How To Have An Epic Southwest Road Trip

Have you ever thought of how far roughly 1,400 miles can take you? In six days, I took an epic and adventurous road trip with the best of friends. This road trip totaled to around 1,400 miles. A road trip like the one I am about to share with you is not for the faint of heart or bony bums. This itinerary is going to cover northern Arizona and southern Utah. Strap in for this crazy ride!

Day 1 – 264 miles

My husband and I flew to Phoenix, Arizona to meet up with my cousin and her fiance. After sorting out the rental car situation and playing Tetris to fit luggage, we were off! First stop on the road trip is Flagstaff to see the Route 66 sign and have some lunch. Mother Road Brewing Company is a great pit stop for lunch and some beers. The brewery is right by the Flagstaff visitor center where you can get a picture with the Route 66 sign in the parking lot. FYI, watch for cars, I almost got hit by one here.

Full bellies and excitement at an all time high, we were on the way to a natural wonder- the Grand Canyon. A visit to the Grand Canyon is a must. Driving through the park you are met with elk walking around which is amazing to see in itself. Upon walking up to the first viewpoint of the Grand Canyon, I was blown away. The best word to describe it is “grand”. Seeing the Grand Canyon in person exceeds expectations. My suggestion is to visit during sunset hours where the colors are at their best. Spend time walking around the trails to get different views. Please be careful with walking close to the edge.

Be aware that you should book a hotel near the Grand Canyon in advance. Options are pretty limited. We stayed at the Grand Canyon Inn for one night. It is about 30 minutes from the park entrance and is a good place for rest. The hotel has a restaurant with many food options. You can also find lodging options within the park- look into Grand Canyon village.

Day 2 – 151 miles

Next morning we woke up ready to tackle another exciting day. We made a stop by the Grand Canyon one more time for breakfast and soaking in more views. At the bright angel gift shop, right outside the doors there is a walk up counter that serves breakfast burritos with awesome views over looking the Grand Canyon. Highly recommend this for quick morning breakfast and relaxation.

Quick bite to eat and a couple stops at different viewpoints, we were then off to Page Arizona. I personally have been wanting to visit the Antelope Canyon for a long time which was the reason for a stop in Page. The antelope canyon is broken out into the Upper and Lower Canyons. You can access the canyons only by a guided tour. The canyons are on Navajo land and are highly protected. The tour we went with was Dixie’s Lower Antelope Canyon tour and is a good company to take a tour with.

Walking through the Lower Antelope Canyon is a dream! It is amazing to see how water over time has eroded this canyon into beautiful formations. Look up, look back, and all around to see different rock formations. Our guide pointed out the different spots and angles photographers have taken and made millions off of. If you visit Arizona, I hope you take a tour of Antelope Canyon.

After the tour to Lower Antelope Canyon and some rest, I recommend visiting Horseshoe Bend for sunset like we did. Mid day also shows the blue waters of the river below, so anytime of day is actually great. The wind can blow hard, depending on the time of year you visit, which happened to us. Horseshoe Bend is a unique viewpoint. To capture the whole bend, have a wide angle lens at the ready. If you visit for sunset, stay for the whole sunset. It may get more beautiful as the time goes on. We left right before the colors really popped and wish we stayed longer.

Day 3 – 390 Miles

The third day was very exciting, adventurous, and most miles driven. Many stops on the road trip to Moab, Utah. First stop is to see the Welcome to Utah sign. There is plenty of pull off space for cars to come in and take pictures. Next, one of the best stops on the trip that I looked forward to the most, Monument Valley. Driving through Monument Valley is beautiful at any time of day and the vast scenery is awe-inspiring. Forrest Gump look out is infamous from the movie and many stop here to get the photo! It is definitely worth it, do it!

After leaving Forrest Gump viewpoint, shortly up the road is the Mexican Hat rock formation. We quickly stopped here for a few fun pictures and continued on. One of the best things about driving through Utah is the scenery changes in the blink of an eye. The constant change makes the road trip beautiful and never boring, at least in my opinion. I fell in love with Utah from this trip alone and cannot wait to be back one day.

Couple hours later we finally made it to our destination- Moab! On our trip we spent two nights in Moab. Definitely recommend more time there, say 3-4 days. Upon arriving, we offloaded our luggage at the Airbnb and didn’t rest, we were off onto the next part of the adventure. Moab has two national parks to access – Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. With a half a day to spare, we hit the main sites of the Canyonlands National Park.

The opening photo of this blog is from Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. This is a great spot for Sunrise photography. I didn’t get to experience it at sunrise, but keep it in mind for your future trip. It is a quick walking trail up to this viewpoint, no major hike. Canyonlands is a good park to drive around and get out to outlook points. I personally felt a couple hours at Canyonlands was plenty of time to see around the park.

Night of Day 3

At this point you would think around 4 hours of driving, seeing viewpoints upon arrival to Moab, and eating a big dinner would have us put out. You are wrong! The next thing I wanted to do is get pictures of the Milky Way in Arches National Park. Keep in mind, at this point we have yet to visit Arches National Park. The weather in the evening at this point is a little cloudy. To pass some time until complete darkness, we relaxed in the Airbnb hot tub. An hour later, the sky cleared enough to go out and take pictures.

I get yearly Milky Way stats from another blog called “Capture the Atlas”. This photographer has amazing Milky Way photography and provides tips and tricks to capturing the Milky Way. I used this blog to figure out where to look in the sky for the Milky Way. The Windows Arches is the spot where I landed on to take pictures this night. Now back to the adventure… We drove into Arches National Park in the pitch black darkness, looking out for the Milky Way. We arrived to the The Windows parking lot, grabbed the gear and flashlights to walk out into a dark trail. If you do something similar to this, please be careful, use flashlights, specifically with a red setting.

While setting up my photography equipment and waiting out the Milky Way to show itself, I met another fellow photographer in the same exact spot. The app guiding this photographer and therefore us, was a good indication we were in the right spot. I appreciate meeting other photographers who share tips and tricks and because of this, I got the magical shot. Seeing and capturing the Milky Way in the middle of somewhere unknown is an exciting adventure. One of my favorite photos to date that continues to inspire me to get out in the night more often.

Day 4 – 64 miles

Due to an adventurous night and another day in Moab, sleeping in definitely happened. At this point during the trip, being on the constant go, the rest was necessary. Day 4 consists of driving all around the Arches National Park and hiking. I recommend the hike up to Delicate Arch, this hike is a must and the most iconic. Be prepared for a steep incline hike and bring water. The other sites we visited in Arches were the Double Arch, the Landscape Arch, and the balanced rock. It is so easy to spend many days in Arches. Many hikes and sites to see. We spent our whole day hiking and fitting in as many hikes as we could.

After hiking we wanted to shop around for souvenirs on our trip. Moab has cute boutique shops and bakeries. I recommend Love Muffin Cafe. One of the women we spoke with in a shop told us about an alien themed gas station. After a lot of alien conversations during our road trip, we had to make this stop. The next morning, we did.

Day 5 – 265 miles

New morning and next part of the road trip! The end destination for this day is Monroe Utah to have a sunset soak at Mystic Hot Springs. Before arriving into Monroe, we made a few stops along the way. First stop was the twilight zone gas station with exotic jerky and eclectic decor. My husband purchased some python jerky for us to try, I can tell you I wasn’t a big fan. I wouldn’t say this gas station is a must stop, don’t go out of your way to stop here. Very underwhelming and we did expect more “alien” decor.

Second stop on day 5 is this amazing spot with red and blue rocks I have seen on social media. I made it a part of my mission to make a stop here. I will not disclose the place as I think others want to keep this spot more secret. To find this spot I did a lot of searching using Google maps, so if you really want to see this spot, you could do the same. I wish I had more expertise with my drone to capture it in many ways but I am happy to have captured some of its beauty! In all honesty, in real life, the rocks are more gray than they are blue. Regardless, still a beautiful location.

Continuing on the trip, we drove through Capitol Reef National Park on the way to Monroe. Capitol Reef looks like a beautiful national park to hike, wish we had time to but we didn’t. The drive to Monroe through this part of Utah is very scenic and as I have mentioned before, the landscaping changes every few miles.

More driving and one pit stop later with bug lollipops purchased – too scared to lick all the way to our bugs- we made it to Monroe! To be honest we found an Airbnb to stay in Richfield, outside of Monroe. Richfield is just a 10 minute drive from Monroe. We had time to check into the Airbnb, get some dinner and then we were off to the Mystic Hot Springs.

The process of checking in for your reserved time slot at the springs is pretty much non-existent. I’m not sure if it is always like this, but was when we visited. You park outside the gate and just walk up into the springs. It is an interesting location with old converted buses and cabins you can rent out. Walk right up the stairs into the hot springs area. Each tub has varying temperatures, so try to check out all of the soaking locations you can! Remember to bring your own towel as they are not provided. Lucky for us our Airbnb host had towels we could use! We all enjoyed the sunset and left as it was getting dark.

Day 6- 208 miles

Day 6 may have been one of the more adventurous days, and it was our last day together. So we went out with a bang! Early morning wake up to drive a couple hours to Zion National Park. The plan for this day- hike as much of the Narrows as we can. Finding parking near the narrows entrance took awhile. The park is extremely busy and the narrows is one of the more popular hikes.

Prior to the trip, we ordered water hiking shoes on Amazon. Upon arrival, my husband and I decided we would feel more comfortable renting the shoes at the store before the hike. My cousin and her fiance ordered the same shoes on Amazon and decided to wear them. They were fine with the shoes purchased and I didn’t regret my decision of renting. It can go either way, you would be fine buying your own shoes. Definitely rent a walking stick. My stick saved me multiple times from falling into the water.

The Narrows hike is exhausting but gorgeous. Such a unique hike through a river and canyon, a must do hike! Do not skip it if you are able to take on the hike. We spent roughly 5 hours on the hike. Made it to Wall Street section and then turned back around. Prepare for your feet to be the most pruned things you have ever seen!

After the amazing hike, we drank well earned beers and shopped for some last minute souvenirs. The brewery right by the rental shop has good food and beers. If you are looking for an affordable place to stay outside of the park, look to La Verkin. Our Airbnb came equipped with a hot tub. A hot tub soak after the Narrows is a great way to treat yourself. Even after having prunes for feet 🙂

Day 7 (Airport Drop off) – 142 Miles

Zach and I had an early flight to catch a friend’s wedding the next day. We flew out of Las Vegas Airport. Gambled $20 on slot machines in the airport, lost it, and that concluded our epic Southwest road trip. My cousin and her fiance stayed in Vegas for an extra couple of days. To part ways after this epic adventure was tough. Many great memories made and wish I could do it all again!

Additional tips for your epic adventure

As I have gone through our itinerary, I want to provide extra insight to keep in mind for your road trip. The best time to really visit the South West for a road trip would be April-May, and September-November. Our trip took place around Memorial Day weekend, and we got lucky with the weather. Some really hot days but some cooler days as well. I would not recommend making a trip with a lot of hiking in the summer as the desert areas get really hot.

If you are planning to visit multiple national parks, I recommend purchasing the America the Beautiful Pass. Since we visited four different national parks (Grand Canyon twice), it was well worth the cost! The pass will save you on park entry fees. You can find the link to purchase the pass here.

Pack layers for clothing. It will be cooler in the mornings and get increasingly hotter during the day. In addition, pack a bathing suit for hot springs and hot tubs! There are some small natural hot springs in north/mid Utah if you make it up that way.

Others parks to consider and that we didn’t have time to add in are: Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and Escalante.

Keep in mind, the big distances and middle of nowhere, you need to plan your gas stops accordingly. Look for gas stations in advance before leaving for your next destination.

Other photos to inspire you!

If you have read to this point, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this blog! This is my longest blog post for good reason, so much to share! Are you inspired to take an epic road trip now? Which is your most sought out destination? Would love to hear from you! Until then…

Wander On,

Christina