As our instagram followers well know, we spent our fall break out west in October. It was amazing! In total, we were only gone five nights, but flying in early on the first day and flying out late on the final day, made this a trip that felt extra long! Here is our itinerary:
Day one: We flew into Las Vegas, landing at 8:00 am local time and taking full advantage of the three hour time difference. We stayed at Mandalay Bay and spent the day easing into the vacation with a pool day. Mandalay Bay has a wave pool and a lazy river, as well as an actual sandy beach area. There is a bar and grill by the pool, and beach chair service. We rented a day bed so we knew we would have a great location by the pool and an umbrella. It was perfect!
At night, we took the free tram to the Luxor and Excalibur, then walked to New York New York and played in the arcade and had pizza.
Day two: We were up early because of the time change, so we used it to our advantage and walked to the iconic “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign. There was no line to take a photo (we hear this is not usually the case). From here, we easily called an Uber to pick us up and take us to the Paris Hotel, which was something the kids enjoyed seeing. We intended to watch the fountains at the Bellagio next door, but there was construction which blocked our view. We did some additional exploring of the strip, then caught an Uber to pick up our rental car when the location opened at 8:00 am. After a quick pack up, we were on the road to Springdale, Utah.
The drive from Las Vegas to Springdale was an easy 2.5 hours. We made it to Springdale around 12:30. We had lunch, freshened up, put on our hiking shoes and caught the shuttle to the Zion National Park visitor center. There, we caught the park shuttle to the Riverwalk. This is an easy hike, and super enjoyable. The views are awesome and it’s generally shady. It is about a mile out, to the beginning of what is called the “Narrows”. We took off our shoes and played in the water before heading back.
After the hike, we checked into our hotel (SpringHill Suites) and went to dinner at Jack’s Bar and Grill right next door. Then off to an early bedtime!
Day three: We were up early to drive towards Bryce Canyon. My advice is to get on the road around 6:30 if possible because of having to go through the Zion/Mt Carmel tunnel. You will avoid the traffic that comes later when larger vehicles are allowed through the tunnel. Immediately at the exit of the tunnel is the Zion overlook trail. It’s 1 mile round trip, and gives an amazing sunrise view of Zion.
The drive to Bryce from this location is about an hour and a half. We stopped mid-way to do a short walk through "The Belly of the Dragon and then at the Blue Mule Cafe for a coffee and a homemade cinnamon roll.
The first trail we did in Bryce Canyon was the Mossy Cave trail. One mile round trip and very easy. There is a beautiful water fall that the kids loved.
We then went to the visitors center for snacks and a short film before we caught a shuttle to Sunset Point. We intended to do the Navajo Loop, but half of it was closed, so we had to do a longer hike that involved going down into the canyon at Sunset Point, through the “Fairyland” and back up to the canyon rim at Sunrise Point. This was approximately 2.1 miles and I loved every minute. I would classify this as not to be missed.
We shuttled back to our car and then headed back to Springdale, with a stop at the Red Dirt Diner for a burger. Perfect day!
Day four: We slept in until 7:00 on this day! (There is a time change here, so really, 9:00!). After breakfast, we rented E-bikes and headed back into Zion National Park. WOW! This was amazingly fun. Probably one of our favorite activities! We ended up riding to the Lodge inside the National Park where we had a snack break and did souvenir shopping, before walking parts of the Grotto trail. We had lunch, packed up, and started our drive to Big Water, Utah, for our first glamping experience with Under Canvas.
After an hour and 45 minutes, we arrived at the camp right at 3:00 for check-in to our tent. It was pretty hot, so we went to Lone Rock Beach at Lake Powell which was only a ten minute drive away. While the Lone Rock and the sand dune were really beautiful to see, the water itself was a bit smelly. The kids loved it, but I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of getting in - just being honest.
We returned to our camp, freshened up and had the most delicious dinner during sunset. Then we drove just outside of the property to meet our guide for a UTV tour through the desert that included a stop at where they filed Planet of the Apes and time to look at the stars.
Day five: Sunrise and Coffee on the front porch of our tent was a pretty magical way to start the day. We then had breakfast before we took the hike on property to their own slot canyon. The kids had a blast.
We checked out at 10:00, then on the road to Lower Antelope Canyon for our tour. We used the Dixie’s company and were so happy with our tour guide!
We stopped for lunch and then on to Horseshoe Bend. The walk out to the bend is a half a mile and is completely unshaded. We stopped at Walmart and bought umbrellas to use for shade because it was so hot. It didn’t really help. We were glad to see it, but definitely would have been better at a cooler part of the day.
After the bend, the kids were so happy for the 1.5 hour break for the drive to the Grand Canyon. We had one stop at the Cameron Trading Post because when your last name is Cameron, you can’t pass it up! But it’s not a required stop by any means.
What IS required, is a stop at the Desert View Watchtower as soon as you enter the Grand Canyon National Park from the East entrance. We got there around 5:00 pm and the views were amazing! The tower itself was impressive too!
From there, we drove around the rim to the Grand Canyon Village. There are multiple pull off stops around the way and I wish we would have taken our time and stopped, but we were eager to check in. We stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge and we had a partial view room. Beware, parking is a major issue, so if you see a parking space any where around the area, snag it!! We watched the sunset over the canyon, before we went to the El Tovar Hotel lounge for drinks and dinner. Great final night!
Day six: We grabbed coffees and watched the sunrise in front of our building while the kids finished sleeping. Then we took a shuttle to the Visitors Center, which was closed because of being short staffed. That was disappointing, but we still enjoyed the view at Mather Point. Next we shuttled to Yaki Point. This would be where I would definitely watch the sunset during any future visits!
If we had more time and energy, I would have loved to do the hike down into the Canyon to the Ooh Ah Point via South Kaibab trail. Unfortunately, we had to leave for a 3.5 hour drive to the Pheonix Airport where we flew home. Important to know on this — the roads to Pheonix are accident prone! Leave earlier than we did to avoid sweating out the possibility of missing your flight!
Conclusion and Final Takeaways
Hands down, this was a perfect trip! We saw so many beautiful things, our hotels were great, and we made lots of fun memories! The things I would change: add one more night in Lake Powell, one more night in Grand Canyon, and then maybe a night or two in Phoenix for a more relaxing ending to the trip.
Also, this itinerary is not for the individuals who pack a lot and do not like driving. We are basically backpackers, and I use organization packs that make unpacking and packing easier, so roadtrips work okay for our family of four.
So to summarize my final, ideal itinerary recommendation for this roadtrip:
Day One:
Fly in to Las Vegas - overnight at Mandalay Bay
Day Two and Three:
Overnight at SpringHill Suites in Springdale, Utah
Day Four and Five:
Overnight at UnderCanvas Lake Powell Grand Staircase
Day Six and Seven:
Overnight at Thunderbird or Kachina Lodge (both overlooking Canyon)
Optional Day Eight: Westin Kierland (We have stayed here before and we loved it!)
Fly home out of Phoenix
Thanks for reading! :)
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