Trip Planning; Grand Canyon & Southern Utah

[jslyter]

Hi Everyone,

 

My wife and I are planning a late summer trip to the Grand Canyon (North Rim) and southern Utah (starting from Colorado Springs). We penciled in an 8 day trip, but looking at all the National Parks along the route, I think it may be too ambitious to try and do it all justice in that time frame. The absolute must sees are Grand Canyon and Zion. We will be riding through or near, Bryce Canyon NP, Capitol Reef NP, Natural Bridges National Monument, Arches and Canyonlands NP. Any recommendations on must see/do stuff? We figure we will see as much as possible and go back again another time for what we miss, but I wanted to try and hit the highlights of the area.

 

Thanks,

John L.

[Twisties]

Hi Everyone,

 

My wife and I are planning a late summer trip to the Grand Canyon (North Rim) and southern Utah (starting from Colorado Springs). We penciled in an 8 day trip, but looking at all the National Parks along the route, I think it may be too ambitious to try and do it all justice in that time frame. The absolute must sees are Grand Canyon and Zion. We will be riding through or near, Bryce Canyon NP, Capitol Reef NP, Natural Bridges National Monument, Arches and Canyonlands NP. Any recommendations on must see/do stuff? We figure we will see as much as possible and go back again another time for what we miss, but I wanted to try and hit the highlights of the area.

 

Thanks,

John L.

 

First of all: You'll have a great time.

 

Bryce and N. Rim will be perfect. Capitol Reef, Natural Bridges, Arches and Canyonlands will be hot, possibly more than 100F, but I would still do them. Of these Capitol Reefs is the highest and therefore coolest. I would add Zion NP, definitely must see in my book, and on your way. If you can add Deadhorse Point State Park, I would, overlook of the goose necks of the Colorado River.

 

How much time have you spent in western Colorado? Mesa Verde is one of my favorite places. Lot's of people love the run up the million dollar highway (Durango to Ouray). On your way back you could work through Monument Valley.

 

You'll need to be prepared for weather from below freezing to very hot, form calm to severely gusty, and for afternoon thunderstorms.

 

I'm not sure about Canyonlands. There are several units and you don't say which. The Needles district which I am most familiar with is more of a backpacking destination. You'll need a full tank of gas if you go in there, unless they've added a gas station. Newspaper Rock is back in that way, located in a pretty canyon. Anyway, I haven't ridden in there, maybe someone else will comment, but I think I would add Zion and drop Canyonlands if any hard choices need to be made.

 

Have a nice trip.

 

Jan

[DavidEBSmith]

You plan sounds reasonable to me. Here's how I'd do it:

 

Day 1: Colo Springs to Moab. On the way, get off I-70 at Cisco and take UT 128 into Moab. Stay in Moab, have a nice dinner.

 

Day 2: Arches, Canyonlands (Grand View Point, Dead Horse Point, etc.), then head south on US 191. Spend the night in Blanding.

 

Day 3: Natural Bridges. If adventurous take UT 261 south to the Moki Dugway, otherwise 191 south to US 160 west to Page for the night.

 

Day 4: North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Head northwest toward Zion. Spend the night in Kanab or Zion or go through to St. George (depending on what you can find for accomodations)

 

Day 5: Zion. If you have time at the end of the day and feel like it head toward Bryce Canyon, you can stay near the park.

 

Day 6: Bryce, UT 12 to Torrey. Stay at the Chuckwagon, eat at Cafe Diablo or ex-Brinks.

 

Day 7: Head over to Loa and ride up and down 72. Take UT 24 through Capitol Reef. From Torrey you have about 500 miles home so you can just blast home, or take an extra day dinking around Colorado, if there are places you haven't seen.

 

A variation on this would be to make it a big figure 8 - from Natural Bridges take 95 to Hanksville, then do Torrey - Bryce - Zion - North Rim and head home via Four Corners and Cortez.

[Keith S]

John

Here is a link. It is a thread where I asked for help with the Utah leg of my trip this summer.

 

Keith

[jslyter]

Thanks for the great feedback.

Just to add a few details, late summer probably means the week after Labor Day. We did a Black Hills trip last year during this week and were amazed at the change in number and demographics of the people vacationing, so looks like that is a bike vacation week for us for the forseeable future.

We've extensively traveled through Colorado and are looking to expand our horizons and distance. We love SW Colo, and I seem to end up on the Million Dollar Hwy 2-3 times each year. I'll be hitting it on this trip too, but am not planning on stopping as much. This will be the longest 2-up trip for us though, and I know she is going to want to spend a fair amount of time site-seeing, whereas I can be perfectly happy just enjoying the roads. I look at all there is to see on this Grand Canyon/Utah route, and listen to where she wants to spend time and wonder if 8 days is going to be enough. Of course, from what I hear, going back is not a problem since there is so much to see.

[DaveTheAffable]

Hi Everyone,

 

My wife and I are planning a late summer trip <SNIP>..The absolute must sees are Grand Canyon and Zion.

 

I was at Grand Canyon two years ago. It's beautiful! But after a couple hours... I was done. I saw it, took pictures, and drove on. Unless you are going to hike, go down in the canyon, do a helicopter tour, or ...whatever, there really isn't that much to do. I actually enjoyed Zion more. Short hikes, overlooks, little roads...etc. So... plan accordingly!

(YMMV)

[Fugu]

I'd plan more time at Bryce and Zion than at the Grand Canyon.

 

I'd never seen any of them before moving here to UT, and now I've seen them all. Bryce and Zion are more beautiful than the GC in my opinion.

 

Be sure to leave yourself enough time to get off the bike and walk some of the trails- you could probably spend a week at Bryce doing this easy. I've blasted through the parks, and now need to go back and spend some time hiking around.

[Joel]

+1 for quality time at Bryce. I've been 4 times, and I still want to go back for more.

 

Here's an arch you walk though on the Queen's Garden Trail, an easy hike from the rim down through the hoodoos:

 

 

Blue skies, orange rocks, green pines and aspen ... ahhhh, I feel better now.

 

The Grand Canyon is impressive for its vastness, but I like Bryce & Zion better for the overall experience.

[Bud]

My advice is really worthless because I've only been to the GC of all the places you mentioned. However, I would like to spend another whole day the the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, sunup to sundown and take a pic every minute of the changes the light makes on this:

 

 

I had the pleasure of spending some time there with Tank during the Return to Gunnison.

[jslyter]

Thanks for the link Kye. Your route through Utah from Moab to Zion is exactly the same route I've got planned. FYI for your trip, I was in Moab last year with my son, and we spent half a day riding and hiking through Arches. It is beautiful and was well worth the time spent. Unfortunately it didn't leave us enough time for Canyonlands or Deadhorse Point State Park which people are recommending. I told my wife we should do Arches since she has not been there, which means I'll probably skip Canyonlands again. Oh well, there is always next year.

[jslyter]

I'd plan more time at Bryce and Zion than at the Grand Canyon.

 

I'd never seen any of them before moving here to UT, and now I've seen them all. Bryce and Zion are more beautiful than the GC in my opinion.

 

Be sure to leave yourself enough time to get off the bike and walk some of the trails- you could probably spend a week at Bryce doing this easy. I've blasted through the parks, and now need to go back and spend some time hiking around.

Thanks for the advice on Bryce and Zion. I had the most non-riding time slated for the GC, but sounds like I may need to adjust and plan more for Zion and Bryce. I was thinking a half day in Zion and kind of had us just doing a quick ride through Bryce, but sounds like I should plan on some off bike time there. What a great picture of the Arch and Hoodoo's...thanks Joel (like they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words).

[Keith S]

+1 for quality time at Bryce. I've been 4 times, and I still want to go back for more.

 

Here's an arch you walk though on the Queen's Garden Trail, an easy hike from the rim down through the hoodoos:

 

 

Blue skies, orange rocks, green pines and aspen ... ahhhh, I feel better now.

 

The Grand Canyon is impressive for its vastness, but I like Bryce & Zion better for the overall experience.

 

Hell of a shot!!

 

Keith

[Bill_Walker]

We will be riding through or near, Bryce Canyon NP, Capitol Reef NP, Natural Bridges National Monument, Arches and Canyonlands NP. Any recommendations on must see/do stuff?

 

Killer's house.

[hopz]

For what it is worth...

 

I agree on less time at GC and more time in Zion. You mentioned something about a drive-through at Bryce... be aware the Bryce is not a drive through sort of place. Park and walk is more like it. As far as I recall you see nothing of the spectacular place from the road.

 

Zion on the other hand...

 

Sounds like fun. Good luck

[Bob Palin]

You mentioned something about a drive-through at Bryce... be aware the Bryce is not a drive through sort of place. Park and walk is more like it. As far as I recall you see nothing of the spectacular place from the road.

Well, that's sort of true, you can't see much without getting off the bike, but if you stop at the turn outs you can see a lot by walking just a few yards.

[gottabmw]

I know it's unlikely you'd plan your route for one scenic feature. If at all possible though, when entering Zion, take State Route 9 from east to west into the park. The ride through the 1.1 mile long Pine Creek Tunnel provides an amazing experience, especially going that direction. The emergence out the west end will take your breath away! The geology and landscape on the east side is so different than the west side it feels like you landed on another planet. And believe it or not, the views from inside the tunnel are spectacular too. I won't spoil it with any further comment. On our two week western states tour in 2003, it was the single most memorable experience for me.

[Missouri Bob]

I plan on riding to the North Rim in early June. What can I expect in terms of crowds, available camping, highest temperatures?

 

Thanks.

 

Bob

[keithb]

Bob

I would check on camping availability before you go. The N.R. gets 25% of the traffic or 500K visitors per year vs. the S.R. at 2M per year which is a big difference. The N.R. is about 1200' higher in elevation so the weather is cooler on the N.R. I was there in May of 2004 and it did not seem crowded to me at the time. Historical temps on weather.com read from 42-81 in June.

[TonyS]

I plan on riding to the North Rim in early June. What can I expect in terms of crowds, available camping, highest temperatures?

 

Camping at the North Rim is limited and very popular. A friend and I rode through late May a couple of years ago. We camped at Jacob's Lake, 45 miles north of the NR, as the campground at the NR was already full at 8:30 AM. It is a good State Park campground in the pine trees and high enough elevation (about 7000' I think) to be cool. You turn off at Jacob's Lake on the way to the park. Be sure and take the overlook rides for the north rim about dusk, much more dramatic with the long shadows. Watch for deer in that area.