National Parks & Monuments of Arizona & Utah | May 4-13

May 4 – Phoenix and Flagstaff: Today, board your flight bound for Arizona. On arrival, meet your Universal Travel representative and head off to Flagstaff. This evening enjoy a welcome dinner with your fellow travelers.

Overnight: Little America Flagstaff – (D)

May 5 – Grand Canyon: Enjoy breakfast at your hotel this morning, then board your luxury motor coach, making your way to the Grand Canyon Visitor center. Upon arrival see the acclaimed IMAX movie Grand Canyon – The Hidden Secrets. Next, depart for a driving tour along the South Rim of one of America’s most spectacular landmarks. Nearly two billion years of Earth’s geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River made its way through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. One of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, the Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and attains a depth of over a mile. Enjoy lunch on your own and free time in the Park. After a final glimpse at the  beauty of the Grand Canyon, you’ll head east. Check into your hotel with the remainder of the evening at leisure.

Overnight: Legacy Inn, Moenkopi – (B)

May 6 – Hopi Reservation| Painted Desert | Navajo Nation | Chinle: After a leisurely breakfast this morning, you continue traveling east through the Hopi reservation, the Painted Desert, and the Navajo Nation. The Painted Desert is an expansion of badland hills, flat-topped mesas and buttes. The name refers to the rainbow of colorful sedimentary layers and have often been described as a multicolored layer cake. On your journey today, learn how over the centuries both Hopi and Navajo have survived as a tribe, and to this day managed to retain their culture, language, and religion despite influences from the outside world. This afternoon, you stop at the Hubbell Trading post and stretch your legs. Later today you arrive in Chinle. Dinner will served in the hotel’s dining room.

Overnight: Holiday Inn, Chinle – (B,D)

May 7 – Canyon De Chelly | Monument Valley | Moab: After breakfast enjoy a driving tour along the rim of the Canyon De Chelly, with spectacular views from the scenic overlook into the canyon, including the 800 ft. tall Spider Rock spire and its surrounding, towering, sandstone cliffs. For nearly 5,000 years people have lived in these canyons – longer than anyone has lived uninterrupted anywhere on the Colorado Plateau. Your second stop today is the Oljato Monument Valley – Navajo Tribal Park. Enjoy an included lunch at The View Restaurant with breathtaking views over the valley. After some free time at the visitor center, continue your scenic drive through Monument Valley as you enter Utah. Later today check into your hotel in Moab for the next 3 nights. After some time to freshen up, enjoy a cowboy style BBQ dinner.

Overnight: Springhill Suites by Marriott, Moab – (B,L,D)

May 8 – Colorado River Cruise | Hummer off road tour Wine tasting: Today embark on a one-hour jet boat tour of the Colorado River. You will cruise the calm-water section of the Colorado River in a covered boat as your captain skillfully navigates the jet boat down the river and 2,200 ft. canyon walls tower above. Admire spectacular views of Moab arches, Indian petroglyphs, and a unique view of an Indian granary. Return to your hotel with some free time before you are off to an off-road experience in comfortable, custom 4×4 Hummer vehicles with raised seating in the rear for optimum passenger viewing. Climb to the top of seldom-seen, awe-inspiring overlooks, venture to ancient Indian ruins and writings and return with a new feeling of freedom and unforgettable memories! This evening enjoy a wine tasting at the award winning Castle Creek Winery. After sampling a variety of red and white wines, enjoy dinner at the Red Cliffs Lodge, located on the banks of the mighty Colorado River and surrounded by 2,000 ft. cliffs!

Overnight: Springhill Suites by Marriott, Moab – (B,D)

May 9 – Arches National Park – Canyonlands: After breakfast, you’ll first visit Arches National Park, also known as the Red Rock Wonderland. Admire the landscape of contrasting colors and land forms unlike any other in the world. The park has over 2,000 natural stone arches, in addition to hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive fins, and giant balanced rocks. You return to Moab in time for an included lunch. Early this afternoon head back out exploring the mighty Canyonlands, the largest national park in Utah. The park is best known for its dramatic desert landscape carved by the Colorado River. Soak in indescribable views from the Island in the Sky, a huge, flat-topped mesa with panoramic overlooks. Another stop today is at Dead Horse Point before returning to your hotel with the remainder of the evening to relax.

Overnight: Springhill Suites by Marriott, Moab – (B,L)

May 10 – Travel day on Scenic Byway 12 with panoramic views  Capital Reef National Park | Boulder Mtn. | Staircase Escalante: After a leisurely breakfast and checking out of your hotel, your journey continues southwest today along scenic Bypass 12. First you will see Capital Reef National Park. Even considering Utah’s many impressive national parks and monuments, it is difficult to rival Capitol Reef National Park’s sense of expansiveness, of broad, sweeping vistas, of a tortured, twisted, seemingly endless landscape or of limitless sky and desert rock… it’s almost like a planet unto itself! With lunch on your own along the route, you will continue on Byway 12, the gem of all scenic drives, and there really is nothing quite like it. Enjoy the panoramic views of Boulder Mountain and drive along the Escalante National Monument. Over the last 20 years, Grand Staircase-Escalante has claimed its place as a crown jewel equal to Utah’s national parks. The monument is world renowned for its remarkable stunning scenery and its vast expanses of the Navajo sandstone. You arrive in the afternoon at your hotel located just outside of Bryce Canyon National Park. Tonight dinner is on your own.

Overnight: Bryce – (B)

May 11 – Bryce Canyon National Park | Red Canyon: Bryce Canyon National Park, a sprawling reserve in southern Utah, is known for its spire-shaped rock  formations formed by weathering and stream erosion of the river. Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 ft. and the red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide you with spectacular views! After an included lunch you will have a photo op at Red Canyon. This area has been called the “most photographed place in Utah”. After checking into your hotel and some free time, enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.

Overnight: Springdale – (B,L,D)

May 12 – Zion National Park: Today you visit and tour Zion National Park, Utah’s oldest and perhaps most famous and one of the most visited National Parks in the US! It is believed the first people to explore what is now Zion National Park entered the canyon looking for food. Thousands of years later more than 4 million people come from around the world to feed more than their bodies. After a leisurely lunch on your own, you leave all the Parks and monuments behind as you enter Nevada. This afternoon check into your hotel, located at Lake Las Vegas. Tonight, enjoy a farewell dinner on the resorts grounds.

Overnight: Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa – (B,D)

May 13 – Flight home: This morning after a leisurely breakfast you check into the airport for your flight home. Fond memories of your Southwest Adventure will last forever! – (B)

INCLUSIONS:

• Roundtrip airfare to Phoenix and back home
• Full size luxury motor coach for 10 days
• Professional Tour guide throughout the itinerary
• Nine nights in 3 and 4-star accommodations
• 18 meals – 9 breakfast, 3 lunches, 6 dinners
• Admissions Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches National Parks
• IMAX movie Grand Canyon – “The Hidden Secrets”
• Colorado River Jet-Boat tour
• 4×4 Hummer off-road adventure
• Wine tasting at an award wining winery
• Luggage handling for one bag per person (excludes airline baggage fees)
• All resort, hotel, service, and government fees
• All gratuities for drivers and guides

$750.00 deposit due to confirm the reservation Cash or Check Payment

Final payment due Jan 20, 2023

50% non-refundable Jan 25, 2023

100% non-refundable Feb 25, 2023

Cash or Check Payments

Please note: The best times to visit the Canyons and National Parks on this itinerary, are March through May & September through November when daytime temperatures are cool and the crowds are thin. In mid April the mornings & evenings can still be quite chilly.