Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

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Bustoff
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Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by Bustoff »

My wife and I are heading out on on a road trip to see Canyonlands and Arches and then move on to Bryce and Zion.

It's kind of a spur of the moment trip and will be our first visit to these areas.

We would appreciate your recommendations for lodging.
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Blues
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by Blues »

I took a motorcycle trip with the missus through that area (Grand Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Natural Bridges, Monument Valley etc.) about 15 years ago and stayed at the NPS lodges within both Zion and Bryce Canyon. Both facilities were excellent and convenient at the time . (I had planned my route and stay in advance so I can't speak to how easy accommodations are to reserve on the fly currently.)
tibbitts
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by tibbitts »

Bustoff wrote:My wife and I are heading out on on a road trip to see Canyonlands and Arches and then move on to Bryce and Zion.

It's kind of a spur of the moment trip and will be our first visit to these areas.

We would appreciate your recommendations for lodging.
If you mean immediately or including the upcoming holiday weekend, your choices in nearby lodging may be limited by availability. You may receive all sorts of glowing recommendations for lodging that you won't be able to stay at. You would get better recommendations if you give more detailed information about your plans. If you're just passing through each park, with just a daytime visit to each one, then you may be able to stay relatively far away. That's probably going to be a different answer than if you're planning multi-day visits to each park. I've visited these parks, but only during their off-seasons, and also in an RV, so that involved additional options for lodging.
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JMacDonald
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by JMacDonald »

I am in Cedar City, Utah right now on a trip. Usually at this time of year most places are full. But one can always find cancelations on the day of arrival. You just have to be flexible.

Moab has plenty of motels for Arches and Canyonlands. Springdale has plenty of motels for Zion. Rubys Inn has plenty of rooms for Bryce. My preference is to stay in the park. However, most of the time the lodges in the park are expensive and usually full. That is one reason why I camp. I usually never have a problem getting a campsite.

BYW, if you pass through Cedar City, I would highly recommend catching a play at the Utah Shakespeare Festival: http://www.bard.org If you are Shakespeare phobic, the festival does more than Shakespeare.
Last edited by JMacDonald on Wed Aug 27, 2014 12:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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climber2020
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by climber2020 »

Near the entrance of Zion is Best Western Zion Park Inn. They had good, clean rooms and an excellent breakfast bar. It's a short drive to the park where you can leave your car and hop on the shuttle.
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midareff
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by midareff »

tibbitts wrote:
Bustoff wrote:My wife and I are heading out on on a road trip to see Canyonlands and Arches and then move on to Bryce and Zion.

It's kind of a spur of the moment trip and will be our first visit to these areas.

We would appreciate your recommendations for lodging.
If you mean immediately or including the upcoming holiday weekend, your choices in nearby lodging may be limited by availability. You may receive all sorts of glowing recommendations for lodging that you won't be able to stay at. You would get better recommendations if you give more detailed information about your plans. If you're just passing through each park, with just a daytime visit to each one, then you may be able to stay relatively far away. That's probably going to be a different answer than if you're planning multi-day visits to each park. I've visited these parks, but only during their off-seasons, and also in an RV, so that involved additional options for lodging.

A few years ago I found out the NPS posts vacancies by cancellations 10 days in advance of the arrival date. You just have to keep checking .. I got lucky doing this for NPS in the Grand Canyon twice.
detroitbabu
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by detroitbabu »

We stayed in Kanab, UT
Louis Winthorpe III
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by Louis Winthorpe III »

Cliffrose Lodge right outside Zion is a nice place.
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Bustoff
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by Bustoff »

tibbitts wrote:
Bustoff wrote: It's kind of a spur of the moment trip and will be our first visit to these areas.

We would appreciate your recommendations for lodging.
You would get better recommendations if you give more detailed information about your plans.
It's really more of a driving through each park type of trip.
Our impromptu plan is to leave Kansas City a few days after Labor Day. We are really just "flying by the seat of our pants" and are flexible regarding the length of our stay in each area.
We may try to stay for a day or two if we are really taken with a particular place, however.
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mhc
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by mhc »

I have been to Moab twice in the last few years. I like the Best Western Canyonlands Inn downtown Moab. You can walk to some reasonable restaurants. You are close to Arches, Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands, and Deadhorse Point State Park.

I'll assume you will be driving out on I-70. If so, you could spend the night in Glenwood Springs and do the hot springs pool. Also, out by Grand Junction is Colorado National Monument. It is worth the few hours if you have the time.
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Dave_M
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by Dave_M »

mhc wrote:I have been to Moab twice in the last few years. I like the Best Western Canyonlands Inn downtown Moab. You can walk to some reasonable restaurants. You are close to Arches, Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands, and Deadhorse Point State Park.

I'll assume you will be driving out on I-70. If so, you could spend the night in Glenwood Springs and do the hot springs pool. Also, out by Grand Junction is Colorado National Monument. It is worth the few hours if you have the time.
And continuing in this vein, Just past the Moab turnoff is Green River UT. Great little burger dive (I think it's called Ray's), and the turnoff for Goblin Valley St. Park, as well as some really neat and easily accessible slot canyons (Wild Horse Creek is one).

Sounds like a fun trip!

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sdsailing
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by sdsailing »

Thanks for the thread. We will be doing something very similar the first week of October.
ebabin
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by ebabin »

Bring a tent, it's the only way to really enjoy these places. That said, I was a little perturbed with Zion's facilities. No showers, there was a motel or restaurant outside the park that provided outside shower stalls for a fee. The campsites cost more than a night at a small casino hotel/motel right at the Nevada border. What's wrong with that picture?
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by jaj2276 »

Wife and I did this trip the first week of August. It was BY FAR our best trip ever.

-- In Moab, we stayed at the Red Rock Lodge. It was right in the middle of town and was the cheapest of all the hotels, but there's not many other positives to say about it. The rooms were clean but they're old so you are not going to want to spend any time in the room (I found it humorous that there were no cars in the parking lot until after 8pm and they all were gone by 8am). Did the Delicate Arches, a white water rafting trip down the Red River, and dead horse state park (which is a great hike or a great drive).

-- We didn't stay in Bryce but rather we went to Escalante. This was our favorite part of the trip! The town is super small and we stayed at the Circle D Motel right on Highway 12. The drive from Moab to Escalante was great as well. The Circle D Motel was a really nice motel and they have a restaurant attached to it which was OUTSTANDING. We ended up eating here 4 different times (there really isn't another option). The part about Escalante we liked was the Dry Fork Canyons. Not sure how much hiking you like to do but this is something you really want to do if you like hiking.

-- In Zion, we actually stayed in Hurricane, UT (about 20 miles from Zion Nat'l Park) at the Comfort Inn on HIghway 9. Room was good as the building was newer and they've got a pool and hot tub which we took advantage of one night. We hiked the Narrows (try not to do this on a weekend and make sure to start doing this as soon as the park opens). As we were hiking back (we hiked up the narrows and then back, the normal hike for day hikers) there were hundreds of people that were starting to hike up the narrows that really had no business even hiking! Doing the hike when it's just you and your partner was much more enjoyable than if you were attempting it with hundreds of other people.

The other thing I should say is that we got somewhat lucky because apparently this is monsoon season for Utah. One of our days was a complete washout but the other 6 days were good. I've been looking at the radar quite a bit since we've been back and sure enough, it appears that they've had quite a bit of rain (at least from the looks of things on radar). I'm not sure how long monsoon season lasts but be aware of it.

Also, if you get to Zion and you have some time, the north rim of the grand canyon is only a couple of hours drive from Zion. We tried to do this during our monsoon day but it was raining the entire way from Escalante to the Grand Canyon and the rangers at the entrance to the GC park wouldn't tell us whether we could actually see anything at the rim (it's another 12 miles in from the ranger station). I was kind of bummed about that as the GC detour was a spur of the moment decision that I thought was going to be a great makeup for the monsoon!
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Bustoff
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by Bustoff »

Hey all -- got sidetracked for a day -- thanks much for your suggestions.
Wish I had an RV.
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Rob5TCP
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by Rob5TCP »

We "went" to Zion/Bryce last October - just in time for the parks to be shutdown. Though we got a 1/2 day just before we left, we're planning
to go back either next year or the year after.
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chuck-b
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Re: Arches-Bryce-Zion road trip: Where to stay?

Post by chuck-b »

In 2011 we stayed at La Quinta in Moab for Arche/Canyonlands. Typical LQ, right on the main drag. Flanigans in Springdale for Zion. Just outside the park. Very nice room and very good restaurant style breakfast. For Bryce we stayed at Bryce View Motel. Basic but adequate for a short stay. Enjoy the parks. Great hiking.
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. (John Lennon)
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