In September of 2016, my family went on a 6-day road trip to the beautiful Utah National Parks, starting and ending in Las Vegas, Nevada. September was the perfect time to go because the weather was nice, the crowds had thinned, and hotels were more affordable. The road trip was one full of natural wonders, amazing rock formations, and plenty of walking.
Day 1: Las Vegas, Nevada
On our first day, we flew into Las Vegas at nighttime and picked up our rental car from the McCarran Rent-A-Car Center, a 3-mile shuttle ride from the McCarran International Airport. We stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites (4375 E Craig Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89115), in order to avoid the craziness of the Las Vegas Strip. Even though we were in Sin City, we had an early night in order to get ready for our 3-hour drive to Zion National Park tomorrow.
Day 2: Zion National Park (~3 hour drive)
First thing in the morning, we set off toward Zion National Park and arrived at the entrance to the park before noon. Inside the park, there was a shuttle that arrived every 7-10 minutes and went to nine stops within Zion Canyon, which made it easy to get from place to place. We were able to walk the three following trails, which were classified as “short-and-easy hikes” with great views.
- Riverside Trail (2 miles roundtrip)
- Weeping Rock (0.5 miles roundtrip)
- Emerald Pools (2 miles roundtrip)
After a day of hiking, we were wiped, so we checked into Rodeway Inn (650 W State St, Hurricane, UT 84737), a motel 22 miles from Zion National Park, where we spent the night and recuperated.
Day 3: Bryce Canyon National Park (~2 hour drive)
The drive from Zion to Bryce Canyon was about 2 hours, and one of the highlights of our drive was stopping at Cedar Breaks National Monument (Highway 143 East, Brian Head, UT 84719) along the way. The overlook was magnificent, and since this stop is not very well-known, it was also devoid of crowds.
When we arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park, we went around the Main Amphitheater on the Rim Trail before hiking the Navajo Loop Trail to Queen’s Garden Trail (3 miles roundtrip). This 3-mile trail was more strenuous than I had anticipated, due to the steep ascent and descent (~580 ft uphill and ~580 ft downhill) in the scorching sun, but it was worth it, as the views on the trail were astounding. One of the distinctive features of Bryce Canyon are the columns of weathered rock shown below called “hoodoos”.
After spending most of the day at Bryce Canyon, we checked into the Mountain Ridge Motel (106 S Main St, Hatch, UT 84735) for the night, where we stayed in an updated cabin at an affordable price. This was our favorite accommodation on the trip and comes highly recommended.
Day 4: Page, Arizona (~3 hour drive)
The next morning, we headed out to Page, Arizona, where we would spend the day at Horseshoe Bend and the Antelope Canyons. Since we had time, we decided to visit both the Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons. The Upper Canyon is the more popular of the two, due to its photogenic light beams and falling sands; however, we thought that the Lower Canyon tour was much more enjoyable.
We began at the Lower Antelope Canyon and waited in a long line with our Navajo tour guide at the entrance to the canyon. Once we finally reached the front of the line, we descended a long staircase into the canyon, where we spent the next hour climbing ladders and traversing through narrow passageways. It was a lot of fun trekking through the canyon and looking at all the different rock formations carved by water.
We had booked our Upper Antelope Tour online prior to the trip because we heard that the spots filled up quickly; however, the only reservation left when booking a month in advance was the final tour before sunset. Because we had some time to kill in between our Lower Antelope and Upper Antelope tours, we stopped by Horseshoe Bend nearby, where we were glad to see free public parking in a large lot. The hike to the viewpoint was extremely sandy and windy, but it was also a short trek (only about 1.25 miles roundtrip).
Once we were done with our photoshoot at Horseshoe Bend, we embarked on our tour to the Upper Antelope Canyon. We rode in an off-road vehicle to the entrance of the canyon with our tour group, and then we walked inside with the final rays of sun shining above us. Touring the canyon at around sunset, we did not get to see any of the iconic light beams and falling sands, but the colors inside were still gorgeous.
At the end of the day, we checked into Super 8 Page/Lake Powell (649 S Lake Powell Blvd, Page, AZ 86040), where we fell asleep right as our heads hit the pillow.
Day 5: Grand Canyon National Park (~3 hour drive)
Our last stop on the trip was the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, which was as majestic as always. We parked at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center and shuttled our way to all the recommended viewpoints (Yaki Point, Grandview Point, Moran Point, Lipan Point, Navajo Point, and Desert View). The highlight of my day was watching the sun descend over the canyon at sunset.
After the sun had set, we took a shuttle back to the Visitor Center and set off toward Red Feather Lodge (300 AZ-64, Grand Canyon Village, AZ 86023), where we spent the night.
Day 6: Las Vegas, Nevada (~5 hour drive)
Our final day was spent driving from Grand Canyon National Park back to Las Vegas, where we would return our rental car and board our flight back home to Seattle from McCarran International Airport, our heads filled with pleasant memories of our family vacation to the Utah National Parks.
askcami 