Zion, Bryce, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon for three generations

1. Day 1: Las Vegas to Zion

   Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), Las Vegas, to St. George, then Springdale at the gate of Zion National Park

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Welcome dinner at about 5:30 pm
   • Stay in Springdale (Zion)
   Day 1 details

   Your See Sight Tours guide meets the group at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in the late morning; the exact time comes with your final itinerary, and many families fly in the evening before. We drive north on Interstate 15 across the Mojave and through the Virgin River Gorge, where the road threads a narrow canyon across a corner of Arizona, and stop after about an hour and three-quarters in St. George, Utah, for lunch and a stretch. Clocks go forward an hour as you cross into Utah. Another hour brings us to Springdale, the small town at Zion's south entrance, about 265 km from the airport. We stay two nights in Springdale, as close to the park gate as we can confirm, with family or connecting rooms requested. There is time to unpack and swim if the hotel has a pool. The welcome dinner sits down at about 5:30 pm, and afterwards anyone with energy left can walk the flat, paved Pa'rus Trail beside the Virgin River as the evening light turns the Watchman red.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)
   • Drive through the Virgin River Gorge to Zion, with a lunch stop in St. George
   • Welcome dinner in Springdale
   • Evening walk on the Pa'rus Trail with your guide

   Easier option: Skip the evening walk and rest at the hotel.

   Free time: Lunch in St. George at your choice; late afternoon free at the hotel, with a swim if the hotel has a pool

   Activity: Plan to land in Las Vegas by about 10 am, or arrive the night before; we can book a pre-trip night on request. Bring car seats or boosters only if we tell you the vehicle partner cannot supply them.

2. Day 2: Zion Canyon by shuttle

   Springdale to the Temple of Sinawava by park shuttle, then Zion Lodge and the Lower Emerald Pool, and back

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Springdale (Zion)
   Day 2 details

   We walk to the visitor centre after breakfast, pick up a Junior Ranger booklet for each child and ride an early park shuttle up the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, which is closed to private cars for most of the year. At the Temple of Sinawava, the end of the line, the paved Riverside Walk follows the Virgin River, about 3.5 km there and back, between walls that close in to a few dozen metres, past hanging gardens of ferns fed by seeps in the sandstone. Where the path ends, the Narrows begin. When the park has the river open and the flow is low, children can paddle in the shallows at the mouth; wading further upstream is an option for older children and adults. We ride back down the canyon for a sit-down lunch, at Zion Lodge or similar (venue to confirm), then walk the short trail to the Lower Emerald Pool, where a thin waterfall drips over an overhang. We are back in Springdale by about 2 pm. The afternoon is free for the pool, a nap, or the Zion Human History Museum, out of the midday heat.

   Included

   • A Junior Ranger booklet for each child
   • Zion Canyon by park shuttle with your guide, on an early shuttle
   • Riverside Walk to the mouth of the Narrows
   • Sit-down lunch in Zion Canyon (venue to confirm)
   • Lower Emerald Pool trail

   Optional experiences

   • Canyoneering boots and a walking stick for wading the Narrows (rental, extra)
   • Horse ride along the Virgin River (extra, minimum age set by the outfitter, price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Ride the shuttle and walk only the first part of the paved Riverside Walk, with benches along the way; the Lower Emerald Pool trail can be skipped.

   More active option: Wade up the Narrows for an hour or two with rented boots and a stick, conditions permitting, then rejoin the group at the lodge for lunch.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Springdale

   Activity: The park closes the Narrows at high flow and when floods are forecast; we decide on the morning. Wear shoes that can get wet if the children want to paddle.

   

3. Day 3: Over the tunnel road to Bryce Canyon

   Springdale on the Zion to Mount Carmel Highway to Mount Carmel Junction, then north through Red Canyon to Bryce Canyon

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Bryce Canyon
   Day 3 details

   We leave Springdale after breakfast on the Zion to Mount Carmel Highway, which switchbacks up the canyon wall to a tunnel 1.8 km long, finished in 1930; children usually like the window openings cut through the rock. Just past its eastern end we stop for the Canyon Overlook Trail, about 1.6 km round trip on ledges and a few rock steps to a viewpoint above lower Zion Canyon, best in the morning before the small car park fills. Anyone who prefers can stay with the vehicle at Checkerboard Mesa, the cross-hatched slickrock dome a few minutes on. From Mount Carmel Junction we climb north on US-89, and Scenic Byway 12 runs through the two arches of Red Canyon. It is about 150 km and two and a quarter hours of driving, with a toilet stop on the way. Lunch is sit-down near the park entrance. In the afternoon we walk the level Rim Trail between Sunset Point and Sunrise Point above the hoodoos, the orange limestone spires Bryce is known for, and finish at Inspiration Point. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Zion to Mount Carmel Highway and the Canyon Overlook Trail
   • Checkerboard Mesa and Red Canyon
   • Sit-down lunch near Bryce Canyon
   • Rim Trail walk from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point with your guide
   • Inspiration Point

   Optional experiences

   • Ranger astronomy talk or night sky programme, when the park runs one

   Easier option: Stay with the vehicle at Checkerboard Mesa instead of the Canyon Overlook Trail, and walk only the paved section of the Rim Trail near Sunset Point.

   More active option: Walk down the Queen's Garden Trail among the hoodoos to the Queen Victoria formation, about 2.9 km round trip with about 100 m to climb back up.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free; a pool if the hotel has one

   Activity: Bryce's rim is at 2,400 to 2,700 m, so walk slowly and drink often. The Canyon Overlook Trail has drop-offs with railings only in places; children hold hands.

   

4. Day 4: Mossy Cave, Kanab and Horseshoe Bend

   Bryce Canyon to Mossy Cave and back, south on US-89 to Kanab, then east to Page and Horseshoe Bend

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Page
   Day 4 details

   Sunrise from Sunrise Point is a few minutes from the hotel for anyone who wants it; everyone else meets at breakfast. Then we drive a short way east on Scenic Byway 12 to Mossy Cave, an easy 1.3 km round trip beside a stream to a small waterfall and an overhang hung with moss, where children can paddle in the creek in summer. From there we turn south down US-89 through the Long Valley to Kanab, about an hour and three-quarters, for a sit-down lunch in the town once called Little Hollywood for the westerns filmed around it. From Kanab it is about an hour and a quarter east under the Vermilion Cliffs into Arizona to Page, about 290 km for the day. Arizona does not use daylight saving time, so in summer you gain an hour, and we check in by about 2:30 pm for a rest or a swim. At about 5 pm we drive five minutes to Horseshoe Bend, a 2.4 km round trip on a wide path, where the Colorado River curls around a sandstone tower about 300 m below.

   Included

   • Sunrise at Sunrise Point, Bryce Canyon (optional)
   • Mossy Cave trail and waterfall
   • Sit-down lunch in Kanab
   • Horseshoe Bend in the late afternoon with your guide, parking included

   Easier option: Skip sunrise. At Horseshoe Bend, rest in the shaded shelters on the path; the walk back up is a gentle slope of about 1.2 km.

   Free time: Mid-afternoon rest at the hotel; evening free in Page

   Activity: The Horseshoe Bend rim has a railing only at the main viewpoint; children stay with an adult and back from the edge. The path is in full sun, so carry water.

5. Day 5: Upper Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley

   Page to Upper Antelope Canyon, then east across the Navajo Nation by Kayenta to Monument Valley

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Monument Valley
   Day 5 details

   After an unhurried breakfast we join a mid-morning tour of Upper Antelope Canyon, a few minutes east of Page on Navajo land. The canyon can only be entered with a Navajo guide from an authorised tour company, and the tour vehicle takes us along a sandy wash to the entrance. Inside, the path follows the mostly level, sandy floor of a slot carved by flash floods, where the walls curve and glow orange as light bounces down from the narrow opening above; it takes about an hour and a half in all, and depending on the operator the way out can be a stairway, which we confirm when we book. Then we cross the Navajo Nation, about two and a quarter hours east, and sit down to lunch in Kayenta. Monument Valley straddles the Arizona and Utah border and is a tribal park run by the Navajo Nation. After a short rest at the hotel, a Navajo guide drives us in the afternoon around the Valley Drive and into areas visitors may only enter with a guide, for arches, rock art and the stories behind the buttes. Dinner is together at about 6 pm, and then we watch the sun set over the Mittens.

   Included

   • Upper Antelope Canyon with a Navajo guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Kayenta
   • Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park entry
   • Navajo-guided afternoon tour of the Valley Drive and areas closed to independent visitors
   • Dinner near the park
   • Sunset over the Mittens

   Easier option: At Upper Antelope Canyon, walk at your own pace at the back of the group with the Navajo guide; we confirm the exit stairs before you travel, and anyone who would rather not go in can wait in Page with our driver. The Monument Valley tour is a seated ride; anyone who finds the dirt road too bumpy can stay at the visitor centre viewpoint, which looks straight at the Mittens.

   Free time: A rest hour at the hotel before the Monument Valley tour

   Activity: The Navajo Nation keeps daylight saving time, unlike the rest of Arizona, so in summer clocks go forward an hour at Monument Valley; your guide keeps track. Antelope Canyon tours are cancelled when flash floods threaten.

   

6. Day 6: Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon

   Monument Valley by Kayenta and Tuba City to Cameron, then the Grand Canyon East Entrance and Desert View Drive to Grand Canyon Village

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Grand Canyon South Rim
   Day 6 details

   Early risers can step outside for sunrise, when the sun climbs behind the Mittens and throws their shadows across the valley floor; others sleep in. After breakfast we drive south by Kayenta and Tuba City to Cameron on the Little Colorado River, about two and a quarter hours with a toilet stop, for a sit-down lunch at the historic trading post or similar (venue to confirm). From Cameron the road climbs to the Grand Canyon's East Entrance, and we come in along Desert View Drive, the quieter end of the South Rim. The Desert View Watchtower, designed by Mary Colter and finished in 1932, has a stair inside to an upper gallery and views down to the Colorado River; the viewpoint beside it is a few steps from the car park. Lipan Point follows. The day is about 290 km and three and three-quarter hours of driving, in three legs, so no stretch is longer than about two and a quarter hours. We check in for two nights by about 4 pm, rest, and walk out to Mather Point or Yavapai Point for sunset.

   Included

   • Sunrise over the Mittens (optional)
   • Sit-down lunch at Cameron (venue to confirm)
   • Grand Canyon National Park entry
   • Desert View Watchtower and Lipan Point with your guide
   • Sunset at Mather Point or Yavapai Point

   Easier option: Stay at ground level at the Watchtower; the viewpoint beside it has the same view without the stairs.

   More active option: Before breakfast, walk part of the Wildcat Trail toward the West Mitten Butte with your guide, on sand with little climbing.

   Free time: Late afternoon rest; evening free after sunset

   Activity: The longest drive before the last day, broken into three legs by lunch and two viewpoints.

7. Day 7: A full day at the Grand Canyon

   Grand Canyon Village, the Rim Trail and the Trail of Time, then Hopi Point by the Hermit Road shuttle

   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Grand Canyon South Rim
   Day 7 details

   A full day at the canyon with no driving. After breakfast we walk the level, paved Rim Trail from the Yavapai Geology Museum along the Trail of Time, where rocks from the canyon walls are laid out beside the path by age across nearly two billion years, with a marker for every million years that children like to count. At the Grand Canyon Visitor Center the children hand in their Junior Ranger booklets and are sworn in by a ranger, if one is on duty. Anyone who wants a taste of the trail below the rim walks with the guide down the South Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point and back before the day warms up. We meet in Grand Canyon Village around midday among the historic buildings, Hopi House and the El Tovar hotel. Lunch and the afternoon are free: the Kolb Studio on the rim, a ranger talk, the hotel pool or a nap. The farewell dinner sits down at about 5:30 pm, and then the Hermit Road shuttle takes us west to Hopi Point, where the canyon opens wide at sunset.

   Included

   • Rim Trail and the Trail of Time from the Yavapai Geology Museum with your guide
   • Junior Ranger badges at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center
   • Grand Canyon Village: Hopi House and the El Tovar
   • Farewell dinner
   • Sunset at Hopi Point by the Hermit Road shuttle

   Optional experiences

   • Helicopter flight over the canyon from Tusayan (extra, price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Walk a short stretch of the Trail of Time and take the free village shuttle between stops; there are benches all along the rim.

   More active option: South Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point with your guide, about 2.9 km round trip with about 180 m down and back up.

   Free time: Lunch and the afternoon free in Grand Canyon Village

   Activity: The South Rim is at about 2,100 m. The walk back up from Ooh Aah Point takes twice as long as the walk down; start early and carry water. The Hermit Road shuttle runs from March to November.

   

8. Day 8: Route 66 and the Hoover Dam to Las Vegas

   Grand Canyon South Rim to Williams, Seligman and Kingman, then the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 8 details

   The longest drive of the trip, about 450 km and four and a half hours of driving, six and a half to seven hours with stops, because the loop has to close in Las Vegas. We break it so that no stretch is longer than about an hour and a quarter, which suits children and grandparents better than one long run. We leave the rim at about 8 am and drive south to Williams, then west on Interstate 40 to Seligman, a small town on a surviving stretch of old Route 66 with vintage cars, painted signs and time for an ice cream. Lunch is a sit-down stop in Kingman, another Route 66 town. From Kingman, US-93 crosses the desert north to the Colorado River, and we walk out onto the Mike O'Callaghan and Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which looks straight down on the Hoover Dam with Lake Mead behind it. We come into Las Vegas along the Strip, drop anyone staying on at their hotel, and reach Harry Reid International Airport at about 3 to 4 pm.

   Included

   • Route 66 stop in Seligman
   • Sit-down lunch in Kingman
   • Walk onto the bridge above the Hoover Dam with your guide
   • Along the Las Vegas Strip, with drop-off at your hotel there if you are staying on
   • Drop-off at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)

   Easier option: Stay in the vehicle at the Hoover Dam bridge; the walk from the car park to the walkway has a slope and steps.

   Activity: We leave the rim at about 8 am and reach the airport at about 3 to 4 pm. Book a flight leaving Las Vegas after about 8 pm, or stay on in the city. In winter Nevada is an hour behind Arizona.

   

Wildlife and weather: July and August are when most families can travel, and they are hot: Zion, Page and Las Vegas often pass 38 C, so we walk early, rest at midday and go out again in the evening. July to September brings afternoon thunderstorms that can close the Narrows and cancel Antelope Canyon tours. Bryce and the Grand Canyon rim sit at 2,100 to 2,700 m and are cool in the mornings all summer. Mule deer are common in Zion and Bryce, elk graze around Grand Canyon Village, and California condors are sometimes seen along the South Rim; keep well back from all of them.

• Springdale (Zion)2 nights
• Bryce Canyon1 night
• Page1 night
• Monument Valley1 night
• Grand Canyon South Rim2 nights