Rank these potential 2-night stays at National Parks in the Southwest US... (rail, backpack)

[jbgusa]

I'm partial to Bryce and Arches, also in Utah. We stayed overnight in Zion but didn't hike there. But those three are the key (it rhymes).

[Sand&Salt]

Originally Posted by jbgusa

I'm partial to Bryce and Arches, also in Utah. We stayed overnight in Zion but didn't hike there. But those three are the key (it rhymes).

Same here. We lived next to Arches so went there all the time. Bryce is so other-worldly, just so amazing. There was a horseback trip through there, great way to see the "castles".

To me, Zion was underwhelming. Same with King's Canyon. Goblin Valley is pretty unique.

Sequoia and Big Sur are great, as is all of Hwy. 1.

[markg91359]

Utah native here. I've been to all of the parks including King's Canyon in California multiple times. I would rank them in this order.

1. Arches
2. Bryce
3. North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
4. Zion
5. King's Canyon

[Lillie767]

I would add an overnight stay in Monument Valley in the Navajo Nations Park. Stay at the View Hotel or its cabins. It was magical to see the sunrise AND sunset nestled in the heart of Monument Valley. It's not cheap - but unique and worth the money. Once the day-tour buses and day trippers leave, the quiet is overpowering. Sometimes it hurts your ears.

[Ghengis]

Instead of coming from the East on I70, we've decided to fly into Vegas, that will save us 5 days and 4 nights on the road. May be able to squeeze a quick run up to Escalante/Boulder but Capitol Reef and areas East (Arches, Monument Valley, etc) of that will have to be visited another time.

[StealthRabbit]

We recently did a loop from LV, <1 week
Valley of Fire, North Rim, Page (Horseshoe bend), Monument Valley, Natural Bridges, Arches, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, (Escalante) Bryce, Zion.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

...trip would be in late spring of 2021, we have reserved two night stays in a "Western Cabin" at the following National Parks...

Bryce
Zion
Kings Canyon

We are considering adding a two night stay at Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim, also in a Western Cabin, but may have to eliminate one of the other stays to do so. We are into hiking but not looking to do a great amount of elevation hikes but we can easily do 5 to 6 miles at a time of moderate hiking. May drive our own car a fly in and out of Vegas and rent a car from there.

4 choices to rank are

Bryce
Zion
Kings Canyon
Grand Canyon North Rim

We have been to the South Rim a few times, but never spent the night there, we have not been to any of the other 3 national parks.

Thank You!

Originally Posted by Ghengis

I looked into the Night Sky Program, tell me more. We will miss the full moon there by 2 nights...so, I think we may not see that part. With the covid, a lot of that info appears to be limited. What other options besides the full moon hikes are available? Thought I saw Zion holds some dark sky events, but we are probably too close to the full moon for those to be held.

Currently planning on hitting Goblin Valley, Capitol Reef and one or more of the other sites on 12 on the way to Bryce.

Carmel, CA (an offering to Mrs G) is the eventual destination, so I thought Kings Canyon would be a good, in-between destination.

Originally Posted by Ghengis

Instead of coming from the East on I70, we've decided to fly into Vegas, that will save us 5 days and 4 nights on the road. May be able to squeeze a quick run up to Escalante/Boulder but Capitol Reef and areas East (Arches, Monument Valley, etc) of that will have to be visited another time.

Originally Posted by Ghengis

We are staying at Grant's Grove within KC. I'm there to see the big trees and will either spend our free day in the Giant Forest or try the area around Redwood Mountain, neither of which seem to be too far from Grant's Grove. I opted for GG primarily because the next stop is Carmel and I think it is the only place that has the Western Cabins within the two parks.

Was also able to book 2 nights in Yosemite today split between the Lodge in the Valley and the Wawona.

Thought I would update on where things stand with our Utah/Calif 2 week road trip as we are now within 3 months of departure and the variables have mostly been committed to recently

We are now committed to flying into Vegas (from Minnesota) instead of driving there and back. Always a tough call on driving vs flying for us as we both enjoy these long drives (I actually enjoy driving the highways of Nebraska/Kansas). Plus Mrs G hates flying even before COVID and 9/11. However eliminating these portions saves us about 53 hours over 3,200 miles.

We are flying into Vegas and flying out of San Francisco, and just secured (prepaid/non-refundable) 1st class (Mrs G doesn't seem to mind 1st class ) air for $775 (inc. all fees/taxes) RT/each. I actually had an upper fountain view King booked at the Bellagio, but I've come to find out they no longer broadcast the fountain music into those rooms..."New Manager" they say

This option saves us a 10 hour drive from Carmel back to Vegas and we will make the drive to overnight near SFO in just over 2 hours instead. Probably buys us another day of sightseeing.

The Yosemite stop blew up in our faces even having secured the 2 night stay. They decided to pick now to repair the electrical systems at the Wawona where we had scheduled the 2nd of our 2 nights. Could not get 2 nights at either place and the Ahwahnee while available was just too spendy at $550 for a basic no view room. I had to find out about the closure on my own while tying up loose ends this week. No email or call from the resort as this decision was announced in late January...still no refund, the gal said they were just getting around to it now when I called this week. I also see they had a horrific wind event around the same time that knocked down many of the giants in Mariposa Grove resulting in the closure of that nearby feature for the foreseeable future. Would have still used the time at the Wawona to pay a first time visit to Glacier Point as that road closure had been pushed back a year to 2022/2023.

I am still holding on to the one night (June 6th) we have at the Yosemite Lodge but don't intend to keep it. Not in a big hurry to cancel it seeing I likely won't get a refund any time soon. Anyone out there that could use this night (they still have Curry Village tent-cabins available) send me a DM and we can coordinate when I dump the room and it should appear on their site the next morning.

We've decided to add those nights to a 4th & 5th night onto our stay in Carmel which will make for the easy departure out of SFO.

Our itinerary now looks like this and is pretty much set in stone...

Morning 1 Fly to Vegas-
Nights 1 -3 Bryce Canyon (wanted to secure a Grand Canyon (N) rim view cabin for 1 or 2 nights in here but could not break through the many lotteries they "attempted". One of these days we'll drive Hwy 12 (?) up to Capitol Reef and hit some of the many sites in between.
Nights 4 & 5 Zion
Nights 6 & 7 Kings Canyon/Sequoia
Nights 8 - 12 Carmel
Night 13 Burlingame (SFO)
Afternoon 14 Fly home

I realize many visitor centers, museums and such will likely be closed still in 3 months, but this is mostly an outdoor themed schedule and we will find plenty to do. Would have wanted to make a day trip down to Hearst Castle but with the PCH closed, we may not have been able to do that anyways. We can still drive down to Nepenthe and JBP State Beach from Carmel which are before the landslide...at least as of yesterday

Anyway let me know if you have any suggestions for stops especially Hwy 12 in Utah, or any comments or questions. I didn't talk much about the car rental but we have a Camry booked (Avis) for $929 (inc all fees/taxes)...about the same cost as I could have gotten a Cadillac (Enterprise & Alamo) out of and into Vegas.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I'm a huge fan of Sequoia National Park, so Kings Canyon would be the top of my list.


I've seen the Grand Canyon. Nice, but once is enough. I've seen it, on to something else. The others are all a bit the same. Nice rugged desert landscaping. Pretty. Worth seeing.

[bigbear99]

Too bad you're going to miss Death Valley. Interesting, picturesque, strange place.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by bigbear99

Too bad you're going to miss Death Valley. Interesting, picturesque, strange place.

seen it...the temp at the ranger station said 126...but it was a dry heat