Need some timing help.

[Lifemagician]

Am trying to put together an itinerary for daughter.

The family is Mum and Dad with a 6, 8 and 10 year old. They will be skiing in CO with my daughter from Boston. Probably in the Beaver Creek area. After that - second half of March - they have a week to get to LAX. They want to travel through UT to the Grand Canyon, visiting as much as possible. NPs are high on the list. I have told them about the Junior Ranger program for the children.

My question now is: Since I never really travel with any time constraints, I am finding it hard to give her a route which will take in as much as possible and still get them to their flight on time.

My thought was two nights in/near Moab for the parks there, and two nights in/near the GC south rim for a full day at the GC. Just want them to have enough time at the parks they visit to do the JR program. Not sure whether to include Zion or Bryce, or ?????

A little help with timing a route would be appreciated.

Lifey

[AZBuck]

With so much to see between central Colorado and Los Angeles, and a time constraint - even a week, I'd be inclined to keep the driving route as direct as possible and use more time in the available parks. Those parks would include Colorado National Monument, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon National Park (North Rim), Zion National, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (outside Las Vegas), and Mojave National Preserve. Now Colorado National Monument, Red Rock Canyon and Mojave National Preserve might require less time than the rest, but in general they'll need to average about three hours a day of driving and seven to ten hours daily of actual sight-seeing. Sure, you wish they could spend more, but I think a once-over-lightly visit t as many different parks as possible would be best since it won't really change their total balance of driving/exploring time.

AZBuck

[Lifemagician]

Buck, this is in the second half of March. The North Rim (where I would love to send them) will not yet be open. By direct, I had figured something like I-70, UT-128, US-191, US163 and on to the east entry. But it is getting it right time wise, and I just am not good at that.

Just realised that I did not ask her if this is 6 nights or 7 nights. They are away on their Christmas vacation at present, but I will get that information when she returns next week.

Lifey

[AZBuck]

Yeah, sorry about that, I was just thinking 'spring', but the North Rim will still be closed. In that case then, they can still get to the Grand Canyon (South Rim) and include Mesa Verde, while just 'giving up' Bryce Canyon. Now it would look like this: Colorado NM, Arches NP, south on US-191/US-491 to Mesa Verde NP, US-160 back through Four Corners area to the Grand Canyon - in and out by the West Entrance, up through Page to Zion NPand then down I-15 past Red Rock and Mojave to Los Angeles. It's still a bit of a once-over lightly with less than a day at each park, but still well worth while. Their driving time will be a bit longer - two and a half full days, but still eminently doable in even six days overall. If I were to send more time in any of them, it would be in Mesa Verde and Zion where there's more to learn and see on a still relatively short time scale. The Grand Canyon would require significantly more time (and physical activity) to do any more than just enjoy the views from the rim. The same holds true of Arches and Mojave.

AZBuck

[Southwest Dave]

It will depend on how they like to travel and I would probably look at it similar to Buck, although I would go from CO to Moab arriving afternoon and looking around. Possibly drive to Grandview point in Canyonlands and then spend the following day in Arches. Then drive through Monument valley to the South rim. From there head through Page to Zion NP [staying in Springdale] before heading to LA. I would consider spending 1 night at GC and then leave the following afternoon to spend a night in or around Page which should give them a couple of nights in Zion. You could swap to head from Moab to Bryce to GC but Bryce could still be cold due to the elevation, not much of a problem with their ski gear though.

[Lifemagician]

... but Bryce could still be cold due to the elevation, not much of a problem with their ski gear though.

I doubt it. They will probably rent their ski gear up on the mountain. Not much point owning it once they come home. Even in the ski resorts in the Snowy Mountains, it never gets cold enough to wear that sort of gear. Besides, imagine how much weight it would add to their luggage.

Lifey

[Southwest Dave]

True, but I am sure they are capable of packing some warm/layered clothes.

Dave.

[Lifemagician]

Now I have finally got her to be more specific, and not just a general question.....

Even though she told me they were going to CO, it is actually Deer Valley, near Park City UT where they will be. Could not get her to accept that there is a GREAT difference.

They will be leaving Park City on Sat 18th March (travel from Deer Valley and go pick up the car), and want to be in LA (Anaheim) the evening of the 26th, to have two days for Disney before flying out late on 28th.

I forwarded all the information which Keithg posted re the rental car and insurance. She said that was the best information she has had so far.

My suggestion to her is Moab, via Bryce (forget Zion with the landslide) and UT-12, then to the Grand Canyon via MV, or at least the scenic routes around there, and then to LA, via Oatman AZ (the kids will love the burros). Staying two nights at both places on the way. An alternative would be to detour from Moab to Durango for two nights and visit Mesa Verda. I think I made it clear as to how much they could see in all those places, but I am still a little hesitant on whether the distances between Park City and Moab are OK. I outlined all the route numbers to her for either route, with the proviso that there is a good possibility that they could see snow along the way. Gave them the links to the sites where weather and road information is available.

Her desires, (and my thoughts) are that they should stay in each place long enough to see the NPs they want to visit, drive the scenic routes I am always raving about, and to make sure they are in an area where a hotel room for five is not too hard to get. She will book them all before they leave.

Any further thoughts would be greatly appreciated. (It's not my way of travelling, but this time it is not for me.)

At least I have finished knitting the five pairs of mittens and the slippers for the children.

Lifey