Sand Boarding at the Dunes For a small fee you can rent sand boards near the National Park, they do not rent inside the park. We rented for a the day and really had a blast around sunset. There were clouds rolling in, which gave us some nice shade. Definitely go early morning or near sunset, because the sand is super hot!! We went again the next day around 11 am and we didn’t last very long. The sand was unbearably hot!
 Zapata Falls
Short, easy, rocky hike to the creek. If you follow the creek upstream you will come to a beautiful waterfall. The water is ice cold! This is not in the National Park, but just down the road from the park entrance.
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 Such an interesting National Park. Lots of history and some neat views of the ruins. Many pit houses and cliff dwellings. I would highly recommend booking a tour of a cliff dwelling. We weren’t so lucky. You have to book online at 8 am, exactly 2 weeks in advance. I missed it by a day and looked daily for openings with no luck. They no longer take day of reservations for tours, everything is done online…pretty disappointing. A guided tour is the only way to see the ruins up close. There are no more self-guided tours at Spruce Tree House. I does look like they have plans to renovate it in the future, so I really hope that happens. Also, summer of 2023 the park was doing road work. We were only able to see half of the park. We tried to make the most of our time at Mesa Verde even though we were unable to see the whole park and also missed out on a guided tour. Views from the Overlooks
 Petroglyph Point Hike This was a really fun hike. It was advertised as strenuous, and it was. You could walk just the top half to climb down to see the petroglyphs and go back, but I would suggest doing the whole thing. It was a beautiful hike! Dark Sky ParkWe stayed at many dark sky parks on this trip, but Mesa Verde was the best view of the stars due to a full moon at the other parks. I never figured out how to take a night sky photo with our Cannon camera, so my iPhone is all I could get!
Page, Arizona is a beautiful town. So much to see and do in the area. Some of our favorite excursions were near Page! Hiking The Wave, touring Antelope Canyon X, seeing Horseshoe Bend at sunset, and swimming at Lone Rock were all such fun experiences! The WAVEThis was definitely a bucket list hike! Months in advance I applied for a permit for this hike and somehow won! They only allow up to 20 groups and 60 people to hike per day. I really didn’t realize how hard it was to get a permit until we were here. Many locals were shocked we got one and said they knew people that were trying for years! The day before the hike, we attended their safety meeting. Road conditions, safety for hiking in the heat, and trail tips were all covered. Honestly, besides road conditions the rest we were already prepared for. The meeting actually was more of a scare tactic for us, we are pretty experienced hikers and this meeting made us be over prepared. The hike itself is about 3-4 miles one way, depending on how much you venture off to see surrounding features. I would say the hike is a moderate hike, about 1000 feet elevation gain. There were actually more trail markers than we thought and you can see other hikers tracks in the sand. We downloaded the AllTrails map and had no problems navigating our way. We even went to see some other rock formations that were off the trail. The hardest part of the hike was beating the heat. We started at sunrise around 5:30 am. It was going to be in the 90’s by 10:30 am so our goal was to be back to the truck by then. A sunrise start was perfect. We were in the shade pretty much the whole way to The Wave. Horseshoe Bend
Pay $10 for the parking fee and walk about 1/2 mile to see the overlook. We went and sunset and saw some spectacular colors! Antelope Canyon XWe chose to take the Antelope Canyon X Tour because we wanted smaller crowds in the slot canyon. “X” is the same canyon as the iconic Antelope Canyon just a different part. We only had 13 people in our group and were given lots of time to wander around the slot canyon on our own. It was exactly what we were looking for in our slot canyon experience. Our guide was great and took pictures for us and gave tips on camera settings. Swimming SpotsWith the heat we definitely needed to cool off. We checked out two swimming spots. Lake Powell is huge, so I'm sure there were more in the area. 
Lone Rock Beach Lone Rock was an actual beach. You do have to drive on dirt roads and sand to get there, but we felt pretty safe since people had their campers right on the beach. It would be a fun spot to camp someday. However, when the wind picked up tents and sand were flying.
 Antelope Point Marina Beach
Antelope Marina was nice, but not much of a beach. You have to walk down the rocks and there were little nooks to hang out on, big drop offs though! The water was refreshing!  North RimWe spend two days exploring the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We took a UTV tour to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon through Kanab Tour Company. It was a really fun way to see the Grand Canyon. Our guide, Colton, was great and happened to be the mayor of Kanab!! We did over 70 miles off-roading through the Kailab National Forest and were able to stop at multiple view points of the Grand Canyon! This was a pretty cool way to see the back country! Hiking
Cape Final Trail About a 4 mile trail. Perfect if you don't have a lot of time. Mostly shaded through the forest, perfect for this hot day. The trail leads to some beautiful views!
Bright Angel Point Trail Easy walk to a lookout, less than a mile. Close to the visitor center.
 Cape Royal Trail Easy paved trail, about a mile. Great views of the canyon and a natural bridge. Spear Grass Wars  Our UTV guide showed the kids the fun of Spear Grass! All our hikes afterwards involved Spear Grass wars, LOL!
Kanab was our home to see lots of amazing features in this area. We stayed at Crazy Horse RV Campground. It was very small, but had a really nice pool…exactly what we needed in this heat. It was high 90’s and even 100’s while we were there, so a pool was a necessity for our Wisconsin blood! Zion National Park
E-Bikes About an hour drive from our campground was Zion. We spent one day at Zion National Park. We chose to rent E-bikes from Zion Peddler, highly recommend!!! We picked our bikes up at 6 am and headed on the Pa’Rus trail in Zion. This trail is only for bikes, pedestrians, and shuttles! We didn’t see a soul until we hit the Scout’s Lookout trail! It was amazing! Seeing the park from an E-bike was so cool and so fun! Scout Lookout This is a very challenging trail, 3.6 with over 1,000 feet elevation gain. This is the trail that leads to Angel’s Landing. You can do all of the trail except for the last 1/2 mile of Angel’s Landing unless you won a lottery reservation, which we did not. Highly recommend doing Scout Lookout even if you didn’t get an Angel’s Landing reservation. It has some amazing views!  The NarrowsThe Narrows This is definitely one of my favorite hikes of all time! It definitely lives up to the hype! We chose not to rent the boots, socks, and walking sticks, but its a great option if you don’t have your own equipment. Mia and I wore our hiking boots with wool socks, Travis wore an old pair of sneakers, and Jess wore his Keen sandals. I would say it all depends on your skill level and experience hiking through water. I personally need the ankle support on uneven terrain, so my hiking boots were perfect. Travis and Jess are more agile and don’t have the weak ankles so their choices worked for them. We hiked 8 miles in total and the further we got the less people we saw. The highest water levels we had to walk through was chest deep, Mia was happy to get a ride from her big brother! It was about 10:30 and a little cooler in the Narrows so she wasn’t ready to get soaked yet. By the afternoon, we were all swimming in the deeper parts to stay cool! The water was actually not as cold as I thought and with my hiking boots, my feet never got too cold. It was a beautiful hike! Kanab
 Sand Caves Fun little scramble up the sandstone to see the Sand Caves. Easy to get to, just park in the lot next to Moqui Caves and follow the path to the sandstone, scramble up and walk to the caves. Make sure to wear good shoes for traction, although my kids did it in their crocs…I wouldn’t recommend!
Belly of the Dragon
Literally right off of the parking lot, fun little walk for the kids and a nice place to stay cool! Bryce Canyon National Park
Only a 2 hour drive from Capitol Reef, we enjoyed a slow morning and took our time getting to Bryce. I would recommend taking the scenic route 12 if you have time and not a huge rig. We drove to Escalante the day before without the camper, lots of elevation gain, twisty roads, but very beautiful! 
Navajo Loop One of our favorites! This was our first look at the beauty of Bryce Canyon! On the Navajo Loop you will see the iconic Thor's Hammer and Wall Street. There are some fun switchbacks and some elevation gain, but a really fun trail!
Queens Garden We combined this one with the Navajo Loop, it was a great hike. Steep coming up to the top, but worth it. Peekaboo Loop Another one of our favorite hikes! Very hard hike. We gain 1500 feet elevation during this 5 mile hike. So many cool spots to stop for pictures, which helps you catch your breath, LOL! Seriously, a great hike and so many great views of the hoodoos!
Mossy Cave Trail Beautiful little hike to a waterfall! The water was really strong and very cold! Felt great on this hot day.
Sunset Point to Sunrise Point
We missed the glow of sunset, I would suggest getting there at least an hour beforehand. The next morning we woke up early for sunrise and it was spectacular! Capitol Reef National Park We had a short 5 hour drive to Torrey, Utah. We were able to get set up and enjoy some pool time at our campground, Thousand Lakes. Then we headed to the National Park for a couple of fun hikes! Hiking at Capitol Reef Sulphur Creek Waterfall Hike This is a easy 1/2 mile hike right behind the visitor center. Such a beautiful hike with a small waterfall at the end to cool off! Grand Wash Trail to the Narrows Another easy hike, we did this hike around 6 pm and it was mostly shaded! It was a stunning walk through the canyon.   Lower Calf Creek Waterfall Hike This hike is in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It was a little over an hour from Capitol Reef. This was a 6 mile hike to the Lower Calf Creek Waterfall. It was a very hot and sandy hike, but it was well worth the effort. The falls were beautiful and the water was extremely cold, but we all jumped in anyway!  Cassidy Arch Trail This was a moderate hike with lots of elevation gain, around 700 feet. This hike tested my fear of heights. There were some really scary moments for me, which made this a difficult hike for me. If you are not afraid of heights, the hardest part is the first mile with the elevation gain. The arch is fascinating and you can even walk on top of the arch. I opted out of that, LOL!  Petroglyph Trail On this easy little walk on boardwalks you can see a number of petroglyphs, pretty cool!  Goosenecks and Sunset Point This is a great spot for sunrise or sunset. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the best nights for this with the clouds. It was still a pretty spot and easy walk/hike.  Fruita You can visit the old Mormon settlement of Fruita in Capitol Reef National Park. You can see the old one room schoolhouse, the Gifford House, and the orchards. You can visit the Gifford house for fresh pies each morning. It’s a great place to have a picnic lunch in the shade of the huge trees and the company of deer. |
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