John Cummings
TUG Lifetime Member
We just got back last week from a 13 day trip to Death Valley, Utah, and Las Vegas. It was a driving non-timeshare trip. The primary purpose of our trip was to visit Utah. We had been through Utah several times but never stopped to see the scenery. This time we did a loop that included Capital Reef National Park, the scenic byway Highway 12, Bryce Canyon NP, and Zion NP. Utah was just absolutely breathtaking. I will elaborate more on that later. We decided to add Death Valley and a 5 night stay in Las Vegas as they were somewhat on the way to and from Utah.
We stayed the first night at the Springhill Suites in Ridgecrest, CA which is one of the western entrances to Death Valley. The next day we drove through Death Valley NP on the scenic route per the Park's map on their web site. It was the longest driving day of our trip. It was about 100 degrees at Furnace Creek which was quite tolerable. Death Valley was interesting but not anything very spectacular. I wouldn't recommend it unless you were going that direction anyway. The second night, we stayed at the Hampton Suites in North Las Vegas. We had a great BBQ dinner at Famous Dave's which was a block from the Hampton. The next day we drove to Cedar City Utah where we stayed for the night. We arrived early with the hopes of doing some sightseeing but unfortunately it rained that afternoon. The next day we drove up I-15, across I-70 and down to Torrey, Utah which is at the entrance to Capital Reef National Park. We stayed there for the night and did a tour of Capital Reef NP. Capital Reef was the most primitive of the parks and there is no entrance fee. However, the Red Rocks are spectacular. Orders of magnitude better than Sedona.
The next morning we traveled down Highway 12 to Bryce National Park where we stayed at the Ruby's Inn. Ruby's Inn is huge and they just completed a 4* addition to it across the road. Highway 12 is absolutely spectacular. Words cannot describe it. We thought that the drive along Highway 12 was really the high point of our trip though Bryce and Zion are also very spectacular. You climb to 9600 ft and drive along the ridge for a short way with drop offs on both sides. Not for the faint of heart though the road is quite good. We arrived at Bryce around noon and decided to relax and do the Park the next morning. Bryce Canyon NP is breathtaking with all of the rock sculptures. It was our favorite of the 3 parks. You have the choice of either driving the scenic drive or taking the park shuttle. We drove which I highly recommend as the Shuttle does not go to the end of the scenic drive which was the most spectacular of the scenic stops. Bryce ranges from 8000 - 9100 ft. at the end of the drive. You should drive to the end of the 18 mile scenic drive and then stop at all the scenic view points on the way back as they are all on the right side driving back. Again words cannot describe the park.
After doing Bryce Canyon NP we drove west on Hwy 12 to 89 and then west on 9 through the east entrance to Zion NP. The drive from the east entrance to Springdale is spectacular and you go through 2 tunnels in which one of them is over a mile long. You will have a delay at the long tunnel as the cars can only drive one way through it. We stayed 2 nights at the Desert Pearl Inn in Springdale ( southern entrance to Zion NP ). I highly recommend the Desert Pearl Inn. We liked it the best of all the places we stayed. We arrived around noon, had lunch, and then relaxed around the pool and on our patio. The next day we did the tour of Zion NP. You cannot drive the scenic drive during the May - September season. You have to take the park shuttles. They have shuttles that run every 15 minutes from pickup points in Springdale to the park entrance. You walk through the entrance and the take the park shuttles that go the whole length of the scenic drive. The shuttles run every 6-8 minutes and stop at all the view points and major hiking trails. The shuttles are basically hop on and hop off at whatever stops you wish. By the way all the shuttles are free in both Zion and Bryce. The scenic drive goes up the canyon where you have spectacular cliffs. The Virgin river runs along the bottom of the canyon at the same level as the drive. We had lunch at the upstairs restaurant at the lodge in the park. Lunch was very good and quite reasonable. After doing the park, we spent the afternoon at the resort, swimming and relaxing.
The next day we headed off to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Paris for 5 nights on the 30 th floor with a great view of the Bellagio water show, Eiffel tower, and pool area. It was quite cool in Las Vegas for that time of the year though it never affected us as we never went outside during our 5 night stay. It was fairly crowded on Friday and Saturday, but not like it was last year. Not too much to say about Las Vegas. We did a lot of playing as usual and went to the Jubilee show at Bally's. Bally's was very dead compared to last year. After our stay at the Paris, we drove home.
In summary, the trip through Utah was one of our most memorable trips and ranks up there with New York City and is far ahead of any other scenic trips we have done. We were amazed at how much Mesquite has grown in the last few years. When we first visited Mesquite, several years ago, it was basically dairy farms and a few casinos. All 3 national parks were different from each other with Capital Reef having the red rocks, Bryce has the rock sculptures, and Zion the cliffs. As I said earlier, Hwy 12 was our favorite followed by Bryce Canyon NP but they were all well worth visiting. Bear in mind that much of Utah is at a high elevation especially Bryce ( 8000-9100 ft. ) so keep that in mind if you do any hiking.
For you folks that are 62 or over, I strongly recommend getting the senior's lifetime park pass for $10.00. It gives you free entrance to any National Park, Monument, etc. and includes others in your party. I have had the Seniors Golden Passport for 7 years now. I have saved several hundred dollars with it. It includes up to 6 other people in your party. There is a new one that replaces it and is basically the same. For those that already have the Golden Passport, you can still use it.
We stayed the first night at the Springhill Suites in Ridgecrest, CA which is one of the western entrances to Death Valley. The next day we drove through Death Valley NP on the scenic route per the Park's map on their web site. It was the longest driving day of our trip. It was about 100 degrees at Furnace Creek which was quite tolerable. Death Valley was interesting but not anything very spectacular. I wouldn't recommend it unless you were going that direction anyway. The second night, we stayed at the Hampton Suites in North Las Vegas. We had a great BBQ dinner at Famous Dave's which was a block from the Hampton. The next day we drove to Cedar City Utah where we stayed for the night. We arrived early with the hopes of doing some sightseeing but unfortunately it rained that afternoon. The next day we drove up I-15, across I-70 and down to Torrey, Utah which is at the entrance to Capital Reef National Park. We stayed there for the night and did a tour of Capital Reef NP. Capital Reef was the most primitive of the parks and there is no entrance fee. However, the Red Rocks are spectacular. Orders of magnitude better than Sedona.
The next morning we traveled down Highway 12 to Bryce National Park where we stayed at the Ruby's Inn. Ruby's Inn is huge and they just completed a 4* addition to it across the road. Highway 12 is absolutely spectacular. Words cannot describe it. We thought that the drive along Highway 12 was really the high point of our trip though Bryce and Zion are also very spectacular. You climb to 9600 ft and drive along the ridge for a short way with drop offs on both sides. Not for the faint of heart though the road is quite good. We arrived at Bryce around noon and decided to relax and do the Park the next morning. Bryce Canyon NP is breathtaking with all of the rock sculptures. It was our favorite of the 3 parks. You have the choice of either driving the scenic drive or taking the park shuttle. We drove which I highly recommend as the Shuttle does not go to the end of the scenic drive which was the most spectacular of the scenic stops. Bryce ranges from 8000 - 9100 ft. at the end of the drive. You should drive to the end of the 18 mile scenic drive and then stop at all the scenic view points on the way back as they are all on the right side driving back. Again words cannot describe the park.
After doing Bryce Canyon NP we drove west on Hwy 12 to 89 and then west on 9 through the east entrance to Zion NP. The drive from the east entrance to Springdale is spectacular and you go through 2 tunnels in which one of them is over a mile long. You will have a delay at the long tunnel as the cars can only drive one way through it. We stayed 2 nights at the Desert Pearl Inn in Springdale ( southern entrance to Zion NP ). I highly recommend the Desert Pearl Inn. We liked it the best of all the places we stayed. We arrived around noon, had lunch, and then relaxed around the pool and on our patio. The next day we did the tour of Zion NP. You cannot drive the scenic drive during the May - September season. You have to take the park shuttles. They have shuttles that run every 15 minutes from pickup points in Springdale to the park entrance. You walk through the entrance and the take the park shuttles that go the whole length of the scenic drive. The shuttles run every 6-8 minutes and stop at all the view points and major hiking trails. The shuttles are basically hop on and hop off at whatever stops you wish. By the way all the shuttles are free in both Zion and Bryce. The scenic drive goes up the canyon where you have spectacular cliffs. The Virgin river runs along the bottom of the canyon at the same level as the drive. We had lunch at the upstairs restaurant at the lodge in the park. Lunch was very good and quite reasonable. After doing the park, we spent the afternoon at the resort, swimming and relaxing.
The next day we headed off to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Paris for 5 nights on the 30 th floor with a great view of the Bellagio water show, Eiffel tower, and pool area. It was quite cool in Las Vegas for that time of the year though it never affected us as we never went outside during our 5 night stay. It was fairly crowded on Friday and Saturday, but not like it was last year. Not too much to say about Las Vegas. We did a lot of playing as usual and went to the Jubilee show at Bally's. Bally's was very dead compared to last year. After our stay at the Paris, we drove home.
In summary, the trip through Utah was one of our most memorable trips and ranks up there with New York City and is far ahead of any other scenic trips we have done. We were amazed at how much Mesquite has grown in the last few years. When we first visited Mesquite, several years ago, it was basically dairy farms and a few casinos. All 3 national parks were different from each other with Capital Reef having the red rocks, Bryce has the rock sculptures, and Zion the cliffs. As I said earlier, Hwy 12 was our favorite followed by Bryce Canyon NP but they were all well worth visiting. Bear in mind that much of Utah is at a high elevation especially Bryce ( 8000-9100 ft. ) so keep that in mind if you do any hiking.
For you folks that are 62 or over, I strongly recommend getting the senior's lifetime park pass for $10.00. It gives you free entrance to any National Park, Monument, etc. and includes others in your party. I have had the Seniors Golden Passport for 7 years now. I have saved several hundred dollars with it. It includes up to 6 other people in your party. There is a new one that replaces it and is basically the same. For those that already have the Golden Passport, you can still use it.
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