Arizona and Utah—April vs July?

[jillinastoria]

Hello! We’re considering the Arizona and Utah trip for 2024 or 2025, and the two months that would work best for us would be April or July.

I know it’s a mix of climates and elevations, and I’m curious if anyone has taken the trip in either month, and if early April felt too cold, and July felt too hot? Thanks in advance!

 

[tigertides]

April

 

[ScrapHappy]

I live in Utah. April may be a little cool, or even cold, but July definitely will be HOT, as in likely over 100 degrees during the day. I would choose April over July.

 

[sayhello]

I would definitely go in April, not July. You can put on layers if it's chilly, but you can only take off so much if it's oppressively hot! I went in early May, and it was gorgeous, even though it actually snowed at the Grand Canyon! Just needed a medium weight jacket that got removed by early afternoon!

Sayhello

 

[Lumpy1106]

April - no question. In fact, if you could manage, to do it, I'd even suggest January. The crowds get bad in Zion once kids are out of school. We've been to Zion twice - once for Spring Break (which was nice, but crowded) and once for the week after New Years. That was absolutely gorgeous as we had snow the entire time and almost no crowds. We had snow even on our spring break when we went to Bryce Canyon - that was amazing! Be aware that it can rain at either time as AZ and UT get both winter and summer monsoon storms. They do close some of the trails when it gets icy, but we found the bigger problem was mud.

The heat is BAD in the summer both in UT and AZ. We went to AZ this last April and it was in the 90s. In July you can add another 15 degrees on that temperature easily.

 

[jimmymc]

I would rather deal with April cool than July hot.

 

[jillinastoria]

Thank you, everyone! We have a son in school so we have to work with school breaks. But it sounds like April is a much better option--we will look into that for 2025. Thanks again!

 

[AZMermaid]

I live in AZ. July is brutally hot (110-115 at times) and add in the summer monsoons (evening thunderstorms) it can be humid. Hands down April.