Best Of The American West

Our trip begins in the 'Neon City' of Las Vegas. We'll meet our Tour Leader and the group in the lobby of the Strat Hotel, before departing the bright lights immediately for the wild landscapes of the southwest. Our minibus will leave the Strat Hotel at 4pm, so in order to arrive at the hotel for this time, the latest your flight can arrive is 2pm. We don't provide arrival transfers on this tour, but information on how to reach the hotel will be provided in your final documentation. We will then travel together as a group and the drive will take approximately two hours (200 kilometres) to our hotel for the night in the Utah city of St George. With it's warm weather, historic downtown area and close proximity to Zion National Park, St George is the perfect place to rest for the night. Red sandstone rocks provide the backdrop to the city, and the Mormon influence can be seen in many of the buildings, notably the enormous St George Utah Temple. If flight times into Las Vegas prevent you from landing at 2pm, or if you want to experience this energetic city before your tour starts, we recommend that you book an additional night's accommodation at the Strat Hotel so that you'll be there when the group arrives. Alternatively, there are a multitude of hotels on the famous Strip which you may prefer!

This morning we will take the one hour drive to Zion National Park, aiming to get there early to explore. The main area of the national park that we will visit is Zion Canyon, a 15 mile rift in the beautiful red and tan Navajo sandstone. We may take a walk along the Watchman's Trail, a moderate hike of approximately two hours that will take us past many of the park's famous geological formations, including the Towers of the Virgin and the Altar of Sacrifice. The very end of the walk brings us to a spectacular overlook of the Watchman, a red rock pinnacle that dominates the skyline. Photographic opportunities are plentiful, with a great contrast between the red of the rocks and the running rivers that we'll pass. There are so many walking possibilities in Zion, and your Tour Leader will outline the options to you from the easy to the strenuous. You may wish to walk up to Scout's Lookout, a meandering hike that begins with 21 steep switchbacks, known as Walter's Wiggles, and culminates in one of the most spectacular viewpoints in Zion, a challenging journey of some four hours that affords us some quite breath-taking views down across the valley. There are also plenty of easier options for people to enjoy. For those of us who aren't hikers, the park's shuttle bus takes people along the valley floor with regular stops to get out, explore and jump back on the next vehicle. Quite simply, there is something in Zion for everyone. Later, we drive to Bryce Canyon via Buffalo and Mt Carmel Junction.

Bryce is without doubt one of the natural highlights of this journey - a world of surreal kaleidoscopic sandstone forms that are steeped in the tales of the Paiute tribe. Legend has it that the sandstone 'hoodoo's' of Bryce are in fact the petrified followers of the Coyote God, turned to stone as they stood listening to his angry tirade. Looking out over these towering pillars that litter the floor of Bryce Canyon's great amphitheatre, you could almost believe that you're facing a crowd of people, all awaiting their judgement. This morning we see Bryce at its most radiant, in the golden hues of sunrise as we drive up to Sunrise Point to watch the dawn break across the landscape. This afternoon we will explore something of the myriad shapes and shades of this fairytale realm, hiking along the Navajo Loop, or taking in the grandeur of the Queen's Garden. Bryce was created as a national park in 1928 and is actually a part of the Grand Staircase that follows the rim along the Paunsaugunt Plateau. As you look out across the pink, orange and red spires it is easy to sympathise with Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon farmer who is best remembered for the profound words, 'Well it's a hell of a place to lose a cow!'