We just returned from a 9-day road trip through parts of Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. The kids had never been to any of those states, and while Eddie and I had been to Arizona and Nevada, it was our first time in Utah. We drove 1,500 miles, stayed in 6 different hotels, and visited four National Parks. It was a trip that we will not soon forget, and one that I would highly recommend to anyone with children (I’d say 5+ but I think it depends on your kids and how much you want to do with them).

For this trip, we flew into Phoenix, Arizona and rented a car – we went with a mid-size SUV with 4×4 drive and it was perfect for what we needed. Our itinerary was:

• Scottsdale, AZ – 2 nights
• Sedona, AZ – 2 nights
• Grand Canyon – 1 night
• Moab, Utah – 1 night
• Springdale, UT – 1 night
• Las Vegas, NV – 1 night

*Our original itinerary had us in Springdale for 2 nights and our plan was not to stay in Vegas overnight, but we decided we wanted a night in Vegas, so we made the switch and booked a night. And technically, we did stay in Vegas 2 nights due to Caleb having a stomach virus and us not being able to get on our original flight.

Stop 1: Scottsdale, Arizona

Stay: Residence Inn by Marriott Scottsdale North – we are big fans of Marriott hotels and we use their loyalty program, so whenever there is a reasonable option in the Marriott family, we book it. I love staying at Residence Inns because they are clean, family friendly (they usually come with a kitchen), and they include breakfast. Eddie and I also like that we have a separate bedroom from the kids. This one was updated, had a nice pool area, and even had a small mini golf area for kids.

Do

We decided to stop in Scottsdale because Eddie’s childhood best friend lives there. We have stayed in touch with their family over the years, we attended one another’s weddings, etc. But we hadn’t seen them in over 10 years, so we felt it was time! Our time in Scottsdale wasn’t super structured because we really were just going to hang out with them. We did eat at two great restaurants, though!

Eat

Isabella’s Kitchen – We had a really delicious lunch here. The weather was gorgeous, and the kids got to run around on the lawn.

Ocean 44 – An upscale restaurant featuring seafood and steak. Everything was delicious here and the ambiance was 10/10.

The drive from Scottsdale to Sedona is about 125 miles, 2h 15m long.

Stop 2: Sedona, Arizona

Stay: We stayed in a cute little AirBnB. Again, we loved having a kitchen and a separate bedroom from the kids. Also, an area to sit and relax and watch a movie AND a washer and dryer to do some laundry. The location was good – about 10 minutes outside of downtown Sedona, 2 minutes away from a Whole Foods, and with some hiking trails nearby.

Do

• A Pink Jeep Tour is a must. We had so much fun on this (I also did it when I was 16 and went with my parents, and it was fun then, too). We did the Broken Arrow Trail.
• Teacup Trail – this is a trail that was right by our AirBnB. It was strenuous enough to feel like we were doing something, but easy enough that the kids could do it. We only had to pick Chloe up once at the very end. There are so many trails in Sedona, though, so check out what works for you! (Devil’s Bridge is supposed to be a very popular one.)
• Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village – This is a cute little area to walk around and spend some times. Lots of galleries, shops, and restaurants. We ate at El Rincon Mexican Restaurant.

Eat

• We had lunch at The Hudson. It gets packed immediately. Our friends had made a reservation, but we waited until they opened anyway so we could get a spot on the terrace. Lunch was delicious and the views were worth waiting for!
• We also ate at Shorebird Sedona. Service was great, if you can get a table on the patio – the views are amazing!

The drive from Sedona to the Grand Canyon is about 114 miles, 2h 15m long.

Stop 3: Grand Canyon, Arizona

Stay: We stayed at the Yavapai Lodge, located in the Grand Canyon Village. While the word lodge makes it sound tiny, this place has multiple buildings. Upon arrival, you check in at the main lodge building and then you go to whichever building has your room. Buildings are all two stories and have no elevators, so if you hav mobility issues, make sure you request a room on the bottom floor. The rooms were clean, spacious, and convenient if you want to spend a full day at the Grand Canyon.

Do

It’s a National Park, so do everything you can! We walked a good portion of the South Rim trail, which is all paved and easy to walk. You can find all the info you need on the Grand Canyon National Park website. I highly recommend checking the NPS website for each park you want to visit in advance of your trip to make sure you know what requirements there are for entry. We actually entered the park through the East Entrance at Desert View – lines are shorter there, and Desert View has some amazing views of the Colorado River, as well as a scenic drive with many scenic view stops.

Eat

There is a restaurant at Yavapai Lodge. We ate here and the food was pretty good! It’s counter service and then they bring the food out to you. There is also a grocery store with most of what you would need! We stocked up on snacks and breakfast items for the following day since we knew we would be leaving very early.

The drive from the Grand Canyon to Page, AZ is about 131 miles, 2h 30m long.

Stop 4: Antelope Canyon

DO NOT MISS THIS if you have the opportunity. We booked our tour pretty last minute, so I used Viator, but that means I payed tons of extra fees. Book directly with the Navajo Tours here. Tours depart from a little spot just outside Page, AZ. (Page has a few restaurants and hotels.) When you arrive, you check in and you wait for a truck to pick up your group. Our group was 11 people total. The drive to the slot canyon is about 15 minutes, and is bumpy and sandy. Make sure you bring sunglasses. The canyon itself is an easy walk and is cool inside. Our tour guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and so helpful with taking photos! The tour was about an hour and a half, including the drive from the pickup spot.

The drive from Antelope Canyon to ULUM Moab is about 251 miles, 4h long.

Stop 5: Moab, Utah

Stay/Do/Eat

We were lucky enough to be hosted by ULUM Moab, a new concept by the same brand that brings UnderCanvas resorts to life. ULUM is focused on luxurious sustainability. We loved our stay here. There are a couple of cool hikes you can do nearby, and there is a restaurant onsite. In the evening there were s’mores and there was live music. It was such a perfect way to wind down at the end of the day. The tents are spread out across the property, and my first thought was “how the heck do we get our bags to the tent?” I had no need to fear, an employee brings a golf cart around to your car, loads it up with your luggage, and drives you to the tent. Upon departure, you call them and they will do the same.

ULUM is located about 40 minutes away from Arches National Park, and there are a lot of other cool scenic points and hikes nearby. The resort itself is located off the same road as Looking Glass Arch, pictured above. We took a short hike up to the arch and it was a good activity to wrap up our day. There is also an old cowboy room and the remnants of a cattle pen. The kids loved seeing this.

The drive from ULUM Moab to Arches National Park is about 39 miles, 40 minutes long.

Stop 6: Arches National Park

We woke up early this morning and headed out – we had a long day ahead of us with multiple stops. Our first stop was Arches National Park. This was a beautiful park with many scenic overlooks, opportunities for hikes, and a picnic area. One thing to note about Arches National Park is that they do require a timed ticket entry from April 1 – October 31, 2023. You can get that here.

We actually missed our original entry because we hadn’t calculated time changes from Arizona to Utah (AZ does not do Daylight Savings), but they do release entries at 6 pm the evening prior. I set an alarm and logged on right at 6 and I was able to get a timed entry ticket for the following morning (they do go really quickly). If you don’t get a timed entry ticket, you can enter before 7 am or after 4 pm.

Arches is a very cool park that has over 2000 arch formations, balanced rocks, fins, and pinnacles. The most popular hikes were very busy and the parking lots very full, but there were a few areas that weren’t as busy and we were able to walk around a little. There wasn’t really anywhere to get food here (there was a water filling station at the Visitor Center), but there were a few little towns on the way in and on the way out where you could easily stop for a quick bite. I’d recommend packing snacks and easy to carry meals with you just in case!

The drive from Arches National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park is 270 miles and just over 4 hours.

Stop 7: Bryce Canyon National Park

We drove straight to Bryce Canyon National Park from Arches National Park. This was a super cool drive through many small towns and with gorgeous sweeping vistas of the desert and Utah’s mountain ranges. Around Bryce Canyon there are several places to stop, eat, and even stay the night (just outside of the national Park entrance is Bryce Canyon City). Bryce Canyon has the largest concentration of hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) anywhere on Earth. This was one of the parks we enjoyed the most. Why? Being from Miami means snow is an anomaly for us and there was still snow on the ground! This canyon is located at the top of a very high plateau, and the elevation was about 8,000 feet. This gave us sweeping views of the red canyon filled with hoodoos, trees, and blanketed with snow. It was truly beautiful!

The drive from Bryce Canyon National Park to Springdale was 83 miles and about 2 hours. The route we used took us directly through Zion National Park to get into Springdale, which was a beautiful way to end the drive.

Stop 8: Springdale & Zion National Park

Stay: We stayed at La Quinta Inn & Suites Springdale. It was a very cute property with a pool, and it is completely surrounded by the beautiful vistas of Zion. Breakfast was included and they had the usual options of yogurt, cereal, eggs, bread and pastries. The room was spacious and clean, and the hotel is located less than a mile from the entrance to Zion National Park. The town of Springdale is very cute. There were hotels, restaurants, and adventure outfitters all along this strip of a town right outside of the park.

Eat: We had a great meal at Thai Sapa. It was packed and we did have to wait a little bit, but the food was great. Everything here was pretty much shutting down at 9 pm, so plan ahead for that.

Do: Zion National Park was by far the busiest of all the parks we went to (Grand Canyon was a close second). Unfortunately, It was so busy that we were not able to park and get on the shuttle that takes you through the scenic road (only the park shuttles are allowed on this road during this time of year). We drove on the Zion-Mt.Carmel Highway and pulling off wherever we could to see the sights.

Additionally, we ended up doing a short hike along the banks of Pine Creek and it was perfect for the kids. It was also not at all crowded, which I know can be a problem on some of the more popular trails and sights. There is a lot more to see in Zion, so we will definitely make our way back here someday, but it was absolutely amazing just getting to be there.

The drive from Springdale to Las Vegas was 160 miles and 2.5 hours.

Stop 9: Las Vegas, Nevada

Stay

We didn’t plan on staying here at all originally, just coming in for the day and flying out that evening, but I’m glad we did. We all had a great time. Eddie booked us at the Venetian Hotel. The rooms are all suites, with plenty of space to spread out. The kids loved the pool area, there was music, there were lifeguards, and there were plenty of kids on the side where they were allowed.

When Caleb got sick, we ended up staying at the Candlewood Suites near the airport. The overnight staff at the front desk was amazing and so helpful to us. The room was clean, spacious, and had a full kitchen. If you need a room near the airport, this was a great one.

Eat

• We ate at Buddy V’s, a casual Italian dining spot by Buddy Valastro (of Cake Boss fame). The food was solid, the service was great – they were actually amazing with the kids. GET THE CANNOLI for dessert.
• Spago at the Bellagio – One of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants, this one sits right by the Bellagio fountains, and the music for the fountain’s shows gets piped in. The food was pretty good, and service was great.

What To Do in Las Vegas

• Ride the Gondolas at the Venetian – yes, yes so cliched, but the kids LOVED it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat to see the looks on their faces.
• Visit Hoover Dam – about a 40 minute drive out of Vegas, I recommend checking this out. We did a very superficial visit, but the kids thought it was very cool.
• Visit as many hotels as you can! There is so much to see and do, and the kids were as fascinated by everything as we were. We visited the Wynn, the Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, and the Venetian. They were all spectacular.
• The kids absolutely loved spending time at the pool.
• If we had planned it better, I would have taken them to see a show! There are so many options.
• Drive up and down The Strip – it’s a good way to see the exteriors of the hotel. A word of caution – be so careful driving in Vegas. They have a no tolerance policy for speeding and we may have gotten a speeding ticket.

The End

Overall, there isn’t really anything I’d change about this trip, except maybe add a night between Moab and Zion. We did two National Parks in one day and drove about 7 hours total, which was pretty exhausting. The National Parks are an amazing way to immerse yourself in nature, and there is something for every skill level. You can see so much even from your car, there are paved walking trails, and there are more difficult hikes. The NPS websites for each park provide so much information, and the Visitor Center and Park Rangers are a wealth of knowledge.

Pick up snacks, drinks, and GAS wherever you can. Some of the parks had food in or nearby, but at others it was a little more difficult to get to. All of them did have water refilling stations, so bring your reusable bottles!

Happy Planning, adventurers!

xoxo,