Utah / Grand Canyon in April

I have a frequent flier flight that I want to use ASAP since it is with USAir and could be worthless at any time....

I'm strongly considering a trip that would fly in and out of Vegas and include about 5 days of driving and exploring around the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon parks.

Does anybody have any experience with these places this time of year? Anything to watch out for or should I book my flight and go for it?

The Grand Canyon will be cold at the rim in April, really winter conditions. You may have snow and/or ice on the steep parts of the trails at the top. I would check trip reports for that time period. The rim is like the summit and is high elevation. Once you descend off the rim, even a little ways, it will warm up quickly (but that ice could be nasty).

I haven't been to Zion or Bryce, but they are supposed to be beautiful. I would check their elevation, since I don't think they are nearly as high as the rim of the GC, and so maybe nice and warm in April.

There was a great website for the GC that I used years ago, this may be it but it has changed its format. I saw some trip reports in here now.

http://www.kaibab.org

My wife and I did this trip in mid April some years ago. It was a great time for the Grand Canyon because it was not too hot and the south rim was snow free by then. Zion was also snow free. Bryce, which is higher than Zion, only had snow at the highest elevations (about 9000 feet).

We hiked into the Grand Canyon in April and there was no snow or ice on the trails. There wasn't any on the rim either though it was cold. Go to Humphreys peak if you have time, a great climb in April and plenty of snow.

Crooker,
You might also want to check into United or any of USairways' other Codeshare Partners. I had to use up 220,000 miles. I ended up booking 3 flights to the UK this year on CanAir and 2 more to Florida on United just to use up my miles. (I am still trying to figure out where else to go to deplete the rest of my miles USAirways doesn't go to Alaska and United and CanAir have no codeshare seats for any Alaskan cities)

Both partners are in much better shape than USairways. If USAirways goes under after you have booked on the partner airline, you still get the trip on the partner airline.
Good Luck
Rick

BTW, I wasn't trying to discourage you from going to the Grand Canyon, it is a great place and well worth an extended visit. But it can be shock to drive up from the desert into snow squalls, freezing temps, and wind chills. When I was there the rim was too cold and windy for the tourists to really enjoy, and you really needed winter gear: hats, gloves, coats, etc. I drove up in shorts for example.

But once off the rim even by a few hundred feet it warms up considerly, and the canyon bottom was hot and sunny.

So April may not be great time to hang out at the rim (but it could be), but a great time to go over the rim and into the canyon, which is where the real fun is anyway.

Thanks all for the advice...I think I'm in for a great trip.

I've been to the Grand Canyon in August (HOT) and November (snow). I guess in April it would be fine time to go if the conditions don't turn poor. Last April we were planning a trip to Death Valley NP but waited too long to book and get a decent price on air fair. It might be a good choice for you as it's not far from Vegas and is quite diverse. Even has high peaks! Check out the NP web site. They have weather info.

Been there late Mar, late Apr, and Aug. Late Mar and Apr are very good times to visit. Not too hot yet. Aug is HOT, particularly down in the canyon. (It can easily be 30 deg warmer at the bottom.) Sept--? is the "monsoon" season (subject to a higher probability of flash floods in the canyon).

The North Rim (8k ft) may be closed due to snow in early Mar--check first. The South Rim (7k ft) is open all year.

Check the NPS website for info. There are several other websites dedicated to the canyon. I think they are referenced off the NPS site. Or use a search engine to find them.

Doug

Crooker said:

Thanks all for the advice...I think I'm in for a great trip.

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I've got a lot of USAir miles too. Are you flying in to Las Vegas? Is that non-stop? We were thinking of flying in to Phoenix, but the flights were nine hours or something.

I hiked into the Grand Canyon in April of 2004 and also hiked the Paria River Canyon in April. Hiked into Bryce in June and Zion in June. If you do a search, you should come up with my trip reports for these trips if you want details.

There was no snow or ice in the Grand Canyon, even at the rim on the Southern side but the Northern end is pretty much closed off till May, I believe. I spent 5 days and 4 nights at backcountry sites in the Canyon and had the time of my life. My pictures DON'T do the beauty justice BUT you can check them out if you like . . . . community.webshots.com/user/sli74

Of all the hikes I did in that part of the country Paria River Canyon was my FAVORITE !!! It is breathtaking. Depending on how many days you have in the area, I'd suggest Paria River, Zion Narrows, Angel's Landing, any of the hikes in Bryce (but the Rim Trail early morning before the buses start shuttling the tourists would be on the top of my list) and Humphrey's Peak in Flagstaff are all WONDERFUL !!!

You will have a great time no matter what you choose because that whole area is AMAZING. Have fun, I look forward to hearing your trip reports.

sli74