12 Day Grand Circle Itinerary (Zion to the Grand Canyon)

Finally - I'm traveling again! It feels so good to be fully vaccinated and with the new CDC recommendation, free to go maskless outside again. Will and I had our sights set on a national park vacation since winter, when we were looking towards the light at the end of the tunnel. National parks are really popular right now as they are domestic, relatively inexpensive as trips go, and mostly outside. The Grand Circle was great, since we got to hit a bunch of different national parks in a short amount of time, seeing vastly different landscapes. Neither of us had been to any of these places except the Grand Canyon (I'd been once before when I was ~10), so it was a new adventure!

This trip was the first time I'd been on a plane since March 2020 and it felt good to be out and about again. Here is my "diary" of the trip with my thoughts and favorite pictures - maybe it will inspire you for your next vacation!

P.S. (Head over to my TikTok for some video diaries of the trip)

12 Day Itinerary

• Day 1: Fly into Vegas

• Day 2: Vegas → Zion, afternoon in Zion

• Day 3: Zion

• Day 4: Zion → Bryce, half day in Bryce

• Day 5: Bryce → Moab, evening in Arches

• Day 6: Moab (Arches)

• Day 7: Moab (Whitewater kayaking)

• Day 8: Moab → Page

• Day 9: Page (Paddle board in Antelope Canyon)

• Day 10: Page → Grand Canyon

• Day 11: Grand Canyon

• Day 12: Grand Canyon → Vegas, fly out

Our trip dates were May 22 - June 2. These dates were based solely on our reservation at Zion Lodge. May 22-24 were literally the only days left with vacancies at Zion Lodge when we booked it back in February, so we just decided to center the trip around that. It was a good time of year to go - plenty hot, but not as scorching as later in the summer.

Besides Zion, we stayed exclusively at Best Western hotels. I've stayed at Best Westerns a lot when traveling with my mom and they are generally reliable and affordable. It was just easy to go Best Western all the way, especially since all of them had great locations for where we were going. Best Western also always offers free breakfast which is a nice perk. I signed up for Best Western rewards before booking and docked a lot of rewards points for this trip.

We didn't book a ton of stuff ahead of time for this trip, but the one thing we did buy beforehand was the America the Beautiful Pass. It's a great deal for a road trip like this, because for $80 you get access to almost all the National Parks instead of having to pay the ~$30 entrance fee each time. HUGE.

Vegas

We flew into Vegas on Saturday, ate lunch, picked up our rental car*, and drove to the Strip where we were staying for the night. We had a fun evening/night walking around the different casinos, buying incredibly expensive food & drink, and overall living it up (when in Vegas amiright?!).

We also bought shuttle tickets ahead of time for the next day in Zion, hovering over the button at exactly 5pm MT since the tickets tend to sell out within seconds.

*A note on the rental car: We booked through Hertz because we are AAA members which means that 1. We didn't have to pay the usual under-25 rental fee and 2. We got a discount. Hertz is usually one of the more expensive rental companies, but if you are a AAA member, it's definitely the way to go.

Zion

On Sunday we got up at a reasonable hour and drove ~3 hours from Vegas to Zion National Park, arriving around noon. Due to our reservation at Zion Lodge, we were able to zip right into the park. We first made a stop at Zion Adventure and rented hiking poles for The Narrows.

The Narrows

After checking into the hotel, we caught the shuttle from Zion Lodge (stop #5) to The Narrows trailhead (stop #9). It was about 1:30 or 2 when we started the hike and it was pretty busy with people.* The walk along the river was quite pleasant, and everywhere you turned was a beautiful view.

Once we entered the water was where the real fun began. The water was a bit chilly at first, but it quickly warmed up as we began wading through. There are many places in Springdale (the town near Zion) where you can rent equipment like bibs, socks, and water boots, but we found that we were fine with just our sandals (or sneakers in Will's case), hiking socks, athletic shorts, and the pole.

This hike was super fun! It felt very adventuresome, trekking through the water. The highest the water came was to my upper thigh, and I never felt exceedingly cold. It's amazing to wander through a huge canyon, looking up and seeing the blue sky far above you. We hiked as long as we wanted in before turning back (I'm not sure exactly how far in, but we hiked until about 6pm). This is definitely one of the coolest and most unique hikes out there and I would definitely recommend it if you're in Zion. Yes, it was busy, but it was still so much fun!

*Currently the Weeping Rock trailhead and West Rim at Zion are closed, so the hiking options are pretty limited. This means that popular hikes like the Narrows and Angel's Landing are even MORE crowded than usual!

Angel's Landing

Monday morning we woke up at 6:30am and quickly set out for Angel's Landing, arguably the hardest hike on this trip. I was initially apprehensive about this hike - look at any photos or reviews online and you will know that this hike is steep, narrow, offers little protection from falling (except for a few chains), and requires a lot of scrabbling up rocks with drop-offs on either side. I'm not afraid of heights exactly, but I'm not completely comfortable with them either.

However, Angel's Landing ended up being awesome - one of my favorite hikes we did. The initial switchbacks to climb up are a bit grueling, but it helped a ton doing it early in the morning when it was shady and cool. As for the chains section, it was definitely scary at times, but I simply kept my eyes on the trail in front of me and didn't look down.

The view from the summit is simply stunning. Canyon on either side of you, awash with sunlight. We ate our breakfast up there and I have to say, it's probably the best breakfast view I've ever had.

I cannot emphasize enough how nice it was that we started early. By the time we started heading down, Disneyland-esque lines were forming on the chains section. There's only one way up or down, requiring people to stand aside for each other on cliff faces, which is as tenuous as it sounds. We luckily descended without too much stopping and made our way down quickly from there. A ton of people were coming up as we were leaving, and I seriously don't understand how they do it with the heat and the crowds. If you do this hike, START EARLY!! (If you are able-bodied and not too scared of heights, DEFINITELY do it though - there's a reason it's popular :D

Emerald Pools

That afternoon, after eating lunch and recovering from Angel's Landing, we did a short hike to the Emerald Pools. The pools themselves aren't much to look at (Middle Pool was more like Middle Puddle), but the views of the canyon were nice and Upper Pool was refreshingly cool.

Canyon Overlook

That evening we went to Canyon Overlook for sunset. Canyon Overlook is an easy 1 mile round trip hike with a breathtaking view - a nice way to end our time in Zion.

Bryce

On Tuesday we woke up early and drove ~2 hours to Bryce National Park. We arrived around 10am, stopping for a large breakfast buffet at our hotel (the Best Western Ruby's Inn). Then we caught the shuttle into the park, getting off at Bryce Point. After admiring the view and taking a few pictures, we started along the Rim Trail.

The Rim Trail took us to Inspiration Point, and then on to Sunset Point where we descended into the canyon via a set of aesthetic switchbacks cleverly named Wall Street. This part was heavily trafficked, and it did have kind of a NYC vibe with people going back and forth surrounded by hoodoos instead of skyscrapers. Hoodoos are the tall column things you see in Bryce Canyon, and it was cool to get to walk amongst them.

We took the Navajo Loop which met up with the Queen's Garden trail. The Queen's Garden is named after one particular hoodoo that looks rather like Queen Victoria sitting on her throne. Bryce was perhaps my favorite place we visited (if you're forcing me to pick!). There's something about the grandeur and the rich, red/orange color that I love. We took hundreds of pictures in here because everywhere you look there's just another great photo!

We also came back for sunset and sunrise. Neither were as spectacular as they sometimes are (it was a bit cloudy), but we still got some nice photos in the dusk/dawn light.

Moab: Arches

Wednesday we drove ~4.5 hours from Bryce to Moab. Tired from all the walking, we didn't make too many stops along the way. We arrived at Moab around 2:30pm, checked into our hotel (the Best Western Plus Greenwell Inn), and ate a late meal before deciding to head into Arches National Park for sunset.

Delicate Arch

We decided it would be nice to knock out Delicate Arch on Wednesday, so we drove into the park around 5:30pm (no lines to get in!), and went straight there. Delicate Arch is the most popular and iconic arch, the one seen in most of the photos you'll see of Arches National Park. It's a 1.5 mile, moderately steep hike into the arch. The evening was fairly cool which I was happy about since Moab gets HOT.

We caught some pretty good lighting, though clouds blocked the sunlight for some of it. Delicate Arch really is beautiful - I can see why it's so iconic and it's probably my favorite. The fact that it stands alone, out from everything else, makes it such a focal point, almost like a museum piece.

Balancing Rock

On our way out from Delicate Arch, we caught sunset at Balancing Rock, casting it in a glorious, deep red.

Devil's Garden

Wooo the Devil's Garden is called the Devil's Garden for a reason! It gets HOT in Moab and it gets HOT in the Devil's Garden. We started this hike early on Thursday morning, around 7:45am. The beginning of the day was actually pleasant temperature-wise, though it quickly started heating up. We did the full loop hike, seeing all 7 arches. We went counter-clockwise, knocking out the Primitive Trail section first. This section was a bit dicey in that the "trail" was quite difficult to find. There were many points in which we looked around and said, "Is this it? Is this really the trail?"

We scrambled up rocks, (at one point Will had to push me up because my short little legs couldn't reach), making our own trail. Luckily, there were some signs pointing us in the right direction and other hikers had set up little rock statues to indicate we were heading the right way.

I liked that this hike wasn't too crowded. Unlike all our other hikes, there were points where we couldn't see or hear anyone else. By the time we reached the second half with more arches though, there were definitely a lot of people wandering about. I liked Double Arch and Partition Arch the best; they made perfect picture frames for the gorgeous view of the park in the background.

On the way back, I was starting to fade. The heat was really setting in (it reached 91 that day), and I was a bit dehydrated. We'd also been hiking hard for like the past four days and it was beginning to show on my body. We made it back to the parking lot and were ready for some down time. The rest of the day was spent resting, lounging by the pool, and walking around town.

Moab: Other Stuff

Whitewater Kayaking

After all our hiking, we were ready for a non-hiking day and whitewater kayaking was the perfect way to get off our feet and onto the water. Friday morning we headed over to the Paddle Moab shop for our guided whitewater kayaking tour. Paddle Moab is the smallest rafting company in Moab, and I was happy that we were supporting them.

We were "duckies", following along the big raft through rapids on the Colorado River. This section of the park was quite tame. I was wary of being in a kayak through the rapids, but they were all super manageable and fun. We definitely got splashed way more than the people in the raft, but it was refreshing (that day got to 97 degrees) and fun to be paddling on our own.

Hanging around

Friday afternoon after eating lunch at 98 Center and napping, we went wine tasting at Spanish Valley Vineyard, just a bit south of Moab. It was a very casual, relaxed environment. We sipped while looking at the grape vines that our wine came from. The wine was generally very sweet, due to the hot temperatures in Moab, and quite delicious. We brought home a bottle of their Riesling and our souvenir tasting glasses.

Having not budgeted a ton of downtime this trip, this day was much needed after all the hiking and physical activity thus far. It was nice to take it easy, especially as the temperature climbed. I never understood before why the Italians take afternoon siesta, but I get it now - you can't do anything in that heat!

Page

We drove into Page on Saturday, making a brief stop at the Forrest Gump spot outside Monument Valley. Monument Valley was sadly closed (as were all the areas owned by the Navajo Nation), so we weren't able to drive in. We were still treated to some beautiful views though, and it was nice to have another pretty chill day.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding at Lake Powell

On Sunday morning, we drove to Antelope Public Boat Launch to pick up the stand up paddle boards we had reserved through Lake Powell Paddle Boards and Kayaks. It was a sunny, HOT day (91 degrees), so the water in Lake Powell felt wonderfully refreshing.

The way out was a little choppy, but once we headed into Antelope Canyon, it quickly smoothed out (boats are only allowed to go 5mph in there). Paddling through the canyon was serene and beautiful. The white stone walls surrounding us contrasted with the vivid teal-colored water. It was busy, but there were still stretches in which we were the only ones we could see or hear, which felt pretty magical.

At the end of the canyon, we pulled our paddle boards ashore and hiked partway into Antelope Canyon. While the Navajo-owned section was closed, we could still hike into the National Recreation area which was a cool hack. It was awesome to get to wander through the slot canyon - the sandstone walls undulate in such a beautiful way, mimicking the water flow that caused the canyon over millions of years.

If paddling into the canyon was a breeze, paddling back out was rough. Mid-afternoon as we were heading out, a significant windstorm suddenly started up. The water was super choppy and the wind was blowing us violently towards shore, despite our furious paddling. We (and everyone else on the water) ended up having to pull ashore. I saw that many people didn't make it out again, instead having to be rescued by boat. I was proud that we, after waiting about twenty minutes for the heavy wind to subside slightly, grinded it out through the grueling water back to the boat launch. I was especially proud considering we were both dehydrated, having not brought enough water with us (rookie mistake - always bring more water than you think you'll need!!)

We celebrated our victory over the waves that night with a huge, delicious meal from Fiesta Mexicana.

Grand Canyon

On Monday we took a slight detour to hike the Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch trail. This took us through some more slot canyons which was cool to see. Slot canyons are just so cool!! We started midday after sleeping in, so it was HOT in the non-slot canyon part of it (like 90 degrees in the sun hot). We were both happy to get back into the air-conditioned car and head out to our last stop - the Grand Canyon.

We arrived in the Grand Canyon from the East, stopping along at the Desert Viewpoints on our way to the hotel. The first glimpse of the Grand Canyon is always spectacular. I'd been once before with my mom when I was about ten, but it still took my breath away this time. It's just so BIG. It's so big that it's actually quite hard to comprehend when you're looking at it. When you look at it, you're like "Wow, that's pretty big", but then you realize that the whole thing is literally bigger than the state of Delaware and you're like "Woah. I can't even fathom how big this really is".

Monday night we went out to Grand Viewpoint for some stargazing. It wasn't peak stargazing, but it was still pretty amazing. Will figured out how to take nighttime star pictures on our nice Canon camera. These pictures are cool because you can actually see much more than looking with the naked eye.

Tuesday (June 1), was our last full day. We spent the morning biking along the South Rim, (having rented bikes from Bright Angel Bicycles), stopping at various viewpoints between Hopi Point and Hermit's Rest. This is a good bike ride because it's mostly downhill or flat, and has great views and stopping points. It's good to take the shuttle (which accommodates bikes) to Hopi Point and take it back as well, if you want to avoid the most strenuous parts of the ride. We were a bit overambitious in trying to do this one on a 2-hour rental though, and if we did it again we'd definitely spring for a longer rental time just to not feel as pressed for time.

After the bike ride, we walked along the Rim a bit more and checked out Mather Point. Then we grabbed a quick lunch at the bike rental cafe, and drove over to the Grand Canyon Village area. We walked around the rim around the lodges. I was craving ice cream, so we got some and ate it on the rim, enjoying our view of the canyon.

In conclusion,

the Grand Circle was a huge hit. We hit a lot of quintessential National Parks in a short amount of time, and I felt like every day brought something new and cool to see. I liked the order that we did things in, starting with some of the more physically draining things (hiking in Zion, Bryce, and Arches), and ending with more chill activities towards the end when we were getting tired (rafting, paddle boarding, the Grand Canyon). It was definitely a lot to pack into 10 full days, but it was 100% worth it and we had a great time.

If you asked me to pick a favorite stop, I don't know if I could - they're all so different, unique, and beautiful in their own way. I hope that everyone gets the chance to see these parks once in their lifetimes. The landscape of the Southwest is truly unique, dramatic and incredibly stunning.

Let me know if you've been to all or some of these places, or if you're planning to in the future!

Until next time,

Evan