Zion and Grand Canyon trip

We just took a similar trip last summer. Those 2 parks are too far apart to enjoy from one location. I'd look into flying into and staying in/near Flagstaff, AZ for a couple nights and exploring Sedona and the south rim from there. If one day in the Grand Canyon is enough for you, then you could head north to Page from the south rim. Spend a couple nights in Page for Horseshoe, Antelope, and Lake Powell (rent a boat for the day). Finally head to Zion and stay in the park or in Springdale for a couple nights. You can fly out of Las Vegas. Surprisingly, the drives between these parks are not very enjoyable and I wouldn't want to be driving back and forth too much.

I hope this helps.

Thanks!! We were looking at possibly staying at Kanab for the Zion/Bryce/Page portion.

Then staying in the Grand Canyon Village for a couple of nights for the Grand Canyon time. A lot of places I’ve read said to stay in the village because parking will be too difficult if we stay in one of the towns outside.

I’ll definitely look into the places you both mentioned.

We hit all of these spots on a trip last year.

Zion - Stayed at Springhill Suites in Springdale, UT. Gotta be one of the coolest hotel views anywhere. Also very convenient to Zion Canyon. It's worth the trip to Zion's Kolob Canyon also. We were coming south from Park City, so it was on the way.

Horseshoe Bend - Stayed at Home2 Suites by Hilton in Page, AZ. It's right by Glen Canyon Dam Overlook & only 5 minute drive from Horseshoe Bend.

Make sure you take Hwy 89A on the drive from Springdale to Page. You'll want to see Vermillion Cliffs National Monument & the views from Historic Navajo Bridge in Marble Canyon. Cliff Dwellers Stone House is also an interesting roadside stop.

Grand Canyon - We actually left Horseshoe Bend & drove east to Monument Valley (stayed at Goulding's Lodge) & then south to Petrified Forest National Park before ending up at the Grand Canyon south rim. We stayed in Flagstaff & flew home from there. Tusayan is the closest town to the south rim if you aren't planning to stay in Grand Canyon Village though.

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staying at Kanab

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Great little town.

Be sure to hit up Pink Sand Dunes state park.

Toadstools is an awesome easy hike between Page and Kanab.

The drives are nice OP, but they are long and get boring quickly. You absolutely want to stay as close everything as possible. For one you want to start the day early to beat the crowds and heat, and want to be able to catch a sunrise or sunset if possible and that would make for an incredibly long day driving 1.5-3 hours afterward.

I just did that trip this November.

Couple things:
1. Grand Canyon sucks for kids, honestly. 1000+ ft drops everywhere and the scenery is close enough to the same for them they get tired of it. Hard to do hikes with them it’s all steep. We planned on doing 3 nights in canyon village and left after 2 for Paige.

2. Stay a night in Paige. Do Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe bend. Etc. Or don’t, but do those, and it helps break up the drive.

3. Zions awesome pay to stay close to the park. Didn’t do the narrows hike, but with a 5 year old if you do that it’s going to be your all day activity. They’ll be exhausted after it.

4. ETA: you should consider staying in the north rim to save some time

5. ETA: I’ll get downvoted, but it’s all red sandstone rock. Or mostly. It’s pretty, but personally it got to be the same between Sedona, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, etc. worth visiting certainly, it’s just extremely similar after a point. Given our trip was over 2 weeks.

We just got back from nearly that same trip a couple of days ago. We managed to get a room/cabin at the Zion lodge. It was amazing to stay in the park and as an added bonus, you get a code and permit to drive into the canyon and avoid the bus lines at the visitor's center. once at the lodge, the bus line to go further into the canyon is a breeze. From the Zion lodge it's only about an hour to Bryce Canyon NP and well worth the trip.

From Bryce Canyon we drove down to Page and stayed at the Courtyard. Several posters here recommended Big John's BBQ in Page for dinner and it didn't disappoint.

From Page to the south rim of the GC via the East entrance is an easy drive and you'll see a lot of the canyon before you even get to the GC main visitor center. Another poster mentioned hikes with a 5 yr old are not recommended and I would agree with that. I have a 5 yr. old and keeping them away from the edge is very stressful and it can be dangerous for all. I started down Bright Angel and turned back a couple hundred yards in. At this time of the year there was lot's of ice on the already narrow trail.

We couldn't get a room on short notice at GC village or Tusayan so we continued to Williams. There are several hotels there and some Route 66 diners, etc. That actually worked out better for us anyway since we were flying home via Las Vegas.

I'd break up the trip to avoid very long days of driving and limiting your time in the parks but if you really want to stay in one location, Page is probably you're best bet. BTW, all the roads are very good 2-lane hwys and most are 70 mph and have passing lanes every so often but you'll have to pass the occasional motorhome or local Sunday driver.

Antelope canyon is not gonna be wheelchair/stroller accessible. Horseshoe Bend may be now but know its a little hike to see the actual views .

Only way you can go there (Antelope canyon) is with a paid tour where they drive you to it. It’s tribal land so you can not just drive up to it on your own. Then it’s all a loose sandy bottom you walk on. No paved parts. And some parts are kinda narrow that a stroller may not fit in

Page doesn’t really have much else to do besides Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend unless you are gonna do lake activities(hiking, kayaking, boating etc).

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My husband was going to try to carry her through Antelope Canyon because we were told that it’s not that far of a walk through the sand. And if we see he can’t carry her then one of us will stay back with her.

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The logistics for Upper Antelope Canyon changed once they re-opened after Covid shutdowns. They built a series of ramps/stairs and force one-way traffic.

Our booking confirmation for April says this: "New Hike involved, we now have a one-way path on tour, if you’ve been before the walk is no longer easy. Those joining the tour have to be able to complete the hike (there are no exceptions). To get a better idea of the hike involved, scroll down to the bottom of this page and watch our video. The hike total distance is 1,200 meters, if you’ve had recent surgery on your knees, hips, back you may want to reconsider this tour."

The video they reference (a GoPro of someone walking along the route) is HERE.

Hope this helps you in your planning.

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Any other recommendations are appreciated especially anything that is ADA accessible.

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Then Bryce is definitely for you - you can walk plenty of the rim between sunrise and sunset points on a flat paved trail.

Consider contacting some of the Jeep tour outfitters, they can take you to some cool spots on the outskirts of Zion. I did one that included some nice backcountry, a old Mormon homestead, etc.