Road Trip: From Zion National Park to the Grand Canyon
DAY 1 – Getting Started
When exploring Zion, most people stay in Springdale which is the jumping off point for exploring the Canyon. From April through October, access into Zion Canyon is by shuttle bus only. The bus will take you to 1 of 9 stops on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, depending on which hike you’ll be conquering for the day.
- Depart for Zion National Park
- Upon arrival, check into Majestic View Lodge or Heller House with Lezlie, the fab Airbnb host. Note that most lodging options are modest around the region. While there are more options on the outskirts of Zion, I enjoyed both places due to their close proximity to the park, spacious room and comfy bed. The shuttle also stops directly in front of the lodge. Score!
- Hike Emerald Pools Trail (1.2 – 3 miles depending on lower or upper pool trail) or another short hike from this list of hikes at Zion Nation Park.
- Dinner at Bit & Spur. We arrived late for dinner, and this was one of the only options available. Very tasty! Other options include Blondie’s Diner and Zion Canyon Brew Pub.
DAY 2
Early morning hike to Angels Landing
- This famous 5 mile round-trip hike is strenuous but worth the sweat. It has everything you’d want in a hike – a challenge, a workout, switchbacks, support chains and an unbelievable view to make it all worthwhile. We boarded the shuttle around 9am and finished the hike around 1pm. Some hikers do it slower, some do it faster. We like to take pictures 🙂
- Lunch at the Grotto Picnic Area or stop at Zion Park Gift & Deli where they’ll make you to-go sandwiches to eat while hiking.
Hike the bottom of The Narrows.
This is the most popular hike at Zion. Hiking from the bottom up is the easiest way to explore The Narrows, and you can do it on your own terms. Note that you do not necessarily need the waders that are sold at the park entrance unless you want to be uber comfortable. The water is cold, but you’ll get used to it, and it’ll feel exceptionally good on your tired feet after Angel’s Landing. Bring water shoes! Hiking The Narrows from the top down is another story, requiring 16 grueling miles of exploration, of which I’ll be doing upon my return!
Afternoon R&R
- Sunset at The Watchman. This was an interesting hike since you’ll need to time it perfectly as you don’t want to be hiking back to town in the dark. Of course you can bring a flashlight, but allow for 30 minutes of evening light to make it back down.
- Dinner at King’s Landing. Time to treat yourself to the best cuisine in the National Park.
- Leave Zion for Page, Arizona. This was an aggressive move, but we only had 5 days allotted for this trip, and I wasn’t leaving without seeing Antelope Canyon in Page! The drive takes an hour and 45 minutes, and the only downfall here was not being able to view the gorgeous scenery during daylight.
- Check into Rose Walk Inn B&B. Seeing as how this was a last minute trip and it was high season in the area, all hotels were booked up. I love a good B&B because they’re super cozy and feel just like home. It’s like Airbnb but with a concierge (owners of the home) and a hot breakfast! Never have I ever had better pancakes in my life than at Rose Walk Inn. Never. Ever. Ever. I dream about those things on a weekly basis.
DAY 3
Upper Antelope Canyon Tour with Antelope Slot Canyon at 10:30am.
- The best advice I can give is to partake in the photo tour since the scenic tour can only be compared to a zoo. My objective for this tour was to capture amazing photographs, and with the photography tour, your guide will hold the crowds for you to take photos and have a few moments to really enjoy the canyon. Don’t expect to go at your own pace here. It’s rushed. In comparison to the lower canyon (which I didn’t get the chance to see due to time constraints), I believe it’s much more crowded and more expensive. It’s probably also good to note that the famous light beams only appear April – September. If you enjoy photography, don’t worry as the photos are still stunning. I should also mention that to partake in the photo tour, you must have a DSLR camera and a tripod. If you aren’t a photographer, I might suggest lower Antelope Canyon just so you aren’t with a crazy scenic tour.
- Lunch at Big John’s Texas BBQ. Being a southern girl, I know good BBQ when I taste it, and good BBQ lives at Big John’s.
- Wahweap Overlook at Lake Powell is definitely worth pulling over for, but it’ll take a total of five minutes to capture it. You can spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the lake via paddle board or boating.
Sunset at Horseshoe Bend is beautiful, but don’t be alarmed when you’re packed in there with 500 tourists trying to capture the same thing.
- I’ve never seen so much photographer hostility in my life! The lady on one side of me was telling a Japanese man that his tripod was in her shot, and he couldn’t understand a thing she was saying. The woman on the other side of me was making passive aggressive remarks about my tripod leg in her shot while whispering to her husband that the woman on the other side of me was SO rude to run off the Japanese man. UGH I CAN’T HANDLE THE TRIPOD DRAMA! Phew. I’m glad I got that off my chest. Look closely and you’ll see what I mean about tripod legs… 😉
- Dinner at Bonkers. It’s Italian and it’s called Bonkers. Enough said.
DAY 4
Early morning drive to the Grand Canyon. We put the car in drive around 4am and we arrived to the Grand Canyon lookout point around 6:15am.
- Watch sunrise at Grand Canyon Yaki Point. It’s very important to note that you can only take a shuttle from the Visitor’s Center to access Yaki Point…or you can walk/run. Once we finally made it inside the park that morning, the sun was already coming up. We still had 20 miles until Yaki Point, and I’d never driven so fast in my life. We only had once chance see sunrise here, and missing this epic experience was out of the question. Suddenly, we arrived at a barricade only a few miles from the lookout point where only shuttle buses were allowed to pass. The sun was rising by the second and time was ticking away. I could either drive a few miles down the road to catch the next shuttle that left in 30 minutes or park in the lot across from the barricade and run. I parked, grabbed for my camera and ran down the road in flip flops as fast as my legs could carry me. A workout directly before a Grand Canyon photo shoot made for a great morning.
Eat breakfast at El Tovar Lodge.
- This is exactly what you need after an early morning photo shoot. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, hot chocolate. You name it, this place has it. The experience couldn’t have ended on a better note when a man came up to our table towards the end of our meal and said, “It’s so wonderful to see two young women out here exploring this great world. I’ve paid for your breakfast. Have a great time.” I’ve never been so taken aback in my life. A random stranger buying breakfast for two women he has never met before in his life!? You, sir, are a treasure. Thank you for the scrumptious pancakes and making my heart sing. There are good people left in this world.
- Helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon with Papillon Helicopters. I believe our ride was something around 40 minutes for $199. Worth it for these views. I promise! Plus you’ll have enough aerial shots to last a lifetime!
- Drive to Sedona for more hikes. If you haven’t noticed yet, this was a true road trip. We spent a lot of time in our rented DodgeWhateverItWas, but great exploration takes great determination and many, many miles. This two hour drive was a breeze.
- Hike Devil’s Bridge. This 4 mile roundtrip hike was the perfect ending hike on our road trip. It wasn’t extremely strenuous (by this time, the blisters on my feet were out of control) and provided a jaw-dropping view at the lookout point.
- Check into L’Auberge de Sedona. Do not, I repeat do NOT, miss lunch or dinner on Oak Creek while here. It’s a fairytale book setting.
DAY 5
- Depart Sedona for Phoenix Airport. All trips must come to an end, but this one was one for the books!
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2016 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Lesley! I’ve read every one of your posts for a couple years now and while each one has something to them, this was THE BEST! Something in the last few years has pushed me outside to see more of the natural world. I am currently planning a trip to Glacier next spring/summer, but this post has me wanting to do both. Thank you SO much for going to Zion and the Grand Canyon, taking great pictures, documenting where you hiked and ate and slept, and putting it all in one place. Thanks for all the hard work that goes into each post. You’re something of a role model. Keep it up, girl!
Bety, thank YOU so much for the sweet note! I’m so happy you found it helpful! I know some destinations can be a bit overwhelming, so I wanted to document this one to the best of my abilities. I also really appreciate you taking the time to notice the hard work that goes into each post. Thanks for making my day 🙂 Have a good one!
I’ve been trying to come up with an itinerary for a trip to Utah for awhile now, but no where I’ve found gives suggestions of how long to spend there. I know everyone explores at different paces but I didn’t want to schedule too much time at one places. This certainly helps! Plus I never thought about going to Sedona and flying out of Phoenix, I was kinda dreading a six hour drive back to Vegas. You’re pictures are beautiful, and it makes me that much more excited to go!
Chris – glad you found it helpful! I found this to be a great itinerary with not too much time spent in one place (and just enough time in the car for a fun road trip!). Highly suggest flying into Vegas and out of Phoenix. Do it!
Hi Lesley,
My friends and I are going out to the Grand Canyon in January. We only have a day maybe two. Any suggestions on the best hikes and must -do’s? We are avid hikers and looking to pack as much as we can into one day.
Depends on where you are, but do the South Kaibab Trail if you’re near the south rim! Bright Angel is a popular option as well. Have a blast!
Thanks for such a detailed post. Seriously so helpful as I’ve been wanting to do this trip for awhile. Glad you made it for sunrise at the GC>
Always love your posts and this one is so timely, I’m considering doing a similar trip while I have a short break between jobs in a few weeks. Any thoughts about whether this itinerary will be good for late-November? I know it’s out of peak but assume the hiking will still be nice (and slightly cooler).
Keep up sharing your amazing journey – Patagonia is high up on my list of next trips in large part due to your pics!
Lesley,
I’m hoping to do this trip itinerary myself sometime this year with my fiance! He is an avid hiker and I think this would be the perfect surprise birthday trip for him. I just have a few questions for you about your trip. What time of the year do you recommend going? Also if you don’t mind, could you give me a rough budget to expect?
Hi Lesley. My husband and I will be buying an Airstream in the spring and look forward to our journeys. I’ve read and researched quite a bit from travelers from all over the country, but reading your post for the first time was awesome! Although my husband and daughter did the helicopter ride which stopped inside the canyon for a brunch and took over one thousand pix! So agree with you it’s money well spent. We’ve talked about seeing Lake Powell for so long and with your help we’ve got a good idea how much we can plan ahead including stops to eat. (Good food is always a big part of our agenda) I totally enjoyed your style of writing and beautiful pix. I’ll continue to follow you, learn from your travels and share with other RVers. I’m so happy I found you. You are quite the girl!!! Thank you for all your hard work. We greatly appreciate you.
Deborah & Mark Frieze
Grand Canyon has numerous enchanted spots, I have recently (2nd time) to Eagle Points (SkyWalk). Can you comment how one can cover maximum seeable point of GC in one trip.
My niece graduates high school in June. Last night she texted me “what if you and I went on a trip to somewhere cool before graduation?”. Uhhhh, YEAH!! Not only does that validate me as the “Cool Aunt” but I also get to take an adventure with my niece before she heads off to college. Knowing she wants to go to Zion and I love the Grand Canyon, I started to look at road trips that would take us to both as well as Sedona. This is EXACTLY what I was hoping to map out! Hannah loves the outdoors and, like you, is quite the photographer. I’m excited to follow your steps in June and can’t thank you enough for saving me all the planning 😉
Side note – I live in Charlotte and loved your reading about your visit!
haha yeah, all the photographers battling for their shots can get a bit intense at Horseshoe bend. I didn’t go to Antelope Canyon, but I can imagine it’s even worse there. Devils Bridge was really cool. We did it on a bit of a whim on a random day stop in Sedona. We didn’t really know anything about it before we hiked it, but it turned out to be a real highlight.
Antelope Canyon is CRAZY on a regular tour which is why we booked a private photography tour! Definitely a must in order to get good shots of the surroundings 🙂
Hey Leslie. Just in case your followers try to find “Mystic View” hotel and can’t, it’s because it’s called Majestic View. It is indeed aptly named. There is no Mystic View lodge/hotel in Springdale. Also, I recommend visiting Lower Antelope Canyon on your next visit to Page. I’ve been to both upper and lower numerous times. Lower is much less crowded and in my opinion, just as or more pretty than upper AC and far easier to photograph. However, you don’t get the light beams in the lower canyon. If you’re REALLY into photography, you might also take a multi canyon tour in the same vicinity that includes Owl, Rattlesnake, and Mountain Sheep Canyons. They’re all unique and very photogenic.
Thanks, Gary. I see the typo now 🙂 Appreciate it.
Just stumbled upon this post on Pinterest and so glad I did! I’m going to Zion in August and it’s a quick trip – 4 days! This is perfect for helping us plan our days.
Brittany | thechicette.com
Awesome, happy to help 🙂 Have a blast!
Thank you for sharing this. I am from Alabama and me and two friends plan on driving out to Utah in August. This blog post has made it much easier to help us plan where we want to go. Thanks for sharing 🙂 !
I have been searching for the perfect 30th birthday trip for my national park loving husband for October. This may be the perfect way to check off several park on our national park map in one trip. Thank you for all the insight it has been very helpful. I am hoping to get this trip booked by the end of the month
This was a fantastic blog with great tips! My boyfriend and I are heading to Utah / Arizona in October and this just made my planning so much easier! Thank you!
Hi! Love this guide! Do you recommend driving from LAS (leaving at 10AM) to Zion and hiking The Narrows in the same day? Then the second day hiking Angel’s Landing and Emerald Pools?! Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
This is a great post! I love the voice in your writing. As a southern Utah native, I can completely attest to the tho he you have written! This itinerary brings me back to high school. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Lesley! My boyfriend and I just got back from our trip…of literally exactly your itinerary… we added in extra day but pretty much stayed at all the hotels you mentioned and ate at 2/3’s of the resurants. When I say we followed your every move, I mean it LOL this is an AWESOME guide and I’m so happy I came across this when planning. To everyone reading this- I highly recommend this trip. It is a beautiful trip including the drives. Thank you so much!!
Sloan
Thank you for letting me know, Sloan! I’m SO glad y’all followed the route – it’s a good one. I think one more day was a great choice, too 🙂
I did this trip in May 2018, drove 2,500km from Las Vegas clockwise around the Grand Canyon and back.
I would suggest that you look at visiting the Valley of Fire about 80km outside of Las Vegas, I must say except for Antelope Canyon it was the best place I visited, the scenary was out of this world, I have lived in many countries including Africa but the Valley of Fire was fantastic, I live in New Zealand and now planning to redo this trip but this time will spend more time at this fantastic place, check out their web page.
Thanks for the tip, Terry!
Lesley, I’m planning this trip for next Spring (around early-mid may) and really would like to hike the narrows but know the water levels can be a factor. What time of year did you go?
I went mid-October!
Hi Lesley,
This is a wonderful blog with great deal of information. I am planning do to this trip in April during spring break with my 10 year old son. Are the hikes kid friendly?
That’s great news! Angel’s Landing is a difficult hike – I can’t sugar coat it. I wouldn’t say it’s very kid-friendly. The full Narrows hike wouldn’t be a good idea either. I think you should be okay with the others!
Thank you so much for all the info, ill be doing this same Road trip this may of 2019 , do you recomend this trip for solo Traveler ? are there alot people doing hikes in the parks so you wont fell alone? tks, cheers
Hi Victor – yes, this would be a great trip for a solo traveler in May! There are lots of people on these hikes, so you’d have some company for sure. Have a great time!
This is an awesome blog. It’s very informative. We are planning a trip to Zion/Grand Canyon. I LOVE your itinerary. I think we may follow your steps. The only thing I’d add to our itinerary is Bryce Canyon since we have one extra day there. Thank you for the wonderful post.
We are planning to go to the Las Vegas at the end of April and wanted to go “Horseshoe Bend” (Zion National Park) . Can any one please help me about how to go there from Las Vegas and what is the best time to there?
Lesley! My family is about to take this trip, and I couldn’t be more pumped especially after reading this blog! I was wondering what time of year you went and how to plan to dress for the weather!
You have excellent photography! What camera do you use?
I believe I was still using my Nikon D7100 on this trip. Now I use a Sony a7riii 🙂
Thank you for sharing this amazing places. I’m been in Grand Canyon, but not in Utah. Love to visit this places in a near future.
Dear Leslie…………Have you ever check out Death Valley? The Winter months through early April or after October is a good time to go.
I haven’t, but it’s on the list!!
Lesley, you know you’re crazy, right? (lol)
I’ve headed out to Southern Utah at the end of August these last 5 years and seen some really amazing stuff. This Summer, it’s “Shafer Trail Road” in Canyonlands National Park. You might want to consider that as well. It might not be enough adrenalin for you, but I think that it’s right up your alley.
Anyway, you standing on that stump in picture #2, I don’t know girl. I just kept thinking of those old cartoons with “The Road Runner and Wiley Coyote” …..…. then, it’s say good by to Lesley. (lol)
Hey, what about Antarctica? Supposedly, there’s some giant hole there. That might be a worthwhile and very interesting expedition for you.
This post helped me so much!! We just came back and although we did’t go to Sedona or Antelope Canyon (was closed)… we actually followed your advise and it was the best we could’ve ever done.
Thanks again!!
Great blog post! Zion is one of my favorite places and I hiked the Narrows from the top down over 20 years ago! It has to be one of my all time best experiences. Highly recommend. We camped overnight about half way down. Back then you needed to reserve the campsite in advance (1-2 days). They bus you up to the top and drop you off for the 16 mile hike down. It’s amazing!!!
Very great post, I love visiting parks and this is so much fun for me to read. love it.
Thank you for sharing your insightful blog. It was a good read.