Southwest trip planning

I have stayed at Thousand Lakes and Sand Creek in Torrey and both are good FHU parks. I have hiked in all of these parks and like Capitol Reef the best for easy to moderate trails. Hickman Bridge, Capitol Wash and Capitol Gorge are really nice scenic hikes. Arches has lots of trails and you can hike for days there like we did. Only did one at Bryce and one at Zion. Both were awesome. We don't do trails with any more than 800 feet of elevation change.

MoRookie wrote:
How many nights do I need to book for each of these campgrounds Trailer Village Grand Canyon, Watchman at Zion and Ruby's Inn at Bryce. Still haven't decided on campground for Capitol Reef. I think we will try for Dead Horse state park to visit Canyonlands and Arches. And then on to Durango

You stated earlier that you have 2-3 weeks for the trip. Does that include driving?

Since it seems you're a very active family who enjoys hiking you might have to make some choices.

You have listed 5 national parks and then you're off to Durango. In order of best hiking I'd list them as: Arches, Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef and finally Grand Canyon. So you might want to schedule your time around that.

Grand Canyon for a casual visitor is more of a 'looking at' park rather than a hiking park. Yes, there's awesome hiking but the trails are long and difficult and not geared to a short stay. I'd really advise that you hike down the Bright Angel Trail for a short distance, at least. It will give you an altogether different perspective of the canyon. However, don't plan to reach the bottom for a day trip. It's an extremely difficult hike both down and up. Go for a 1/2 mi to 1 mi and enjoy. The Rim Trail is very nice and mostly flat so you can go as long as you want. I'd say 3 days for this park.

For the others you're going to have to judge by the amount of time you have, including driving time.

Good Luck!

We like hiking probably and being out in nature. We all really enjoy the outdoors.

MoRookie wrote:
How many nights do I need to book for each of these campgrounds

How much hiking do you plan on doing? Seeing the sights by car or shuttle takes much less time than if you get out and explore these great parks on foot.

How many nights do I need to book for each of these campgrounds Trailer Village Grand Canyon, Watchman at Zion and Ruby's Inn at Bryce. Still haven't decided on campground for Capitol Reef. I think we will try for Dead Horse state park to visit Canyonlands and Arches. And then on to Durango

Any campground ideas for Moab to visit Arches and Canyonlands was thinking of Dead horse state park if we can get in not many sites though. Also any campground ideas around Capitol Reef. Thanks

Thanks for all your help. 4runnerguy thanks you gave us a lot of great info. Keep all the info coming. We are needing to make reservations very soon at the South Rim at Trailer Village I read they book a year in advance so we have to start making plans quick. Still trying to figure out our route and campgrounds on the way. Any other info from anyone would be great.

As usual, Ken is right on the money. At Capitol Reef, we love the Cohab Canyon hike - steep to start and in a few other places. But the view at the end (two ways to go there - do them both) are breathtaking.

Enjoy!

Remember that some of these parks are very hot in July. Moab especially can really bake. Zion is also quite warm. Plan your hiking early and late in the day and find someplace cool midday. Do get reservations early, as the week of July 4th is always packed.

You can do the following loop in either direction.

Take I-70 across CO to Moab. Spend several days there. Arches may be a PITA with the construction next year, but head in at least as far as the Windows section. If you have the time, consider taking the Fiery Furnace guided walk. Real fun for kids. Take an evening hike up to Delicate Arch to watch the sunset. Take a couple of headlamps for the trip back down to the car. For Canyonlands, head up early and drive Island in the Sky, doing the short walks out to the various viewpoints. For your trip back to town, drop down Shafer Trail near the entrance and go through Potash and along the river. Some interesting petroglyphs along there (stop at the second turnout for the better ones). This will probably take close to two hours from the top of Shafer, so plan accordingly.

For midday adventures, try hiking Negro Bill Canyon (a few miles up UT 128) to Morning Glory Arch. A narrow canyon with high walls for shade and a small creek to dip your feet in to keep cool. Mill Creek above Moab also has pools to swim in. Or take a raft trip on the Colorado. At some point, driving up (or down) UT 128 for 10 or 15 miles along the Colorado River is a gorgeous excursion. Or drive the LaSal Mountain Loop. You'll get a great view of the red rock country from up high. Nice views and much cooler temps up there.

The return to I-70 to UT 24 etc. to get to Capitol Reef. Some driving in this park, but it will be hot in mid summer for some of the hikes. If you can do without electricity, you might consider camping at Singletree NFS CG. It's up high at 8200' with tall pines, so much cooler than down in the desert. From that CG, you can not only explore Capitol Reef, but also part of Grand Staircase Escalante NM. Do a search on Spooky and Peekaboo slot canyons and watch some videos. Great fun for kids. The hike up to Calf Creek Falls is a great midday thing to do. Swim or wade in the pool below the falls. But don't turn in here with your trailer as it's not at all friendly to towed vehicles.

From there, head to Bryce. We stay at the CG's in the park. Again, at 8000', Bryce is higher up so cooler with lots of shade from trees. Use the shuttle and drop in one trailhead and come out another. Mid to late afternoon hiking isn't bad here, as the plateau shades the trails.

Then it's off to Zion. With kids, I strongly recommend camping in the park at Watchman CG. They do have electricity and a dump station. The Virgin "River" flows by the CG. In July, it will be a slow flow. Kids get in there and build dams to create ponds of water to splash in. Great cottonwood trees overhead provide shade. Take your folding chairs and sit out in the river. A great way to keep cool during the heat of the day. Lots of hiking in Zion. Plan your hikes by doing the east side trails in the morning and the west side trails in the afternoon so you can stay in the shade. A hike up Zion Narrows will be much cooler, even midday. Bring some water shoes or tennis shoes you don't mind getting wet as you'll be wading up the river for much of the hike. A great excursion for the whole family.

Then I'd head to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Stay in the park, use the shuttle. In mid-July, I wouldn't plan any big hikes into the canyon. Maybe drop down the Bright Angel Trail a few miles. If you go in the afternoon, the upper part of the trail is in shade. And remember, once you get back to the top, the ice cream stand is right there to replenish those calories you used up.

Now personally I'd skip Petrified Forest. I'm not impressed (and I'm a geologist!). Also, it's a bit out of the way on this loop, especially given your limited amount of time for this trip. Instead, I'd head up US 160 to Mesa Verde. Camp up in the park which is higher in elevation. There are a limited number of sites with hookups there, but reserve early. Get in on one or two of the guided hikes into the cliff dwellings. But make sure you also do the Mesa Top Loop and see some of the surface ruins.

Then off to Durango. A must-do in my book is the Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Takes you through some incredible scenery. At one point, you'll have wilderness on both sides. And Silverton is a real honest to goodness old mining town.

You could do a raft trip out of Durango or tube the river flowing through Pagosa Springs.

From there, continue on US 160 over Wolf Creek Pass. If you have time and desire, it's not a terribly long distance off the highway to Great Sand Dunes NP, although the sand can get pretty hot midday in the summer time.

If you do the loop the way I've laid it out, you'll get to the cooler temps of the mountains after you've suffered through the heat. If you go the other way, you'll have the coolness first and might find the heat a little more difficult to handle.

Check out post by 4runnerguy in Campground section, he indicates Arches NP will be a traffic nightmare next year due to major construction.