Southwest Road-trip Itinerary!

Okay SO. Our road trip was from Vegas to pheonix! We stopped at major spots along the way, it took us 7 very full days. I’ll post my photos in order of this so you can sort of follow along! Couple things to note- we booked our accommodation along the way so that we could stay as flexible as possible. We fly standby as I’m a flight attendant so we usually don’t book anything until we get to places. We also usually only do air bnb because it’s so much cheaper, but this trip there were NONE because of covid- but that was fine because the hotels/motels were beyond cheap. Most nights were from 30-60 bucks a night! Most included takeout breakfast bag (kinda lame) but better than nothin! We book the day of with most of our trips & we personally love it- but we know that’s not the case for everyone!

Day 1.) We flew into Vegas! Drove from Vegas to St george, Utah, checked out that area than tried to go to Kanarra falls but it was already completely booked until July ( we didn’t know) so we chatted with a couple who did the same thing and we went and did a hike near by.. not completely sure what it was called- something creek... but I literally almost stepped on a rattle snake. It was one of the scariest things of my life! BE CAREFUL- scan the trails. Make noise. I seriously had no clue. It was hardly off the trail, and I was videoing straight ahead, almost stepped on it and it rattled at me! So so wild. Anyways- that night we stayed in a little town called la Verkin about a half hour outside of Zion at a best western. We ate at this really cute cafe overlooking a valley called the river rock roasting company and had the BEST best beet pizza for dinner. Breakfast & coffee woulda been amazing, but left for Zion early the next morning!

Day 2.) ZION NATIONAL PARK! The entrance was FREE! This was late May though so it could or could not still be but it’s usually 30 bucks per car! Okay guys- we learned early on (because we went there when there was a heat wave) that it was much more enjoyable for us to do the hiking very early and in the evenings- not in the midday sun. So we left early for Zion- got there about 7 am and they closed the gate for cars at 7:30 FOR THE DAY! So my suggestion is getting there very early so you definitely get a parking spot as well as to avoid crowds and sun. So at Zion first thing we did was angels landing. We hiked to the top- but the sketchy part where you climb with a chain was closed due to covid. I wouldn’t have done it anyways cause’ it’s literally a ridge that a lot of people have died from falling off of. Not my cup of tea.. anyways that took about 3 hours & after that we did another hike to the upper emerald pools. (The bottom one is closed due to rock slide) I would say pass on that because the top was anticlimactic. ( just one kinda okay pool) I would have spent more time hiking up the narrows which we did later that afternoon. It’s a hike up the river in the narrow pathway so bring a water bag for your belongings and grab a stick. We did it in our nikes and we’re fine but there’s rental places to get shoes ( I wouldn’t waste your money) if you want. Anyways mid day we took a break and layed under a big tree in the park at the bottom and let some of the main heat of the day pass while having some snacks! We hiked 12 miles that day- it was sooo rad! You could spend multiple days here but we were doing enough hiking the whole trip so we didn’t feel the need to. There were a couple more trials closed due to landslides so just check what’s open before you go!Overall Zion was our favorite. It was just massive and beyond magnificent.

After Zion we drove straight to Bryce Canyon where we ate at some diner, and then stayed at another best western ruby inn. It was cheap and they were the only place we stayed that was actually doing a real free breakfast which was a plus! So we crashed there day 2.

Day 3. Got up EARLY again and watched the sunrise at Bryce Canyon. This was 30 dollars admissions as well but since it was so early no one was there to take our money! A couple hours

later when we left there was someone. It was ten mins or less than the hotel. I wouldn’t say there’s much to do around that area other than the canyon which was fine. Bryce Canyon was really really unique. It wasn’t anything like Zion at all! There are a bunch of little “hoodoos” which are weird nodule shaped rocks! Just a completely different vibe. At Bryce we watched the sunrise which was epic, then we did a couple of hikes. The hikes we did were much shorter than at Zion, 1-3 miles round trip. But there were also a few longer ones 6-8 miles but were not that into that. So we did queens trail down and around and up Wall Street. This was really cool cause’ you go down into the valley- and then back up this very unique zig zag orange dirt road. When we got back to the top we did another little loop down a trail to see “Thor’s hammer” and also the “bridge” which was a good way to see the most famous things in the park. We walked around a bit more & then felt pretty content with what we’d experienced! We then drove to two more lookout spots down the way, and walked back along the ridge and called it a morning! We spent almost 4 morning hours there and made it back for breakfast at the hotel!

After Bryce we hit the road and we’re off to page AZ to see the horseshoe bend! We hit a little spot in lake Powell to swim that we heard from a local was nice, which it was! We only jumped in the water quick cause it was SO hott. The road we took, took us past antelope canyon which was closed due to Navajo land. I’m not sure if it still is so research before you go! So we went and got a place in page- & got some food & waited until sunset to hit the horseshoe bend, which did not disappoint. We actually went there at 1 pm but decided to go back at sunset instead because of the heat, and it being a .75 of a mile one way down! I’m very fair skinned and burn easily/ lived in Hawaii for 8 years and already have fried my skin enough- that’s why I’m such a freak about it now! Anyways I also read sunrise or sunset were the best times to do it because sunrise it’s behind you looking at the bend so the colors of it brighten up, but at sunset if you get a good one the sun goes down behind it & just glows all sorts of colors! It was beyond magical. This spot was one of the busiest. We saw 3 wedding parties- but it is pretty much big enough to get a couple shots to yourself!!

Day 4.) While Tom was driving to page I was reading about monument valley. I’d never really heard of it before but the photos were breathtaking and we knew it was the iconic southwest views you see in movies! We learned that you pay 20 bucks to get in, for a 17 mile scenic drive with epic spots along the way. So we drove two hours out of our way to the Grand Canyon & went out there. We had no idea it would be CLOSED due to it being Navajo land.. made total sense tho. It was all good though because one of the main spots where we took photos was just on the highway outside of the park. That was also where the forest gump sign was! Those spots were about 20 mins past the entrance of the park. Even though we drove two hours out of the way and the park was closed- those spots were worth it! Outside the national park was a little community called Kayenta- which we found out was hit very bad from covid, completely devastating the place! We made sure not to go outside anywhere near the area.

Next we drove a couple more hours to Williamson! We stopped halfway in flagstaff & did a little two mile hike at a spot right once you get into town that looked popular to stretch our legs. We drove through the town and thought it looked pretty cool but ventured on to Williamson which was a super cute little famous town about an hour outside the Grand Canyon. It was the only affordable place to stay in our opinion, (you can stay AT the Grand Canyon for more $$) and also was an adorable place! It was famous for being on the original Route 66! So we had dinner at a bomb Mexican joint, and stayed at the country inn motel. It was a super old but cute little place that was perfect for a good nights sleep before another early morning!

Day 5.) THE GRAND CANYON!

Okay so this place was epic obviously. We got to the south rim entrance there a little after sunrise- and we hiked to ooh ahh point and then cedar ridge!! If your seriously into hiking you could hike about 7 miles one way to skeleton point, camp there and come back the next day but we aren’t that into it and didn’t have that kinda gear! So ooh ahh point was about 1.5 miles & cedar ridge was just about another .5 mile! This was pretty much a rapid decent so the hike back up is pretty steep or hard as I would say. Once again I was so happy we did it as early as we did or otherwise I would have had heat stroke! It was SO beautiful though. If you want to do a real hike into the canyon while your there I definitely suggest this one. After that we drove to all the open lookout points down along the right side of the rim. They all looked a little similar but different at the same time. After that we drove to the main parking lot & checked out the main, most popular lookout points on the left and they were beautiful as well. These were much more crowded and full of people, but still fine. We walked along the ridge down past the visitors center and back and it was lovely. All in all I think we were there for 5-6 hours which was plenty for us!

That afternoon we drove back to flagstaff on our way to Sedona! We stopped, had some food and checked out the town! There wasn’t too much to do there in our opinion so we looked for accommodation for Sedona in a park then ventured on down there about an hour! We really liked this place a lot more than flagstaff. It’s a bit more boujee than we realized (at least with accommodation) but we actually got completely hooked up with an amazing price to stay in a massive one bedroom little apartment on a golf coarse there for about 70 a night. Golf ridge resort? We just LOVED the landscape in Sedona comparison with flagstaff.. just completely different! We fell in love with the adorable town surrounded by just amazing big red rocks immediately.

We ate dinner at this bomb Korean food truck, and hit the hay in our swanky place. Hahaha

Day 6.) Once again I just researched along the drive down there what the coolest things to do in Sedona was so the next day we got up early to hit “The crack” @ wet beaver creek! Again this involved a 3.4 mile hike in one way so we started hiking at 5:45 AM to beat the crowds as well as the heat. We got there at 7 am and had the place to ourselves for a whole hour & a half. It was soo peaceful, & just beautiful. The water was cold of coarse so we waited for it to heat up a tiny bit to hop in! Two girls came as we were jumping in & they were super cool but then we left about an hour later and started the trek out before the sun would cook us. On our way out we saw groups of people heading in, there just have been at LEAST 50 of them! It was crazzzy, and not that big of an area so we were super happy we got to enjoy it as we did.

Midday we hit the red rock crossing! Which was this little red rock river area to cool off. We walked down a little bit to check it all out but mainly hit the water quick. We got out of there about midday for a little afternoon break. This was the first day we had a little bit of time in the afternoon to relax & my hubby got some work done so it was perfect. It was 105 degrees at 3 so we were happy to be inside!

At around 6pm before the sunset at 7 we hiked up cathedral rock for sunset, another magical spot to hit in Sedona. They call certain spots in Sedona a “vortex” because there supposedly super spiritual. Anyways, the hike up was probably about a half hour. There’s one part that is a little scary if your afraid of heights like me, but your not on an edge, and if you fell there’s a platform below you so it wouldn’t be a fatal fall. Anyways I wasn’t too scared so I bet you’d be fine! At the top we stayed and explored multiple little spots around it for sunset. It was a little crowded but plenty of room. It was nice sharing the space with other people all enjoying the vibe.

Day 7.) The last day we got up & hiked devils bridge! Another INCREDIBLE spot in Sedona. We loved it. You can either drive in if you have a suv/ 4 wheeler (we had a ford titanium) which was a little on the edge of making it but we did! Tom absolutely crushed it! We drove in 2 miles then hiked up to the bridge about a half hour. It wasn’t long at all just mainly up. So if you have a car to drive in saves a bit of time, if not no biggie! Just a couple extra miles to walk in but your walking on the road you drive too so it will be dusty. Once again had the spot to ourselves except one other couple. After that we hit the showers at the golf resort- checked out and hit the red rock crossing again for multiple hours in the shade and just relaxed. It was pretty crowded but was really nice to see lots of families and people have a great day. Great place to go with small children as well. (Well- I saw lots of them soo) hahaha.

Next we hit the road to pheonix!! We stayed in our first air bnb of the whole trip and the people were seriously amazing. Hit us up if you want there contact! We chatted with them for hours and they were just super hospitable. Would of let us go in their pool if we weren’t so worn out!! So that was our last day. The next day we woke up, drove an hour to the airport & our trip had come to an end. It was seriously one of our top favorite domestic trips, (Alaska came in first) but it absolutely incredible. I hope some of this info helps you and if you have any other questions feel free to message me!! All my love- Kat.