Planning a trip to Colorado/Utah - need advice!

I am planning a week long camping trip to Colorado and Utah with my 6
½ year-old son in mid June. This will be the first time tent camping
for us (we've previously gone the route of the KOA Kamping Kabin).

We are planning on seeing Rocky Mountain National Park (essentially
this is an overnight and a drive thru from Denver to Dinosaur),
Dinosaur National Monument, Arches National Park, and Canyonlands.

My son would like to take a raft trip. We've never done this, but my
hunch is that a half day trip would be the way to go here.
My son would also like to do a horseback trail ride. This was
something we did last year in South Dakota in the Black hills, and it
was a lot of fun. Again, my hunch, given that we're not used to
horseback riding, something shorter would be better. 2 hours or under.

I'm looking for information/advice on:
What to expect for weather/temperature in mid to late June.
Where to camp (I'm not into complete 'roughing it'...need showers and
bathrooms)
Rafting locations/options
Horseback riding locations/options
Hiking 'must do's'
Must see activities and stuff we should skip

Also, I've not done much tent camping in the past. Have been doing
lots of reading, but would love any tips that would help make this a
more enjoyable experience.

We've never been to this part of the west. Have a feeling we'll be so
tickled with it that a week won't seem like long enough.

From: (wills)

My son would like to take a raft trip. We've never done this, but my
hunch is that a half day trip would be the way to go here.

Some nice short and scenic raft trips out of Moab on the Colorado River, which
is near Arches. About right for a 6 year old if the water levels are low
enough.

On advice from friends - have a feeling the raft thing would work in
late July/August - but not in snow-melt-happy June. So we'll shelve
the idea of the raft for this trip.

I see alot of tour groups offer jeep trips - does anyone have any
thoughts on these? Are they worth the money/time?

dy (Bill Hilton) wrote in message ...
From: (wills)

My son would like to take a raft trip. We've never done this, but my
hunch is that a half day trip would be the way to go here.

Some nice short and scenic raft trips out of Moab on the Colorado River, which
is near Arches. About right for a 6 year old if the water levels are low
enough.

Snow?

"wills" wrote in message
om...
On advice from friends - have a feeling the raft thing would work in
late July/August - but not in snow-melt-happy June. So we'll shelve
the idea of the raft for this trip.

I see alot of tour groups offer jeep trips - does anyone have any
thoughts on these? Are they worth the money/time?

dy (Bill Hilton) wrote in message
...
From: (wills)

My son would like to take a raft trip. We've never done this, but my
hunch is that a half day trip would be the way to go here.

Some nice short and scenic raft trips out of Moab on the Colorado River,
which
is near Arches. About right for a 6 year old if the water levels are
low
enough.

On advice from friends - have a feeling the raft thing would work in
late July/August - but not in snow-melt-happy June. So we'll shelve
the idea of the raft for this trip.

It's true that snow fed streams in narrow canyons can have dangerous whitewater
in run-off season, but many trips run below dams (which control the runoff) or
in lower sections of rivers (ie, not in narrow canyons) where the water is
flatter and the trip is safe.

I mentioned Moab because upstream the river has a bit of pep (but not too much)
but downstream it's a kitten even in May and June. I've canoed 115 miles down
the Green River in late May and never saw a rapid from Green River Utah to
Spanish Bottom in Canyonlands, then loaded the canoe onto a jet boat and rode
upstream on the Colorado to Moab. You can ride this jetboat if rafting sounds
a bit much for a 6 year old, the water is flat and the scenery is great.

I see alot of tour groups offer jeep trips - does anyone have any
thoughts on these? Are they worth the money/time?

There are a lot of good jeep trips ... many trips in the higher country (like
Ouray or Telluride) are blocked by snow in June but in the lower elevations
like Moab you'll have no problems.

Bill

(wills) wrote in message . com...

I'm looking for information/advice on:
What to expect for weather/temperature in mid to late June.

Best site to get history is wunderground.com Choose Moab or whatever
city for the same dates/time from any previous year. Has other stuff
that will be neat too, like moon phases, star charts, sunrise and
sunsets (sunrisesunset.com is another good sitte)

Also, I've not done much tent camping in the past. Have been doing
lots of reading, but would love any tips that would help make this a
more enjoyable experience.

We've never been to this part of the west. Have a feeling we'll be so
tickled with it that a week won't seem like long enough.