re: National Park Suggestions

I'm on the last day of a 10 day national park trip now. Best trip our family has ever done. We were looking to do challenging day hikes in an area of the country we had never been to. We are pretty fit parents with an older teenager.

Flew into Las Vegas and rented car. Spent night in Trump Hotel [bid and won on priceline].

Drove to Grand Canyon South Rim. Stopped at Hoover Dam [park in the "monument bridge Pat Tillman" parking area you see on the right and hike to middle of the bridge for best pic of dam then drive across dam, park for free on other side, walk to middle of dam, take pictures and then leave. Don't do tour or go to visitors center. Mass chaos.]. Got off highway at Seligman for shakes at Delgadillo's Snow Cap on rte 66.

Grand Canyon [3 nights]: Stayed in Kachina Lodge which was small room but next to rim so good. First evening, took shuttle to Hopi Point to watch sunset. Walked back a bit on rim trail and then hopped on shuttle back to room. The next morning we hiked S. Kaibab trail to Cedar Ridge then back up. Great hike. 3 miles roundtrip. That afternoon we went to visitor's center and museum and walked rim back to hotel from visitor's center. The next morning Dad and son hiked down Bright Angel trail to Plateau Point [12 miles roundtrip] while I hiked most of the rim trail towards Hermits Rest, hopping on the shuttle every once in a while for a break. Awesome day.

Drove to Page, Az. [one night] Stopped at Horseshoe Bend which was terrifying and nobody in the family really enjoyed it. Payoff wasn't worth the dusty hike through the desert. Did the Antelope Canyon tour with Ken's Tours. Nice. Spent the night at a nice Hampton Inn. The next morning we did the mountaintop jeep tour with Jeep Lake Powell which was wonderful. Drove that afternoon to Bryce Canyon National Park.

Bryce Canyon NP [one night] when we arrived, we drove to the end of the road along the rim at Yavimpa Point, had a snowball fight, and then stopped at each overlook on way back. Ate dinner in the lodge. Stayed overnight in lodge/cabin room which we loved. Very convenient. The next morning we did the "figure 8" Queens Garden, Peekaboo Loop, Navajo Loop hike. [6 or 7 miles total] Fantastic but challenging. Drove that afternoon to Zion NP.

Zion NP [3 nights] On the drive in, we did the Canyon Overlook Trail which is BEFORE the tunnel on the right side. Then we checked in to Cable Mountain Lodge in Springdale, UT which I highly recommend because it is the closest hotel to park and you just walk across the pedestrian bridge right behind the hotel and you are at the park visitor's center. The first afternoon, we rode shuttle to the very end and walked the Riverside Trail to the opening of the Narrows. The second day, we did the Weeping Rock hike [don't recommend, just meh] and then the Hidden Canyon hike [definitely recommend]. Because we were already one mile up that mountain, we said, what the hell, let's add on Observation Point which was phenomenal but did add an additional 6 miles. This makes for a 10 to 11 mile day with lots of elevation gain but we thought it was fantastic. The next day, I hiked the Watchman trail which I really enjoyed while dad and teenager did Angels Landing to Scout's Lookout [I told dad I would divorce him if he took my kid any further than that -- lots of deaths on the stretch after that point and, in any case, Observation Point hike was sketchy enough]. Then we met up at lodge and did Grotto trail to Kayenta to Emerald Pools then Lower Emerald Pools back to lodge.

Driving back to LV tomorrow.

Regrets:
(1) going to the visitor's center at the dam. It was so crowded we stood there, looked around, then walked back to car on other side of dam.
(2) that I didn't buy hiking poles until halfway through the trip
(3) only one night in Bryce. This was a really nice park and if we had a second night, I would have hiked the rim trail or the "under the rim" trail.
(4) That we didn't rent a motor home. They are ALL OVER Arizona and in every NP and gas station. Much cheaper than the cost of hotel rooms plus rental car and we wouldn't have had to pack and unpack repeatedly. We saw Cruise America, El Monte RV and BackroadsRV. Nice campgrounds in each NP [not sure about hook-ups though]
(5) that we didn't do this sooner

Tips:
Every day each person left with a bag that had water bottles [and/or camelbaks depending on length of hike], PB and J sandwiches, nuts, jerky, gummy candies, pretzels, protein bars, etc... I also had camera, sunscreen [and chapstick with spf], sunglasses and hats. Weather was variable. Hiking boots are a must and I had bought the guys zip-off leg Columbia pants from Amazon. The Columbia fishing shirts are good for keeping cool while protecting you from the sun. Cell phone service is non-existent when you are IN the park just fyi. I packed a suitcase with all of the snacks we needed that I bought at Costco, a few clothes detergent tabs, and our backpacks. On way to GC, we stopped at Wal Mart in Kingman I think and got bread and PB and J and bottled water, beer, and cokes and a cheap ice chest which we kept going during the trip. Saved tons of money. Ate breakfast bars for breakfast, pb and j and snacks for lunch while hiking on the trail. Dinners out.

It was fantastic, and we are now planning our next NP trip which will be Rocky Mountain NP this summer.