You will be able to say you have been to places but not SEEN places. IMHO. 1 day in Zion is plenty - trade days with Bryce. In any case, cut the number of places in half.
On edit ........ Thom and I usually agree but do not agree fully on Rocky Mtn NP. I lived in Estes 8 years. I do agree with him that it is a zoo with people but the main reason that side is so much in demand as it has so much more to offer; check it out yourself.
It is kinda like the same argument of Grand Canyon - south side is hugely busy but it is there that you get to see the whole canyon - not 10%.
You can say you have been to the west side of RMNT or the north side of GC but you truly have not SEEN it.
But you are so limited on time; not sure how you are going to drive, sleep and also see things.
Be safe.
On edit ........ Thom and I usually agree but do not agree fully on Rocky Mtn NP. I lived in Estes 8 years. I do agree with him that it is a zoo with people but the main reason that side is so much in demand as it has so much more to offer; check it out yourself.
It is kinda like the same argument of Grand Canyon - south side is hugely busy but it is there that you get to see the whole canyon - not 10%.
You can say you have been to the west side of RMNT or the north side of GC but you truly have not SEEN it.
But you are so limited on time; not sure how you are going to drive, sleep and also see things.
Be safe.
rexlion wrote:
I really enjoyed hiking the Narrows in Zion, and also it was fun to ride the shuttle to the north end and coast my bike almost all the way down to the CG. On your way from Zion to Bryce, you'll drive through Red Canyon (there are a couple of short tunnels there and a pretty NF CG). Try to allot an hour to hike the Arches Trail, a couple of dirt road miles north off the highway. These arches are different from what you'll see in Arches NP, and it's not a long hike but a bit of uphill climb.
Personally, the bugs at Great Sand Dunes would be a huge negative. Are you sure you want to put up with that? I would suggest skipping that place and RMNP. Instead, from Durango you can take the Million Dollar Hwy north through Telluride and Ouray for some mountain scenery that IMO is better than RMNP. If you like it, detour around to Telluride also and see the waterfall east of town as well as pretty Trout Lake just to the south. There's a nice state park CG at Ridgeway. Then continue north and take a driving tour through Colorado National Monument; there's another nice state park CG north of there at Fruita. From that point it's a short hop to your planned stop at Dino Monument.
One more detour to think about, between stops 4 & 5 the kids would probably have a blast playing hide and seek among the sandstone fissures bordering the CG at Goblin Valley SP; or at least allot an hour to see the giant sandstone mushroom-like hoodoos in the valley.
Great info and pics. I did not realize Great Sand Dunes had so many mosquitoes. One of my bucket list items is to visit all of the Natl. Parks (plus I love getting the stamps in my NP passport :), maybe we will just drive in and see the park for an hour or two and then get back on the road. There are so many parks I need to get too, I figure when I am close enough to one I might as well pop in to say I have been there.
We like boondocking as much as we can, I always seem to find a cool boondocking site outside of parks.
Love the pics and suggestions.We will definitely visit the Goblin Valley SP.
I really enjoyed hiking the Narrows in Zion, and also it was fun to ride the shuttle to the north end and coast my bike almost all the way down to the CG. On your way from Zion to Bryce, you'll drive through Red Canyon (there are a couple of short tunnels there and a pretty NF CG). Try to allot an hour to hike the Arches Trail, a couple of dirt road miles north off the highway. These arches are different from what you'll see in Arches NP, and it's not a long hike but a bit of uphill climb.
Personally, the bugs at Great Sand Dunes would be a huge negative. Are you sure you want to put up with that? I would suggest skipping that place and RMNP. Instead, from Durango you can take the Million Dollar Hwy north through Telluride and Ouray for some mountain scenery that IMO is better than RMNP. If you like it, detour around to Telluride also and see the waterfall east of town as well as pretty Trout Lake just to the south. There's a nice state park CG at Ridgeway. Then continue north and take a driving tour through Colorado National Monument; there's another nice state park CG north of there at Fruita. From that point it's a short hop to your planned stop at Dino Monument.
One more detour to think about, between stops 4 & 5 the kids would probably have a blast playing hide and seek among the sandstone fissures bordering the CG at Goblin Valley SP; or at least allot an hour to see the giant sandstone mushroom-like hoodoos in the valley.
Personally, the bugs at Great Sand Dunes would be a huge negative. Are you sure you want to put up with that? I would suggest skipping that place and RMNP. Instead, from Durango you can take the Million Dollar Hwy north through Telluride and Ouray for some mountain scenery that IMO is better than RMNP. If you like it, detour around to Telluride also and see the waterfall east of town as well as pretty Trout Lake just to the south. There's a nice state park CG at Ridgeway. Then continue north and take a driving tour through Colorado National Monument; there's another nice state park CG north of there at Fruita. From that point it's a short hop to your planned stop at Dino Monument.
One more detour to think about, between stops 4 & 5 the kids would probably have a blast playing hide and seek among the sandstone fissures bordering the CG at Goblin Valley SP; or at least allot an hour to see the giant sandstone mushroom-like hoodoos in the valley.
