If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
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 |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Grand Circle in 1 loop
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Grand Circle in 1 loop
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. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Grand Circle in 1 loop
|
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Grand Circle in 1 loop
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 |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Grand Circle in 1 loop
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 |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Grand Circle in 1 loop
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 |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Grand Circle in 1 loop
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. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Grand Circle in 1 loop
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. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Chicago Loop Synagogue art question | [email protected] | USA & Canada | 0 | April 17th, 2006 04:57 PM |
part II of john mcphee's New Yorker article on Powder River run, at long last | [email protected] | USA & Canada | 5 | December 31st, 2005 05:23 PM |
Chicago Loop Hotels | Dennis Marks | USA & Canada | 6 | August 18th, 2005 09:17 AM |
Chicago Loop to Midway Airport? | New Yorker | USA & Canada | 3 | July 15th, 2004 05:53 AM |
Manzanillo loop ideas? | redsea | Latin America | 1 | June 9th, 2004 03:54 PM |