Customer Reviews

Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks (Lonely Planet)

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This is a great guide to visiting Grand Circle national parks: Bryce, Zion, Capital Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, and some adjacent areas. We used it for our Fall 2006 trip and found many other travelers carrying this book. This was our first trip to Utah, and we are not avid hikers. The book gives valuable information on what to see at each park including the difficulty of hikes to scenic overlooks, and it provides suggestions on what to see for both short & longer stays. It provides excellent information on lodging including proximity to parks and upscale versus value. It has information about restaurants, scenic drives, time of year, and more. We also used some information from other books and publications for this trip, but the Lonely Planet "Zion & Bryce Canyon" was by far the best. By the way, the title should be changed to indicate that it includes much more than these two national parks.

The title is slightly problematic, as this book covers much of southern Utah, its national parks (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonland, Capitol Reef, Arches), national monuments, and other places worth of a visit. The maps are crisp and readable, though a few more detailed topo lines would help. Trail descriptions and recommendations for visits are generally pretty good as are estimates of time. Suggestions for places to eat and stay were also worthwhile. Other more specialized books are available if you want to spend most of the trip in one specific area, but this is a great survey of southern Utah.

The vacation trip to southern Utah is in the rear view mirror, I am sorry to say. Wonderful place in the world. Of course, we used this guide. It is an excellent blend of facts and maps.The guide begins with some suggested itineraries and, having been there, I can say that these point you toward the very best to see. If you have only half a day to see Zion National Park then do park your car at the visitor center and take the shuttle all the way to the end. Along the way see the Weeping Rock and the Court of the Patriarchs. The end of the shuttle ride is the Temple of Sinawava. Take some time to wade at least a part of the Virgin River Narrows.

The guide is filled with short essays including one on what not to do while hiking and another on desert etiquette. Jumping is the major cause of accidents. Also some people need to be reminded that "do not disturb" applies to the desert as well.

The pictures are gorgeous and whet my appetite for another trip to the Grand Circle to see what I haven't seen before. The view of the hoodoos from Sunrise Point gave me the feeling that the desert went on forever, but I'd just got to go back and see the view from Grand View Point, Canyonlands.

This guide is not just about Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. Most of the last 130 pages of this guide are about Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, and Moab.

At the end of the guide are short chapters on history, geology, and the ecosystems of southern Utah. It was 1869 when John Wesley Powell descended the Green and Colorado Rivers to Yuma. His geological and ethnological work still "form the basis of what we know of southern Utah today."

Excellent book. My husband and I recently went on vacation to Southern Utah. We planned on visiting 5 national parks in Utah. I had purchased other books in addition to this one to prepare for the trip. I had no idea that this book would contain so much information about Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands. It was far more than I expected from the title. It even covered Moab. We booked everything last minute and called from one location before arriving at the next to secure hotel rooms. All the recommendations for lodging and dining were accurate. We were so pleased with this book that we purchased the Lonely Planet guide to the Grand Canyon while we were in Moab since we were visiting the Grand Canyon as part of this trip. I will definitely use their guide books again. They are well organized and are great for a quick reference. I kept this copy in my purse the entire trip. I would pull it out frequently to look up information about touring the parks or to find a place for dinner.

This book is the best and most informative source of useful information for visitors to the national parks of southern Utah that I have found. It provides information on: the most popular hikes, popular restaurants, good camping sites, activities, descriptions of geology, flora and fauna, and brief histories of the early cultures, explorers and settlers. The book is very well written by authors who obviously know their stuff. All material is presented clearly and concisely and in a manner that enhances its usefulness. I recommend this book whole heartedly.

Great little book. I do not know why it is named "Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks". This book covers all the national parks, monuments and State Parks in Utah. For each area, the book gives information on what to see depending on the amount of time you have to visit(half day, one, two, three or more days). For each location it gives you the sights to see, trails to hike and other activities to do in the area. Along with places to stay (Hotels, Motels and campgrounds), places to eat, equipment rental and more. This book is small enough to put into your glove box.

We had bought the Moon guide for Utah and upon reading it realized it wasn't very good, so had this one expressly shipped just in time for our big trip. It was worth the extra shipping costs. It's full of useful information and it covers all the National Parks in Utah (so they should really change the title). The trip wouldn't have been the same without it.

Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks

We used this book to plan, execute, and review an amazing trip through Southern Utah. The guide covers much more than the two National Parks listed in the title, including Arches NP, and Capital Reef NM, among others. Not only was it extremely accurate, but it was remarkably entertaining to read. This book is a must-have for anyone venturing into this beautiful part of the country.

This was an invaluable resource for our 16 day trip to southern Utah. This book also includes information for the other national parks in Utah. We used it every day on our trip.

I've had good luck with the Moon guides, but for Arches and Canyonlands, I think this guide is better. Both Moon and lonely planet lump all of the Utah parks together under Zion/Bryce, so good luck finding specific guide books for just Arches and Canyonlands. I liked this guide because there is a small map at the beginning of each section describing the major hikes in Arches and Canyonlands, so you don't have to flip back to the larger full page map to reorient yourself. Leafing through the Moon guide, I also felt that it skimped a bit on the hikes outside of Zion and Bryce compared to lonely planet. There's not much in terms of color pictures, but that's what flickr is for, right?