I've had quite a few people ask me about our quick trip to the three major parks in the US southwest - Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Antelope Canyon. Everything from tips and tricks to hotels that we stayed at. But I think the most common question I get is how did we do it in three days? Well here's the key - you just have to accept that you won't be able to see everything. We did one day in each park, and even still, we didn't have a super solid plan going in.
We flew in to Vegas late on a Thursday night in December (yep we went in December!), grabbed a car and drove to Mesquite (about halfway to Zion) for the night. From there we went into Zion the next morning and hiked Angel’s Landing and the Zion Canyon Overlook Trail. I'll talk more about Angel's Landing in a bit but just a couple of things to keep in mind depending on the time of year that you decide to go.
If you go in the Winter like we did, you may need to bring, buy, or rent spikes if there's snow or ice. You never know what you'll get weather-wise. In fact, check out our pictures from the entrances of Zion vs. Bryce. One day apart, completely different.
Zion: Angel's Landing & Beyond
We got super lucky as you can see from the pictures, and even though they had gotten 6+ inches of snow the week before, it had already melted when we got to Zion. So the spikes we'd bought at the visitor center (that the guard at the entrance to the park insisted we have) got returned at the end of the day. The other thing to note for going in the Winter is that you can drive your own vehicle in the park. For Angel's Landing, there's a medium sized parking lot that was basically already full by the time we got there probably around 11am. I'd suggest an early morning if you don't want to be parking in somewhat illegal spots.
If you choose to go in the Spring/Summer you cannot take your own vehicle into the park. What you'll have to do is purchase shuttle tickets. My family just went for a few days in April and my friends went two weeks later, and the shuttle tickets sold out in less than 30 minutes. Tickets for the the 1st-15th of the following month go on sale the previous month on the 16th. Tickets for the 16th-30th of the next month go on sale the last day of the previous month. Both happen at 9am Zion local time. The tickets are only $1 per person and once you're in the park you can use them to travel between spots.
When it comes to Angel’s Landing, if you’re afraid of heights or in any way nervous about being a strong enough hiker, I would not recommend doing it. When we went in December there were very few people on the trail, so it made it easy to hang onto the cables almost the entire time, but in the summer I remember it being insanely crowded.
When my parents went in April of 2021, the crowd coming down said that it took them almost 2 hours to get from Scout's Landing to Angel's Landing and that there were almost 200 people up there covering every inch of rock. They weren't even able to get good pictures. But, that was after the trail had been closed for three days. When my friends went a few weeks later (see picture of the start), they were on the first shuttle of the day and went straight there and they said it was okay. In fact, now there's even a ticket that you need to purchase to be able to go up. I'm not sure if this is still the case in the Winter months - just make sure to look at the NPS website - always know before you go :).
In general, plan ahead to make it as safe and comfortable as possible. There’s a reason that it’s considered dangerous and people do die every year. See attached images for an idea of the climb. At some points, it's literally straight up holding cables, very little space to pass other people, and even some rock bridges that were not comfortable for me with a fear of heights. Once you're at the end, there are no ropes or fences of any kind, so stay away from the edges, but there's plenty of space to sit and enjoy the view with a summit snack! Even if you decide not to do the full hike, I’d still say that Walter’s Wiggles to Scout's Landing without going all the way to Angel's Landing is still cool and worth it.
Our original plan was actually to stay in the Zion area that night and then go do the Narrows the next day. However, we couldn’t do the Narrows because the water level was too high, but I did them when I was younger and I’d say that the Narrows and Scout's Landing (if you don’t feel like you can do Angel’s Landing) are two of the best hikes in the park. You can still do the Narrows when the water is high by renting some waders from any of the outfitters in town. However, you do run the risk of flash floods. I'd suggest stopping at the ranger station at the Visitor Center to chat with them about risk.
The Canyon Overlook is just a quick one mile hike that we did near the end of the day. Keep in mind if you're there in the spring/summer, you’ll have more hours in the day than we had. The sun went down in December pretty early, so we had to be picky.
Just outside the park we stayed at the Majestic View Lodge. It was cute and very lodge-like. I recall a lot of wood accents. When I was a kid we stayed at the Desert Pearl Inn. At that time, it was one of the only hotels in the area but now there are a ton. Unfortunately, the hotels are very expensive in the high season. I'd suggest booking early to see if you can get a decent price. When we were there in December, one thing we didn't count on was that while the hotels were indeed open, a lot of their amenities weren't. The restaurant wasn't open and surprisingly, a lot of the restaurants in town weren't either. We ended up having dinner at a pretty fancy restaurant down the street from our hotel called Switchback Grill. It was pretty tasty and seemed pretty busy for how quiet the town was.
Bryce Canyon National Park
On Saturday we were going to do the Narrows, but like I said the water was too high so instead we got up early and drove out to Bryce Canyon and just wandered down Navajo Loop and the Queen’s Garden. It's probably the most common Bryce trail that you'll see on social media and it's a pretty cool trail. But once you get down into the canyon, it gets kind of long and tedious. And then you start to come back up and it’s exhausting. We went counter-clockwise, but I’d probably suggest doing it clockwise.
The one thing that we didn't expect based on how great the trails were in Zion was the 6+ inches of snow still on the ground in Bryce! We were really wishing that we'd kept the spikes. That said, it was so incredible to see the park blanketed in snow, and I had a good (but cold) time making a snow angel!
Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon
That night we drove to Lake Powell and stayed at the Best Western. Woke up and did Antelope Canyon with a Navajo guide. I'd highly recommend adding this to your trip - it’s incredible there. Keep in mind that you are required to have a local Navajo guide with you.
There are a few different companies to choose from and multiple times that you can go during the day. We chose to go with Adventurous Antelope Canyon Photo Tours and I'm so glad that we did. We did a second, smaller slot canyon in addition to the main one and our guide was so great. He told us exactly how to set both iPhones and DSLRs to get the right color settings. He then pointed out some of the best and most unique spots and angels to get a shot. It would have been a very different experience without his guidance.
One thing to keep in mind with this tour is that you'll want to be in decent shape. As you can see from some of the photos, you'll need to be able to squeeze through some tight corners and climb a ladder to get out. I would also recommend skipping this if you're a claustrophobic. There are points where you cannot see the entrance/exit and the canyon closes in over your head. There is also a risk of flash flooding, but your guide should be well-versed in this and will know when NOT to go.
After leaving Antelope Canyon we made a quick stop at Horseshoe Bend (which is just a giant tourist trap and probably overrated and overpriced). I know it's a really popular instagram pic, but I think it was $30 per car and you're there with 100+ other people for maybe 15 minutes.
The other park in the area that some people head to is Escalante. We didn't have time for it but I do have some friends who ended up backpacking it for a few days. I'm not a backpacker, so I won't even get into it. Although I will just point out that it's not like the PNW - you cannot just go number 2 and bury it to biodegrade. You have to carry it around with you the entire time. Not my thing.
I’d probably suggest checking out Lake Powell if you don’t have time for Escalante and you do have some extra time. It’s a beautiful spot. I know you can kayak there and there’s a nice restaurant overlooking the lake.
Anyways, then we drove back to Vegas for late flights home! We tried to stop at the Valley of Fire State Park for sunset, but we literally missed it by 20 minutes. If you go at a time when the sun sets later, I'd highly recommend stopping there for a bit.
It was quite a whirlwind and I wish we had more time, but it was definitely worth it! If you're okay with being flexible, you can absolutely do these three in one long weekend!
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