@Emily –ooh, thank you for all this! It is definitely on the list so I just need to figure out how we’re going to organize it. It could be a spring break trip some year – or maybe a year where we start school several days into September…

You mentioned on the podcast needing to book in advance–this is true if you want to stay in the Zion Lodge inside the park, which I strongly recommend. Zion was our favorite park, and you really need to book a year in advance for that. It’s not luxe, but it’s a nice stay with a decent restaurant and, most importantly, you have amazing views from your balcony/breakfast/dinner of Zion Canyon (truly one of the most beautiful places in the world) and never have to get in the car the entire time you’re there (Zion is crowded and traffick-y at the entrance, but once inside the park/at the lodge you just ride the shuttle to all the trails! But other than the Zion Lodge the rest of the lodging can be arranged on much shorter notice.

Another note on timing–the summer can be pretty hot and miserable. We aren’t able to travel for spring break due to my job, so our solution was to go the very first week of our kids’ summer break, which was the first week of June, and it was hot but tolerable. I know your kids get out later so that may be a little late in which case you might want to consider spring break. I think April would be an absolutely fabulous time for this trip but the one thing to keep in mind is that the Narrows hike in Zion (truly one of the greatest hikes in any national park–probably my favorite hike of all time) would probably be closed in April due to the strong currents that time of year. So you’d have to read about the Narrows and decide if that’s a dealbreaker for you!