Las Vegas to Dallas Feb - March 2012

[lesphil]

We are attending our Daughters Wedding in Las Vegas and then have seventeen days to travel to Dallas for our flight back to the UK. We would like to visit Monument Valley , Bryce , Zion and then we are open to suggestions. With the time of year we are traveling will the parks be open ? We have looked at visiting El Paso and San Antonio but not sure if we will have time. Another on the wish list is to take in a Rodeo but the web sites I have looked at do not seem to have any calenders for next year. A friend has recommended this site who told me the help he received was excellent.

Any suggestions will be most welcome

Many Thanks in Advance

Phil

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

A friend has recommended this site who told me the help he received was excellent.

Nice to hear this.

With 17 days available you could do quite a bit of exploring 'in between'. The parks you have listed will be open but a certain few, such as the North rim of the Grand canyon will be closed due to snow. Places at high elevation like Bryce canyon can still be extremely cold and is subject to snowfall. You would need to keep up to date with weather and road conditions as you go. You have a lot of options to choose from so I would look around the forums and road trip planning resources in the tool bars above with a good map and see what takes your fancy. Some options would be Grand canyon South rim, Sunset Crater, Four corners, Mesa Verde NP and possibly Arches and Canyonlands NP's a little further north. I fyou headed down through Santa Fe you could soak in the Hot pools at Pagosa Springs and perhaps visit Taos Pueblo. Further south towards El Paso is White sands NM and Carlsbad Caverns. That's just scratching the surface so I would have a look around and get some dots on the map and then we can help fill in the gaps.

[lesphil]

Many thanks for your help.

We have seen the Grand Canyon a few times and thought we would take in some more of the wonderful NP's during the journey to Dallas. We are now planning a route taking in some of your suggestions. Once again many thanks for your help and advice.

[txmom]

It'll be a few hours out of your way, but the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will be going on from the end of February through March. If you want to experience a rodeo, that would be a big one!

[lesphil]

Hope anybody can help.

We have now decided on our route which will be;- Las Vegas to Bryce/ Zion to Monument Valley, Albuquerque, Amarillo, San Antonio , Corpus Christi, Houston and fly home from Dallas. We have seventeen days to cover this and the big worry is weather conditions. If we stick to the major routes will this in your expert eyes be achievable ? Only hotels in Bryce ( Springdale ) and Dallas booked thus far.

[Southwest Dave]

Whereas nobody can predict what the weather will be like when you are actually on the road at this early stage you can get an idea of what to expect by checking out climate data. I doubt you will see any serious delays and on a trip that could be driven in 4 long days, you have plenty of 'wiggle' room. In fact you would have time for additional stops, perhaps even the south rim of the Grand canyon. From MV you could head to Canyon De Chelley or Mesa Verde NP via Four Corners monument.

Springdale is a wonderful little town, but it is located on the doorstep of Zion NP, not Bryce canyon. Tropic has some lodging options for Bryce but right by the entrance to the park you have the option of staying at Rubys Inn.