Need Help Planning Road trip from Yellowstone to Las Vegas.

[Sandy Bickhart]

Planning a 10 day trip starting at Old Faithful and finishing in Las Vegas. Have a couple things planned, but need help with things to do. First day we are flying into Jackson Hole and driving to Old Faithful. Spending the next day in Yellowstone. Next day, traveling thru the Teton, Jackson Hole and staying in Afton, WY. Next day plan on traveling thru Salt Lake City (what should we do here) and end our day in Fillmore, UT. Next day driving to Bryce Canyon and Zion Park (I have two days planned for this area. What are the best things to do?) Then head to Grand Canyon (Southern Rim) and spend night there. Next day plan on driving towards Las Vegas, stopping at Skywalk, and thru Hoover Dam. Last day will be touring Las Vegas with flight leaving next day. What are some must do and things to see along this trip?

 

[_19disnA]

Is this a group of adults or does it include some children? Children can only walk through the casinos and not loiter in any of the gaming areas. Have you ever been to Las Vegas previously and do you plan to do any gambling?

 

[jdb in AZ]

What are your interests? Are you active, or mostly drive-through-the-area people? If you're "into" dinosaurs there's great exhibits at the University of Utah in SLC, and at Thanksgiving Point (south toward Provo.)

If you're a "foodie" or just enjoy Mexican food, the Red Iguana is a "must" visit in SLC. There's two of them, owned by the same people.

If you like "sledding" (fiberglass sleds down concrete runs, there's fun places to do that at Jackson, and at Park City. Of course they make you sign waivers that always make me think twice about doing them, but they're still fun to race other family members down the course.

Look into tickets for a show in Vegas -- there's quite a variety of entertainment. Vegas isn't "all" gambling, tho they even have slots at the airport. Vegas has great restaurants.

 

[Sandy Bickhart]

It will be my mother, my daughter (15) and myself. Not into gambling. Was told to check out Freemont Street. We are staying at the Paris. More interested in touring/ shows/ dining in Vegas. "sledding" sounds fun to do with my daughter. I will look that up. Looking for other fun activities to do with daughter and find some less stressful things to do with mom....

 

[wvjules]

I would skip touring LV and add another day to Yellowstone or Teton or Jackson Hole.

ETA: I have never been to any of those places but based on my interests I would want to do the other stuff more than tour LV. What did you plan do to there?

 

[cabanafrau]

I'm not sure that Fremont is actually an experience that you'll be looking for, particularly with a teen. There is a zipline on the strip that your daughter might enjoy -- in the Linq Promenade.

 

[soccerdad72]

Skip the Skywalk (assuming you mean Grand Canyon East Rim?). It's a tourist trap and overpriced.

 

[cabanafrau]

All three of you can probably enjoy the display in the Bellagio Conservatory. The Wynn is also beautiful to walk around.

 

[OneOftheB's]

I’ll echo skipping the Skywalk. We were there in September, stopping on the way to the Grand Canyon. If we stopped there after the GC, it would have been an even bigger disappointment. If you are fit enough, hike a way down the Bright Angel Trail in the GC, but make certain you have water and shoes with a good tread/grip as the trail has loose gravel and is slippery. There are so many things to see at the Grand Canyon, you really need a full day at minimum to do it justice.

 

[_19disnA]

In Vegas, I would skip downtown/Fremont St. in favor of the casinos further up the strip (more toward the airport). Fremont St. is in a rather sketchy area and not someplace I would take children. If not into gambling, you can enjoy the wide variety of themes/architecture at the casinos and each has several places to eat depending on your budget. Shows can be pricey and some are not for children.

 

[Deb & Bill]

When are you going?

 

[bcla]

Apparently this is what put Fremont Street and downtown Vegas back in the public consciousness over 30 years ago. One of the places I'll go is the California Hotel and Casino, which ironically enough has a Hawaiian theme and the bulk of their clientele comes from Hawaii.

Fremont Street is actually in the city limits of Las Vegas proper. Most of The Strip (outside of the Stratosphere) is not technically in Las Vegas.

As for your proposed destinations, I liked Bryce Canyon and Zion, but I'd consider the Moab area for Arches and Canyonland. We did all four in a grand trip, but if you don't have that much time then choices need to be made to pare down. Arches National Park has the most iconic site in all of Utah.

 

[marthachick]

We went to Fremont Street 6 years ago. I was shocked at some of the stuff I saw. It was me, DH & DS. DS was 23 at the time and was embarrassed at some of it. And he’s no prude. With my mom and 15 YO DD I think I would skip it. I’ve read several places recently that it is no longer a safe area. Stick to the strip.

 

[marthachick]

Also check out Grand Canyon’s North Rim if you want more natural and less touristy area. It will cost more to stay in the area but will save you travel time.

 

[JimMIA]

Wow. You've got some big plans for a short amount of time.

Last time we were in that area we spent 2 full weeks in Northern AZ alone -- Sedona, Flagstaff and national parks/monuments nearby (Petrified Forest, Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, Montezuma's Castle) Then we road-tripped: Monument Valley, Four Corners and Little Antelope Canyon (my avatar pic) Navajo Nation Parks; and Grand Canyon South Rim.

Another trip we flew in and out of Vegas and hit Death Valley, Zion, Bryce, Cedar Breaks, and North Rim (that was about 8-9 days.

We also did a Yellowstone/Teton/Jackson trip -- 10 days, flying in and out of Jackson, 5 days in each park.

My suggestion would be to REALLY scale your driving down, and spend enough time to actually see the places you are passing through.

• You could easily spend DAYS at Yellowstone just looking for different wildlife -- wolves, bison (by the thousands), deer, elk, moose, bighorn, coyote, bear (black and Grizzly).
• And we haven't even mentioned the thermal features, or the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, or Lake Yellowstone.

A very good place for you to start would be www.nps.gov. Use the search by state option and you will find the options mind-blowing.

For any specific national park, just add / and the 4 letter code for the park

• For one word names, first 4 letters: /EVER for Everglades, /YELL for Yellowstone, etc. /YOSE for Yosemite
• For two word names, first two letters of each word: /GRTE for Grand Teton, /GRCA for Grand Canyon
• For combined parks, first two letters of the names: /SEKI for Sequoia-Kings Canyon.

 

[ADLFAN]

I would devote more time to the Utah parks and less for SLC and Vegas. Those parks are so unique and amazing and you will feel better if you aren't rushing to the next thing. We could have spent 2-3 days at each and had a leisurely grand time enjoying the different lodges, vistors centers, trails, wildlife viewing, and so much more. Vegas made me feel broke and sleezy, so expensive to get drunk, yet so many drunken people!

 

[JimMIA]

OP, you should also know that in-park lodging usually becomes available one-year-and-a-day from your arrival and sells out quickly. In many parks (including Yellowstone and Grand Canyon), if you are not staying IN the park you are going to be far from the action.

And at Yellowstone, you could be looking at MUCH longer drive time to where you want to go than you would think just from looking at the map. That easy "flying into Jackson Hole and driving to Old Faithful" you mention is almost 90 miles and could easily take 4 hours if you get caught in a "bear jam" or "bison jam."

 

[teller80]

I looked at Google Maps and you have 18 hours of driving in 10 days, not including any additional driving or traffic.

I think you need to focus on one area or the other. Bryce, Zion & the Grand Canyon (the circle tour) would be my pick. I'd add Antelope Slot Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and others that JimMIA mentioned. My first choice is always to spend the night IN the park, and reservations fill up fast.

 

[HerRoyalHighness]

I'm not sure that Fremont is actually an experience that you'll be looking for, particularly with a teen. There is a zipline on the strip that your daughter might enjoy -- in the Linq Promenade.

We just went with teens to Fremont to do the zipline. They both said it was a learning experience. It's kind of dirty, panhandlers all around, lots of day drunks, a chick with no shirt and opaque tape over her nipples, a guy in a diaper...it was not worth our time. The strip was ok. We stayed at the Cosmopolitan.

 

[mom2rtk]

Arches National Park. Don’t miss it. If you’re up to it take the hike out to Delicate Arch. Amazing.

Horseshoe Bend in Page AZ is amazing too.