Suggest a Utah itinerary!

Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Dinosaur, Cedar Breaks also to name a few. Have a Great Trip!

Bob in Calif.

goosenecks, mesa arch
bumpy

We just returned from there. The easiest route we found to Bryce Canyon was EXIT 95 on the I-15, going through Panquitch. Other routes are much higher elevation and steepness.

I suggest you do not go from Bryce Canyon to Zion through the tunnel. Not only will it take longer, even though the miles are less, it will cost you time and money. There is a $15.00 fee to be escorted through the tunnel and there are also switchbacks on that road.

Drive through Hurricane to get to Zion. Good road, good scenery.

I would add Glen Canyon National Rec Area (aka Lake Powell) to the itinerary. Stay at Bullfrog and rent a boat for a few days.

You (and the dogs) will love it.

Dead Horse State Park is a must-go if you can get a site. Gooseneck SP is another low traffic area along with near by Valley of the Gods are dog friendly mainly because there is very little traffic. Also near by is Hovenweep NM for some indian ruins. All of the above except Dead Horse are in the bottom SE corner of Utah. Canyon of the Ancients also in the same area. We stayed in Monticello UT at a minimal FHU CG and also in Cortez CO (right across the border) in a very nice CG: La Mesa. It has a lot of trees but no pool ect.

You can drive around Canyonlands with the dogs. And at Capitol Reef you can drive the Burr-Notam Trail with the dogs and explore the slot canyons and spectacular landscape:
Link

Link 2

That trail is a backcountry mostly dirt trail but it has a little traffic on it making it safer for in-experienced backcountry drivers. There are even better trails going north from Hwy 24 going to Cathedral Valley but those get you way off the traveled road.

The problem with the big name parks is the dogs; Arches, Bryce, and Zion especially mean leaving the dogs for most of the day if you are going to do any hiking. Zion has a mandatory tour/shuttle bus system.

We like going to Escalante UT and exploring the back roads and slot canyons near there but 4WD is highly desirable. The Hole in the Rock road puts you 70 miles from the nearest paved road at the end for example.

With only a couple weeks you probably should pick one area and stay there. We can, and have spent 2 weeks exploring any one of the big parks and don't feel that we saw everything.

In March we did a long week in S E Utah and one of the most enjoyable times was spent at 9 mile canyon. There is a private family run campground that also welcomes people to stay in a few cabins they have on site. The beauty is the place hasn't changed in generations if you can turn an eye away from the gas pipeline that's tapped into a reserve way back in the canyon. It's world famous for petroglyphs documented along the road winding back into the canyon. We hired the rancher/owner of the campground to spend the day with us touring the area. The artwork combined with the family's history and his stories of growing up working various ranches in that valley were remarkable. We did a lot of hiking, saw antelope, mule deer and stars so close you could touch them.
No electricity but water and sewer. Also did Arches and Bridges National Parks which were awesome but 9 mile canyon memories won't fade away for me. Oh yea....way off the grid. There are still telegraph poles standing when strung hard wire was the only way to communicate. This was also the last time I wrote a letter, enclosed a check for deposit and put a stamp on an envelope in a long time. Another almost forgotten act from years ago-

If you like easy biking, when you are at Zion look into loading your bikes on the front of the shuttle bus on the way up and then riding the bikes back down. We did that about 5 years ago and it was great. We did it twice, once at dusk and saw a lot of wildlife.

With 2-3 weeks, you will have to pick and choose what you want to see. Here are some links to places in Utah that we liked:

Utah 12-24 area:
Ut-12 Scenic Byway
Fishlake Scenic Byway
Scenic Backways off UT-12
Burr Trail
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park
Kodachrome Basin State Park
Anasazi State Park
Calf Creek Falls
Hells Backbone
Capitol Reef National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Goblin Valley State Park

Moab area:
Kane Creek Road
Potash Lower Colorado Byway
Upper Colorado River UT-128 Scenic Byway
Sago Canyon
Dead Horse Point State Park
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Needles District
Newspaper Rock

US-89 area:
Zion National Park
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park

Monument Valley, Bluff, Blanding Area:
Monument Valley
UT-261 the Moki Dugway
Goosenecks State Park
Hovenweep National Monument
Natural Bridges National Monument
Bluff Fort
South Fork of Mule Canyon and House on Fire
The Valley of The Gods
Sand Island Petroglyphs
Edge of the Cedars State Park
Dinosaur Museum

We also enjoyed Dinosaur National Monument and the Utah Field House State Park; however, Vernal is some distance from the other areas commonly combined in a loop through Utah.

Look at Adventure Caravans Tour of the Great Western Parks for ideas. Also do a Google search for `Utah tourism'.