South Rim, Grand Canyon
Okay, I realize I might sound like a crazy person to write a post about how to visit Vegas, The Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon and Zion National Park in one weekend. I mean, who wants to cram all of that in that short of time? Probably not most people. But, I’m telling you right now, it was awesome. The reason we did this in such a short amount of time was because we only had a weekend before we had to go to Vegas for work. Thank god for my co-worker/road trip buddies who made the trip a blast.
Disclaimer (sorta): This trip is not for the faint of heart, but man it was worth it and totally doable!
sunrise @ HorseShoe Bend
The adventure starts here…
Step 1
Fly to Vegas after work on Friday. Get in around 8-9pm and rent a car at the Vegas airport. You can also get an RVShare rental in Vegas which would make things that much more fun! Check out RV rental Las Vegas here.
Step 2
Drive in the dark (hating life) about 3 hours and 40 mins to the Grand Canyon Inn (cheap 3 star hotel) close to the Grand Canyon Village. Go immediately to sleep since it’s LATE.
Step 3
Wakey wakey at 9am and drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Eat breakfast before you enter the park (there are a few options in the town before you enter).
Step 4
Pay $25 to get in the gate of the GC and grab a map. First, drive to Yavapai Point to get your morning view with no crowds (we went in April).
Step 5
Take millions of pics and freak out because the Grand Canyon is so amazing. Sit on a few ledges. Either walk down the path to your right or to the left to get more awesome views.
Step 6
Drive from the visitor center down Desert View Drive to stop at Desert View watchtower and cool points along the way like, Navajo Point, Moran Point, Grandview Point and Yaki Point. All of these points are equally beautiful, but most of them looked similar, so you probably don’t need to stop at all of them.
Step 7
Eat lunch/linner in the Village at El Tovar Hotel or the Bright Angel Lodge
Step 8
Okay, by now you’ve seen a lot of the Grand Canyon. You’ve seen lots of different views. Yes, you never actually went in the canyon, but you only have a weekend so it’s time to get going to…..
Step 9
Page, AZ! You’re driving here tonight and it’s going to take you about 2 hours and 2o mins through a lot of cool scenery and Navajo reservations. You can stop and get buffalo jerky and turquoise jewelry at shops along the way. Try staying at the Days Inn and Suites in Page. You’ll be tired, but they have a hot tub so might be a good idea…just sayin.
Step 10
OKAY! This morning you have to wake up EARLY to catch sunrise at Horseshoe Bend! It’s a 10 min drive from the hotel and you just need to do a few mins of walking to get there. The views are amazing and there aren’t any crowds at this time!
Step 11
After you’ve taken 100 pics here and have watched the sun rise, it’s time to go eat breakfast and check out from the hotel. It’s now time for Antelope Canyon!
Step 12
Drive to Antelope Canyon in time for the 9:45am/10am tour. We used Ken’s tours and it was great! If you want pics like I have below, I recommend staying a little bit behind your tour so you don’t have a bunch of tourists and your group in your pictures. After the tour, get an early lunch in Page, AZ. I recommend Big John’s Texas BBQ. They have huge meat smokers outside.
Step 13
Since you’re already there, stop at Lake Powell (you’ll be right next to it). It’s now time to get back on the road because you’e heading to Zion National Park in Utah! You didn’t realize you were that close did ya?
Step 14
Drive 1 hour and 45 mins to Zion National Park. Drive through the park and do the little Canyon Overlook hike to the scenic view point. Should take about 45 mins. Unfortunately you won’t have a ton of time to go deep into Zion, but at least you’ll be able to see it and get fantastic views!
Step 15
Okay now you’re tired…and it’s time to drive back to Vegas because you have to go to Thunder from Down Under tonight. JEEZ, are you crazy?! Drive 2 hours 40 mins back to Vegas and arrive around 7pm, relax for a second and it’s time for a night out in Vegas!
Hopefully you had fun!
Note: You can also take a helicopter from Vegas to the Grand Canyon!
Are you tired just reading this? I certainly am, but it was such a blast and I highly recommend it! Even if you can take a few days off you’ll love it. We ended up going to Vegas for work so didn’t have to fly out of Vegas on Sunday which was pretty nice! I hope this tells you a good way to see a bunch of stuff in a short amount of time!
Wow. I’m tired reading it but also a bit jealous as I’ve never seen it.
Hello!! Your trip is fun. This Spring Break,I am planning to go to Grand Canyon West Rim,GC South Rim.
I still go back and forth about going to Horseshoe Bend >Lower Antelope>Zion National Park >Las Vegas from Flagstaff.
I am not sure how is the road from Antelope, page to Zion National Park? Is it danger to drive after the sunset?
Do you think I can do all this in one day? Or should I sleep a night near Zion National Park before drive to Las Vegas?
No it should be safe! I don’t know if I’d do it all in one day, but you can definitely do part of it! Yes, I would sleep a night near Zion before going back to Vegas! 🙂