bryce Canyon at the end of May a few years back. There was still
plenty of snow around and it was pretty cold. Zion was ok though (lower
altitude?)

We were at Zion during the second week of March last year. The temps
in the valley were quite warm during mid-day, but it cooled down in the
late afternoon. I thought it was a nice time to visit because it
wasn't crowded at all.

http://www.pbase.com/madhatter/zion

The valley portion of Zion is nice the whole year as it is at a low
elevation. Bryce because of its high elevation would be cold and
probably snowy. The nice thing about Zion at that time of year is that
you can drive your car in the valley and not have to use a shuttle bus
and have problems parking for it (check if this is still true).
Therefore you can see a lot of things quickly and efficiently. I found
the views from the buses horrible, I couldn't see hardly anything,
while from my car they have always been nice. I personally avoid the
Zion Valley during the warm season for those reasons.

George

"george" wrote in news:1109573659.471081.254850
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:
I personally avoid the
Zion Valley during the warm season for those reasons.

The bus makes lots of stops. Get out and walk around or walk between stops.
Since you can catch the bus anytime, you don't have to worry about parking or
walking back to your car.

On 27 Feb 2005 22:54:19 -0800, "george" wrote:

I found
the views from the buses horrible, I couldn't see hardly anything,
while from my car they have always been nice. I personally avoid the
Zion Valley during the warm season for those reasons.

The bus system at Zion is extremely easy to use and makes a lot of
sense. You just hop off wherever you want, and grab the next one
going whichever way you want to go. They come by all the time, and
you'll spend less time waiting than you would have in finding a place
to park your car in the busy season.

I was leery of the Zion bus system until I rode it; it works very
well.

RJ

In article .com,
george wrote:
I found
the views from the buses horrible, I couldn't see hardly anything,
while from my car they have always been nice.

They aren't tour buses; they're shuttle buses. The idea is to take
them to the part of the park you want to explore, then get out and
enjoy the park for real, not through a window!

I don't want to imagine what the canyon was like on busy days before
private cars were replaced by the shuttle buses.


Patty

Thinking about the poor view from the buses, they are probably
partially due to the foliage on the trees during the warmer months.
But parking for the bus can be a big hassle (no parking spaces) later
in the day unless you know ahead of time where all the parking areas
are. I agree that without the buses the valley would be too clogged
with traffic. But it's certainly nice during the winter when driving
by (through) Zion to drive up the valley for a few hours to enjoy the
view again. You couldn't do that conveniently in summer. And enjoying
the park through a window is for real, just as real as getting out,
although from a slightly different perspective.

George

On 28 Feb 2005 22:53:29 -0800, "george" wrote:

Thinking about the poor view from the buses, they are probably
partially due to the foliage on the trees during the warmer months.
But parking for the bus can be a big hassle (no parking spaces) later
in the day unless you know ahead of time where all the parking areas
are. I agree that without the buses the valley would be too clogged
with traffic. But it's certainly nice during the winter when driving
by (through) Zion to drive up the valley for a few hours to enjoy the
view again. You couldn't do that conveniently in summer. And enjoying
the park through a window is for real, just as real as getting out,
although from a slightly different perspective.

George


Hi

Slightly off topic but...........

I once went to a lecture given by the Head National Park warden of a
very picturesque National Park here in England.

He said (hopefully tongue in cheek) that in his experience a large
number of tourists were so unimpressed by nature viewed "in the raw"
and so obviously used to only seeing natural wonders on a TV screen,
that he often thought of having a large piece of cardboard cut and
painted to look like a television set - with a big hole where the
screen should be.

On guided walks, he could then hold it up for tourists to look
through.

Regards

KGB