A Southwest Summer Roadtrip | Nevada, Arizona, and Utah

We've all seen the pictures, but I always doubted how red and orange the southwestern landscape really was in the likely oversaturated stock images I would see. Some definitely did it justice, others did not.

The Stops:

• Las Vegas

• Ghost Stop: Grand Canyon National Park

• Zion National Park

• Antelope Canyon

• Horseshoe Bend

• Bryce Canyon

• Ghost Stop: Canyonlands National Park

• Ghost Stop: Arches National Park

• Family Reunion Stop: Bear Lake, Utah

Day 1: Las Vegas

Flying into the airport from New York, you could already see the more mountainous red landscape from the plane window, a refreshing change from visiting my family in flat-landed Texas.

Once we got here, we hit all the classic casinos.

• Ceasers Palace

• The Venetian

• Bellagio Hotel

• Paris Las Vegas

Ghost Stop: Grand Canyon National Park

We decided to skip this park to have more time at our destinations and frankly anyone I asked told me to prioritize Bryce Canyon and Antelope Canyon between the three too! This photo is pretty sick though right?!

Day 2: Zion National Park

Red Meter: not very red

Zion National Park is about a 2-3 hour ride from Vegas. The connection goes in and out here as you get surrounded by the rocky landscape, so make sure you have directions ready ahead of time and non-wifi-dependent activities to keep you busy. I definitely recommend enjoying the views.

Zion has a shuttle system with 9 stops that take you through trails of different difficulties. The most highly acclaimed and quite dangerous hike is Angel's Landing. For this trail, you need a permit and quite a bit of strength and balance. The remaining trails are fair game for the actively abled individual. To avoid crowds starting from stop 1, I recommend waiting until the last stop and working your way back to the start. Our two favorites were The Narrows and Weeping Rock.

The Narrows requires walking in high waters. It's important to bring the proper waterproof footwear and expect to get pretty wet. This hike stems from an initial, more simple riverside trail into the water for stunning views between two huge cliff standing rocks with heavy water flows pushing through the narrow passway between.

Weeping Rock is a pretty simple and quick hike, but it can get pretty wet on the rocks and pathway the closer you get. Make sure to watch where you step. The final view is an arch-like rock that you stand under with water dripping down to make its own wall of water with a view of the landscape (trees, mountains, etc.). It's a pretty refreshing trip if you are struggling with the heat, but don't want to get completely drenched either!

Day 3: Antelope Canyon

Red Meter: RED

Antelope Canyon was by far the most unearthly site we went to and the most red. Being within the narrow rocks was an amazing experience that allowed you to see stunning light beams, just watch out for falling dirt getting in your eye! The tours through the canyon are actually on the Navajo Reservation and therefore, are run by the Navajo tribe.

Day 3: Horseshoe Bend

Red Meter: kinda red, kinda brown

Horseshoe Bend was unexpected to say the least. There isn't any shade on the walk to the spot, so definitely bring water! The walk is fairly short and you can't see the whole view until you are pretty close to the ledge. The closer we got, the bigger the giant rock in the center started to look and you could see how truly breathtaking the landscape is.

There were little to no railings or blocks to keep from falling over which allowed us to see the views we did, but also was a little terrifying. If you bring kids, make sure to hold them back! We watched two kids run a little too fast towards the edge with frantic parents stopping them.

Day 4: Bryce Canyon National Park

Red Meter: orange! and some green :)

This was my favorite park for sure across the trip. The rocky terrain looked the way it would when I tried to make wet sand castles by drizzling the wet sand down between my fingers! On the drive up you could see the orange rocky terrain and the tree-filled views as well. We made our way all the way down to the furthest stop and worked our way down to enjoy all the views. Our favorite stops were Bryce Point, Sunset Point, Sunrise Point and..

Inspiration Point

This was by far my favorite spot! It felt like you were above the clouds and had a bird's eye view of the whole landscape out for miles.

Ghost Stop: Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands is divided into sections: Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze, and the two rivers. The one with the best aerial views of the drastic landscape is Island in the Sky, it's also the most popular. So get there early to avoid the crowds! The Needles and The Maze are great for the more experienced hikers with less crowds too. Hikes here can take days. Unfortunately days we did not have, which is why we had to skip this one too 🙁

Ghost Stop: Arches National Park

The person in this photo really puts into perspective how big this arch really is. We didn't get to go to this one either, but the park is only a 30-minute drive from Canyonlands and offers something different with this arch sculpture-like rock. Drive to Delicate Arch to take a short walk (approx 15 to 30 minutes) to see this drastic arch. There are plenty of other arches to visit such as the Double Arch, the Double O Arch, Turret Arch, and a lot of other unique landscapes.

Day 5 to 7: Bear Lake, Utah (family reunion)

We finally got to Logan, Utah where we stayed the night before driving through the mountains. There were running waters close to the same level as the road on either side of the path! We drove down the pathway until we got to our cabin in the mountains with a view of Bear Lake. We spent most of our time enjoying the cabin views along with a quick trip down to the lake for a boat ride and jet skiing!