National Parks Road Trip

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The southwestern states are home to some of the most incredible views in the world. With diverse landscapes and stunning vistas, tackling the national parks in this area may feel daunting. But what if we told you, it’s easy to knock out three to four of these bucket-list items in a weeklong road trip?

If you want to tackle this itinerary without too much time on the road, you can skip the long initial drive south and fly into Las Vegas. From there, simply rent a car and hit the ground running. If you’d rather log the miles, you can start your adventure in Death Valley for a total of four national park destinations spanning three states.

Death Valley

Stockton to Death Valley, approx. 7.5 hours

Cruise down I-5 for about seven hours and you’ll land in the hottest place on Earth. Home to Death Valley National Park, you won’t want to explore this desert in the summer, so plan accordingly.

Most book a room at The Oasis at Death Valley, a lovely oasis inside of the national park. Here you’ll enjoy a reprieve from the elements with a dip in the freshwater pool and historic accommodations.

The best experiences, however, are found outside of the hotel. The Furnace Creek Visitor Center is a good starting point, sharing the history of Death Valley and how it came to be a popular destination in the early 1900s for wealthy couples and families. While you’re there, choose a couple of short hikes, or hitch a horseback ride at The Inn, where stables filled with equine are available to visitors during cooler months. We certainly recommend some of the park’s viewing points, many of which can be reached without a long trek.

Badwater Basin is the desert’s biggest draw as it holds the record for the lowest point in North America, a staggering 282 feet below sea level. Here, hexagonal shapes create the basin floor, which you can traverse into, and there is a trail leading into the salt flats.

At Zabriskie Point you get a lot of bang for your buck. It’s only ¼-mile up a paved trail to get to the lookout point most famous for its sunrises, sunsets, and epic stargazing. In the distance, the rocky formations look prehistoric, and it’s proof that every corner of Death Valley appears to have its own unique landscapes.

Before you leave, wind through Artist’s Palette. This colorful nine-mile drive proffers jaw-dropping views as you weave in and out of the canyons. For many, its landscapes are recognizable from Star Wars IV: A New Hope where R2-D2 is captured by sand people.

Dante’s View also has ties to the fourth Star Wars movie, and a road to the top makes it easy to access, (plus it includes an ADAaccessible platform near the parking lot.) From here, Badwater Basin and Telescope Peak are both visible, the highest and lowest points inside of the park.

Las Vegas

Death Valley to Las Vegas, approx. 2 hours

If you need a night to stopover and rest, we suggest recuperating in luxurious Las Vegas. This will cut down your drive time to the next big attraction, and it gives you time to enjoy a bit of the city life. Plus, if you decided to fly in, this will act as your start and end point of the trip.

Here, we like to keep the itinerary simple. Check in to The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort and spend your night accordingly. In addition to a modern and comfortable space, before you embark on a more rugged adventure, the hotel offers plenty in the way of entertainment.

Without leaving the property you can dine at Sushi Samba or Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano (the latter of which boasts a rabbit ragu worth mentioning) and enjoy live entertainment. The Atomic Saloon Show, presented by Spiegelworld, is a rip-roaring good time full of antics (for the 21+ crowd). Or, you can be your own entertainment, singing along to tunes inside of KAMU Ultra Karaoke, private karaoke rooms reserved for groups.

Grand Canyon

Las Vegas to Grand Canyon, approx. 4 hours

Arguably the most spectacular national park in the U.S., the Grand Canyon has earned its designation as one of the seven natural wonders of the world but visiting for the first time can get a bit confusing as there are several entrance points and they can be hours apart.

Enter from the South Rim heading out of Vegas, the more populated portion of Grand Canyon National Park (the North Rim is more remote with less to do but still worth a visit if you can pack it into your schedule). As you enter, the road loops around to the Visitor’s Center. Start here to grab the necessary maps and watch a film on how the Grand Canyon formed. The center is also a popular meeting spot for bus tours, bike rentals, and a shopping area for picking up souvenirs.

Around the back of the Visitor’s Center sits Mather Point. From here, you can take the hop-on, hop-off bus service adjacent to the rim trail and stop at different viewing points. Or you can hike the mostly flat, paved trail for 1.5 miles to Yavapai Point and Geology Museum

Along the way, several areas have been turned into viewing stages, allowing guests to step out onto the rocks and take in the surroundings, essentially jutting into the canyon. The Grand Canyon is an impressive 227 miles long and averages over ten miles wide. At the museum, you’ll learn a bit about the rocks that make up the Grand

Canyon before trekking back. When visiting the Grand Canyon, there’s nothing quite like sleeping inside of the national park. There are a few hotels throughout, and any of them would make a spectacular stay, however we opted for Yavapai Lodge, rustic accommodations that feel almost like camping in the woods (complete with elk outside your door) but with all of the modern creature comforts you desire (including a heater since the Grand Canyon gets surprisingly cold at night). And if camping is more your speed, the Mather Campground is just a quick jog from the lodge.

Here, breakfast, lunch and dinner are served buffet-style, complete with local brews and other sips to reward yourself for a day of hard work. In the mornings, you can grab a hearty breakfast burrito to fuel up along with Starbucks coffee, and by dinner you’ll be sipping beers around the outdoor firepit, perhaps with a gaggle of new friends.

One of the most spectacular aspects of the Grand Canyon is how many ways there are to view it. Of course, there are many avenues to visit on foot—and you can even hike to the bottom of the canyon and back up if you get an early start—but the vantage point from the sky is quite a different experience.

Papillion Helicopters is one of the outfits that proffers short rides over the Grand Canyon. For about 25-30 minutes you’ll enjoy views of the Kaibab Forest and—the widest and deepest part of the Grand Canyon—Dragon Corridor. An upbeat soundtrack of thoughtful tunes plays as your group marvels at the expanse below. Pro Tip: For a small surcharge, you can sit front row with the pilot. An audio tour also describes some of the sites below in between songs.

The other way to explore the Grand Canyon is on a Buck Wild Hummer Tour. We recommend grabbing the sunset reservation. This tour traverses the Grand Canyon’s South Rim in a custom-built Humvee, stopping at a few points of interest around the park. The locations may change from tour to tour but Duck on a Rock is a common one, and the evening tour ends with a spectacular sunset viewing area before barreling back down to Tusayan.

In town, and just outside of the Grand Canyon gates, enjoy a dinner at Big E Steakhouse and Saloon. The oversized steakhouse feels like you’ve been transported to the set of an old western film. The food is straightforward and easy to please many mouths and the surroundings make for an enjoyable evening outside of the park. Don’t forget to look up once in a while to take it all in; there’s mule deer antler chandeliers, saloon doors, and building facades of an old west town.

Before leaving the park, make one more stop at the Desert View Watchtower. Here you’ll see the Grand Canyon from another vantage point, perhaps with a cup of hot cocoa in hand. Walk around the area to find a small gift shop with locally crafted goods, a coffee shop, Navajo Point, and the Tusayan Museum and Ruin.

Southern Utah

Grand Canyon to Ivins, UT, approx. 4.5 hours

While the big draws here are Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, we actually recommend venturing out from the big-name destinations. (Don’t worry, the itinerary calls for seeing it all). While the diverse landscapes and towering rock formations bring millions into the park each year, our favorite spot is Sand Hollow State Park. Here, the red sand dunes are a breathtaking landscape begging for an adventure—and we have just the one in mind.

Hop on an ATV or UTV (with a guide of course) through ATV & Jeep Adventures and explore the landscape as it was meant to be explored. Adrenaline junkies will love roving fast over the alien desert and climbing dune walls in one of the most active sand dunes in the area. As an added bonus, it’s only a cool thirty minutes from the entrance to Zion National Park and a halfway point between there and Red Mountain Resort, our recommendation for your Utah accommodations.

Located in Ivins, Red Mountain Resort is exactly the place you want to crawl into bed after a tiring day. Not only are a pool and hot tub there for soaking tired joints, but the Sagestone Spa overlooks the diverse and rugged Southern Utah mountains—and don’t even get us started on the treatments inside. Sure, you can splurge on a stellar massage to restore your aching muscles, but we promise you won’t be disappointed if you upgrade to the vichy shower, an immersive experience that combines traditional massage with a body scrub and hair treatment.

The best part is you don’t have to leave the resort until you’re good and ready. The on-site restaurant knows how to whip up a killer margarita, and the seasonal menu always has something delicious to offer.

Through the concierge service, guests can book hiking adventures, ranging from guided tours through Zion’s popular Narrows to a full-day trip into Bryce Canyon National Park. If you want to mix it up, consider a two-hour petroglyph discovery hike or a six-hour hike and kayak tour through a nearby slot canyon. If you want to avoid the big dogs (and the crowds) slip into

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Snow Canyon State Park instead. Just five minutes from the resort, trails range from easy to difficult, but the most heralded is the strenuous Snow Canyon Overlook, a staggering 12mile trek that results in some of Southern Utah’s most stunning vistas. In retrospect, the daunting sounding Hell Hole is a pleasant two-mile hike in the same area. Here is where we bid you adieu. Either you’ll drive home from Ivins, Utah (a 10-hour journey) or drop back into Las Vegas for an overnight reprieve and a flight home.

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