Zion & Bryce w/3 kids in April
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Anonymous
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OP here. Sorry for the draft itinerary delay, but I got busy! Ha. OK so here is the tentative plan:
Day 1: Fly into Vegas, stay overnight in Vegas Day 2: Hang in Vegas during day as long as we want, and at some point drive to Zion, stay in Zion Hotel 1 (staying at Zion this night was a last minute change, and unfortunately I couldn't add a third night at our original Zion hotel) - possible stop on drive if time: Valley of Fire State Park Day 3: Full day in Zion (stay in Zion hotel 2) Day 4: Full day in Zion (stay in Zion hotel 2) Day 5: Do anything else we want in Zion, drive to Bryce (stay in Bryce) - On drive between Zion and Bryce do scenic drive on Zion-Mount Carmel Highway Day 6: Full day in Bryce (stay in Bryce) Day 7: Weather permitting, consider skiing or cedar breaks national monument; drive back to Vegas (stay in Vegas) Day 8: Fly out To do in Vegas ideas (nothing reserved): Hotel pool, Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, Pirate Show at Treasure Island, Water show and gardens at Bellagio, Gondola ride at the Venetian and gelato, Secret Garden at Mirage, Tournament of Kings (other: Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon) To do in Zion ideas (nothing reserved yet): visitor center and Jr Ranger packets and hear about any ranger programs we might want to do, decide whether we want to do a jeep tour, Kid-friendly hikes: Riverside Walk (easy) (last stop on shuttle– ride shuttle out and start there one day; access to Virgin River), Emerald Pool Trail (easy to moderate) (hang out at middle emerald pool with kids, and maybe end hike there) (access this trail across from the Lodge), Archeology Trail, the Grotto Trail (access trail near Lodge), Pa’rus Trail (Access to Virgin River), Weeping Rock Trail, Lunch or ice cream at the lodge (but crowds, so probably better to bring a picnic lunch), Court of the patriarchs? (others in group may consider the Narrows if open, but not me and kids). To do in Bryce ideas (nothing reserved): visitor center and Jr Ranger packets and hear about any ranger programs we might want to do, watch sunrise and sunsets, try to do a Night sky park ranger program, easy hike ideas Sunrise to Sunset Point (recommended: walking the easy half-mile trail between them); Navajo Loop starts and ends at Sunset Point. It is only 1.3 miles round-trip, but it descends from the rim to the bottom of the canyon and hiking back to the top is strenuous. If you’re up for that, every step is worth it. At the bottom, there is an opportunity to connect to the slightly longer Queen’s Garden trail which will take you back to Sunrise Point and is considered the easiest of the trails going down from the rim. In general I am aiming for: less is more and downtime for kids to play in pool, rivers, etc. |
Anonymous
| Sounds great, have a wonderful time! |
Anonymous
We did the same trip last year in April -- me, DH, DS1 (age 7) and DS2 (age 5). Flew into LV, drove to Zion, stayed at the hotel outside of the main Zion entrance (Cable Mountain Lodge, which was great), did a day trip to Bryce. I haven't read the rest of the thread but my one tip is to wake up very early, walk into Zion, and queue up for the free bus that takes you to the various hikes. If you sleep in an wait until say 11am, the line is extremely long. Wait until after 12 noon and the line is Disney long, snaking out through the entrance. (This is not an exaggeration. Lots of tour buses. People who worked in the park said that they've never seen lines like that, so maybe this is a trend and you'll see the same crowds.) If you're coming from the East Coast, it should be easy for you to be up before the crowds arrive. We skipped the challenging hikes because our kids were just not used to it and usually @ an hour and a half in, they started to get a little distracted. More than once we had to lead them down a mountain, both hands on a kid, so that they wouldn't walk right off the edge. It was a little stressful, and we missed some gorgeous hikes I'm sure, but the kids were wiped out and spacey. I witnessed a little girl, maybe @ 3 years old, running up a hike, the dad panicking and frantically chasing after her so she wouldn't head right off the edge. Maybe your kids will be able to handle it better but something to be aware of. The hotels right by the main Zion entrance are on the banks of the Virgin River (which runs through Zion). It was great for the kids to play in the river at midday, after hiking. I found both Zion and Bryce incredibly beautiful. Every hike and nature walk was gorgeous. It was, without a doubt, one of my favorite vacations. We're thinking of going back and doing a bigger SW National Park trip, and revisit Zion in particular. Have a great time! |
Anonymous
We celebrated my older son's birthday at the brew pub. Great food, friendly waitstaff, right by the main park entrance. IIRC, we ate there a few times. |
Anonymous
When we went in April, you could do The Narrows but the water is cold. We didn't do the hike (didn't think it would be a good idea with our short, skinny younger son who gets blue lips in a heated pool). But others who did had the rented wetsuits and tall sticks. Not super crowded but, yeah, crowded. It kind of misses the tranquility when there are so many people, although the awe is still there. |
Anonymous
I'm the PP who did a very similar trip to the one OP is proposing during last year's Spring Break. All in for four people was $6k -- that's for flights NYC-LV, hotels for a week (incl. one night in LV), meals (our hotel was kind of like a Residence Inn -- we had a kitchen and made most meals there), park entrance fee, parking our car at an off airport lot in NYC. No helicopters but we didn't need it -- everywhere you looked was pure beauty, wherever you stood. |
Anonymous
| I would love to do this trip with my kids - is mid April generally better then mid June? We're not afraid of warm weather but how hot are we talking in June? How do crowd levels compare? |
Anonymous
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PP again. We did Tournament of Kings in LV -- it was pretty corny. I don't think the kids really liked it. I'd skip it and do something else.
Also, one day while we were at Zion, we did a side trip to a ghost town in Grafton, which was eerie and fascinating (although very low key). One thing that was nice about it was that there were almost no tourists around. We were there by ourselves for about an hour. There were also little unofficial hikes you could do at the ghost town site, and other more official ones outside Zion, that would appeal to locals (which is why we liked it -- it felt like something a Utah school group would do). |
Anonymous
I haven't been, but have compared April vs. June. If you choose April, you'd have to sacrifice doing the Narrows hike. So there's that. |
Anonymous
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I skimmed previous responses but apologies if I repeat anything.
We just got back from southern Utah - different spring break week. It was one of the most amazing family trips we've ever taken, and it was extremely cheap. My kids are 5 and 8 and we traveled with four other kids ages 3 - 9. We ended up not doing Zion but have done it before. Be aware that you have to park in a lot, take a shuttle to another shuttle, and then get a shuttle around the park during the high season. That was what dissuaded us from going this time around with the kids. But we also recommend SO SO SO much - Snow Canyon State park (I think it is $5 or $10 per car) - my kids adored Hidden Pinyon and the Petrified Dunes, as well as the huge sand area and the slot canyon (it would take you 10 minutes to do the slot hike, it's really short and cool) Red Reef Trail (near Zion) No matter what, download AllTrails on your phone before you go and set your search parameters for hikes that you want to do, read reviews, etc. Download directions to trailheads when you have good service and then download the trail itself so you can see where you are as you go. Hunt for slot canyons and easy, but creative hikes with rocks to scramble. This is not a challenge in that area!! Get each kid a camelbak/hydration backpack so they can carry their own water. Stop frequently for snack breaks, more than you think you need to. You will have the best best time. We are still glowing from the trip. |
Anonymous
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Also - this is 14:04 again -
One of my kids and I got altitude sickness at about 10-11K feet or so (skiing). We had crushing headaches cured by a ton of water and ibuprofen. We didn't have a problem in southern UT, only in the north at the slightly higher altitude. We currently do not live in the DC area and we live right at sea level. The hikes that I described are all easy, even though the pictures make them look terrifying. AllTrails is really your best friend for finding cool little and big hikes. I think you can't go wrong in any of the areas you listed! |
Anonymous
| Don’t over schedule Vegas and pay for stuff. You can have a nice day enjoying the pool, check out bellagio Fountains, eat early at a buffet (esp if you’re staying on east coast time). When we were there we didn’t see any shows that would have worked for my 4 YO (plus they would have been late, east coast time). |
Anonymous
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Thanks so much for all of the advice!! Here is my report in rolling installments if helpful to anyone in the future!!!
We traveled with my parents, my sister, and my family of 5. Day 1: Fly to Vegas from IAD (LONG check in lines for United) Stay 1 night at Mandalay Bay - looked for best pools in Vegas for kids and this seemed to be a popular one so that’s how I picked it. Two rooms were ready when we arrived at 11 which was nice! The other 2 rooms were ready at 1pm. Since I have some trouble finding hotel options for a family of 5 I’ll say here what we did this trip. In Mandalay Bay for our family of 5, I booked adjoining rooms: 1 king room adjoining with a 2 queen room. This day the pool was so crowded / no chairs - not so relaxing for me bc so crowded but the kids still had a great time. Eventually I got chairs. The kids played in the sand / wave pool / lazy river and loved it - note: I never heard of a BYOTube (or buy one) lazy river before but it was still fun w/out a tube anyway & later someone gave us their tube to keep on their way to check out of the hotel. My one food note is that Citizens (in the hotel), we thought had an insane PB & J  . It was PB&J on banana walnut bread.
That night when the rest of us went to bed early, DH met up with old friend from NYC coincidentally in the city for the wknd too so that was nice for him. |
Anonymous
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Day 2:
Went to the Mandalay Bay pool again from 8am-11am - much lower crowds at this time, better for me We didn’t even leave Mandalay Bay at all - my kids even preferred to stay at pool rather than go to the aquarium there We had the rental car delivered to Mandalay Bay which was nice. We checked out and got on the road to Utah! Stopped for In N out burger on our way out of the city- it was my first time there (it was good!) We drove straight through to Utah and did not stop until we got to Walmart around Hurricane Valley (very nice Super Walmart, lol!). Even without stopping for scenic sites, it was a BEAUTIFUL drive, particularly through the mountains in AZ. I hadn’t realized the drive would put us through AZ a bit. This was the first time in Utah for me! I’m trying to go to all 50 states and this was #36! In Zion, we stayed 3 nights at Cable Mountain Lodge. This hotel was recommended to me by a few people so I went ahead and booked it and we are all glad I did! Its location was so great. It’s the closest hotel to the entrance of the park and a few minute walk to the visitor center / park shuttle. We all thought the hotel mountain views were beautiful, too. We arrived late afternoon, and ended up just exploring the hotel area, going to the pool, and having dinner at our room with stuff we picked up at Walmart (I ended up canceling the reservation I had made at Bit & Spur - which had also been recommended to me. We were just too tired to go out. At the hotel, my family of 5 stayed in a hillside suite room - two queen beds and a pullout couch & full kitchen. Note: You lose one hour on the drive. Vegas is PST and Utah is MDT. |
Anonymous
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Day 3:
Woke up early so we wouldn’t have to wait in a long line for park shuttle At 8am went to visitor’s center Took park shuttle to last stop - did Riverside walk - good trail. Narrows closed due to rain melt. Just riding on the shuttle is a nice tour of the park. Then we took park shuttle to the Lodge - was able to get lunch there (had been warned of long lines but no issue for us). Saw someone I knew from NJ on lawn (we moved to VA 6 years ago). Met TONS of other people there from VA, especially FCPS, all on spring break too. Everyone we met was so nice. Then we did lower emerald pool trail (middle and upper closed at this time). Good trail. Then took shuttle back to hotel around 2pm - went to cable mountain pool, then dinner at Zion Brew Pub right next to our hotel, which we all liked. As other people mentioned earlier in this thread, it was pretty cold in the morning then warmed up a lot by mid-day. If this matters for you for work: no phone or WiFi service at all out in Zion park. At the hotel I still didn’t have cell phone service but connected to their WiFi so text and email ok when at hotel. For the hikes, our 4 y/o walked some & we also wore her in the ergo in backpack carry a lot - she only weighs 31 lbs I asked a park ranger about spring break crowds on my way out of the park this day - he said it seemed 7.5/10 this day. These first 3 days of our trip were a high of high 70s/low 80s. All pools at hotels heated (Mandalay Bay and Cable Mountain). Aside from the fact that we had to get up early for shuttle bc lines so long later, the crowds didn’t really bother me this day. I picked this time of year because I thought it might be less crowded than summer and I was worried we’d be too hot in summer. But who knows - idk how summer crowds & heat really are. Just weather-wise DH probably would have preferred summer - he is not a cold person and mornings are cold. We still like it a lot though. -happy we came with 4th graders free in the park pass. The park ranger who checked us in said it’s their favorite pass.
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