St. George, Utah--Zion, Bryce Canyon Nat'l Parks?

[DisneyLandMomma]

Anyone done a trip to this area before?

Long story short, my husband ended up getting a larger than usual bonus this year and had already scheduled the first week of July off. We've had a rough 6 months since a family member's medical emergency and me taking on the role of almost fulltime caregiver, so we decided we needed to get away for the week. We worked out some alternate care for my loved one and tried to figure out where we could go. Since its so last minute and 4th of July week, options have been limited. We looked into renting a house along the central coast, Lake Tahoe, San Fransisco, even Catalina Island(my 1st choise but hubby thought he'd get stir crazy being on an island LOL) We were also hoping to find someplacewe wouldn't be spending the entire bonus on just lodging.

We really enjoyed a trip to Sedona/Grand Canyon two years ago so my dad suggested St. George, about a 5 hour drive from here. I was able to book us a suite in St. George for very cheap, which is apprently about 30-45 minutes to Zion, about 2 1/2 hours to Bryce Canyon and 2 hours to the Grand Canyon, North Rim. So far I know we will be taking one day trip to each Nat'l Park and I've looked into horseback riding and an ATV trail ride.

I was wondering if there was anything else interesting to see/do in the area?

[Altair]

Check out Cedar Breaks National Monument, I think it is more beautiful than Bryce and the wildflowers will be wonderful in July. It's in alpine climate and is above 10,000 feet. Do the Alpine pond trail,but don't forget the but spray. It's east of Cedar City between Zion and Bryce.:thumbsup:

[GAN]

Good for you ..Zion is spectacular, we would love to go back there sometime soon. For more info, you should try the Forums over at tripadvisor, There is a lot of good advice to be had.

[MommaMouse]

Another vote for Zion. We spent a few days out there in the middle of our Vegas vacation and I honestly would have rather stayed out there than in Vegas. It was beautiful and I only wish we had more time to visit Bryce. Our favorite thing to do at Zion was to visit the outfitter stores right outside the park entrance and get the rental equipment for walking in the canyon bottom. We had special boots and walking sticks to make our way through the water and it was so refreshing! Be sure to wear a bathing suit and bring some drinks and snacks with you! I'm jealous just thinking of it!

[MNNHFLTX]

Yes, make sure and hike the Narrows. We saved that for the last hike of ur trip a few years ago and it definitely was a unique experience! We didn't wear swimsuits, just lightweight hiking shorts. Wish we could have stayed longer in the area (we stayed at the Desert Pearl Inn in Springdale--it was fabulous!)

[DisneyLandMomma]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I'm making a list of all these ideas. I'm getting more and more excited! Yesterday I reserved our horseback ride and an ATV trail ride. We may even go see an Alladin stage show at the Tuachan Amphitheatre, trying to talk hubby into that! LOL

[DisneyLandMomma]

Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread. We just got back Saturday and had an amazing trip. I especially wanted to say thank you to you all that suggested hiking the Narrows....WOW. Incredible, That was by far our most favorite day! We rented the shoes and walking sticks and frankly I don't know how anyone can do it without at least the sticks. LOL some sections the water was up to our chests(at least for my short daughter and myself LOL) but it was wonderful on such a warm day! We made it to Bryce Canyon, Zion, Pipe Springs Mounment, we rode horseback through Snow Canyon State Park and went on an ATV trail ride through another state park area(forgot the name).

[Janmac]

So glad you had a great time and had a chance to get away.

We stopped at Pipe Springs on the spur of the moment as we were going by on our way to the north rim of the Grand Canyon from Vegas. What a great little monument.

Not relevant to this locale is Pipestone Nat'l Monument in the SW corner of Minnesota. We visited this place a couple years after Pipe Springs. Both small but interesting.

Jan