After you arrive in Las Vegas and collect your luggage, you will connect with a shuttle which will then transport you to St George, UT for your overnight stay. We pick up at 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm, m just make sure to get in an hour before your preferred shuttle time. Once we arrive in St George get settled in, enjoy the beauty of the city of St George. There are several restaurants within a short walking distance of the hotel.

After breakfast, we depart St George for Zion National Park. Zion is one of nature’s greatest wonders. Gigantic red and white rock monoliths tower around you like a skyscraper city of stone, concealing pockets of abundant flora and fauna. See the Great White Throne, Angel’s Landing, the Court of the Patriarchs, and the Narrows where the Virgin River has carved out a narrow canyon with 2,000-foot cliffs on each side.

After checking into our hotel in nearby Springdale, there is a welcome and get-acquainted dinner for all to attend.

After breakfast, we drive from the depths of the canyon up the switchbacks and climb 3,000 feet in just three miles to the Zion Tunnel. Once through this mile-long tunnel, we emerge into a fascinating world of rock and sand formations that extend on each side of us. We like to stop at Checkerboard Mesa for pictures.

We continue on to Page, Arizona, a quiet desert town that serves as the gateway to some of the most striking landscapes in the Southwest. Once we arrive, we take time to soak in the expansive views of Lake Powell, with its deep blue waters winding through the red rock cliffs, and the impressive Glen Canyon Dam that holds it all in place.

Later we join a Navajo-guided tour through Antelope Canyon, where narrow sandstone passageways glow with soft, shifting light, and we finish the day at Horseshoe Bend, standing high above the Colorado River as it curves in a perfect horseshoe far below.

We leave Page early in the morning and stop first at Cameron Trading Post, a historic spot where we can browse Native American crafts, stretch our legs, and take in the desert surroundings before continuing south. Entering the park from the east, we begin at the Desert View Watchtower, climbing its spiral stairs for sweeping views of the canyon and the Colorado River winding far below. From there we make our way along the rim, stopping at several overlooks to take in the layered rock and vast open space, then continue on to Grand Canyon Village.

In the afternoon we explore the village area and a few more rim view points before turning north for the return drive. By evening we are back in Page, the scale and quiet of the canyon still clear in our minds as the desert settles into dusk.

After breakfast we drive to Kayenta, Arizona, and enter Monument Valley, a landscape made famous in countless movies and commercials. Navajo guides meet us there and lead us into the valley in modified pickup trucks. The road is rough and the ride can be jostling, so anyone with back issues or other physical limitations should let us know before joining this part of the day.

Our local Navajo guide shares many of the iconic landmarks and point out the locations where John Ford and John Wayne filmed classics such as Stagecoach and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.

After we are done we continue on to Bluff, Utah, for dinner and overnight lodging.

After we get going, we continue our drive through the Navajo Indian Reservation, stopping briefly at the famous “Four Corners” Visit Mesa Verde landmark. Here, four states (Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico) come together in one place (no similar situation exists anywhere else in the USA). At this site, we can put our hands and feet in four different states at once. Local vendors selling many kinds of native handicrafts and jewelry are located nearby.

As we head into Colorado, we pass through the Ute Indian Reservation and soon find ourselves in Mesa Verde National Park the world famous Anasazi “Cliff Dwellings”. For those who are physically able, we tour Cliff Palace. This is one of the largest and best ruins in the park. We take a driving tour and see several of the best-preserved ruins.

We also stop at the museum, which has a wonderful array of ancient crafts, pottery, etc. of the Anasazi. Later that afternoon, we make our way to Durango, Colorado. After checking into our hotel, you are free to enjoy the many restaurants and shops located nearby.

After breakfast, we take the morning Durango and Silverton Railroad to Silverton, Colorado. Built-in 1895 to carry gold and passengers, this old-time steam engine and railroad experience offers a fun and scenic view of the San Juan Mountains, the Animas River, and is a tremendously enjoyable experience.

Once the train arrives in Silverton, we will have lunch in one of the local restaurants.

After lunch, we continue our adventure by driving over one of the most beautiful mountain highways in America, the “Million Dollar Highway”. You will love the stunning views that are offered and become very aware of the scary drop-offs located near the road. This highway is always in the top ten roads to see in the USA. Some call this part of Colorado “little Switzerland” as there are a number of 14,000-foot mountains in the area that offer some of the best mountain scenery in all of Colorado.

We stop in Ouray, a quaint old mining town, for ice cream. We then begin our drive to Moab, Utah, and check into our hotel in the late afternoon. The hotel is next to restaurants. Dinner is on your own.

We begin the day in nearby Arches National Park, walking among some of the finest large and small arches in one of Utah’s most famous national parks. These rock spans have taken millennia to form, and we are fortunate to see them while they still stand. Though the park holds more than 2,000 arches, we focus on several of the most iconic and largest ones.

After leaving the park we return to Moab for free time to explore downtown on your own. The streets offer a wide range of shops and excellent restaurants for dinner. That evening we join a sunset Hummer tour before settling in for the night. Lodging is in Moab, Utah.

In the morning we drive to Dead Horse Point State Park for a spectacular overlook of the Colorado River, one of our favorite places in the entire Southwest. From there we continue into the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park, taking in the broad mesa views and deep canyons that define this part of the park.

Afterward we leave the Moab area and head toward Capitol Reef National Park. The drive carries us through unusual landscapes of ancient sea bottoms and petrified desert formations. Inside the park we stop briefly at the Fremont petroglyph site, then continue to the Visitor Center. Once we have finished exploring Capitol Reef, we make the short five-mile drive to Torrey, Utah, for dinner and overnight lodging.

After breakfast we take the scenic drive through the park and stop at the Gifford House for pie or a cinnamon roll, followed by a rest in the shade of the giant trees. There are a few hiking options here, and your guide will choose one that suits the group.

Afterward we set out on famous Highway 12, taking in some of the most beautiful and expansive vistas of the trip so far. The road leads past red rock cliffs, climbs into high mountain forests of pine and aspen, and descends through petrified sand dunes.

Overnight in Bryce.

For those who rise early, sunrise at Bryce is a real treat. The morning light washes over the pink cliffs and hoodoos, creating a striking start to the day. Afterward we hike among the hoodoos between Sunset and Sunrise Points, finishing our exploration of Bryce before the final leg of the trip to Las Vegas.

We take the scenic Cedar Mountain route, which offers distant views of Zion National Park and passes through high alpine meadows. After a brief lunch stop we continue toward Las Vegas, with a possible stop at one of two state parks along the way if time allows. We generally arrive between 5:00 and 6:00 pm and head straight to the hotel for the night.

This is the end of our journey together, for now.

Your guide will make one trip to the airport for those departing in the morning. For those that would rather wait or spend time exploring, the hotel offers shuttle service for later departures. Until next time, safe travels.