For Spring Break 2023, we did the National Park loop through Utah and Arizona. I had traveled this area in high school and was excited to show the family the beauty of the area. Since we have a fourth grader, we got a national parks pass for free. We gave the kids the small canon camera to use on their own. We landed at 9:15am. We had placed a Walmart pickup order of snacks, food, and water for the car. We also grabbed some In-N-Out in Vegas before our drive to Zion.
Zion National Park
March 31
We arrived to Zion National Park around 4pm after losing an hour of time change along the way. It was cold, but sunny. Luckily we packed hats and gloves and long pants, so the cold didn't affect us too much. We first stopped at the visitor center. I had thought about Watchman trail but after talking to a ranger we decided to do it in the morning and instead do Lower Emerald Falls.
I next checked in at the Zion Park Lodge. I got basically the last room when I booked last fall. The lodge isn't super nice, but nothing at all wrong with it. The views are nice, and staying at the lodge lets you drive in to the park and not be 100% reliant on the shuttle, and not wait in line in the morning to enter the park. Staying at the park lodges is recommended to save time during the trip.
After checking in we walked Lower Emerald Pools hike. You get a little wet under the falls, and the hike was pretty sloppy with mud near the falls. We then drove back to town for dinner at Zion Pizza and Noodle. Liana did gymnastics with a girl in the grass outside. The food was just ok. On our way back to the lodge, we saw a group of Mule deer along road.
April 1
I woke up and took two kids to breakfast around 7:30, and the views are quite nice from the Red Rock Grill. They only have a larger buffet, and no longer offer a continental breakfast, and we don't eat a lot of heavy food for breakfast. But, we made it work. On the way back to our room, I saw some friends from church checking out! We drove to the visitor center to hike the Watchman Trail as the sun came up over mountain. We started the hike around 10:30. It started out chilly but once the sun came up over the mountain, it was nice. A Mule deer walked right in front of us at one point! It changed from cold shade to sunny nice view at top. And, it started to get quite crowded after we reached the top. After our descent, we drove back to the lodge to eat leftover pizza and pasta for lunch. I also checked out the lodge beer garden (surprised to see one). Drafts can only be 5% ABV in Utah, and you are usually required to buy food with beer.
After lunch we took the shuttle north to Weeping Rock. It was a short, steep walk to the waterfall that 'weeps' out of the rock. We then took the shuttle to Riverside Walk. The Riverside Walk turns in to the Narrows when the path ends at the river. We walked back to start of the Narrows, but didn't hike in to the river. People wore boots and chest-high rain gear for that part of the trail. On our way out, we saw wild turkeys!
We took the shuttle back to the Lodge. We bought some soft serve ice cream and the kids ran around in the grass. Next we walked to Upper Emerald Pools. We had to cross middle falls stream. Upper Pools were very crowded. We took the same trail back down, as the middle falls crossing was too deep to cross without boots.
We went to Zion Brewery for dinner. There we tried a local dish, chimichurri fries. Flavor was good, but a dip would be better than soggy fries in our opinion. Outside dinner, the kids ran in grass for a while.
April 2
I took two kids to breakfast again. After packing up and checking out, we drove toward Bryce Canyon. That drive goes through a tunnel on the east side of the park. From there we hiked the Canyon Overlook Trail. Not much parking but a great view at the end. This hike is a little tricky in places, but doable. The tunnel entrance was quite backed up the other direction.
Bryce Canyon
It is about a 1.5 hour drive to Bryce Canyon City, a pretty and easy drive. We even stopped once to throw snowballs for a minute. I spotted people photographing an eagle on a fence post but it flew off before I could stop and get a picture. We had lunch at Ruby's (about all there is is Ruby's owned-stuff). Then drive to Bryce Canyon visitor center for maps and stamps.
We parked at the lodge, but could not check in early. We first walked to Sunrise and Sunset Points. Packed snow paths lead to the rim trail, which was also a snow packed trail. Sunrise Point was tricky to get up due to slick icy snow. Queens Garden trail was open but needed crampons, which we did not have and chose not to rent. Hoodoos, which are tall thin rock formations, looked great with snow. Nolan and I walked through 2-3 ft snow drifts to get the car and pick up the others from Sunset. We drove to Inspiration Point. Then drove to Bryce Point (had to wait in line to park). Bryce Point was awesome. We checked in Sunrise Lodge.
We then drove to Mossy Cave (had to wait 20 minutes to park). It was a nice hike, not too long, snowy at points, and kids liked the frozen waterfall. Kacey found dinner in Tropic at Stone Hearth Grille. It was fancy, food overall good, and way out of the way. Once back from dinner, Kacey and I walked out for the end of sunset over the canyon.
April 3
We decided to wake up early and drive through Capitol Reef on our way to Arches. It was a nice peaceful drive north on 22. We watched the sun emerge among the mountains. Then we took 62 to 24. This took about 2 hours.
Capitol Reef
We stopped on the western edge at Chimney Rock and Panorama Point. The Fluted Wall looked interesting and then we realized it was also an official pullover spot. We stopped at the visitor center for a map and stamp. We stopped at Petroglyphs and also stopped at Capitol Dome viewpoint.
The drive from Capitol Reef to Hanksville was really nice! We enjoyed watching the scenery and the Henry Mountains in the distance. There were many rock formations and colors and types of rock along the way. The rest of 24 north to I-70 was straight and easy, and quite dusty at points. We were able to make it to Moab for lunch. We ate at Antica Forma and liked the pizza as it was authentic Italian. We had a 2pm entry to Arches so we had time to check in at our hotel first.
Arches
We entered the line at 1:50 and pulled in at 2. We stopped at the visitor center first for maps and stamps and bathroom. Our first stop in the park was Courthouse Towers briefly. The kids were spotting arches and formations from the car. We next walked to Balanced Rock. It was very windy and blowing dust, so the kids put on masks. Next we parked at end of Windows Rd and first saw Turret Arch. Then walked over to North and South Windows Arches. We decided to walk the primitive trail around back of Windows to see Spectacles; the two Windows Arches look like glasses from the back. Then walked the other way from the parking lot to Double Arch and Parade of Elephants formation. Next we drove to Delicate Arch viewpoint parking area. Walked the trail to Upper Viewpoint; it was a bit steep at points but not too hard. On our way out of the park we spotted Pothole Arch from the car. We went to Moab Brewery for dinner and had gelato next door. Kacey got Thai take-out instead, after being tired of the many brewery-style meals.
April 4
We had 9am entrance time, got there around 9:45 or so. We started back at the Devil's Garden and started the hike around 10:30. Landscape was first, that walk was easy. The next 1/2 mile was steep and narrow and climbing up a rock wall. It was intense. Then it opened up for a while until right before Black Arch overlook. Another rock cliff edge that was also pretty intense. The walk beyond that to Double O was easier until right at the end, descent was a little tricky. We could see Dark Angel pillar from there so we didn't walk to it. I helped Liana and Kacey skip part of the return walk near Black Arch overlook. We ended up near Partition Arch on the return so walked there and it was an amazing view! Very under-rated with a portrait view of the horizon. We had to crab walk back down tricky section near Landscape Arch. Nolan and I ran out to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch quickly before the car. Pine Tree Arch was ok, Tunnel Arch not great after so many other sites. We ate lunch in the car a little after 2, late as Devil's Garden took longer than expected. Instead of the long trail to Delicate Arch, we changed plans and drove out to Canyonlands. We could see Skyline Arch from the car on way out.
Canyonlands
We got to the Island in the Sky visitor center around 4pm. We stopped at several view points and drove out to Grand View Point. Kacey really loved the landscapes of Canyonlands, and we were very glad to visit last minute! The park is very vast and beautiful with wide landscapes. Some of the other parks were a single large canyon and this was a nice change to broad landscapes. We tried a fancy Italian place for dinner but were denied our booking so ended up back at Antica Forma with great food and nice people.
April 5
We got up to drive to Page, AZ for lunch, about a 4 hour and 15 minute drive. Leaving Moab is slow, lots of trucks and no passing lanes. But, the road opens up after 30 minutes or so. We took a slight detour to Mexican Hat balanced rock and driving through Monument Valley. We took pictures of the famous end of running scene from Forrest Gump. The scenery was nice in Arizona. In Page, we went to Horseshoe Bend first. It is pretty crowded but you can easily get a turn near an edge for pictures. We tried to go to Grand Canyon Brewery for lunch but the kitchen very backed up. Kacey found Dam Bar and Grille. It was good! We went to Glen Canyon Dam visitor center but it was closed that day. And Glen Canyon Rec Area visitor center was just offices. After a quick stop at a dam overlook with Colin, we headed to Antelope Adventures for our 3pm tour of Upper Antelope Canyon.
Antelope Canyon
Came highly recommended. The Navajo Nation runs tours through their canyons. Tour operators are found here. We used Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours. Irene was our driver and tour guide and she was really great. The tour is multiple small groups, slightly spaced out. We were the first small group in and Irene set up photo scenes for everyone. She also adjusted everyone's phones and cameras for ultimate shots. She kept calling Kacey "Samsung" because of her phone, and said she had the best camera. Irene's pictures from Kacey's phone were amazing. She shared a bit of knowledge and shared that while she is retired, she still enjoys doing these tours. When we returned to the car, we had a 2.5 hour drive to Grand Canyon Village.
Grand Canyon
When we passed through the gate, we stopped in Desert View parking lot and saw a coyote! We decided to not get out and look as it was late and we were hungry. Check in at Maswik Lodge was a little confusing in the dark; we could not figure out where to go. The signs were misleading and things are not well lit (which is fine, but good signs could be fixed). We checked in to Spruce cabin and went back to the main building to eat at Pizza Pub. They were quickly running out of food at 7:30, so we just ordered a cheese pizza and ate other snacks in the room.
April 6
The lodge breakfast is only really some hot food, which we really don't eat much of. So I drove to the General Store for milk, OJ, and donuts for breakfast with our car food and cereal. We walked out to Bright Angel Trailhead for first look at canyon. We headed east on the rim toward Verkamp's visitor center (the main visitor center was closed for staff training). We decided to shuttle back to the car and drive to Mather Point. While walking out to the point, we saw elk up close. We then drove down the road to Yavapai Geology Museum. Looked around at information areas for a while. We decided for lunch at Fred Harvey Burger in the Bright Angel Lodge. Finding food in the village can be hard, everything seems to have big waits or no available reservations and not enough kitchen workers. We got lucky and were seated almost immediately, though.
After lunch we took red shuttle west toward Hermit's Rest. There was a long line (morning was longer but they were putting more people on buses) and they weren't filling buses to make room for people along the way. So, we walked to walk the rim to the first stop, Trail View overlook. From there we got right on a bus. We got off at Powell for views. Then started to walk to Hopi as a bus pulled up, so we took the bus to next close stop, Hopi Point. We realized we had plenty of time, so we also stopped at Mohave Point. Then bussed to The Abyss. From here we spotted California Condors! Also, the Abyss didn't seem as dramatic a drop as the next stop, Monument Creek. We continued on the bus to Pima Point, and finally bus to the end of the road, Hermit's Rest. There was a neat little old cabin here. We took the shuttle back to Transfer station stop. Along the way we saw more elk along road, and even spotted a Javelina on the road from the bus. Too quick for picture, though, it kept walking off in to woods. With some time to spare, we drove out to Desert View for views. We could have maybe gotten some tickets to go up the tower, but would have had to wait 30 minutes to do so. We drove back to Grand View Point for some sunset views. We decided to drive to Mather Point for more sunset views. This was a good spot. For dinner we decided on Fred Harvey Tavern, as the restaurant was booked up. The tavern was first come first serve and the line wasn't too long when we started. But, once we ordered, we waited an hour for our food due to kitchen backups. The food as a whole in Grand Canyon park was frustrating and disappointing due to lack of availability.
Decided instead of a whole other day at Grand Canyon, to go Vegas early via Valley of Fire and show kids the strip and lights.
Valley of Fire
April 7
We left the village around 9:30 or so. The line to get in to the park on the south side was pretty long, but that is where most people stay who can't get a spot in the village. We found Chipotle for lunch in Kingman, AZ. After the lack of food in the Grand Canyon park and the overabundance of breweries, Chipotle was almost refreshing. Chris just had a PB&J while driving. From Hoover Dam (which you can't see from the Interstate by design), we drove north through Lake Mead National Recreation Area to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. We started at the east entrance at Elephant Rock. Next was the visitor center. Here, we attempted to recreate a picture from 2012 with Nolan. There was a wedding party getting ready for their ceremony here. We did the scenic drive to Silica Dome, then White Domes trailhead. On way out saw sheep near the road on cliff. Last we drove by Petroglyphs, Arch Rock, and the Beehives.
Las Vegas
We drove to Park MGM for our room. We had to quickly get unloaded and walk to Caesars, as Kacey got a dinner reservation at Water Grille. It was pretty nice and fancy, and the kids did well. Sushi, oysters, fish, mac n cheese. We walked by the Bellagio to watch a couple light shows. We finished by eating gelato at Eataly at our hotel.
April 8
Kacey scheduled lunch at Eataly when they opened at 11. We drove by Omega Mart the week prior when we arrived and the kids went crazy. So, we bought an entrance time for 12:40pm. We had no idea what was going on, but the kids really enjoyed it. It was weird but an experience. After, we drove back to the strip and parked at Cosmopolitan. We walked in Bellagio a bit. We finished off with dinner at Rainforest Cafe before heading to the airport.
Approximate Route here.
If you would like to see our pictures, just ask me for a link!
