Planning a driving vacation out west mid March EDITED NOW FLYING

You have connection to Aspen? Telluride is a cooler/easier drive since you can stay south for longer.

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Any opinion. Thought?? Suggestions

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fly in to PHX
rent a car and make your trip
fly home from DEN

there is nothing to see between AL and AZ that’s worth the time spent to get there

Gotta agree with this: fly to PHX, from home from DEN. Save yourself a bunch of boring interstate miles. Soutwest fares are often cheaper than just the fuel costs for the 1,700 mile round trip you are proposing.

Bump

Do you want to hike? Obviously Arizona, Utah, and Colorado are outdoors gold mines.

Sedona is right next to the Grand Canyon, which you definitely need to see. You can do South Kaibab trail out there, which I think is about 4-5 miles. Very doable for most people even if you’re not in shape. Stick to the South Rim as I bet the North Rim will be closed at that time. Drive through the East Entrance, stop at Watchman’s Tower, then leave the national park through the South Entrance (towards Sedona). There’s also an area past the fence at Watchman’s if you want a bit more secluded feel... We watched sunset out there a couple years ago and it was fantastic. The Grand Canyon visitor center is in a good area to just walk along the rim if you wanted to make it a short trip.!

Flagstaff is great. Very pretty area. Sedona is prettier but Flagstaff is a bit less crowded. More good food in Flagstaff IMO. It’s also a college town which will be a nice vibe if it’s not spring break then.

Utah is beautiful. Especially southern Utah where you’d probably go. Maybe the most beautiful state. Zion and Bryce deserve at least a couple days. Angel’s Landing is the obvious big hike out there, one of the most well-known in the USA, but it can be a bit sketch at the end, especially if you go after the morning and it’s crowded. I think you should probably look up videos of the last half mile before deciding you want to do it. Usually one or two people a year die on it, but as far as I know they’re usually self induced by people being idiots and not knowing what they’re doing out there.

Observation Point gives you better views than angel’s Landing IMO, although less iconic (one of the lookouts on Angel’s Landing is on the Welcome to Utah sign on the Nevada border). Also way less sketchy and crowded. It is a bit longer however. Emerald Pools is cool, family friendly so it’s the most crowded but it’s beautiful and easy. The Narrows is amazing but you have to spend around $30-40 for water gear and it might be flooding at that time. Check the park site if you go.

I definitely recommend Bryce at sunset. Just go to one of the lookouts facing west and enjoy.

Utah has some other cool stuff, like Arches amd Canyonlands. I would definitely prefer more time in Zion and Bryce to those, but it’s still amazing. The drive from Zion to Arches is incredible. The biggest trails in Arches are Delicate Arch (the Utah state license plate) and Devil’s Garden. Very beautiful area. Desert Solitaire is a famous book written about the area by a park ranger who lived there by himself, definitely recommend for this trip since the guy especially loved Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

Northern Utah is also extremely beautiful. You could go skiing in Park City. The mountains are right on top of you in Salt Lake, which is beautiful. But I’d probably prefer the Colorado mountains and southern Colorado to Northern Utah.