1 Trip – 6 National Parks – Amazing Natural Beauty
The Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon – National Parks that you hear about, and see pictures of, but are not sure if they are worth giving up your beach vacation to go and see for yourself. Well, they are. Seriously, put the beach on hold and go take a hike while you still can.
The scenery, the dizzying scary heights, the vast open and unpopulated spaces must be experienced in person. This is an amazing trip that will be remembered for a lifetime.
The Trip
Starting in Las Vegas, you will take a 1,500 mile loop through Arizona, Utah, and back to Las Vegas, Nevada. This loop can be done in either direction. More about than below in “planning”.
Get a National Park Pass for $80.00, it will be worth it, because you will be visiting:
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Arches National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Capitol Reef National Park
- Bryce Canyon National Park
- Zion National Park
There are also numerous other parks to choose from along the way. For our trip, with a six and ten-year old, we included:
- Monument Valley
- Goose necks of the San Juan River
- Moki Dugway Scenic Route
- House on Fire ruins
- Basecamp Adventure Lodge (Not a park, and you will want a high clearance vehicle, and some nerve to get there)
- Little Wild Horse Canyon
- Dead Horse Point
- Goblin Valley (one of the kids favorite places)
- Burr Trail
- Escalante Petrified Forest
- Lower Antelope Canyon
- Glen Canyon Dam
- Horseshoe Bend
Our Experience
Day 1 – Grand Canyon
Setting out very early in the morning , our flight arrived in Vegas at 7:00 AM PDT where we grabbed our rental car and immediately headed towards the Grand Canyon’s south rim. We grabbed fast food along the way, and took the historic Route 66 detour from Kingman to Seligman. We stopped in Kingman so the kids could climb on an old steam engine and caboose, then continued on, checking in to our digs at the Thunderbird Lodge around 3 PM MDT.
Holy shit!!! Kids, don’t go by the edge!
Words cannot describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon, pictures cannot capture it immensity. We stood there in awe of the enormous canyon, so big that it did not seem real, so deep that it literally took my breath away as I looked over the edge.
In the middle of that picture, you can see the Bright Angel Trail and Plateau Point, which is a staggering 3,000 feet below us, and a six-mile one way hike. It looks like it is right there. We actually thought we’d hike down and check it out, until I read the elevations and distances at the trail head. A 12 mile round trip hike with a 3000′ elevation change is not something our family could do in one full day.
Remember when hiking anywhere in this part of the country, it is extremely important to take plenty of water, food and sunscreen. A good rule of thumb for hiking into canyons is for every hour that you hike down, it will take two hours to hike back up. If hiking all the way down to the river, the Park Service recommends one day down to the river, and two days back up to the rim.
That evening we ate dinner at one of the restaurants, and walked along the paved rim trail.
Day 2 – Grand Canyon and Monument Valley
The next morning we woke up early to take pictures before we had breakfast, loaded up and checked out of the lodge. We stopped at the store to grab sandwiches for lunch, drove over to the visitor center so the kids could stamp their national park passport, and do junior ranger activities, then caught the free bus to Yaki Point.
From Yaki point we could hike down into the canyon on the South Kaibab Trail a relatively short 0.9 miles to Ooh-Aah Point, for a ~2 mile round trip and 600′ elevation change. South Kaibab Trail information. If you have young kids, hold their hand, and keep them on the uphill side. It’s a long way down.
The winds were strong the day we hiked down, with gusts reaching 40 mph. It wasn’t too bad, until we got to the view-point. The instant we stepped out of the side canyon that had been blocking the wind the whole way down, we were blasted with those strong gusts. Jake, fearing for his life, grabbed the nearest study rock and let us know that things were not OK in his world. Him and Kari went back up out of the wind, and Alli and I checked out the view for the short time we could tolerate the gusts.
We hiked back up, stopping to rest and snacks along the way, and then had lunch that we packed at the top near the view-point before heading on towards Monument Valley, stopping at various viewpoints along the way.
I should mention, due to the available dates at Bryce and Zion on our trip during spring break, we had to alter our path, and go from Bryce to Page, AZ, then backtrack to Zion. Ideally, you will be able to follow the loop which will allow a visit to the Navajo National Monument on your way between Page, and Monument Valley.
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is not a state or national park. The large formations are in Navajo Nation tribal park, so seeing them from the highway is free, but driving in the park, and taking tours will cost money. I’ve heard that the tours are good, but since we arrived at dinner, and had a scenic route, a hike and an off-road drive over a pass in Moab the next day we did not take a tour.
Accommodations at the View Hotel were good, and the food was edible.
Day 4 – Monument Valley to Moab
In the morning we had breakfast, and headed out. The plan was to take a scenic route to see the goosenecks on the San Juan River, drive up the Moki Dugway, hike to the House on Fire ruins, then stop for groceries before taking the hour long off road trek to our Moab accommodations at the Base Camp Adventure lodge.
At this point I should note the torture we made our kids endure on this trip, and others like it. No phones, tablets or dvd players (so, no screens) as long as there are interesting things to see out of the window. They had their tablets to take pictures, and play with on some nights if we weren’t playing board games or cards. The horror!
When looking at the maps, you will notice a designation “Mexican Hat”. As it turns out the Mexican Hat is a balanced rock. There were some dirt roads heading in its direction so we had a closer look.
As you stand there and look at the Goosenecks, you try to figure out how and why the earth is playing tricks on you. It looks like a Photoshop job right there in front of your eyes.
Note – Goosenecks is a State Park, so you’ll have to pay a fee to lay eyes on them.
Heading on up the road the pavement changes to gravel as you climb 1200′ on the switchbacks called Moki Dugway. If your passengers do not care for heights, they should not look out of the window.
While there are several hikes in this general area, we had to pick one, so we hiked to the House on Fire ruins following the South Fork Mule Canyon trail. This was an easy 2 mile round trip hike with no elevation gain worth speaking of. The trail head itself isn’t the easiest to find, but I marked in on the map linked in the planning section.
It is called the house on fire because of the effect the sun has on the sandstone rock at certain times of the day. We had lunch at the Ruins before continuing on.
Moab is where you will stay to visit both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.
On trips where we are not staying in National Parks, we like to use Airbnb or VRBO to find roomier accommodations. Searching both of those sites, and Google Maps for a place to stay around Moab, I ran across the Basecamp Adventure Lodge on Google Maps. It looked interesting, but kind of scary. Keep in mind that they have updated their website since we took our trip, and to get there, you take an hour-long trip over Hurrah Pass on a dirt trail. If we got there and didn’t like it, we would just have to suck it up since it would be getting dark, and we weren’t going on that trail in the dark.
There is not anything else on this side of the pass, nothing, just land, bordered by the Colorado River and towering red rocks.
It probably wouldn’t have bothered me as much, but we did have an issue on our last trip in an Airbnb outside of Yosemite that left us driving an hour on dark roads. But that’s a whole other story.
The road gave us pause shortly after we left pavement when we came to a large puddle. Not knowing how muddy it might be, we had a family meeting and decided to proceed. If we got stuck we’d have to wait for a Jeep to pull us out.
As we started up the switchbacks, concern set in again – this time whether we were going the right way, since turning around would be a challenge. A little further up the pass we passed some people on UTV’s heading down, they confirmed that we were heading up Hurrah Pass, in the right direction.
This is another place that a fear of heights might be an issue.
Arriving at the lodge, we went to the front door, which was open, to find a man cooking on the stove in the kitchen. He wasn’t the easiest to understand, but we gathered that our host, Tom, was away and would return shortly. There were kids around, and a Frisbee golf course, so the kids started playing right away. After a short while Tom arrived and showed us which rooms we would be staying in.
The rooms had an odor to them, but were fine and clean. I realized later the odor was likely from the skunks Tom said he removed from under the house the previous month. The rooms opened to the back porch, right on the Colorado River.
The kids played into the night, and we relaxed.
Day 4 – Adventures around Basecamp Adventure Lodge
In the morning we had cereal in the kitchen and Tom helped us plan our day. He let us use one of his UTVs to go and explore the wind caves and chicken corner. It was like having a national park to ourselves.
Above: Chicken Corner on the left where the foot trail goes around the edge of the rock face. It turns out we were chicken. The high ground, far in the distance is Dead Horse Point.
Driving around in the UTV definitely required you to pay attention.
We explored the wind cave rock formations, ate lunch, and nervously watched the kids climb on the rocks.
For the rest of the day we looked for fossils, had stick races in the river, grilled some steaks for dinner. After dark, the kids got to watch some TV with the other kids at the lodge, and look at the ring tails out on the porch roof trying to sneak down and find food.
Alli and Jake would have rather stayed at the lodge all day and played with the other kids, and looking back maybe we should have let them. I get caught up in wanting to see as much as possible, but watching our kids play with other kids among the red rocks all day while we sat on the porch and did nothing may have been better for all of us.
Going way back to when we were planning the trip, we changed our Basecamp booking from the lodge to one of the two bedroom cabins he has about a mile from the lodge. (the only other structures west of the pass) It cost more, but being in a strange area far from a town, I figured it may be better to have our own kitchen and living room.
A couple of weeks later Tom emailed me and asked if I could move back over to the lodge because Jeep wanted to rent both of his cabins for the entire week leading up to Easter weekend. Easter weekend in Moab is the annual Jeep safari, which is like Harley’s Sturgis Rally, but for Jeeps. Apparently it’s kind of a big deal. Jeep would let us see the new Jeeps in exchange. We didn’t really care about seeing the new Jeeps, but also didn’t want to be assholes, so we moved back over to the lodge. Tom gave us our rooms for 1/2 off for the inconvenience – unnecessary but awesome.
Fast forward to now, and the Jeeps are kind of a big deal to the kids.
Day 5 – Jeeps, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point
While eating our breakfast, we discussed our options for the day with Tom. We were leaving Basecamp today, and staying closer to Moab for the night so we would be closer to Arches and Canyonlands. Ultimately we decided to skip Arches, as it would be terribly crowded due to spring break. With Tom’s local knowledge, he directed us to see Mesa Arch in Cayonlands and to go hike on a trail called False Kiva in lieu of fighting the crowds. I left the title as 6 national parks, because you could still easily visit Arches on your trip.
After putting together a plan and loading up our stuff, automotive press journalists started to arrive for Jeep’s unveiling of their newest models and concepts. Since this place isn’t the easiest to find, Tom and Linny were helping the lost magazine men and women find their way over to the cabins.
The kids really wanted to go see the Jeeps at this point, so we hopped in Tom’s truck and he drove us over to the cabins also. After Tom showing us the cabins, and his really nice Hogans (mud huts) that you can also stay in, the kids got to and check out the Jeeps and see Fred from Motor Trend’s Dirt Everyday show that they watch on YouTube.
As the Jeep people started getting vehicles moved around, one of the gentlemen asked us to ride with him down the hill, and told Alli that she could drive the Jeep we were in. This was not an ordinary 4 door unlimited, this particular example had been built for the SEMA show in Las Vegas, and custom fitted with an SRT V8, 37″ tires, etc. at a cost of over $150,000
And just like that, Jeeps were the highlight of Alli’s trip.
After dragging the kids away from the Jeeps, we said our goodbyes and headed back over the pass towards Moab to grab some sandwiches before heading on to Canyonlands, Island in the Sky District.
The False Kiva Trail, is a class II archeological site, and does not have a marked trail head, nor does is it on park maps. You can get directions to the trail by visiting the rangers office and asking one of the rangers. The trail itself has no signs and is only marked by cairns.
As such, the trail had virtually no one else on it, giving us a nice quiet hike. It can get a little unnerving at times, and there is definitely some exposure to heights, but overall a very doable trail with kids that have a moderate dose of self-preservation,
At the end of the trail, we failed to hike the last section up to the alcove and therefore did not see the kiva. The trail grew a little too scary for us flatlanders, so we enjoyed the view of the canyon carved out by the Green River for a while before hiking back out. It was still a great trail, and fun for all of us.
Since we missed Arches NP all together, we headed over to see the Mesa Arch in Canyonlands, before driving on to Dead Horse Point State Park. My pictures of both of these places in the mid afternoon sun are not good, so I won’t make you look at them, but both of these places offer spectacular views, and should not be missed. Overnight we stayed at the Red Cliffs Lodge, which offered a nice drive up the Colorado River, and horses for Alli to look at.
Day 6 – Goblin Valley, Little Wild Horse Canyon, Capitol Reef NP
We had breakfast at the lodge, loaded up and headed out, stopping at Green River, UT to grab some sandwiches to eat at Goblin Valley.
So far, the roads on this trip so far have amazed us with their desolate beauty while giving us the opportunity to take our time and admire the landscape and geographic formations. Seeing a butte in the distance, it would seem to take an hour to finally get close, before passing and repeating with the next. Traveling Highway 24 southwest from I70 was no exception, and we enjoyed the vast empty spaces. Even the kids enjoyed the views enough to keep them from bitching about our ban on tablets in the car.
Goblin Valley is a state park full of little sandstone hoodoos that kids love to climb on and around thus making it one of Jake’s favorite stops on the trip. If not for other destinations and a hike this day, the kids would have played at Goblin Valley all afternoon. We let them climb around for an hour or two and ate our sandwiches before moving on to find Little Wild Horse Canyon.
Little Wild Horse Canyon is a narrow slot canyon about six miles past Goblin Valley. With any slot canyon, you will want to make sure there is no rain in or upstream from the area. This mostly isn’t a problem, since you are in the desert, but if it does rain the narrow canyons fill quickly and can kill you. If you include Bell Canyon and make it a loop, it will be an 8 mile hike that will require wading through some standing water. We stopped a mile or two in when we hit the first standing water that we couldn’t get around. It was a pretty easy hike of probably 3 miles out and back, and definitely recommended.
Headed towards Capitol Reef, we continued to enjoy the views along Highway 24 and stopped to check out some viewpoints. Eventually we reached our Airbnb for the night near the Capitol Reef Resort and settled in to our somewhat strange accommodations before going out for dinner.
Day 7 Capitol Reef NP
We ate breakfast in our Airbnb and then went out to hike the Hickman Bridge Trail. Hickman Bridge trail is 1.8 miles out and back with a 400 foot elevation gain, and was worth the modest effort to see the arch/natural bridge. We took some time to snack, drink some water and ponder the time it took for the occasional rains to wear the rock, all while repeatedly telling the kids to stop getting too close to edges.
After the bridge we stopped off to look at the petroglyphs then found a quiet spot along the river near the orchards to have lunch and let the kids play for a while.
For the rest of the day, we searched for petrified wood, using directions that our Airbnb host gave us while telling the kids about the fossils in the yard, ate, and went to sunset point. The kids were happy they were able to find some petrified palm wood.
Day 8 – Scenic Route 12 and Bryce Canyon
We chose to take the scenic Utah Highway 12 from Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon and check out a few things along the way. There are several attractions along this route, and you could easily explore this area longer if you have the time. Leaving town the road climbs into trees and some snow cover (April) going over Boulder Mountain before falling back into the red rocks. Burr Trail Road takes you through a small scenic canyon with some spots to park and grab lunch or take a short stroll. For our route, Burr Trail was an out and back road, where we stopped to have lunch.
We went from snow back to red rocks in about 30 minutes.
Along the way we found it worthwhile to take a couple of hours to hike the 2 mile loop in Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. The longer loop gains a little over 400 feet in elevation and takes you through several petrified logs. If you have been to the National Park in Arizona, you may want to skip this park, but we had not, and our kids are fascinated with petrified wood, so this was fun for them.
Bryce Canyon Lodge is at 8000 ft. and still had some snow, but was a pleasant temperature, for a walk along the rim before dinner. After dinner it was pretty cold.
The lodge had no TV, so we played cards before going to bed.
Day 9 – Bryce Canyon, Page Arizona
After breakfast at the lodge we hiked into the canyon via Navajo Loop and Queens Garden trails to make a 2.6 mile loop that gains 623 ft. in elevation on your hike out. While not mind blowingly vast like the Grand Canyon, Bryce was one of the most interesting places we visited on this trip. The hike into the canyon gives a whole different perspective to the formations, and should be done during your visit.
Once we finished up our hike, it was once again time to hit the road. Part of the drive from Bryce to Page was pretty, and the rest, not as much. Stopping along the way only for lunch, we arrived at the Glen Canyon Dam in Page mid afternoon. Glen Canyon Dam is much like Hoover Dam outside of Las Vegas, but much less crowded. At 710 feet tall, Glen Canyon is only 16 feet shorter than the much more famous Hoover dam’s 726 foot height.
If visiting during the warmer months Lake Powell offers a number of activities to get you out on the water.
Day 10 – Page – Zion
I woke up early and decided to go see Horseshoe Bend, alone, since no one was ready to go with me. It’s a curve in the Colorado River, about 1000 feet below. Nice spot, and since I was solo, I could actually sit and look at it in peace. Except for the drones. I may as well have had the kids with me, as the constant buzzing of the drones people were flying was even more annoying. I am glad they are banned in national parks.
One big attraction besides the dam are the upper and lower Antelope Canyons. These slot canyons on native american lands, are expensive, and draw large crowds, so prepare to be herded through relatively quickly – once you get into the canyon itself. That being said, it was worth it, mostly for the pictures that you are not supposed to take.
We took the tour of Lower Antelope Canyon and the way the light filters into the canyon was awesome, and even with the crowds, and the rules against taking any pictures, you can take some pretty awesome pictures.
Finishing up our tour, we headed back to Utah. Luckily Kari reminded me to stop and grab some full strength beer before leaving Arizona so I wouldn’t have to drink Utah’s 3.2% beer. This drive backtracked over the least pretty portion of the drive we took the day before, so we went ahead and let the kids play on their tablets all the way until we picked up Utah Highway 9 to head into Zion. Entering the park, we stopped for the short walk to the canyon overlook. Again, we find ourselves looking into a breathtaking canyon.
I truly appreciate our country’s foresight in setting aside these lands for us to enjoy. I hope we are collectively able to find the balance between protecting them for the future, while still making it possible for people visit these wonderful places and enjoy the beautiful landscapes within our country.
Because we were staying in the park, we were able to drive through the park to the lodge, otherwise, you need to catch the free shuttle to get you into the park, as they don’t allow vehicles from March through October. We made our way down, through the mile long Mt. Carmel tunnel and turned into Zion’s main canyon which is where the Zion Lodge is located.
Once checked in, we had time to explore the Virgin River and a section of the Emerald Pools trail before eating dinner and relaxing in front of the lodge while the kids played Frisbee.
Days 11 and 12 – Zion
The Hidden Canyon trail taught me that I am more afraid of heights than Alli, even if half of my fear was for her. Walk slowly, watch where you are putting your feet and stay as far from the edge as possible, which isn’t very far. This 3 mile trail has an elevation gain of 930′, most of which Kari and Jake also hiked up. When we got to the narrow and exposed sections of trail, where you will actually die if you make too much of a misstep, Kari and Jake hiked back down and went back to the lodge for ice cream. Alli would rather hike the scary ass trail and have ice cream later to celebrate still being alive.
We made it up and back down without falling, then headed back to meet up with Kari and Jake. The next day, Alli wanted to hike the Angels Landing trail but, we declined to go out on the narrow ridge portion of the trail, stopping a little bit past scouts lookout, 1500′ above the start of the trail, to have lunch. After lunch and enjoying the view for a while we hiked back down, then took the Kayenta and Emerald Pools trail back to the lodge.
Back near the lodge we let the kids play on the edge of the river for an hour or so, taking the opportunity to enjoy watching them play as the towering canyon walls created our backdrop, and the swift water flowed by before once again letting them play in front of the old lodge. I wish every day was like this.
Day 13-14 Las Vegas
Three nights is all that was available inside Zion, so we originally planned an Airbnb outside of the park for a fourth night. Since the kids were pretty good overall, and we hadn’t stayed anywhere they could swim thus far (except Page, AZ for an hour or so), we cancelled the Airbnb and added an extra night to our Vegas stay which had a pool, and higher temperatures.
I had some concern about the kids staying in Vegas, but it worked out just fine. Staying at the Vdara, which is attached to the Bellagio, next to Aria and Cosmopolitan, we had an excellent view of the strip, clean and comfortable accommodations, and plenty of eating choices without having to actually go walk out on the strip. Kari did have a minor panic attack when our two frozen drinks by the pool cost $40, however, by the way she was talking after her drink, I’d say they didn’t skimp on the alcohol.
The kids enjoyed the lights and flash of Vegas, and got to see how they pay for it all when I lost a quick $50 to the blackjack table. I wouldn’t want to spend time walking the strip with them, but hanging out, swimming, and walking around inside was a decent way to end the trip.
It was definitely a great trip, and one that I would recommend. Having visited so many places, we got a good feel for what we liked, where we could spend more time, and places we could skip when we make it back to red rock country,
Planning
Assuming you will be flying to/from Las Vegas, seeing all of these places and having some time to take them in, would be best with a two week vacation. If you have less time, we’ll need to trim some of the destinations. If you have more time, awesome, you can easily spend a lot more time exploring many of these places!
As soon as you have a rough idea when you can take your trip, see if there are rooms available at Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Grand Canyon. If you want to stay in the park you will likely have to plan the entire trip around what dates are available at Bryce and Zion. Reservations are often made up to a year in advance, and to make a plan you will need to at least try to get reservations several months ahead of time.
Bryce and Zion both have lodging options just outside of the park, which will make reservations easier and may be better depending on your situation, and the time of the year. The accommodations outside of the park are a little less convenient for park access but often have pools, television and better WiFi.
The in park lodges do not have swimming pools, the WiFi can be sketchy, and they did not have TV’s in the room. We loved that! We played Frisbee after dinner, then cards and games in the sitting area after dark.
This example of the loop is going from Vegas counterclockwise, visiting the Grand Canyon first, but you can do the loop in reverse order if that helps based on the available accommodations.
Based on hours of reading the travel forums, various articles, and researching the sites and trails, as well as the dates that were still available to book at Bryce and Zion, we ended up with the following:
Grand Canyon – 1 Night
Page, AZ – 1 Night
Monument Valley – 1 Night
Moab – 3 Nights
Capitol Reef – 2 Nights
Bryce – 1 Night
Zion – 3 Nights
Las Vegas – 2 Nights
You could easily give up the extra night in Vegas and add it to one of the national parks, but our kids wanted to see Vegas and hang out by the pool for a day also.
Once your accommodations are confirmed, jump on Priceline and grab a rental car. If, after reading our trip report above, you have any interest in staying at the Basecamp Adventure Lodge, you’ll want to rent an SUV.
Packing is a big deal. You don’t want to spend too much time lugging every single bag into every single place, but you still want to be able to find what you need. I found some helpful tips in this article.
Depending on the time of year, you will need everything from winter coats at the higher elevations to t-shirts and sunscreen, often in the same day. Because we took our trip in April, many hikes started with winter coats, then switched to light jackets, then short sleeves.
For hiking we had two backpacks with water, snacks a small first aid kid, and emergency kit. We were able to keep all four of our jackets and coats in/on the two backpacks. With our longest hike being 4 miles or less, we just wore our regular athletic shoes and did not buy any special hiking gear.
With any hiking in this part of the country, it is extremely important to take plenty of water, food and sunscreen. You will also want to take extra water in your vehicle, just in case. The distances between parks are long, and the locations remote. There is a good chance that your cell phone service will be lacking.
Time zones are a mystery for this trip, and depending on what time of year you are going, you will want to see what time it is going to be at the various places. For the most part during the spring and summer Las Vegas is going to be PDT, while AZ and UT will be MDT. If you go during the fall or winter things get wacky because AZ does not observe Daylight Savings Time, but the Native American area in AZ do. Yea, all that.
Note: All of the references to the Grand Canyon are for the National Park at the South Rim. While Grand Canyon Nation Park, South Rim does have the iconic views that have drawn people for decades, free shuttles, and free hiking trails with your National Park Pass, it does not have the skywalk bridge that you can be herded out on for $50/person (you are not allowed to take any photos on the skywalk bridge) or any of the paid attractions. Those attractions are on the Hualapai Reservation.
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