Mario22 Loc: Albany, NY

Last year the extended family (3 grandparents, 2 parents and 3 grandkids) toured Acadia, Mn. Actually went very well, so now I’m stuck planning a 3 park trip for next Spring. Since I haven’t been that far West before (NY) I could use some suggestions. Grandparents probably will not hike far while everyone else likes to hike.
1) is it feasible to visit all 3 parks in mid April? Is snow or cold a problem then?
2) allowing 2 days for travel, would 7 days be enough time to see some of the highlights? Obviously you could spend weeks touring them and a lifetime knowing them; but we have 7 days.
3) are there any motels etc that you would recommend staying at? We don’t like to rough it.
4) are there any guides or tours that you would recommend?
5) any websites/uTube videos, guide books and maps would you recommend?
6) I plan on bringing a Canon R5/6, 24-105, 16mm RF or 14mm Rokinion, and 70-200. Will that give me any glaring gaps in coverage? Not looking into doing wildlife photos.
That’s a lot of questions and I thank those of you who can provide suggestions for any of them.

mikee

Following. Planning the same in sep/october.

Mario22 Loc: Albany, NY

That would have been my choice but more difficult to do with grandkids school schedule. Although, there might be a possibility in mid October.

LXK0930 Loc: Souh Jersey

It has been many decades since I visited those parks, so some of my advice may be dated.
(1) TIME: Time allotment depends on how much you want to do. Also, parks are extremely crowded this year. Everything will take much longer than you expect. I suspect that you will only be able to do 2 parks with your time constraints.

(2) GRAND CANYON: Note that GG has South and North rims. South is well developed with hotels, restaurants, etc. North was extremely isolated, and very, very primitive (basic cabins were about it). Although the rims look close on the map, don't even think about driving between them.

We went to the South Rim at Xmas-time, and froze our butts off. I think that it will still be very cold in April. We also went to the North Rim in June. The day before we arrived, the roads were still closed with 16 FEET of snow.

(3) BRYCE/ZION: We went to Bryce and Zion in the summer, so I can not speculate on the weather in April. The 2 parks are very close. Bryce is my favorite (in my opinion, more spectacular than GC). If possible, take a horseback trail ride in ONE of these parks. I did rides in both parks on the same day, resulting in saddle sores the size of grapefruits. Also, I would advise bringing a cheap P&S camera.

Hope that this helps. Enjoy your trip.

Mario22 Loc: Albany, NY

I was afraid that 7 days would be too short a time. My second concern is the weather in April. Other choice might be mid October or early November; but timing with school might not work. Would Summer be a better choice?

therwol Loc: USA

Don't forget that these destinations are at relatively high altitude. The South Rim of the Grand Canyon is at 7000 feet. The North Rim is at 8000 feet. This might not bother most people coming up from sea level, however others may be at risk of altitude sickness if the ascent isn't gradual over a few days. Also, anyone with heart or lung problems might suffer in this environment, even at rest.

Mario22 Loc: Albany, NY

That is an important thing to consider. Us East Coast folks are not used to altitude, so that would be a big unknown for the Grand Canyon. Thanks for the info!

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

It zlso makes a difference in how long it takes for spring to arrive...

ahudina Loc: Browns Point, WA

I can address item #4. I was on a 11 day shoot in Utah about a month ago it was sponsored by PhotoPills and the local tour company was Action Photo Tours out of Kanab. Our guide was David Swindler who owns Action photo tours. I highly recommend both him and his company. Very organized and professional and very dedicated to customer service. I would use them again without hesitation.

KenCan Loc: Allen, TX

Don't forget Arches and if you can, go in mid July to mid August so that you can walk the narrows in Zion. That was memorable.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

tripadvisor.com

mdoing

We stayed at Zion for Christmas a few years ago and had no snow problems, there was a dusting at Bryce, did a day trip from there to Bryce Canyon, both are awesome. Have not been to Grand Canyon yet except to raft it. Your family will love the west! Might be freezing in the morning and warm/hot in the afternoon, you can never tell. Remember the best photos are at dawn when all the kids are still asleep!

neillaubenthal

Too much for 7 days…I would skip GC in that case and do Zion and Bryce…There’s a place in Bryce City named Ruby’s…we camped there in RV but they have hotel rooms too. Election will be an issue…particularly at Bryce…if it was me I would stay in Zion and do a long day trip to Bryce and not try to hike the latter. Page AZ with Antelope Cnypns is a lot closer to Zion than GC is and is another reasonable day trip. Weather will still likely be cool but that late snow is less likely. Stop by Cedar Breaks on the way to or from Zion to Bryce…same scenery and essentially no people.

ELNikkor

We did almost the same thing in 2020/2021. 2021 was Acadia, 2020 was Arches, Bryce, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley area. Grand Canyon, Vegas, Bryce, Monument Valley area were all just one day/one night each, Arches was 2 days & nights. Kind of whirlwind, but was enough for us. Nikon D750, 24-120 f4 lens 98% of all photos.

knessr

I've been to all of these parks multiple times, so here are some recommendations based on my expereinces:
Byrce Canyon - the averages in weather for April is a high of 54, low of 29 and 8 inches of snow. By comparison, Sep. is 70 high, 42 low and 0.1 inches of snow. In my opinion, Sep is the best month to go. By then school is back in session and the crowds have thinned out. As far as lodging, there is a Best Western Plus Ruby's Inn and Best Western Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel right outside the park. Bryce is a good place to take a trail ride in amoung the Hoodoos. Also when driving the route to see all of the highlights, drive to the far end and start working your way back. The majority of pulloffs will be on your right making it easy to pull in and back out without having to cross oncoming traffic.

Zion - We worked there for two months two different years, so I know that park like the back of my hand. It is about 90 miles from Bryce Canyon to Zion. Zion is a lot lower in elevations, so it is warmer. Sep. is also a great month to go there as the weather averages are 91 for a high, 61 low and only 1.0 of rain and no snow. Lodging in the park is at the Zion Lodge. Unlike many other National Park lodges, there are no rooms in the lodge itself, but instead small rustic cabins. Just outside the park in Springdale, UT are several namebrand hotels to choose from.

For your hikers, two stand out and are the flagship hikes in Zion - Angel's Landing and the Narrows. Angel's landing is a demanding hike and those that are doing it should be in good shape. Many people stop at Scout's landing, but the brave continue on for the last half-mile on up to Angel's Landing. That last part is not for the faint of heart. On that last part, there is a chain to hang onto as you make your way to the top. In some places the walkway is only 3 feet wide with a drop-oof on one side of 1200' and the other about 800'. And people coming down are hanging on to the same chain as the people going up, so patience and coorporation is the key. And no there are no gaurdrails or fences on the edges.

As far as the Narrows, you are hiking in the Virgin River. Many of the people doing it go up as far as Wall Street, turn around and come back. That takes about 5 hours to do. Be sure to have a walking stick so that you have a third hand as you will be wlaking over and around slick rocks that are on the bottom of the river. As far as depth, it runs between ankle deep and chest high . Keep the things you carry with you in a dry pack. There are outfitters in Springdale where you can rent a walking stick, dry pack and other things you may want for the hike. Otherwise, there are several other hikes in the park that are less demanding. Also, the East Side is altogether different than the West side. There is a tunnel that separates the two.

There is also horseback riding at Zion, but the ride will not be as dramatic as it is at Bryce.

Grand Canyon. As mentioned there are two Rims to this national park - the North and South. The North Rim is closed from about mid-Oct to Mid-May depending on the weather. It is about a 40-minute drive from the Jacob's Lake turnoff to the park and that road is not plowed in the winter. It is about a 209 mile drive to get from one rim to the other as there is not a road going directly between the two. Some people like to do the rim to rim hile which is about 10 milies - very demanding miles. There is lodging at both rims in maddition to several hotels right outside the south entrance to the South Rime is the little town of Tusayan.

As far as weather the averages for the South Rim in Sep are 76 for a high, 437 for a low. 1.56 " of rain. For the North Rim, the highs in Sep are 69, low of 39 and 1.99 " rain. The South Rim has mule rides on the trail that goes from the rim down into the canyon, but be sure to reserves months in advance if that is something you want to do.

The South Rim is aboout 1,000' lower than the North Rim. So the South is around 7,000' and the North at 8,297'. My wife is fine at the South Rim, but starts experiencing some effects of altitude sickness at the North Rim.

You could actually do a circle of these three National Parks stopping first at the North Rim, then Bryce, Zion and around through Las Vegas and to the South Rim.

If you have any more questions, please let me know. Someone mentioned Arches N.P That is also a nice park, but quite a ways out of your way for the time you have.

Oh ... to give you an idea on distance, it is about 500 miles from the North Rim, to Bryce, Zion and to the South Rim. Mapquest is showing drive time at 9 hours and 43 minutes. Seven days is not a lot of time, but for these three parks, but it is doable and a trip that you will remember for along time!