Driving to Colorado from the Bay Area

Driving trip to Colorado

Feb 2008

We are driving to Colorado this summer and we are interested in seeing Bryce and Zion along the way and then heading to Estes park and then to Colorado Springs before heading home. Any suggestions for the trip with children? clucern

I don't remember if you said the age of your kids. It's a LOOOOONG drive. I'd suggest lots of things to do in the car. a lot of the driving is flat with not much to look at (though I personally LOVE the Nevada desert).

We drove to Utah a few summers ago (caravaning with another family). My boys, then 10 and 14 watched lots of movies on a portable DVD player. This is where the electronic games came in handy. Lots of snacks, stories on CD, personal CD players (now ipods), if they can read in the car, etc.

Zion and Bryce while absolutely heavenly are REALLY CROWDED in the summer...esp. Zion. If you plan on staying there make your reservations now. We only drove thru those two on the way and stayed in Escalantes State park...REALLY beautiful and less known. We also went to Capital Reef National Park adn rented horses for a day (guided tour) which was a highlight. have a great trip. Sounds like fun. Colorado is gorgeous too. anon

I live in Northern Utah and the gouge from friends (we plan to do it in the fall when is isn't quite so baking) is to stay at Ruby's Inn right outside of Bryce. It has an Inn and camping & RV spots. I think that they also rent teepees. The place is geared toward kids. jan m

I would recommend taking Route 50 (from the Bay Area take 80 past Reno and catch 50 from there). It's a really beautiful road although there's not much out there! I would recommend stopping to see the Lehman Caves right near the Nevada/Utah boarder (http://www.nps.gov/archive/grba/lehmancaves.htm). I don't have much to tell you about Bryce and Zion, but please remember that it takes a LONG time to get from place to place out there and depending on how little your kids are, they're going to get car-stir crazy. I'd scope out where all the various lakes and streams are where you can stop for a couple of hours and let the kids splash and swim. Also remember that the rains start in mid-July ish where it rains many afternoons.