Bryce/Zion/Valley of Fire tips?

[elbert]

Oscars for dinner in Springdale, great vibe when we were there.

I loved hiking The Narrows, but we hiked it during a hot July day...so the cool water was a welcome relief. Tons of people at the beginning, but it really thinned out after about the first 30 minutes. Very unique hiking experience.


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[citymama]

First of all, win-win-win that you're going - Bryce and Zion are among my favorite places on earth. I'm not sure the Narrows will be accessible in May, but it's worth doing the shorter hike to get to the entrance of the Narrows. Angel's Landing is a zoo. Go early to get to Zion before the crowds so you're not waiting long for the shuttle bus. There was a lovely restaurant at the Driftwood Lodge where we stayed at in Springdale - it's called King's Landing and it's one of the only "upscale" dining options in town. Oscar's is nice for outdoor Mexican taqueria style food. In Bryce, the lodge in the park is really the only decent place to eat! Buy snacks ahead of time - stop at TJs outside Vegas on your way to the parks.

[StantonHyde]

Desert Pearl Inn is marvelous!! I like Cable Mountain Lodge because you walk across their bridge to the visitors center and catch the shuttle. I wouldn't switch to the glamping place. I haven't seen it--but I have seen the one in Moab. No thanks. Not secluded enough, etc. If I am going to be camping, I need to be further away from people and cars and roads or it is too noisy. You really will like the Desert Pearl. If you are there in May on the weekend, it will be a mad house for Zion. That park is way over visited right now. (yet we are still going in May..) The earlier in the day, the better. Check out the nps.gov website for each park. And check out the park newspaper that is downloadable as a pdf. It has all the info you need--including info on hikes. You will want to check with the ranger station. There is so much water this year, that they are having some massive rock falls. I wouldn't be surprised to see flooding in the Virgin River. So what you plan, you may or may not be able to do. If the Virgin is flooded/high water, there really isn't going to be a place in the park you can hike in the water. The Kanarrah Falls trail is in water and it could be good--or it could be high, too. That is up near Cedar City. I have done a few backpack trips where there was a lot of hiking in the water--the Paria Canyon, you are in the water basically the whole time--for 5 days. It isn't all its cracked up to be!!! The Kolob section of Zion is really pretty cool--different types of scenery but not crowded at all.

For Bryce--do the Queens Garden loop--whatever that hike is below the rim. I also like the Bristlecone loop trail on the rim. You can also stop at Red Canyon on the way to Zion--that's a cool state park/place to hike. I think Valley of Fire would be cool to see--never been there. If for some reason, it might not work out, have you ever seen the Hoover Dam? We did tour that once--that was really cool. Or, like I said in my earlier post, you could check out Snow Canyon.

I have never done couples dining in Zion, only kid food, so I am not one to ask about dining!! I don't remember great food-there was the Bit and Spur that had good food. And same thing for Bryce--pretty basic options. You will have fun!!!

[elbert]

Should add that I had considered the glamping place in Springdale and I’m ultimately glad we opted against it - it’s on the side of the road, not at all secluded, and didn’t appear to provide the experience one romanticizes it to be...


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[marinkitty]

Thanks for the tips on the glamping place - we will stay put at the Desert Pearl. We in Zion Sunday night to Wednesday morning, so I'm hoping that will help a little with crowding but we will definitely plan on being up and out with the sun on the earliest possible shuttle into the park.

Stanton Hyde - just got back from Snowbird/Alta skiing this past Friday and Saturday - and then met a friend who lives in Holladay for drinks Saturday night. SLC is so pretty! It must be fabulous to live with such easy access to the mountains. It is such a beautiful place!

[StantonHyde]

marinkitty--glad you liked it! We have had an AWESOME snow year this year but unfortunately, I haven't been up!! It has either been really cold or we've gotten a giant dump and the avalanche danger is wonky etc etc. oh well--other things going on.

You will have fun in Zion. We are going on a weekend in May to celebrate the end of the school year. I like that things are in bloom. But Fall is a great time to go as well and is a little less crowded. You and your DH will have fun!

[marinkitty]

I thought I'd come back with a trip report - we just got back from Bryce/Zion/VOF. It was fantastic! Just as you all said it would be. DH was blown away! It was a perfect surprise. And having six days alone with him out in nature was such a treat.

We stopped in the Kolob Canyon side of Zion on the way up to Bryce from Vegas. We didn't stay long because we didn't want to miss golden hour/sunset at Bryce, but it was a beautiful intro to the red rocks of Zion. And it was super lush and green due to all the rain/snow this year. If we'd had more time I would have liked to explore more there.

Got to Bryce and got settled into the Lodge about 6 and did a quick drive up and back to the Natural Bridge and Inspiration Point and then parked ourselves at Sunset Point and wandered along the Rim Trail watching the canyon light up with sunset. So gorgeous! We stayed in the Lodge, which was fine but really only worthwhile for the location (eating there - same thing; decent and totally fine but nothing fabulous, just super convenient). We walked the rim after dinner and took in the stars and then got to sleep for a pre-dawn wake up. In the morning we hiked the Queens Garden trail at sunrise which was spectacular and totally empty. An easy morning walk. Most people seemed to stay put on the rim. In general Bryce didn't seem terribly crowded, even though it was the weekend. We had intended to make a loop with the Navajo Trail, but it was closed for some repairs so we just did an up and back. Had bfast in the Lodge and then we hiked the Peek-a-boo Loop from Bryce Point, which we really enjoyed and it wasn't crowded at all except at the very end when we were coming back up to the rim there were quite a few folks headed down (in mid-day sun - no thanks!). I did really feel the altitude on that one - hiking from the 8,400 ft. point. The hoodoos are just amazing - it's like nothing we'd ever seen before.

Then we drove down to Zion through the east entrance. Got settled into the Desert Pearl Inn, which we LOVED. We had a river side room and the patio opened right to the river and behind it the red cliffs and a meadow. It was so idyllic. Just great to sit out there - which we did for a good while that evening. I loved that they had laundry you could do yourself, had a nice pool/hot tub (we really only used the hot tub) and had a kitchenette. We stocked up at the local market and had breakfasts in our room and one dinner in as well. We also provisioned for picnic snacks and lunches and I was impressed with what the local market had for such a small place.

Dining out - We had a late lunch at Oscar's the first afternoon - which was good and sitting on the patio was nice. We pretty much sat outside at every meal out in Springdale. Dinner the first night at Bit & Spur which was also good - I had sweet potato tamales that were unique and tasty. The second night we ate at The Spotted Dog which was my favorite meal there - I had a pumpkin seed crusted red trout that was fantastic. And then the third day we did a late afternoon lunch at Whiptail Grill which we both really liked. I had spaghetti squash enchiladas and DH had a pulled port sandwich with an amazing pineapple BBQ sauce that he loved. It's a cute converted gas station very close to the park. We ended up skipping dinner and just eating meat/cheese/nuts/olives/wine in the room that evening, it was a substantial meal.

Hikes - Day 1: We hiked the Watchman Trail early evening the first day and it made for some pretty sunset views up canyon. Pretty easy hike and nice for evening because it was right at the Visitor's Center. Day 2: Observation Point and Hidden Canyon were both closed for an active rock fall. But we did find a work around that allowed us to hike down to Observation Point from outside the park on the east side (via North Fork Rd). It wasn't as strenuous a hike or as dramatic as climbing up from the valley, but the last mile dropped you right down at Observation Point and those views were tremendous. Bonus to the valley access being closed and having to take dirt roads through private land to access the trail (East Mesa Trail) was there was absolutely no one there. So we picnicked all by ourselves up there for an hour before hiking back out. In the afternoon, we worked our way back down the east side and did a few short off trail hikes in the slick rock areas and a slot canyon (the beehive formations and the rock colors and patterns were incredible) and then we finished up hiking the Canyon Overlook trail late afternoon. Day 3: We got up at sunrise and got the first shuttle to hike Angel's Landing. It really wasn't too bad, crowd-wise - there were only the people from our shuttle (I'd say 2/3 of the shuttle were doing AL) and a few people who were likely staying in park at the Lodge on the trail, so much of the ascent we were alone. On the way back down, it was getting lots more crowded- especially the final 1/3 of the trail. Starting even an hour later would have made it a much different experience. I was happy we went early when it was cool and shaded. And we didn't have to pass too many people on the cables on the way down. We hung out at Scout's Landing for a bit after finishing the cable portion and by the time we left there was steady line going up. Full disclosure - I didn't go the whole way - I stopped on the saddle between the two uphill ridges on the chains and went back to Scout's Landing because the heights were starting to get to me and I didn't want to descend that steeper ridge and risk that it would have gotten crowded and having to pass lots of people on the chains. DH said it was totally fine - he kept going to the end - and that people were really good about waiting and avoiding choke-points. In general we found most of the hikers on AL to have great trail manners, which was a nice surprise. I don't have any regrets about not going further. I think because we'd already had the Observation Point vantage which was even higher. The rest of that day we just did the short little hikes off the valley floor - the Riverwalk (the Narrows was closed for high water - it was 7X higher than the level they allow hiking so a total no go), Weeping Rock, Court of the Patriarchs, a little bit of the meadow by the river and then we went and hot tubbed and chilled out on our patio at the hotel. It stormed that evening/night which was fun watching from the patio.

On the way back to Vegas yesterday we drove through Valley of Fire State Park. We didn't have time to hike, but we drove the two scenic roads and it was beautiful and probably only added an hour or so to our drive. I'd definitely recommend it if you are driving that way. We saw a huge herd of bighorn sheep and the rock formations and colors were spectacular. Not the same as Bryce or Zion at all. The terrain in that whole area is fascinating!

Thanks again to all who made recommendations. We definitely want to go back and hike the Narrows, Hidden Canyon and the real Observation Point trail. And I'd like to take bikes up canyon and ride back down. I think a September of October trip next time would be great. DH also said he'd like to hike the West Rim trail down from Lava Point (which was also still closed for snow on the road). So definitely there is more than enough to fill another trip. If we brought the kids, I think they'd love horseback riding in the valley as well. Next time I'd combine with a backcountry trip into Escalante, i think.

One more thing - we rented a convertible Mustang for the trip and it was so much fun. We had the top down almost all the time, even if the windows were rolled up and the heat was on - it was such a great way to enjoy full views while driving and we did spent a ton of time in the car getting around so it felt like a huge plus. And coming from Chicago just getting all that sun and fresh air after a long winter was a huge perk. There were convertible Mustangs EVERYWHERE. It was hilarious. Clearly the rental feet is largely comprised of them. We all honked and waved to each other. All these happy smiling people cruising around in this gorgeous place. Super fun and only $10 a day more than a regular car.

[StantonHyde]

Glad you had a great time. Yes, the foreign tourists all want to drive Mustangs when they get to the US :-) Sounds like it was what you needed after a midwest winter.