Guest post by stagliavia
Map tips: each color represents a different day. Click a marker to learn more about the spot, and click the star in the map header to save the entire map under Your Places in Google Maps.
Day 1: Arrival in Las Vegas
We flew into Vegas and picked up our rental car at the airport. We headed straight to Red Rock Casino and Resort. We enjoyed this hotel because it was NOT on the strip yet still had a lot of things to do and restaurants as well as great views! We would not recommend the “Bed and Breakfast’ package. The Feast Buffet was nothing special.
Day 2: Duck Creek Village
We rented a cabin in Utah at Duck Creek Village. It is about a 3 hour drive from Vegas and a while a way from a major city. It was an hour to Bryce Canyon and about an hour and a half to Zion. We found the cabin on VRBO and it had all the amenities of home. It was nestled in the mountains at 8, 000 feet. We loved it! There was even a little snow and lots of mule deer.
Day 3: Bryce Canyon National Park
- Sunrise Point
- Sunset Point
We rented mountain bikes from the Sinclair station across the street from Rubys Inn. The people renting the bikes inside the station were not the best at describing the trails so we asked an older gentleman outside the gas station who actually unlocked the bikes for us. We biked an ATV trail which happens to be a cross country skiing trail in the winter. It was an enjoyable, easy ride and we even saw some antelope. You can’t actually go mountain biking in Bryce Canyon National Park itself so we went around the perimeter and got some great photographs with literally no one else around. We brought our own helmets, etc from home and packed a lunch which saved some money. After biking, we hiked around some of the observation points-Sunrise, Sunset point. There were a lot of tourists around these areas of the park, but they are beautiful. You can see for miles.
Day 4: Zion National Park
- The Narrows
- Zion Pizza & Noodle Co
- Upper Emerald Pool
We drove to Zion and picked up our reserved items for The Narrows hike from Zion Adventure Company. Call ahead if you plan this hike. The Narrows hike is mostly through knee to waist deep water depending on the time of year and we were very glad we rented a hiking stick, special boots and socks. It is the easiest to hike “Bottom up”. The air temperature was around 70 degrees, water temperature was 56 degrees. This hike was very popular and the route was full of tourists, but it had great views of the park. You can hike for as long as you want and the Zion Adventure Co will give you possible turn around points. We hiked for about 4 and a half hours round trip and turned around at what we think was “Wall Street”. It took us half as much time to come back as it did to go up. After spending the day hiking, we enjoyed some local beer and pizza from Zion Pizza and Noodle Company in Springdale, Utah. We were able to sit outside and have a great dinner with beautiful views of the park. We took one more short hike after dinner to the Upper Emerald Pools. It was an easy hike on a paved trail which led to a small waterfall area. You cant drive through the park so keep the shuttle schedule in mind when planning what you will do and how long you’ll stay.
Day 5: Bryce Canyon
We spent our 5th day going down into Bryce Canyon and hiking among the Hoodoos. We were very happy we chose to come back to Bryce and see the canyon this way as it gives you a totally different perspective. We hiked the Peekaboo Loop, Navajo Loop, and Rim trails.
Day 6: Back to Vegas
We drove back to Las Vegas and spent the last day at the Red Rock Resort and Casino. We enjoyed the pool during the day and ate outside at Hearthstone Kitchen and Cellar that evening for sunset.
Traveled in May 2016
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