Cross country trip - Zion, Escalante, Bryce, Arches...?? (Salt Lake City, Richfield: appointed, how much)

[rfung]

I'm planning a moving road trip from SF to NY, and we're planning on hitting some of these parks. I hear ALL of them are amazing, but unfortunately we may have perhaps two days/one overnight in the area before we have to keep going on.

We'd like to hike through some slot canyons, maybe for 2-3 hours max (4 if it's really amazing), MAYBE another short hike 1-2 hours the next day early morning before we drive on, but I'm being swamped by information and unable to make a proper determination of how to plan this out.

Here's what I have so far:
- Zion - drive and see some sights
- Bryce - I hear it's like being in another planet, and easier to drive around
- Escalante - slot canyons - hike
- stay overnight somewhere
- Arches - well, hike around arches?

Questions:
- what's the most amazing/diverse trail in which park could we hike for 3-4 hours the first day?
- what's a second shorter hike (perhaps in a second park) we could do? trail names would help
- are we able to drive around to be able to see sights in all of the parks?
- should we try to hit them all?
- what are some low budget options for staying overnight, in a way that allows us to be able to see the rest of the parks?

[markg91359]

You can't begin to see all the parks in two days and one night. I would suggest something like this:

1. Take I-80 from SF to Salt Lake and than at Nephi take the highway over to Gunnison.

2. Drive SR 89 south until you get to Bryce Canyon National Park south of Panguitch.

3. Follow the road from the park through Tropic and through Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument to Escalante.

4. At Escalante drive north to Capitol Reef National Park and east through the park.

5. At this point, double back and continue westbound driving through Bicknell, Loa, and finally into Richfield.

6. Hop onto I-70 and drive eastbound. At Crescent Junction, head south and go to Arches National Park which is about 40 miles south of Crescent Junction.

7. Double back to I-70 and complete your drive to NY.

As far as hiking goes. Bryce Canyon has a number of access trails that take you below the canyon rim. They are about the same in terms of being arduous hikes. You can hike for 2 or 3 hours if you wish.

There is plenty of hiking at Capitol Reef National Park too. Stop at the park ranger station and figure out where you want to go. Its right at the park entrance.

Arches is full of hiking. My personal favorite is the hike to Delicate Arch. Its steep going up and the total trip with photo ops at the Arch is about 3 hours.

I question if you have enough time to make this trip and see 3 out of the 5 national parks in Utah. However, you certainly don't have time to see all five.

Originally Posted by rfung

I'm planning a moving road trip from SF to NY, and we're planning on hitting some of these parks. I hear ALL of them are amazing, but unfortunately we may have perhaps two days/one overnight in the area before we have to keep going on.

We'd like to hike through some slot canyons, maybe for 2-3 hours max (4 if it's really amazing), MAYBE another short hike 1-2 hours the next day early morning before we drive on, but I'm being swamped by information and unable to make a proper determination of how to plan this out.

Here's what I have so far:
- Zion - drive and see some sights
- Bryce - I hear it's like being in another planet, and easier to drive around
- Escalante - slot canyons - hike
- stay overnight somewhere
- Arches - well, hike around arches?

Questions:
- what's the most amazing/diverse trail in which park could we hike for 3-4 hours the first day?
- what's a second shorter hike (perhaps in a second park) we could do? trail names would help
- are we able to drive around to be able to see sights in all of the parks?
- should we try to hit them all?
- what are some low budget options for staying overnight, in a way that allows us to be able to see the rest of the parks?

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by rfung

I'm planning a moving road trip from SF to NY, and we're planning on hitting some of these parks. I hear ALL of them are amazing, but unfortunately we may have perhaps two days/one overnight in the area before we have to keep going on.

We'd like to hike through some slot canyons, maybe for 2-3 hours max (4 if it's really amazing), MAYBE another short hike 1-2 hours the next day early morning before we drive on, but I'm being swamped by information and unable to make a proper determination of how to plan this out.

Here's what I have so far:
- Zion - drive and see some sights
- Bryce - I hear it's like being in another planet, and easier to drive around
- Escalante - slot canyons - hike
- stay overnight somewhere
- Arches - well, hike around arches?

Questions:
- what's the most amazing/diverse trail in which park could we hike for 3-4 hours the first day?
- what's a second shorter hike (perhaps in a second park) we could do? trail names would help
- are we able to drive around to be able to see sights in all of the parks?
- should we try to hit them all?
- what are some low budget options for staying overnight, in a way that allows us to be able to see the rest of the parks?

I couldn't tell for sure from your post, but I think you may be trying to fit too much stuff into too short a period of time. I would strongly suggest a full day at each of the national parks, i.e. Zion, Bryce and Arches. Otherwise, it will likely just be a disappointing drive-by where you really don't get to see much of anything.

It's possibly to just drive through Zion (although many parts of the park are strictly off-limits to private cars. The shuttle system, though, is absolutely superb. It runs frequently and stops at all of the major trailheads. One absolutely breaktaking hike is the Emerald Pools. You can hike to the lower, middle or upper pools, depending upon how much time you have. Hiking the Narrows is a lot of fun, and you can pretty much make it as short or as long a hike as you wish. (It's something like 16 miles long from start to finish, but you can turn around and go back after a half mile if you want.) From the very beginning, you're hiking in water. It will only be ankle-deep to start with and how have to hike really far before it's chest-deep. Still, you're down in the Virgin River surrounded by towering peaks. It's a great experience.

Bryce is my personal favorite, and it's probably the easiest park to see without doing much hiking. While a shuttle ride straight through Zion will give you some distant, but pretty good views of the redrock cliffs, while in Bryce, you can stand at the top of several absolutely incredible vistas that you will never forget for as long as you live. If you want to hike down to the bottom of the canyon in Bryce, I'd suggest the Navajo Loop, which is accessible from Sunset Point. It shouldn't take any more than about two hours to hike the entire thing. Just keep in mind that it's an actual "loop." You can start at either of two trailheads and finish up at the other one. If you want the hike back up from the bottom to be mainly in the shade, do the hike in a clockwise direction. In other words, start it from the trail on your left.

If you're driving between Bryce and Zion, and it's getting to be time for lunch or dinner,, I would highly recommend the Café Abobe in the little town of Hatch. It's just a little place, but they have excellent sandwiches and shakes.

You'll be driving from Bryce to Arches mostly via Route 12, which has not only been designated as a scenic byway, but as one of the most beautiful drives in the continental U.S. You'll end up in Escalante, but I don't know as I'd spend all that much time there.

Arches should be your final destination. You'll almost certainly want to hike to Delicate Arch. Please don't be satisfied with seeing it from a distance. It's worth every grueling step. (Actually, if you don't do it in the heat of the day, it's not a bad hike. In 110 degree weather, it can be a killer, though.) If you want to take an absolutely unforgettable hike in Arches, contact the park service as far ahead as you possibly can to get on the list to hike the Fiery Furnace. It's a ranger-guided hike, because if you try to go on your own, you'll end up getting hopelessly lost. It's one of my favorite things to do in the park, but you must have an advance reservation.

Two or three companies in Moab offer Hummer rides over Hell's Revenge. I've been on this adventure several times and would highly recommend it. It's really pretty hard to describe. Just know that it's a blast!

Let us know if you need any more help in planning. As a native Utahn, though, I really do feel that if you can't spend a total of at least three to four full days (including the driving part), it would be better to cut something out entirely than to try to squeeze too awfully much in to a limited amount of time.

[rfung]

Thanks for the tips. It's a bit of a challenge to try and put as much hiking as one can, without feeling like we're hiked out.

With that said, now we're looking at Escalante for the spooky and peekaboo slot canyons, which I'm told is about 2.5-3hr loop hike, would this replace going to the Narrows, which I guess is also a slot canyon?

We'll be making a detour to AZ to check out Upper/Lower Antelope as well.

I'll research some more the suggestions provided here and maybe we can extend it one more day.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by rfung

Thanks for the tips. It's a bit of a challenge to try and put as much hiking as one can, without feeling like we're hiked out.

Yes, that's definitely the case. Whatever you see, though, even if it's not enough, will be worthwhile.

With that said, now we're looking at Escalante for the spooky and peekaboo slot canyons, which I'm told is about 2.5-3hr loop hike, would this replace going to the Narrows, which I guess is also a slot canyon?

Yes, the Narrows would be considered a slot canyon, although you'd have to walk quite a ways up before you'd be able to actually reach out and touch both sides of the canyon walls simultaneously. Since I've never hiked near Escalante, it would be a mistake for me to compare the two.

We'll be making a detour to AZ to check out Upper/Lower Antelope as well.

I've never been to Upper Antelope but Lower Antelope was absolutely out of this world. You mentioned having heard that Bryce is like being on another planet. Well, having been to Bryce more times than I can count, its uniqueness has probably worn off me just a teeny, tiny bit over the years. I visited Lower Antelope Canyon two years ago for the first time, though, and to me it was like being on another planet. I have been told that the lower canyon is better than the upper if you have to choose between them. I have no first-hand knowledge of that fact, though. By the way, we used Ken's Tours. They didn't require a reservation (some of the others did) and we were very pleased with it. It's awesome!!!!

I'll research some more the suggestions provided here and maybe we can extend it one more day.

Honestly, if you can, you won't regret it.

[yousah]

I'm not particularly fond of Bryce either. The area is much smaller than you might imagine. The photos you typically see usually show a nice shot of part of the rock formations, but if you get a chance to see a wide angle view then you'll realize that the unusual rock formations are limited to a much smaller area.

If you are otherwise visiting other natural attractions in Utah then Bryce isn't likely to be as dramatic.

[rfung]

Since my post, we've taken Bryce out of the list.

Right now it looks like:

Drive very early from Vegas to Antelope, check upper/lower, and horseshoe bend is possible.

Drive to Zion early afternoon (still researching this if there's anything of note that can be done in a couple of hours before sunset)

Drive towards Escalante, stay overnight in some campgrounds

Do peekaboo and spooky the next morning

Drive towards Arches to stay the night

Do Arches morning/early afternoon, then drive towards Salt Lake for a (quick?) stop at salt flats before driving north as far as we can to get as close to Yosemite for next day.

Then yosemite, rushmore, jewel cave, chicago, cleveland and niagara falls before NY. We're using roadtrippers.com site to map these out, but I wonder if the timelines are realistic, plus I don't know if we can do 5-7 hours a day split between two drivers.

If anybody is really interested in our schedule/itinerary, it can be found here:

https://roadtrippers.com/trips/sf-to...2b599689000359

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by rfung

Since my post, we've taken Bryce out of the list.

I'm disappointed to hear that. I thinking you're missing one of the most spectacular sites on earth.

Do Arches morning/early afternoon, then drive towards Salt Lake for a (quick?) stop at salt flats before driving north as far as we can to get as close to Yosemite for next day.

It doesn't sound as if you plan on even stopping in Salt Lake City. I think that's a mistake. To begin with, it's going to take you at least 4 1/2 hours to drive from Arches to Salt Lake City. If you don't leave Arches until early afternoon (say 1:00 P.M.), you're not going to get to Salt Lake until 5:30 or 6:00, and that's driving practically non-stop. You've got to eat at some point. (Eating is always high on my priority list. ) It's a good two hours from Salt Lake City out to the Salt Flats and when you get there, and that's to see absolutely nothing! Not to mention the fact that by the time you get there, it's going to be nighttime.

[rfung]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

I'm disappointed to hear that. I thinking you're missing one of the most spectacular sites on earth.

It doesn't sound as if you plan on even stopping in Salt Lake City. I think that's a mistake. To begin with, it's going to take you at least 4 1/2 hours to drive from Arches to Salt Lake City. If you don't leave Arches until early afternoon (say 1:00 P.M.), you're not going to get to Salt Lake until 5:30 or 6:00, and that's driving practically non-stop. You've got to eat at some point. (Eating is always high on my priority list. ) It's a good two hours from Salt Lake City out to the Salt Flats and when you get there, and that's to see absolutely nothing! Not to mention the fact that by the time you get there, it's going to be nighttime.

The best laid plans... Thanks for the feedback. Do you recommend we stop in SLC to wander around? any foods to try out in the area? and, I wasn't aware it's 2 hours to the flats, which begs the question, is it worth the detour before heading up to yellowstone?

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by rfung

The best laid plans... Thanks for the feedback. Do you recommend we stop in SLC to wander around? any foods to try out in the area? and, I wasn't aware it's 2 hours to the flats, which begs the question, is it worth the detour before heading up to yellowstone?

I'll tell you this much... Most people are quite pleasantly surprised by Salt Lake City. If you were to stop off at the Salt Lake Visitors' Center (Address: 90 South West Temple), they could give you some great suggestions as to how to kill a couple of hours, and could also suggest some nice places to stop along the way to Yellowstone. In my opinion (and someone else is sure to disagree with me), the salt flats would definitely not be worth it, especially since they're not even close to the direction of your ultimate destination.