My 10 days canyons routing from LAS
 

Hi,

what do you think of my itinerary? We have almost two weeks in total. We have been to LAS before, but only three nights, and just had a day trip to the South Rim.

10/22 Afternoon arrival LAS
10/23 LAS
10/24 LAS
10/25 Day trip: Death Valley
10/26 Drive via Kingman to the South Rim, stay in the area
10/27 Drive to Horseshoe Bend, stay in Page
10/28 Antelope Canyon, Drive via Monument Valley to Moab, stay in Moab
10/29 Arches National Park, stay in Moab
10/30 Canyonlands National Park, Corona Arch, stay in Moab
10/31 Drive via Goblins Valley to Capitol Reef National Park, stay in Torrey
11/1 Drive to Bryce Canyon National Park, stay close to Bryce Canyon
11/2 Drive to Zion National Park, stay in St. George/Hurricane/Springdale
11/3 Drive via Valley of Fire back to LAS, stay in LAS
11/4 Evening departure LAS

Does that make sense? Are there any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

That's about 1500 miles of driving, and that's just getting between point a and b, not the touring around you'll do at each stop.

Recommendations:

-Ditch Death Valley. It's in the opposite direction of everything else you want to see. On that day leave Vegas and head east towards Zion or the North Rim.

-Edit: Disregard what I said about the North Rim. All of the lodging/facilities close for the winter about a week before you arrive. The drive via US 89A is still highly recommended.Do the Grand Canyon North Rim instead of the South Rim. It positions you better between Zion and Page, and the drive on US 89A and AZ 67 (?) is immensely more scenic than I-40. Downside: lodging may already be booked.

-10/28 looks like a very long day

Edit: Also, for the number of federally-run parks you want to see an $80 Annual National Parks Pass would be more than worth the purchase price. This will cover the entrance fee for all of the National Parks, which is typically $20-$30 each. No need to buy in advance; just buy it at the entrance station of the first park you visit (includes Red Rocks if you happen to stop there while in Vegas at the start of the trip). The only place I see on your list where it won't cover the fee is Antelope Canyon, and if you do any tours at Monument Valley.

A bit ambitious! Death Valley, for example, is a huge area, and the driving time from Las Vegas is at least 2 hours, 30 minutes each way.

There's nothing to see in Las Vegas, especially if you've already been there; perhaps cut to one day?

Overall: lots and lots of driving, and relatively little time to see anything in depth at the destinations. As soon as you take a hike, at say Bryce Canyon, a half a day or more is occupied, and reduces the time available for driving to Zion.

Also, you omitted Cedar Breaks National Monument between Bryce and Zion, a less-visited park with pretty views.

Too much time driving, too little time to look at things.

Okay, so you unanimously say too much driving.

Death Valley is totally optional und as I know it's in the opposite direction, I thought doing it as a day trip would be better.

We can, of course, cut one day off Las Vegas. But we do like gambling and two full days in a 13 days trip seem adequate for me to lose some money. :D

So the total number of days available won't change. Do you have concrete suggestions where to spend two nights instead of one and what to skip?

Thank you! Doing all that planning, you sometimes lose sight of these details. ;)

It wasn't even the Vegas time I was considering. Your trip feels an awful lot like you're not going to be spending very long at any of the places you're going to.

There is a lot to see throughout that area. As stated by others, I would not include Death Valley. Even without Death Valley you still have a lot of driving to do. I would consider adding Natural Bridges, there is a wonderful hike under all 3 bridges. Depending upon what day you leave there you could head back east and take the ferry from Hall's Crossing to Bullfrog (in October and November the ferry only operates Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 4x/day). More ferry info here:
https://www.udot.utah.gov/main/f?p=1...0:::1:T,V:2257,

You can then head over to Capitol Reef and then down through Escalante to Bryce. There are any number of interesting things to see and do through that area.
A good book with some ideas:
https://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Southw.../dp/0898869498

Thank you! Both sound good. The ferry seems a bit too complicated for our itinerary though.

I have driven Utah State Highway 12 from Torrey to Escalante three times and would do it again tomorrow. And eat in Hell's Kitchen in Boulder mid-way

^

I disagree with others----

the planning is actually decent....

The only 2 issue...

1. 28th doing Antelope canyon in the AM then its 5 hr drive thru Monument Valley to Moab. At this time there is only about 11 hrs of sun.

You don't want to drive at dark.

2. Zion requires more time. night in springdale then spend entire day in Zion leaving around 5pm for Vegas. Instead of death valley, that day do Valley of Fire for the day and then night in Kingman.

An alternate route you could do....


skip Moab then do death valley to Joshua tree to Grand canyon to Page to MV to torrey via UT 95 to Bryce to zion then to Vegas. try to do an overnight in death valley and for Joshua traa a night in 29 Palms.

Something to also consider---I am unsure when they are olanning on finishing but all summer Arches would close overnight 7pm to 7am for road work except for FRI and SAT nights. I thought this was to end in mid November .

How fast do you drive?? 273 miles ÷ 3 hours = 91mph average. That'll get you a misdemeanor in Arizona. More like 5+ hours if just driving straight through.

Agree with not driving at dark: Lots of large wild animals (read: elk), plus lots of loose cattle on the Navajo Nation.

it was a typo...its 3 hrs from mon valley to moab and 2 hrs from Page to mon valley

I will disagree on Vegas. Depending on when one has been there the previous time, there are new hotels & Casinos, restaurants, Shows etc. All depends on one's tastes.