Monument Valley to Bryce Canyon

Hi,
We've done this trip a few times and are gradually refining it. Here's our itinerary:
3 days staying with friends in S.F.
Day 4 Pick up car and drive to Yosemite - stay two nights
Day 6 Lone Pine ( Perfect location )
Day 7 Furnace Creek ( We love Death Valley, but have never stayed )
Day 8 Las Vegas Luxor ( Very good value ) 2 nights
Day 10 Grand Canyon (One day's drive will do it )we've got cabin with view!
Day 11 Phantom Ranch ( My wife and some friends - I'm driving round )
Day 12 North Rim
Day 13 Cliff Dweller's Lodge ( Very good )
Day 14 Monument Valley
Day 15 ?????
Day 16 Bryce Canyon 2 nights - The lodges are excellent
Day 18 Las Vegas
Day 19 Malibu ( Dine at Paradise Cove - a must!)
Day 20 Carmel
Day 21 San Francisco Airport

The two unknowns are Yosemite. What to do with a full day? and day 15 What's the drive like from Monument Valley to Bryce? Where to stay?

I hope I'm not hi-jacking your thread, but there are so many similarities, I thought I'd share my thoughts.

If we hadn't been before, we'd stay at least an extra night at the Grand Canyon.

Lone Pine rather than Bishop

The drives are magnificent, so don't underestimate how far you can go.

A day to the Canyon is fine. It's a long haul, but take in the Hoover Dam and enjoy!

Pick one of the big hotels at Vegas. They will all charge more for Friday and Saturday, but when you can get Sunday at the Luxor for $80 why complain?

Some of the newer hotels would be worth exploring, but be prepared to pay more.

Check out the free displays at the hotels. I particularly liked the one at Caesar's Palace ( quite cheap to stay there )

After Yosemite, take a short detour to Mono Lake - very weird.

As part of our Summer trip, we intend to take two days driving from Monument Valley to Bryce Canyon. We would approach Monument Valley from Marble Canyon and Page, so we don't want to go back that way. I can only see one route, which takes us across Glen Canyon and Capitol Reef. Any ideas as to what we might expect and where to stay?

Hello and Welcome to the R.T.A. forums.

It's a lovely drive from M/V to Bryce via Capitol Reef along Scenic 12 to Bryce country. If you like a challenge you can go up the 261 and the Moki dugway, a gravel mountain road with hairpins but easy enough to negotiate. [we done it in a 30ft R.V.] Have a look at our pictures for a better idea.


The thing that puzzles me is why are you not going to Monument Valley from the South Rim on the way to North rim and visit Bryce on the way.
That would free up time for a visit to Zion N.P. [A wonderful place].

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unknowns are Yosemite. What to do with a full day?

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Your only problem here is only having a full day. If you are staying in the valley explore some of that on arrival and the following morning and then head up to Glacier point. You can explore Tioga pass on the way to Lone Pine it has unbelievable views and plenty of stops.

In 2007, I drove from Page to Bryce over Cottonwood Canyon road through Cottowood Canyon, Grosvenor Arch to Cannonville and on to Bryce.

Not for the fainthearted, but you sound as if you have travelled a lot around that area.

At the time I was in a 1998 Toyota Camry with more than 100000 on the clock. I called in at Big Water ranger station, and they assured me I would be ok. Warned that there are a few spots of sand on the road, so you need to know how to handle a vehicle in loose sand. And you may come across folk on horseback mustering cattle and walking them back to Cannonville.

It is an unmade road. The 47 miles will take a couple of hours, and if you stop to photograph and explore the canyon and the arch, add another hour or two.

One of these great off the highway experiences which I treasure.

Lifey who loves the back roads

You definitely don't want to miss out on Glacier Point while in Yosemite. Amazing view and in my opinion best in the late afternoon so you don't get the sun in your eyes.

Pity but cowboy films seemed to have fallen out of favour these days. As an impressionable young lad I loved to watch the likes of Shane, Rio Grande and the many others made in the good old Western USA. The stunning film backdrops still motivate me to visit the different areas where they were made - bet you know what I mean.

Last year finally made it to Moab to do the area justice. Just a steady days travel via Moki-Dugway between there and Monument Valley. Stayed at
Red Cliffs Lodge with a log cabin which backed onto the Colorado River and surrounded by red rocks. Glorious.

The only trouble is you need at least a couple of days there to get any feel for the place. Just a thought.

Hi Dave,

The reason that we are going to M.V. from the North Rim, is that some of our party are hiking across the canyon! We have a cabin booked for both sides of the canyon. I will pick them up and we will head off for Page and then M.V.
It looks like Bryce cabins are all booked, so at the moment we have identified two nights in Escalante from where we will do a day to Bryce. This gives us a night in Zion before dropping some off to catch a flight from Vegas.
One more night in Vegas for us and then drop the rest off in Santa Barbara and the a couple of days to S.F. and a plane.
A bit exhausting perhaps?

If members of your group are hiking across the canyon, then you might want to start on the North Rim and them meet them at the South.

The north rim is about 1000 feet higher in elevation, so from a hiking perspective, its easier to walk down the longer north side and then up the shorter south side.

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Originally Posted by colonelhall

It looks like Bryce cabins are all booked, so at the moment we have identified two nights in Escalante from where we will do a day to Bryce. This gives us a night in Zion before dropping some off to catch a flight from Vegas.
One more night in Vegas for us and then drop the rest off in Santa Barbara and the a couple of days to S.F. and a plane.
A bit exhausting perhaps?

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It'll certainly be busy.

Have you checked out Ruby's Inn for Bryce, it's situated right near the entrance.

If this is of no use I would spend one night at Escalante and get an early [ish] start to Bryce and rather than going back on yourself to Escalante I would carry on to Springdale [great little town] right on the doorstep of Zion.
Both parks are spectacular but Bryce is more about short walks to the view points to get the best views and Zion more about taking walks inside the canyon, making Bryce quicker to visit when time is an issue. If you want to visit the viewpoints in Bryce all the way down the canyon to Rainbow point then go to that furthest point first. Coming back up the canyon you will have all the viewpoints on your side of the road making it easier to pull in.

In Zion with limited time I would recommend the riverside walk, it's a gentle stroll along the Virgin river with great views. Another short walk will take you to Weeping rock. It's a beautiful place for sure.

Thanks for the advice. We are now booked for the whole trip. We decided on two days at Escalante, because we seem to have got a nice, relaxing cabin for six, so we can chill out after a long desert haul.
We will stay one day in Springdale, so I guess the river walk is the one for us.

Hi colonelhall, welcome back !

Good to see your trip has taken shape and you are ready for the off.

I hope you will pop by on your return and share your adventures !

[we love pic's too! ]

Have a great time, Dave.

Thanks Dave. I'll have plenty of pics, don't worry.

We did the trip exactly as planned and there was not a single hitch. Every day seemed to be better than the last and our friends, (who although seasoned world travellers had not done this one before) were absolutely knocked out.
Of course, the highlight was the rim-to-rim hike. My wife was celebrating a year free of cancer and raised over £1,000 pounds for Cancer Research. On the way, she and our three friends had a lifetime experience that they would never forget.
If I had to nominate a highlight, it would be that early morning drive out of Yosemite when we saw a huge bear being chased by two coyotes. I've never seen anything that large and that agile, as it it shot up a tall tree. It was all over in seconds and I never managed to get to the camera (take a compact next time) but it will always live in my memory.
The small hike to Horseshoe Bend was stunning. One of the natural wonders of the world, yet so many people are not even aware of it. We had never done the road from Monument Valley to Escalante before and were worried about the seven hours driving involved. As it turned out, there was not a minute that didn't have us gasping in amazement at the beauty.
I have not made a gallery yet and I have plenty to say about the trip. If you want to see photos look me up (colonelhall) on flickr.com

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Originally Posted by colonelhall

...and I have plenty to say about the trip.

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Thanks for sharing those tidbits above -- and we hope to read more about your adventures here shortly!

Mark

Hi,
I've just uploaded an album of snaps from the Yosemite stage of the trip. Click here to view them.


http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum...pictureid=1198

Hi Colonel, good to see you back here !

Those images of Yosemite are stunning and makes me want to go there right now and I would love to see some more from your trip, keep 'em coming ! ;-)

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My wife was celebrating a year free of cancer and raised over £1,000 pounds for Cancer Research. On the way, she and our three friends had a lifetime experience that they would never forget.

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Great news on all fronts, and I am so pleased you had a fantastic time !

Cheers Dave,
I'll upload my Death Valley Pics next.

Death Valley pics now up!

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum...pictureid=1232


See the rest of the album here !

Thanks Colonel, the pics are great, it sure is an amazing area isn't it ?

Yep, you captured some very nice images!

Mark