There's no quick and easy way to take in the sights of the South West canyon lands of the American West without access to a 'zoom me up Scotty' form of technology, or a package flight day-trip deal from Vegas for a pit-stop visit to one or other of the major landmarks. Whatever route and form of transportation I researched from my home in Northern California over the years, I never quite hit the go-button on a trip to the Grand Canyon and beyond. It all seemed so complicated given that I simply didn't have the time to dedicate to driving long distances, dealing with tourist-trap train schedules, or compromising on a harried fly-over.
I started seeing social media posts of friends who had embarked on the substantial loop of Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon National Park — generally in and out of Vegas in a rental car and it finally sunk in that what was required was an eight to nine day commitment to making the journey a road trip adventure to remember. And what transpired, was a trip of a lifetime.
We tend to think of exotic and faraway places in this category of trip. But sometimes staying closer to home and devoting the time and resources and planning to exploration on a deeper level than a long weekend, is what makes for some of the most satisfying travel experiences.
If you too have any of these National Parks and landmarks on your must-visit list, I'm sharing my itinerary as a guideline to help take some of the mystery out of the planning required to pull it off.
Before You Go:
Plan well ahead. May and September are the best months to visit the canyons. My trip, during the last week of April, required clothing for outdoor adventuring in temperatures that ranged from the mid 90s to below freezing. Leaving Las Vegas in the heat and arriving at Zion in 90s with air conditioning blasting in the rental car was a huge contrast to driving through hail and snow shortly after arrival at the Grand Canyon towards the end of the week. Thunder and lighning is commonplace and flash flooding a commonality in the high summer, so know your season when booking and travel prepared.
I purchased the America the Beautiful National Park Pass several weeks ahead of my trip, for convenience so as to avoid paying individual park fees along the way. The pass is good for everyone in the vehicle and rangers do ask for ID, so there's no sharing a pass with friends and family who are not traveling with you, before or after. It's good value for money, especially if you plan to visit more national parks in the year ahead.
I printed out directions for the entire route in case I lost cell reception on Google Maps and it was handy to read through and prepare for the next day's driving. My traveling companion for this trip, artist and dear friend Gail Foulkes, opted to bring along paper maps she ordered from AAA. They were fun to read and came in useful a couple of times when we re-routed slightly at the end of our itinerary.
Bring reusable water bottles and plan to hydrate frequently. The parks are at high altitude and the dry air is deceptively dangerous if you don't keep your body hydrated.
This itinerary took nine days in total, including travel to and from Las Vegas from San Francisco and an overnight stay in Vegas either end of the roadtrip. You could fly out after returning a rental car and make it an eight day trip and/or drive straight to Zion on arrival to completely avoid overnights in Vegas, but where's the fun in that? Plus, it's pretty full-on, mileage-wise, so I recommend the nine days.
Day 1 — Fly to Vegas & Stay Overnight
Day 2 — Zion National Park
Pick up a rental car back at the airport in the morning and arrive in Springdale, Utah, the small and welcoming community at the entrance to Zion National Park, with its scenic backdrop of massive sandstone cliffs of cream, pink, and red, by lunch time. It's about a three hour drive with a rest stop. There are multiple hotels, motels, guest houses and RV Parks in Springdale, several restaurants with live, outdoor music in the warmer months and cute stores, mostly selling outdoorsy stuff, but some nice galleries, coffee shops and grocery stores. It was busy in April so I can only imagine the summer crowds.
We stayed two nights at The Bumbleberry Inn. There is a free shuttle that picks up on the roadside in front of the hotels that takes visitors to the park entrance. Driving into the park and finding spots to park within is not a good idea. We met several families who had wasted a lot of precious park time only to return into Springdale to take the shuttle.
Once inside the park, the shuttle system is great, with multiple buses running every 10 minutes or so and reaching all points of the park and its extensive hikes. We headed to the back of the park first and walked by the river. Signs warning of flash flooding and what to do are prominent in an area that is known for this. The buses all have signage alerting visitors to the fact that we're responsible for our own safety within the National Parks. Plenty of hikers take on trails that are well out of their comfort zone and it's evident.
I'm not recommending trails for that reason. Find one that works for you and your party, or stick to the paved walkways. People were biking the bus routes which isn't all that safe. While it's fantastic to hike trails cut into the canyons, you can enjoy your visit without putting yourself or anyone else at risk.
Day 4 — Bryce Canyon National Park
Hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) exist on every continent, but the largest concentration found anywhere on Earth awaited us at magical and magnificent Bryce Canyon. With red rocks, pink cliffs and endless vistas, Bryce is situated along a high plateau at the top of the Grand Staircase. The park's high elevations include numerous life communities, fantastic dark skies and geological wonders that defy description.
The best way for me to describe Bryce is that I fully expected to run into some mythical creature around each and every turn. It's a geological fantasy land and a place that I will never stop dreaming about.
After a couple of hour's drive, we arrived early enough for brunch just outside of the park at Historic Ruby's Inn and a full afternoon and evening hike in the park. Shuttles were our friends once again.
We stayed at the Best Western Plus Bryce Canyon Hotel . Breakfast was included in all of the hotels on the road except for the Grand Canyon, which saved a little in the travel budget and provided a good start to a full day each day. Ebenezer's Bar and Grill, next door proved a fun & lively dinner outing, with full band and live country music. I was disappointed the Rodeo in the same area as the hotel and grill was not on that evening.
Day 5 — Lower Antelope Canyon Tour
Antelope Canyon is a two hour and forty-five minute drive from Bryce Canyon. I'd booked a tour of the famed Antelope Slot Canyon months ahead as I'd read that it is limited for how many people it can accommodate a day and books out way ahead of time. I'd also read that it's best to visit in the morning hours when there's more light, so we left Bryce after an early breakfast. The contintenal divide is a bit tricky with the one hour time difference between Utah and Arizona and my phone service did not automatically switch the time zone even though it was set to do so on settings. If you go from Bryce, be sure to check you have the right time!
The landscape was impressive from Bryce to Page, the dessert city closest to Antelope Canyon. We crossed over the Colorado River at Glen Canyon Dam, a controversial project which constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation between 1956 and 1966, forming Lake Powell, one of the biggest man-made reservoirs in the country. It was one of the last dams of its size to be built in the States, flooding the scenic Glen Canyon, a series of deep sandstone gorges.
Views from above, on the outskirts of Page reveal the changed landscape with the lake running through.
Iconic photos inside Antelope Canyon are world renowned, even if the Canyon itself is not as well known as Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon. It's well worth detouring off the trail from Bryce to the Grand Canyon into Navajo reservation land to experience this other-worldly, narrow slot canyon which was formed by water rushing down through its striking red rocks.
There are two slot canyons at Antelope, Upper and Lower. We took the lower tour with Dixie's. It was extremely well organized, which was reassuring as I was a little wobbly on the climb down, backwards on a series of metal staircases. Our Navajo guide was knowledgeable, friendly and super safety focused. The sky was turning dark above while we were down below and a storm was brewing for the following day. The canyon would be closed after our tour for a day or two in case of flash flooding, which is unpredictable throughout the region. I was relieved to see a series of metal drop ladders firmly fixed at various points along the top of the canyon. If sudden flooding occurs without notice, the ladders are dropped immediately. There's no messing around out there. And the guides take it all very seriously.
This is an exclusive tour and something to remember forever, but its not for those with a fear of climbing down into a confined space. I especially enjoyed our guide sharing cultural insight into this majestic canyon. It brings considerable tourism related jobs into Page and surrounding areas during the warmer months especially and the pride in its existence on tribal land is palpable.
We stayed at Hyatt Place Page, Lake Powell and the highlight of our evening was a mesmerizing cultural presentation of Navajo Storytelling by community leader, Eli Secody Journal.
Day 6 — Horseshoe Bend
From Page, we drove south on Highway 89 to between mileposts 544 & 545, looking for the exit lane and on the west side of the road, where we drove a short distance pst the $10 fee booth into the parking area. The 1.5 round trip walk down to Horseshoe Bend isn't too long or arduous, but if you visit in the summer months, be prepared with hats and water and sunscreen etc as it is exposed to the elements. We drank a lot of water on our walks, as I've said, so as not to dehydrate, even in April.
I'd read about Horseshoe Bend as a sideline to Antelope Canyon. It was far more than a sideline in reality — absolutely stunning and equally unique. I was envious of the people kayaking way down below. What an amazing place.
Below the rim, the Colorado River makes a wide sweep around a sandstone escarpment. According to info on the National Parks site: on its long downward journey to the sea, the river meandered, sometimes making wide bends, but always seeking the path of least resistance. Around 5 million years ago, the Colorado Plateau uplifted and the meandering rivers that crossed the ancient landscape were trapped in their beds. Over time, the rivers cut through the uplifted layers of sandstone.
Here at Horseshoe Bend, the Colorado River created a roughly 1,000 ft (305 m) deep, 270º horseshoe-shaped bend in Glen Canyon.
Day 6 & 7 — Grand Canyon
It took us around two hours to drive from Horseshoe Bend to the Grand Canyon, entering the park via the East entrance, which had no waiting time in line to check in with our pass. Desert View is the eastern-most developed area on the South Rim of the park and a short walk past the general store/market and trading post, to the Watchtower and fantastic first views of the canyon.
The Watchtower is recognized as a National Historic Landmark and was constructed in 1932 by architect Mary Colter. Her design takes its influences from the architecture of the Ancestral Puebloan people of the Colorado Plateau. The view from the Watchtower provides a unique perspective of the eastern portion of Grand Canyon.
We were enthralled to learn about ingenious and trail blazing Mary Colter, and her buildings at the Grand Canyon: not only The Desert View Watchtower but Hopi House, Hermit's Rest and Lookout Studio on the South Rim.
We followed the rim road through to the Visitor's Center on the South Rim, parked up and took one of the many shuttles to check out the lay of the land in Grand Canyon Village. It's not so much of a village in the sense of how I pictured it. There are multiple park offices, ranger and staff accommodations and even a high school dotted amongst the forestry. Historic hotels and landmarks dot the South Rim along the paved walking trail, with the train station close by, bringing in visitors from Williams, Arizona, 65 miles to the South. The railway was established in 1901.
I'd read quite a bit about the rail option over the years. If you're looking for a three hour day trip visit to the park to take in the main scenic views from the South Rim, then rail access is nice and easy. Williams is a three and a half hour drive from Vegas. And two hours and 45 minutes drive from Phoenix. The Grand Canyon Railway offers several package options so that you can overnight in Williams either end of your visit, if you'd like to take it easy for a few days.
Map of Grand Canyon — National Park Service
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is another option from May through the summer months, but it was not open during our visit, hence our choice to visit the South Rim for a couple of days. By late afternoon of our first look around, it had begun to hail. We'd traveled through high temperatures to cooling trends and given that there was a snow storm coming in that evening, we headed back to the Visitor's Center, jumped in the car and drove south out of the park to our hotel in Tusayan, which is located about six miles from the park's southern entrance.
Hotels in the park are expensive and frequently booked up, so Tusayan was a better option for a two night stay. Although it was clean and serviceable, I wasn't wild about the hotel I picked and would opt to stay across the street at The Grand Hotel if I go back. We ate dinner at the bar in The Grand Hotel as it snowed outside that first night and enjoyed a buffet breakfast there the following morning as ours was the only hotel on our route that did not offer a complimentary breakfast.
I will say the food was not all that great in the Grand Canyon area on the whole. Staffing in the shoulder season appeared to be lacking, which is understandable. Bring plenty of healthy snacks and picnic essentials if you go.
Our shuttle bus driver warned us on our second day in the park to beware of thunder and lightning. Lightning had struck a metal shuttle stop the night before and it had blown up the sidewalk. Lucky for us and the thousands of visitors to the park that day, the weather cleared up, though remained cold. We wore several layers of outdoor gear under our waterproofs.
The shuttles ferried us around the South Rim to the west so that we were able to visit Mary Colter's Hermit's Rest at the far end of the road, a bookend to her Desert Watchtower at the start of our visit. We hopped on and off the shuttle, walking around seven miles of the Rim Trail at various scenic points. I suffered from Vertigo at several lookout points and had to retreat. This didn't spoil my appreciation of the park, though looking down 6,000 feet to the canyon floor was far more agreeable from a safe distance of more than six feet.
It was hard to wrap my head around the proximity to the edge, at some points more than others. Some folk were clearly far more comfortable with this than me! If I go back, I would look for a package for day rafting or mule packing, but no hiking on cliff-edge trails for me.
There are native tribes living at the bottom of the canyon in specific areas as well as camping and overnight facilities for extreme hikers. Helicopters bring in water.
Day 8 — Williams and Las Vegas
Williams is a town that is nestled amidst pine covered hills and volcanic mountains, grassy meadows and prairies. Mountain men moved into this part of the west in search of game in the fur trade in the 1880s. Today, it's a classic pit-stop on historic Route 66. Six blocks of historic buildings oveflow with memorabilia of the first federal highway, which was named U.S. Highway 66, later Route 66, aka The Mother Road, or America's Highway, connecting Chicago in the east with Santa Monica in the west.
We opted for Williams over Flagstaff on our way back to Vegas to save on driving time. We weren't disappointed. After window shopping the pie case and breakfasting at the Pine Country Restaurant we pottered around several western wear and saddlery stores.
Highlight of downtown was chatting to Jay Redfeather, properietor of Jay's Open Road Cowboy Retail Store. Jay makes custom leatherwork and bespoke western hats from beaverskin, custom sized for his client's heads for the perfect fit. A local guy, running for office, stopped by to pick up his hat while we were in the store.
We could've easily spent more time in Williams. Likewise, the Hoover Dam was a potential detour on our route to Vegas. But we had to get the rental car back in time to shuttle to our hotel and see a show and with over three hours driving, we headed straight back to Vegas, where Gail won $170 on a slot machine with her one dollar bill bet. Needless to say, she cashed out and we enjoyed a final supper and breakfast on the house!
I felt a sense of accomplishment returning home. This part of the country had evaded me for decades. I had taken the time to break it down to manageable journies in between some of the most breathtaking natural scenery I have ever experienced. I didn't feel rushed, or stressed and we traveled at our own pace, taking rests whenever we felt like it. Roadtrips are the best for the freedom of the open road, the sights we see and the people we meet along the way.
About Me:
Frances Rivetti is a British American journalist and author of four books. She lives in the Gold Rush-era riverfront city of Petaluma, Northern Calfornia with her British Italian American husband and various four-legged family members. The couple's three grown sons were born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and are successfully blazing their own trails. Award winning Fog Valley Crush and Fog Valley Winter are non-fiction love letters to her adopted micro-region of coastal Sonoma and Marin Counties. Her contemporary novels, Big Green Country and The House on Liberty Street are also set in Northern California.
Big Green Country was awarded the Gold Medal for Fiction, West, in the 2020 Independent Publishers Book Awards. The House on Liberty Street was a West Fiction finalist in the 2023 National Indie Excellence Awards.
Frances writes for travel, leisure and lifsteyle publications around the world. She is currently at work on a third novel, set along the Sonoma Coast.
Artist Gail Foulkes is the cover illustrator for The House on Liberty Street and a fellow Petaluma-based British American.
Click here for her author website
Click here for Instagram posts.
