Best of the American West

Our trip begins in the 'Neon City' of Las Vegas. We'll meet our tour leader in the lobby of the Strat Hotel, before leaving the bright lights for the wild landscapes of the southwest. Our minibus will leave the Strat Hotel at 2pm. In order to arrive at the hotel for this time, the latest your flight can arrive is 12pm. 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'll travel together as a group to our hotel in the Utah city of Hurricane (a two-hour journey). With its warm weather and close proximity to Zion National Park, Hurricane is the perfect place to start our trip. If flight times into Las Vegas prevent you from landing at 12pm, or if you want to experience this energetic city before your tour starts, we recommend booking an additional night's accommodation at the Strat Hotel. Alternatively, there are a multitude of hotels on the famous Vegas Strip.

We'll have an early start this morning as we head into Zion National Park (a one-hour drive away). The main area of the national park that we'll visit is Zion Canyon, a 24-kilometre/15-mile rift in the beautiful red and tan Navajo sandstone. We might 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 our tour leader will outline our options from the easy to the strenuous. You might like 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 around four hours that rewards you with 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. We'll return to our hotel in Hurricane this evening.

This morning, we'll set off early to Bryce Canyon (a 90-minute journey). 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 'hoodoos' 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. On arrival, we'll explore 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 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!'

This morning, we can choose (weather dependent) to 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. After breakfast, we'll drive west to Moab (a four-hour drive), taking State Highway 24 directly through the most remote and under-visited of Utah's 'Big Five' National Parks: Capitol Reef. The red-rock park encompasses a landscape of coloured sandstone cliffs, twisting canyons, monoliths and spires. We'll stop en route to take in some of the park's many awe-inspiring viewpoints before continuing to Moab. This evening, we plan to make a sunset visit to Arches National Park. It's a two-hour walk to Delicate Arch, probably one of the most iconic arches in the American Southwest. This natural rock archway is a perfect spot to watch the sunset on this magnificent landscape. After sunset, the lack of light and air pollution in the area should afford us a dazzling display of stars. After our walk, we'll head back to Moab for the evening.

Arches National Park is home to the world's largest concentration of natural sandstone arches. With over 2000 arches, giant sandstone fins, balancing rocks and towering spires, the park provides a unique setting for this morning discovery. We might take in the Devil's Garden, a three-hour hike that takes us through a landscape littered with arches, including one of the world's longest - Landscape Arch. Time-allowing we might also take a more gentle walk around The Windows Loop (approximately 90 minutes), before leaving the park. In the afternoon, we'll visit Arches' neighbouring park, and the last of Utah's Big Five National Parks, Canyonlands. The park is a wilderness of countless canyons and buttes carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries, which also divide the park into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze and the rivers themselves. We plan to head into the Island in the Sky district, where we will take an easy trail to the spectacular Mesa Arch, a natural rock arch on the edge of a cliff that gives us panoramic views of the region. We'll drive back to Moab this evening.

Today, we'll drive to the town of Page via the Navajo Reservation, the biggest in the country, founded in 1888 to provide a protected region for the Navajo people. The Navajo Nation constitutes the largest tribe left in the United States, the last survivors of a people who were decimated by the arrival of the white man and his quest for land and gold. Monument Valley lies within the heart of this vast tribal area and despite its familiarity through the exposure by Hollywood, nothing can truly prepare you for the sheer grandeur and spectacle of this incredible setting. Isolated monoliths, sandstone pinnacles and towering spires rocket skywards, above the desert floor. Here, you have the chance to take an optional guided jeep tour of the valley with a Navajo guide, affording a closer exploration of this compelling land before we head on to our night stop in Page. As we continue through native lands towards Page, the warm embrace of the late afternoon glow alters the landscape's appearance as the sun dips towards the horizon. Time permitting, we aim to experience the final dip of the sun at the famous Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River.

This morning, we'll have the option to visit the famous Antelope Canyon, a beautiful peach-gold canyon formed by the force of flash floods coming from the plains above, or otherwise spend time at the enormous Lake Powell, with its scenic azure waters. Later, we'll continue our journey towards the southern rim of the Grand Canyon (a three-hour drive), arriving this afternoon. Once described by Theodore Roosevelt as 'the one great sight every American should see', the canyon extends 445 kilometres/283 miles from east to west, from the western edge of the Navajo Reservation to the Nevada border around Lake Mead. Reaching a depth of 1,600 miles/5,249 feet, the canyon's floor is littered with some of the oldest rocks on the planet and as we take in the views from Desert View, we'll gaze out across a land that has taken over 2 billion years to create.

This morning, you're free to explore this natural wonder at your own pace. You might like to hike various parts of the rim trail (easy to moderate walking), taking you along the top edge of the canyon with some stunning viewpoints; or perhaps the Bright Angel Trail, a steeper walk that takes you further down below the rim of the canyon. There are a multitude of different walking options available, all of which will offer you some spectacular scenery of this amazing landscape. This afternoon, we'll leave the Grand Canyon behind us and return to the big city, Las Vegas, arriving in the evening.

The trip ends after breakfast at our hotel in Las Vegas. There are no activities planned today, so you're free to depart from Las Vegas at any time. If you'd like an airport transfer today, you'll need to depart from Las Vegas International Airport (LAS), which is a 15-minute drive away.