I dont know how you can do it with kids, even just driving. We have visited most of the places you mentioned, except Arch/Canyonland/Capital Reef.
We also drive long distance and it is not uncommon we put in 8 to 10 hours drive a day if we are going from one place to another. But once you get to the destination(s), even it is a driving tour, you need to budget for time to stop and actually enjoy the scenaries and the nature ...
For your time of the year, Rockies, especially Canadian Rockies, are the best places to go and the most beautiful.
Other places, such as the UTAH national parks are very very hot in summer months.
To give you an idea of the length we did our 3 trips, hope that help your planning :
1) Canadian Rockies - we drove round trip from Vancouver (actually Seattle, but we stopped over at Vancouver), 7 days. 1 day each stop on both ways - going, stopped at Revelstoke, also a Canadian National Park. coming, stopped at Kelowna - in the Okinagan region with big lakes and lots of orchads. Spent 3 days in Banff area and 2 days in Jasper area. Did that in August 2001. Lodging was tight, we booked bed and breakfast in April. This is by far our most favorite of all the trips visiting national parks.
2) Grand Canyon and Utah national parks / monuments :
We only had 8 days so we decided to skip Arch/Canyonland/Capitol Reef as they are too much out of the way. We visited Bryce and Zion long long time ago so we did not visit Bryce again and just drove thru Zion on our way to Las Vegas. This was done in late April/early May 2005.
Started from San Diego (our disembarkation point after a 14 day Panama Canal Crossing Cruise), one day drive to Scottsdale. We spent 2 days in the area and touring all the attractions in Scottdale / Phoenix region. From there we drove to Flagstaff as a base (2 nights) via Sedona. After Grand Canyon we went to Glen Canyon / Page, Monument Valley and all the surrounding areas - be sure you dont miss Goose Neck State Park where you can see the Big Bends of San Juan River. Also make sure you dont miss the Big Bend of Colorado River - it is between 2 markers on 89 just before Page. Antelope Canyon is a lot of hype, does not worth the time nor the money. On the other hand Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell is worth a stop by. We also detoured to Lee's Ferry - that is the beginning pt of most raft trips on Colorado river.
After Utah, we took the route that led us to Zion (passed the North Rim of Grand Canyon but it was in May, North Rim was not open yet. We had snow at high altitude.) It was a very long drive to Las Vegas (if you ever do this, be sure to fill up whenever you can - there are stretches over hundred miles without services).
We then spent 2 nights in Las Vegas. Drove to LA, spent the night at Manhattan Beach (South of LAX).
The following day we met with a friend for lunch and then drove to San Diego, spent the night there before flying home the following day.
I guess we can cut Las Vegas if we really really want to see Arches et al. But we were too spoiled and picked Las Vegas instead. So you can see we did a big loop and covered almost 3000 miles as there were a lot of backtracking in the areas of Grand Canyon and Monument Valley, etc. We were just a lousy 45 miles short from 4 Corners - but it was getting late, past 6:30 and getting dark ... so we did not go.
3) Yellowstone :
This was done in Mid September 2005.
We started from Jacksonhole, WY so we were right at the foothill of Grand Teton. We spent a total of 4 nights in the area. We did spent one night in the Old Faith Lodge - we regretted it. Very lousy accommodation and we really did not see the need for it. We spent the first night at West Yellowstone, the second night at Old Faithful, the third day at a small town Gardiner,just outside North Gate (Mammoth Spring) and the forth night at Jacksonhole before we flew out the next day. We did our longest drive on the 2nd day - went the whole distance from West Gate to Madison Junction to Norris Junction and cross over to Yellowstone Canyon. From there we spent time to see all the viewpoints at Canyon. Then drove up to Tower Junction then thru Lamar Valley to NorthEast Gate, and took Chief Joseph Scenic ByWay to Cody. Spent some time at Cody - interesting town, and went back in from East Gate. The best views for the whole trip. Saw a small grizzly just outside East Gate. On our 3rd day at Mommoth Spring we saw big group of Elks including several aggressive males. We also had hailstorm damage to our rental car that night (Mastercard Insurance Program paid for $2282 damage repair and we paid $322 for loss of revenues and admin fee to the rental car Thrifty - that is another long story). Oh, before we settled in for the night, we drove to Lamar Valley again at the dusk. There we saw a black bear up close on the road side. On our driving back, we were stopped by a ranger car as we were driving too fast ... when we went thru Mommoth Spring again, those Elks were still all over town ...
Also, the drive between Mammoth Spring and North Gate is very beautiful and requires some skills.
You need to budget good amount of time in Yellowstone to explore the geysers - the Old Faithful actually does not worth your time, but we had the good fortune to pass Fountain Paint Pot just before Sunset and before eruption. That was a treat and postcard perfect. It is on the Firehole Lake Drive - a spur outside the main road and is one way, direction North. At Madison Junction be sure to take the spur of Firehole Canyon Drive - it is one way South. There you have some hot spring swimming areas you can reach down via stairs. There are parking spaces on the roadside but I would imagine in Summer time, that section would have traffic jam ! Beautiful views though.
The little museum right at the entrance of Jackson is well worth your time to visit, especially if you have kids. We spent about an hour and a half there.
Unfortunately on both way (Up and Down) through Grand Tetan, we had very foggy and rainy weather, so we did not get to see it at all. Otherwise, you would need to budget time to go up to the Signal Mountain. Also budget time to visit Jackson Lake Lodge where you have the best view of the Grand Teton. There are some very good hiking trails in Jenny Lake area that also requires a few hours to do but probably is well worth it. If you only intend to drive thru, then the 191 route is more scenic than Teton Park Road. 191 is high up and you can see a lot more views.
We prefer lodging OUTSIDE park than lodges inside park - we really are not thrilled by the very outdated facilities and we are not hikers so no need to stay inside park to hike the areas. But others may feel it is heaven to stay inside park. They are outrageously expensive too.
We allowed only a total of 4 days for the Yellowstone portion, as it was at the tail end of a very long trip (9 days Alaska + 12 days Vancouver). We felt it is just barely enough. A 6 day trip would be a lot better.
Your initial plan is really not feasible and probably would not be enjoyable either. I hope the above info could help you to redefine your goals and make a better plan.
We also drive long distance and it is not uncommon we put in 8 to 10 hours drive a day if we are going from one place to another. But once you get to the destination(s), even it is a driving tour, you need to budget for time to stop and actually enjoy the scenaries and the nature ...
For your time of the year, Rockies, especially Canadian Rockies, are the best places to go and the most beautiful.
Other places, such as the UTAH national parks are very very hot in summer months.
To give you an idea of the length we did our 3 trips, hope that help your planning :
1) Canadian Rockies - we drove round trip from Vancouver (actually Seattle, but we stopped over at Vancouver), 7 days. 1 day each stop on both ways - going, stopped at Revelstoke, also a Canadian National Park. coming, stopped at Kelowna - in the Okinagan region with big lakes and lots of orchads. Spent 3 days in Banff area and 2 days in Jasper area. Did that in August 2001. Lodging was tight, we booked bed and breakfast in April. This is by far our most favorite of all the trips visiting national parks.
2) Grand Canyon and Utah national parks / monuments :
We only had 8 days so we decided to skip Arch/Canyonland/Capitol Reef as they are too much out of the way. We visited Bryce and Zion long long time ago so we did not visit Bryce again and just drove thru Zion on our way to Las Vegas. This was done in late April/early May 2005.
Started from San Diego (our disembarkation point after a 14 day Panama Canal Crossing Cruise), one day drive to Scottsdale. We spent 2 days in the area and touring all the attractions in Scottdale / Phoenix region. From there we drove to Flagstaff as a base (2 nights) via Sedona. After Grand Canyon we went to Glen Canyon / Page, Monument Valley and all the surrounding areas - be sure you dont miss Goose Neck State Park where you can see the Big Bends of San Juan River. Also make sure you dont miss the Big Bend of Colorado River - it is between 2 markers on 89 just before Page. Antelope Canyon is a lot of hype, does not worth the time nor the money. On the other hand Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell is worth a stop by. We also detoured to Lee's Ferry - that is the beginning pt of most raft trips on Colorado river.
After Utah, we took the route that led us to Zion (passed the North Rim of Grand Canyon but it was in May, North Rim was not open yet. We had snow at high altitude.) It was a very long drive to Las Vegas (if you ever do this, be sure to fill up whenever you can - there are stretches over hundred miles without services).
We then spent 2 nights in Las Vegas. Drove to LA, spent the night at Manhattan Beach (South of LAX).
The following day we met with a friend for lunch and then drove to San Diego, spent the night there before flying home the following day.
I guess we can cut Las Vegas if we really really want to see Arches et al. But we were too spoiled and picked Las Vegas instead. So you can see we did a big loop and covered almost 3000 miles as there were a lot of backtracking in the areas of Grand Canyon and Monument Valley, etc. We were just a lousy 45 miles short from 4 Corners - but it was getting late, past 6:30 and getting dark ... so we did not go.
3) Yellowstone :
This was done in Mid September 2005.
We started from Jacksonhole, WY so we were right at the foothill of Grand Teton. We spent a total of 4 nights in the area. We did spent one night in the Old Faith Lodge - we regretted it. Very lousy accommodation and we really did not see the need for it. We spent the first night at West Yellowstone, the second night at Old Faithful, the third day at a small town Gardiner,just outside North Gate (Mammoth Spring) and the forth night at Jacksonhole before we flew out the next day. We did our longest drive on the 2nd day - went the whole distance from West Gate to Madison Junction to Norris Junction and cross over to Yellowstone Canyon. From there we spent time to see all the viewpoints at Canyon. Then drove up to Tower Junction then thru Lamar Valley to NorthEast Gate, and took Chief Joseph Scenic ByWay to Cody. Spent some time at Cody - interesting town, and went back in from East Gate. The best views for the whole trip. Saw a small grizzly just outside East Gate. On our 3rd day at Mommoth Spring we saw big group of Elks including several aggressive males. We also had hailstorm damage to our rental car that night (Mastercard Insurance Program paid for $2282 damage repair and we paid $322 for loss of revenues and admin fee to the rental car Thrifty - that is another long story). Oh, before we settled in for the night, we drove to Lamar Valley again at the dusk. There we saw a black bear up close on the road side. On our driving back, we were stopped by a ranger car as we were driving too fast ... when we went thru Mommoth Spring again, those Elks were still all over town ...
Also, the drive between Mammoth Spring and North Gate is very beautiful and requires some skills.
You need to budget good amount of time in Yellowstone to explore the geysers - the Old Faithful actually does not worth your time, but we had the good fortune to pass Fountain Paint Pot just before Sunset and before eruption. That was a treat and postcard perfect. It is on the Firehole Lake Drive - a spur outside the main road and is one way, direction North. At Madison Junction be sure to take the spur of Firehole Canyon Drive - it is one way South. There you have some hot spring swimming areas you can reach down via stairs. There are parking spaces on the roadside but I would imagine in Summer time, that section would have traffic jam ! Beautiful views though.
The little museum right at the entrance of Jackson is well worth your time to visit, especially if you have kids. We spent about an hour and a half there.
Unfortunately on both way (Up and Down) through Grand Tetan, we had very foggy and rainy weather, so we did not get to see it at all. Otherwise, you would need to budget time to go up to the Signal Mountain. Also budget time to visit Jackson Lake Lodge where you have the best view of the Grand Teton. There are some very good hiking trails in Jenny Lake area that also requires a few hours to do but probably is well worth it. If you only intend to drive thru, then the 191 route is more scenic than Teton Park Road. 191 is high up and you can see a lot more views.
We prefer lodging OUTSIDE park than lodges inside park - we really are not thrilled by the very outdated facilities and we are not hikers so no need to stay inside park to hike the areas. But others may feel it is heaven to stay inside park. They are outrageously expensive too.
We allowed only a total of 4 days for the Yellowstone portion, as it was at the tail end of a very long trip (9 days Alaska + 12 days Vancouver). We felt it is just barely enough. A 6 day trip would be a lot better.
Your initial plan is really not feasible and probably would not be enjoyable either. I hope the above info could help you to redefine your goals and make a better plan.
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