424 kilometres

5 1/4 hours

We'll pick you up at your Las Vegas Strip hotel at about 6.45 a.m. and travel north up interstate 15, crossing into the desolate Arizona Strip, before heading up the Virgin River Gorge and into Utah.  If there is no-one on the trip going mule riding, we'll leave an hour or so later.  There will be stops along the way, to admire the views, take photographs, stretch your legs or grab a quick snack. Shortly after the small town of St. George, close to the Utah/Arizona border, we'll branch off the interstate, and cross back into Arizona. Right at the border between the two states, you'll see the twin polygamous towns of Hilldale and Colorado City, where an extreme Mormon sect still indulges in the old Latter Day Saint practice of multiple wives!
 

The scenery on this leg of the trip is interesting, almost all the way from Las Vegas. After dropping back into Arizona and traveling past scrub land and desert, we'll enter the Kaibab National Forest, as we start climbing up to the North Rim. This part of the Grand Canyon is over 8000 feet, and it can be cold there outside the middle of the summer, so please bring the appropriate clothing. We'll drive through some magnificent groves of Ponderosa pines, and sweeping wide open meadows that are filled with deer at sunrise and sunset, before entering the gates of the Grand Canyon.          TOP

Grand Canyon

Our aim is to get to the North Rim by noon, for one of the highlights of the tour, the opportunity to take a mule ride down into the Grand Canyon.  You don't have to do the mule riding, but if you do, there is a $65 per person surcharge.  A sack lunch is included today.

Assuming some tour participants are mule riding, we'll drop them off at the main lodge buildings first.  There they'll be taken to the North Kaibab Trail, from where they will hop on their mules, and start their adventure along the trail to the Supai Tunnel, a vertical drop of 2300 feet.  Mule back is the way to see the Canyon, as the sure footed creatures take you down the narrow and sometimes precipitous path.  Please be aware that are some restrictions as to whom can ride a mule.  They can be seen here.

You can count the number of companies running scheduled tours to the North Rim - as opposed to the South - almost on the fingers of one finger, and we're one of them!  It's a little more difficult to get to the North Rim, and you also cannot get rid of guests by having them ride the Park Service shuttles at the North Rim, the way you can at the South.    Here's why we like going to the North Rim. Once you're off the interstate, you're in wild and deserted country almost all the time. Only about 10% of the people who visit the Grand Canyon come to the North Rim, so it is not like walking through Disneyland at the height of summer. Finally Cape Royal and Angel's Window - the most impressive sights at either Rim - are at the North Rim.  That's where we will be taking the non mule riders, for a few hours gazing at the splendor of one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

We'll then go back to the main lodge buildings to meet up with the mule riders, and everyone will have the opportunity to buy themselves a quick snack and some souvenirs.
 

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196 kilometres

2 1/2 hours

After driving back through the Kaibab National Forest, we'll head east at Jacob Lake, and start our drop down to the desert below.   Depending on the time of the year, we should pass a number of Navajo roadside stands, and we'll stop to give you a chance to purchase souvenirs.  After a relatively short drive along the Vermilion Cliffs, we'll reach Page, on the shores of Lake Powell.

Spend the night in Page.  Examples of the motels we use can be seen here.  A continental breakfast is provided the next morning.

211 kilometres

2 3/4 hours

Travel to Monument Valley

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Up next is a 3 to 3 1/2 tour of Monument Valley, conducted by a Navajo guide. Visitors love to see the buttes, mesas and other sandstone formations that are so prevalent in the Monument Valley area. Monument Valley is actually not really a valley at all, but a relatively flat plain surrounded by red cliffs, with the buttes, as well as the remnants of ancient volcanoes, towering from the earth. 

For fans of old western movies, Monument Valley is the epicenter of the west, with many great cowboys and Indians films having been shot in the area. The familiar rock shapes can be seen from many miles away, with the really great scenery to be seen on the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, which straddles the Utah/Arizona border. 

Amongst the sites that your tour will likely take in are Anasazi ruins, petroglyphs, movie locations, 1000 foot monoliths, rug weaving and Indian hogans. All the famous monuments are visited, as well as the restricted area, which contains many rock windows and arches of unique shapes. 

At the gateway to the park is a section of road with little huts on both sides, where you can shop for Navajo souvenirs, and sample Navajo Tacos and fry bread, foods that are unique to the Navajo Nation. 

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211 kilometres

2 3/4 hours

Return to Page.

You have a choice of what to do next.  Included in the tour price is a ground tour of Antelope Canyon.  Two other options are a boat cruise on Lake Powell (available from the beginning of June to the middle of August), or a flight over the Grand Canyon.  There is an additional charge for the cruise and the flight.

Antelope Canyon is one of the most striking slot canyons known to man. A slot canyon is a narrow canyon sliced through a mesa by the forces of nature. Some canyons measure less than a yard across at the top, but drop a hundred feet or more from the rim to the bottom. Slots are cut and scoured by water and wind, with the striations of the sandstone becoming almost incandescent. From within you will see a palette of colors transmuted by light filtering down from above and bouncing from wall to wall. Antelope Canyon can only be visited using the services of an authorized Navajo Nation guide, from whom you'll have the opportunity to learn something about the history and lore of the Navajo people.

If you choose, we could take you to the Page airport instead, and you can hop on a small airplane for an over flight of the Grand Canyon. This lasts approximately 1 1/2 hours. A minimum of four people is required for the plane to depart, and there is an additional charge, to be advised, for this. 

The third option is to take a cruise on Lake Powell, through the canyons and rocks that were submerged when Glen Canyon was flooded. The exact cruise that will be taken will depend on the water level and the time of the year, but is likely to be the Antelope Canyon cruise.   This option is only available from the beginning of June through the end of August.  There is an additional charge, to be advised, for the cruise. 

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Page

Spend the night in the same hotel. A continental breakfast is provided the next morning.

184 kilometres

3 hours

The road to Zion passes through the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, after which there will be a short stop in the small town of Kanab to shop for southwestern, cowboy and Native American souvenirs and jewelry. 

Zion is Utah's most popular National Park, and its story is one of rock and water. We'll enter the park from the less traveled east entrance and take a leisurely drive through an incredible tunnel blasted into the Navajo sandstone, stopping frequently to take photographs and enjoy the scenery.

Our route will take us through an incredible tunnel that has been blasted into the rocks, and down a switchback road, past the Great Arch of Zion.  About a mile from the south entrance of the park we'll turn around and retrace our steps, back to the east entrance.

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133 kilometres

1 3/4 hours

Travel to Bryce Canyon along a particularly scenic Utah back road. 

Many who have seen both Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon tell us that Bryce is far more spectacular. You will marvel at the weirdly shaped hoodoos, in an amazing array of colorful hues.

Bryce is not really a canyon, but a large amphitheatre carved out of a variety of rock types.  You will have the opportunity to take a stroll from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point, if you choose, and we will also check out Bryce Point, the most spectacular view at Bryce.

Bryce Canyon to Salt Lake City

434 kilometres

4 hours

Travel to Salt Lake City, and end the tour.  The chances are that you are taking one of our Yellowstone tours, and we will pick you up at your Salt Lake City hotel tomorrow morning.  This particular Grand Canyon and more tour is designed to be undertaken in conjunction with our Yellowstone tours.  Thanks for joining us!

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