Zions National Park en of January

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hrv

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Hi everyone,

The company I work for is holding their annual sales kick-off in Vegas coming year in the third week of January.
In a previous life, I used to work for another US company based out of Provo, Utah (Novell) and I did a trip from Vegas to Salt Lake via Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Needles and Arches national park. That was an awesome trip that resulted in some of my best memories.

This time, I think my wife will join me near the end of my official stay in Vegas and we will take the opportunity for a little road trip. My initial through was to go to Zions, simply because I have not been there yet, it is relatively close by and because in winter time, you can enter the park by car, so it's easy to get around.

But, given how most of you on this forum are native "Mericans", I was wondering if you have any other tips that we should really consider in the area?
 
We did the famous Grand Circle split over two summer trips. I don't know what weather you will find in winter, but it would be easy to check average highs and lows. At least go for Zion, Arches, and the upper park of Canyonlands. Bryce is cool too. Capital Reef is not as scenic in my view.

www.us-parks.com

The Grand Circle Road Trip

The Grand Circle Road Trip includes parks: Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Grand Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park and more!
www.us-parks.com www.us-parks.com
 
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I'd add Valley of Fire State Park to your list. It's only an hour outside of Vegas and has a lot of great colorful sandstone formations, some good petroglyphs, and a good chance of desert bighorn sheep. There is a small area called Little Finland (which has nothing to do with the country) in Gold Butte National Monument, also very near Vegas, with bizarre eroded sandstone fins. You need a decent 4WD to get there, but you can rent those in Vegas. There's Snow Canyon State Park in St George, Utah, more good sandstone. Going the other way (west) is Red Rock Canyon (*more* red rocks :) ). You also won't be far from Death Valley (2 hours) and January is a great time to go there.

I've always wanted to go to Zion winter myself, so you've got a lot of great options.

p.s. I worked for Suse for a while, also part of Novell, and I also took advantage of company trips to Provo as well. It was my introduction to Utah, really.
 
eaj101 said:
I'd add Valley of Fire State Park to your list. It's only an hour outside of Vegas and has a lot of great colorful sandstone formations, some good petroglyphs, and a good chance of desert bighorn sheep. There is a small area called Little Finland (which has nothing to do with the country) in Gold Butte National Monument, also very near Vegas, with bizarre eroded sandstone fins. You need a decent 4WD to get there, but you can rent those in Vegas. There's Snow Canyon State Park in St George, Utah, more good sandstone. Going the other way (west) is Red Rock Canyon (*more* red rocks :) ). You also won't be far from Death Valley (2 hours) and January is a great time to go there.

I've always wanted to go to Zion winter myself, so you've got a lot of great options.

p.s. I worked for Suse for a while, also part of Novell, and I also took advantage of company trips to Provo as well. It was my introduction to Utah, really.
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Valley of Fire is cool, but you have to give it a chance. When first driving it you wonder why they gave it such a dramatic name, like the badly named "craters of the moon (not). But exploring more and taking some time reveals more. It's not Zion or Arches or Bryce or Canyonlands, but nothing matches those.
 
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Cedar Breaks is IMO as nice for views as Bryce and has far fewer people…when we went to Bryce we used the same trick as at Zion and Yellowstone and went before dawn or as early as the gate opened…did our thing until 10 or 11 and then explored elsewhere…Grand Staircase, Cedar Breaks, the west side of Zion from outside the park, etc. I would have to check 5he weather for Zion in the winter…although TBH we did Badlands in Feb in almost short sleeve weather between snowstorms and it was awesome and deserted. Death Valleynis close to Vegas as well…and Sequoia and Kings Canyon depending on your definition of close. Arches and Canyonlands are good as well…although the latter is better views we think and is far less crowded at least in summer but Arches might be ok in the winter depending on weather.
 
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My vote is Zion and Bryce. I actually prefer Bryce Canyon because it is more photogenic and less crowded. Unfortunately the park lodge is closed in January, but you can stay right outside the entrance in Bryce Canyon City. At Zion staying in the park lodge is prefered, but there are several nice hotels just outside entrance in Springdale.

In Las Vegas area, just west of the city (maybe 20 minutes) is Red Rock Canyon NCA which has easily accessible sandstone formations. Just east in Boulder City there is a small city park called Hemenway Park where bighorn sheep graze daily on the park lawn (they are almost tame). At sunset they go up to the surrounding cliffs which is when you can get good photos.
 
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eaj101 said:
p.s. I worked for Suse for a while, also part of Novell, and I also took advantage of company trips to Provo as well. It was my introduction to Utah, really.
Click to expand...

I remember when we purchased them. We then had to run Suse Linux on our laptops and use OpenOffice....
While I had fun with it all at the time, I must say I am so happy with my Mac nowadays. Things just work :)
 
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