Day 1: Las Vegas, Nevada – Bryce Canyon, Utah

Welcome to Las Vegas, the City of Lights, shows, gambling, world class shopping, and more. Meet at 8 am in the lobby of our base hotel. Drive to St. George, Utah, for a tour of the temple, a gleaming white edifice, the first temple completed in Utah (New Zion). Enjoy a coffee break at the outlet mall before heading up to Zion National Park’s Kolob Canyons for a scenic drive with spectacular views and a short hike. In the evening arrive on the Colorado Plateau and overnight in comfortable cabins with views of Bryce Canyon for 2 nights.

Day 2: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Explore Bryce Canyon, one of the west’s most beautiful national parks. Stop at the visitor center with interactive displays and a movie. Drive and walk along the rim trails, and– for the more adventurous—hike among the hoodoos through the rugged terrain. Optional horseback ride through the canyon can be reserved ahead of time.

Day 3: Bryce Canyon – Escalante, NM –Torrey, Utah

Drive on scenic Highway 12, one of the few highways designated as an “All-American Highway”. The reason for this designation is an ever changing breathtaking view around each corner. Explore Kodachrome Basin State Park featuring colorful sandstone hills and unique stone spires. You will enjoy a nature walk, a short hike and  plenty of opportunities for beautiful photos. At our next stop you can examine colorful petrified wood at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. The road climbs up to Boulder Mountain Pass at 9600 feet. The views from here over a magic landscape untouched by development is impressive. You can see the Water Pocket Fold of Capitol Reef, vast areas of Escalante National Monument and the Henry Mountains where wild buffalo are still roaming. Spend the night in historic small town Torrey, gateway to Capitol Reef National Park.

Day 4: Torrey – Capitol Reef – Moab

Explore Capitol Reef with a visit to historic farming community Fruita and, weather permitting, a hike through a hidden, colossal slot canyon.  Later today, walk amid the rock formations at Goblin Valley State Park. Stop to view prehistoric petroglyphs and pictographs at a remote Canyon. Then travel on to Moab, a lively western town, center for slick rock mountain-biking, and gateway to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. 2 nights in downtown Moab.

Day 5: Moab – Arches National Park

Spend the morning in Moab exploring the many shops and art galleries including mineral and rock shops, native art galleries and many restaurants. Today’s highlight are walks in Arches National Park, including to Landscape Arch and to the famous Delicate Arch, which graces Utah’s license plates. Depending on the crowds, the program timing will be adjusted.

Day 6: Canyonlands National Park – Ouray, Colorado

Stop at the famous viewpoints of Canyonlands National Park, including Mesa Arch. Then visit Dead Horse Point State Park overlooking the Colorado River. On to Ouray, surrounded by the towering peaks of the Rockies. Ouray is called “little Switzerland of Colorado” with good reason…Relax in natural mineral hot springs and enjoy this old fashioned, small mining town. Night in Ouray.

Day 7: Ouray – Silverton – Durango – Mesa Verde National Park

A scenic high mountain drive over the San Juan Rocky Mountains on the “Million Dollar Highway” leads to the historic towns of Silverton and Durango. Still today, the towns are connected by the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a heritage railway in operation for 128 years, once used to transport silver and gold from the mines of the San Juan Mountains. Night in Mesa Verde National Park, a world heritage park.

Day 8: Mesa Verde – Monument Valley – Page, Arizona

Visit the ancient pueblos of the Anasazi peoples at Mesa Verde National Park. Travel on to Monument Valley Navajo Triable Park. Photograph for yourselves the familiar views from Monument Valley visitor center, towering sandstone buttes made famous by John Ford’s westerns. On to Page near Lake Powell for the night.

Day 9: Lake Powell – Horseshoe Bend – optional Antelope Canyon tour – Kanab

Today, you hike to the Horseshoe Bend viewpoint of the Colorado River. Participate in an optional tour of breathtaking Antelope Canyon or an optional boat trip on Lake Powell. A scenic drive with a stop for a walk to interesting rock formations (depending on time) leads to Kanab,  gateway to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Spend two nights in this western historic movie town.

Day 10: Grand Canyon National Park – Kanab, Utah

Experience the magnificent Grand Canyon, walking along the North Rim (May/October departures will visit Grand Canyon on the South Rim instead). Enjoy the marvelous views walking or hiking on different trails. Time permitting, participate in a ranger talk at the historic Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge with magnificent views over the canyon. In the evening,  drive back to Kanab and count the many deer and occasional wild bison on the Kaibab Plateau.

Day 11: Zion National Park – Las Vegas – tour ends

A scenic drive along Mt. Carmel Highway leads to Zion National Park, with its towering cliffs and deep gorges in shades of cream, orange, and red. Walk to a stunning viewpoint, then take a ranger-led shuttle bus through Zion Canyon and enjoy a hike in the park, maybe spotting a huge condor soaring in the thermals above the rim. Later in the afternoon drive back to Las Vegas. Say farewell at dinner. Tour ends.