A Western Adventure
Hey friends, This past November I adventured through Arizona and UTAH with my mom and aunt. I was blown away by the beautiful sites we encountered on our week-long road trip so I wanted to share the details of our epic trip with you all. below are my must-sees/do’s and a rough itinerary to one of my favorite trips i’ve been on in the states! Before you go on this trip, don’t forget to get your national park pass. There are some discount passes for military, seniors and more so make sure to check out all your options. Happy Roadtripping!
XO, Ky
Day 1: Sedona, AZ
We left Phoenix for Sedona around 1:00 PM. It’s about an hour and half drive to Sedona. Of course you could spend the entire trip in Sedona but we only had half a day. Sedona was the perfect stopping point for a hike before we left for the Grand Canyon later that night.
Devil’s Bridge Hike
You can expect for the hike to take you 2 -3 hours. It’s 1.8 miles roundtrip but once you get to the top, you’ll most likely have to wait in line to cross over to the Devils Bridge for the perfect photo op.
Parking is minimal so make sure you leave plenty of time to find a spot or park and walk to the trailhead.
Other Sedona Spots we didn’t get to
You can honestly spend a whole TRIP in Sedona so our quick pit stop was just a taste: Chapel of the Holy Cross, Cathedral Rock, Oak Creek Canyon.
Arrive at the Grand Canyon
The drive from Sedona to the Grand Canyon is about 2 hours. We arrived to the Grand Canyon around 9pm. Although there are plenty of hotels / airbnbs about 20 minutes south of the Grand Canyon Village I highly recommend staying directly in the Grand Canyon Village (especially if you’re doing a road trip like us) to maximize your time.
We stayed at the Kachina Lodge. It was nothing spectacular but it was clean and comfortable and affordable, which was all we needed. We checked in around 9pm and checked out the following morning so we really only needed a place to stay. The location was perfect!
Day 2: The Grand Canyon
South rim adventure - there are three sections to the south rim (all along 32 miles of the road)
Desert view road
Grand canyon village
Hermit road (The road we chose)
In the morning - Ooh Aah Point located on the South Kaibab Trail
In the afternoon - Walk, bike or take the shuttle down Hermit Road! We chose to Bike with Bright Angel Bicycles!
In the evening - If you have time to watch the sunset (we did not), check out Mather Point or Hopi Point!
Leave for Page, AZ
The drive is about 3.5 hours from the Grand Canyon to Page, AZ. We stayed at the La Quinta in Page which is only around $55/night and 6 minutes away from Horseshoe Bend and 10 minutes away from Lake Powell. It is clean and comfortable.
2002 v. 2020
Day 3: Horseshoe bend, Lake Powell & Antelope Canyon
Horseshoe Bend
Wake up early and catch the sunrise at Horseshoe Bend!
Pro tip: Don’t forget cash to get in! It’s a $10 entry fee and they didn’t take card. I literally asked the car behind us for cash (and venmo’d them LOL).
Lake Powell & Antelope Canyon
After the sunrise, it was time to explore Lake Powell and Antelope Caynon (11 minutes away from Horseshoe Bend). Unfortunately, due to the virus, Antelope Canyon was closed. However we found a way around it. Lake Powell Paddle boards and Kayaks offer paddle board and kayak rentals where you can kayak (or paddle board) into Antelope canyon and then hike through it! It was such a cool experience.
Pro tip: You will either be strapping the paddle boards / kayaks to the top of your car (rental car in our case) or you can pay an extra fee (approx $100) to have them bring the boards and kayaks down to the lake for you.
Day 4: Road trip in Bryce, Utah
Bryce Canyon
Leave Page, AZ and head to Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive. We stayed at the Best Western Plus in Byrce Canyon. Once again it was the perfect location and clean + comfortable. Breakfast was also included which was a very typical continental hotel breakfast.
After a busy first few days, we opted for a half day mini road trip (within our road trip)! We hopped on the Scenic Byway 12 and just started driving! We pulled off multiple times to admire the incredible sights right along the highway.
Bryce to Grand staircase-Escalante National Monument
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is huge. But you get to see so much of it by just driving along Scenic Byway 12 All American Road from Bryce Canyon NP to Capitol Reef NP. This particular route is about 120 miles and takes at least 3 hours to do. Multiple overlooks and pull-offs have been designed along the road for you to stop and enjoy the amazing views.
Hike Zebra Canyon
If you have time / have a 4WD then you might want to look into hiking Zebra Canyon. We did not have a 4WD so we couldn’t but I still want to hike this at some point. After doing plenty research the Zebra Canyon which is streaked by pink and white stripes that line the towering walls of this extremely narrow passage is a less crowded canyon. This canyon is surprisingly overlooked by the crowds (in comparison to Bryce Canyon’s Queen’s Garden Trail and the ever-popular Navajo Loop) making this hike even more exciting!
Enjoy sunset at Sunset Point
after a long day in the car venture on the short walk out to Sunset Point to watch the sun set on the Hoodoos. A hoodoo can be defined as “ a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements”
Stay another night at
Day 5: Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon
Explore Bryce Canyon - Park is open 24/7
Wake up early and hike one of the most popular trails: Queens Garden Trail which will eventually give you an option to go to queens garden or Navajo Loop. We chose Navajo Loop, which ends at Sunset Point. These hikes are not too hard and the views are incredible.
After your hike, get back in the car and drive to Inspiration Point to see all the hoodoos at one of the highest elevations.
After a nice morning hike, head on over to Ruby’s Inn to book your 1 hour ATV tour. This was absolutely phenomenal. Our tour guide was amazing and we had the best time.
Head to Zion National Park
It will take you around an hour and 20 minutes to get to Zion National Park / Springdale from Bryce Canyon. At this point in the trip we were pretty tired, so when we got to Springdale around 6pm we went straight to dinner and then straight to bed before another adventure filled day.
Day 6: Zion National Park
Zion National Park/Springdale
Pro tip: You can’t drive cars into the park! This means you will either want to get bus tickets or rent E-bikes in Springdale and drive those through the park. We bought bus tickets!
Before we entered the park (the bus tickets have a specific time on it) we ate continental breakfast at the hotel and then grabbed coffee at the delicious spot below.
Hikes we did:
Middle & Lower Emerald’s Pool - We hiked both of these and followed it along the Kayenta Trail to eventually get to the trailhead base for the Grotto. This was the start of the next hike - Angel’s Landing.
Angel’s Landing Hike is an extremely hard hike. You hike to the top of the Grotto and then you can decide to go the .5 mile there (1 mile total return) with ropes and chains the entire way.
We ended the day checking out The Narrows, but not actually getting in the water. We didn’t have time or the pants / boots to walk through the freezing river. This hike is still on my to do list. You can rent the pants / boots at the Zion visitors center by the park entrance if you want to do this hike.
Day 7: Zion National Park
Zion National Park/Springdale
We woke up early and drove to the Park entrance and parked our car where we would normally get on the bus. The trail head for the Watchman Trail was at the park entrance so we did the quick hike.
We then got back in our car and started our trek back to Phoenix. But before we left we grabbed coffee and a quick breakfast at Deep Creek Coffee Co
On our way out of the Park we did one of the most popular trails the Canyon Overlook Trail. It was super busy and parking is limited so keep that in mind but it was worth it.
We then drove the 6 hours 35 min to go back to Phoenix stopping in Flagstaff, Arizona for dinner
Day 8: Back in Phoenix
Brunch in Phoenix
Make sure to book a late afternoon flight home so you can wake up and grab some good brunch in the city before you head out. We booked brunch at the Henry!
Phoenix Airport Tip
Our flight was at 3pm and we got to the airport around 12:00pm to ensure enough time to drop the rental car off and take the bus back to the airport terminal.
Happy Roadtrippin’ my party people!
XO, Ky
A special shoutout to my road trip adventure crew: My Mom and Aunt Kerry! Thank you for the best week filled with lots of laughs, memories and photos ;) Love you both!
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