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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We did that last summer. Great trip. We went for 10 days and it wasn't long enough. As far as best time, because it gets so hot, I prefer the fall. [/quote]

We just did 8 days in Utah in mid-June. It was fine in the morning but by the afternoon it was beastly hot -- 105 degrees and above. Sure, it's dry heat, but it's still hot. If you're going without the kids and so don't need to go during a school vacation, I'd go in the fall when it's cooler. We did 8 days and could have spent longer, but it was fine if that's all you have. We only went to Utah (so not the Grand Canyon) -- Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyon Lands, and Arches. If we had had more time, there are some state parks I would have liked to add, plus the Grand Canyon.[/quote]

Sorry if this is hijacking the thread (I am not OP), but I have just started planning this trip for our family with two tweens) for mid-June next year, have about 8-10 days, and would love to hear your itinerary, some of the highlights and what (if anything) you would do differently![/quote]

We flew to Las Vegas, rented a car, and drove to Zion. This was a long day of travel, but there's really no way to break it up. We woke up early the next day (like a pp, we did our best to stay on east coast time) and went hiking in Zion. My kids weren't big enough to hike the Narrows, but if your kids are old/tall enough, it's the hike you want to do. Then in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel to relax and swim -- we needed a day off from travel! The next day we drove to Bryce, spent the night there and the next day hiking there. Make sure you hike down into the canyon -- staying on the rim doesn't at all give you a sense of the place! We then spent one night and one day at Capital Reef, which was my favorite park. Then we went to Moab, where we rented a house through Air bnb -- it was more expensive than a hotel, but by then we were tired of sleeping together and the kids needed some distance from each other. In Moab, we spent some time in Arches and Canyon Lands and some time outside the park doing guide-led adventure activities (rock climbing, white water rafting). This added considerable expense and wasn't necessary, but it was fun and again, the kids needed a break from hiking. Then we flew home from Grand Junction, Colorado. Other than the first day, we had about 2 hours of driving each day, which was manageable.

If we had had more time, we would have added some state parks rather than spending more time in any one park, since the really long hikes weren't really accessible to us. Make sure you begin each park at the visitor center to get the junior ranger information -- the kids really loved doing it, it motivated them to participate in hikes enthusiastically, and we all learned a lot from the ranger programs. My other advice is to stay at hotels that have pools.[/quote]

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