U.S. NATIONAL PARKS

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This post is dedicated to the U.S. National Parks - The Entire Plan includes LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas (check the xls file). I visited the most popular and lesser known national parks across the USA: Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley , Glen Canyon , Lake Powell and Antelope Valley.

6 Days

WHY GO

It’s an amazing experience and you will discover a new landscape around every corner : huge sculpted cliffs and monster trees to alien deserts filled with strange rocks and massive sand dunes. You will spend time with a Native America tribe and giddy up on a horse ride through the Old West.

WHEN TO GO

The best time to visit most U.S. National Parks is in summer.However, in this period you find large crowds, insane traffic, and higher prices for hotels. In winter red rocks contrasts against stark white snow, and visitors are rewarded with cooler temperatures, greater peace and quiet thanks to lighter crowds, and lower prices for accommodations.

Day 1 From Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon (SkyWalk)

From Las Vegas , rent a car and drive till the SkyWalk & Eagle point, a horseshoe-shaped glass walkway ,built in 2007, that gives you the feeling you are walking on air (in fact, I was a bit anxious ) 🙂

Don’t miss the exhibits on Hualapai history inside the Skywalk building.

Visiting Grand Canyon West, which is not part of Grand Canyon National Park, requires the purchase of a tour package for entry.

The Grand Canyon Skywalk is NOT located near the South or North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Rather it is located at Grand Canyon West, on reservation land owned by the Hualapai Indian Tribe.

In 2hs you will reach Williams (home to the Route 66 Zipline and Pete’s Route 66 Gas Station Museum).

Day 2 Grand Canyon

It’s time to visit The South Rim’s South Entrance of the Grand Canyon (open 24 hours/day with overnight accomodations).

The entrance fee is ~30$(car) or ~12$ each person.

Here you have chance to do a lot of activities:

– Walk the trail of time

– Day Hiking (check here the South Rim Day Hikes)

– Touring Desert View Drive in your vehicle

– Raft Trips on the Colorado River

You will spend the entire day here enjoying the fantastic view of this peaceful and extraordinary place!

For the night, drive till Mexican Hat : after leaving Grand Canyon in the late afternoon, catch a sunset on the open road in Monument Valley! It’s a stunning sight.

Day 3 Monument Valley

Monument Valley Park has a pretty unusual landscape and unique features that are so incredible to see. You will like it, especially if you’re a lover of all things nature. The Park is part of the Navajo Nation, which is the largest Native American territory in the United States and is within the borders of Utah and Arizona and not just within one state itself.

You can drive yourself around Monument Valley Park (be sure you get a 4WD) with map in hand, an explorer’s spirit and good car suspension, you’ll be ready for anything.

There are many viewpoints that’ll be labelled on the pre-assigned route to follow. At each stop, you’ll see a sign and (usually) a perfect spot for a photo.

Getting a horse ride here is a unique and rather interesting way to see Monument Valley Park. If you get the chance to, park your car and experience the park in a totally different and fantastic way.

Kanab is your next step (check here the accomodations).

Day 4 Antelope Canyon - Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell)

I didn’t find accomodation in Kayenta, so I had to come back to Antelope Valley and Lake Powell for a quick visit before moving for the Bryce Canyon Park.

If you think that you don’t have enough time , move to Bryce Canyon directly and add a quick stop leaving the Monument Valley (day 3).

Antelope Canyon is is one of the most photographed sites in the entire state of Arizona – but there are a few things you should know before you go to avoid disappointment.

First of all, you can not enter Antelope Canyon without a native Navajo guide. Therefore it is not only recommended to book a tour, but absolutely necessary. You don’t have to book a tour guide in advance, though it is highly recommended (~40$ per person).

There are two departure points for tours – Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon. Upper is more popular, particularly if you’re after great photos.

The Best time to visit Antelope Canyon is the prime times for tours : 10am, 11am, and 12pm.

Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River (near the town of Page). The 710-foot high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powell, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the U.S. with a capacity of 27 million acre feet. The dam is named for Glen Canyon, a series of deep sandstone gorges now flooded by the reservoir; Lake Powell is named for John Wesley Powell, who in 1869 led the first expedition to traverse the Colorado’s Grand Canyon by boat. A dam in Glen Canyon was studied as early as 1924, but these plans were initially dropped in favor of the Hoover Dam which was located in the Black Canyon.

There is a visitor center(highly recommended): exhibits relating to geology and the human and natural history of Glen Canyon.

Day 5 Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon (~2h from Kanab) is a series of natural amphitheaters or bowls, carved into the edge of a high plateau. The most famous of these is the Bryce Amphitheater which is filled with irregularly eroded spires of rocks called hoodoos.

Entrance fees : vehicle 30$ or 15$ per person by foot, here the trails you can do:

– Navajo Loop starts with a horizon-sweeping view at Sunset Point, then makes its way past the Silent City — a rock metropolis of hoodoos and spires — to Wall Street, where the trail heads into a narrow slot canyon surrounded by sweeping sandstone walls

– Fairyland Loop: this windswept, mind-boggling vista is the place to be. Stand on the edge and keep it casual or lace up your boots and descend into intricate hoodoo architectures on a strenuous 8-mile trail that will have even the biggest skeptics believing in magic.

– Sunset Point: the vista looks over the Silent City and gives you a 20/20 view of Thor’s Hammer and provides hours of bird-watching fun. If you want to stretch your legs, take the Navajo Loop Trail that departs from the parking lot.

– Bristlecone Loop

– Mossy Cave

Check all hikes at Bryce Canyon here.

TIP for Lunch: Foster’s Motel

GRAND CANYON TIPS

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