Southwest Roadtrip: California, Nevada, Utah & Arizona

My mom and dad had taken me to Arizona and Las Vegas when I was 4, so safe to say I don’t remember most of it and I also couldn’t appreciate the vast beauty (talking about Arizona, not Vegas…) in front of me. I was luckily able to steal away to the Southwest with my friend from work, Mara. Check out her travels on Way Up And Away!

Below is a quick snapshot of our itinerary, and I will go into more detail on each day as well -

Day 1: Land in Las Vegas, Nevada
Day 2: Death Valley National Park
Day 3: Death Valley National Park
Day 4: Valley of Fire State Park, Zion National Park Stop
Day 5: Zion National Park, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, drive to Sedona
Day 6-7: Sedona
Day 8: Depart early AM

Day 1: Travel

Land in Vegas. Slot-machine overload, even in the airport. We rented a car from Hertz, easy peasy and trustworthy.

We decided to stay in a Best Western in Pahrump, Nevada (super random town in the middle of nowhere) about 1.5hr from Vegas, getting us closer to DVNP. You can make the reservation here. Rooms did the trick & free breakfast! We stayed here the first 3 nights of the trip.

Day 2: Death Valley National Park

To take a step back, we we here in mid-February, which made it possible to visit. This place has unbeatable high temperatures most other times of the year, making it not safe to visit. But, this one national park has so much to offer, it’s nuts (even a waterfall in the middle of the desert!)

Route: Pahrump, NV —> Artists Palette —> Natural Bridge Trail —> Badwater Basin —> Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes —> Dante’s View —> Pahrump, NV.

While reflecting, I think Artists Palette, Badwater Basin, and Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes were my favorite for the day. I know, I couldn’t even narrow it down to 1. Artists Palette Drive takes you through colorful mountains and valleys. The colors are produced by the oxidation of the metals and elements found in the ground here, and it produces everything from purple and blue to even a slight green. Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the U.S. and salt flats galore. We easily spent ~2 hours wandering around here. Mesquite Sand Dunes was during golden hour so we were rewarded with some astonishing colors and…a RAINBOW! I am convinced rainbows always appear when my friend Mara is with me, but how lucky were we to witness a rainbow in one of the driest spots in America?

Day 3: Death Valley National Park Cont…

Route: Pahrump, NV —> Zabriskie Point —> Darwin Falls —> Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes Round 2 —> Zabriskie Point Sunset —> Pahrump, NV

We weren’t sure if Day 2 could top Day 1, but we had high hopes. And boy, did this National Park deliver. Zabriskie Point… Not sure how to decribe it, but these rock formations are essentially several valleys and hills framed by even larger mountains in the back. We were able to climb and scurry around the area.

Darwin Falls reminded me a little bit of Ein Gedi in Israel - waterfall in the middle of the desert. Important information: There are no clear signs for this. Once you pass the town of Paramount Springs, give it 2-3 minutes and you will see a gravel path/road to your left. That is where you’ll need to go (it might not seem like it, but trust me). If you drove up the mountain, then you went too far. You’ll drive along this gravel road for ~5 minutes. We had a 2WD and were fine, just drove slowly. Once you reach the parking lot, it’s about 20 minute hike to the waterfall. It was lovely!

We next went back to the Mesquite Sand Dunes because we had the bright idea of sledding down them. We didn’t have a sled, so our version of problem solving was rummaging in a recycling bin for a large piece of cardboard. To sum it up: It didn’t work and I got sandburn on my elbow.

Aaaand to wrap up another lovely day, we sprinted to catch the sunset at Zabriskie Point again. Not exaggerating, we sprinted up a hill to get there in time.

Day 4: Valley of Fire State Park + Zion National Park @ Sunset

Route: Pahrump, NV —> Valley of Fire —> Zion; Total Driving Time: 5 hours

For some background, not only was Valley of Fire on the way to Zion and the rest of the highlights we wanted to hit, but also one of my dad’s favorite spots. He used to fly out to Vegas many times for work, and would always push his team to explore nearby spots. I decided to recreate one of his pictures in Valley of Fire and a friendly park ranger even told me the exact spot to go to!

Accommodations: Airbnb in Toquerville, 20 minutes out of Zion.

Was able to recreate my dad’s picture from 2012!

We then had to speed a bit to reach Zion in time for sunset. It was remarabkle, and there was some snow on the ground!

Day 5: Utah to Arizona

Route: Zion National Park —> Antelope Canyon —> Horseshoe Bend —> Flagstaff —> Sedona

Today consisted of probably the most continuous driving of the trip, but we had some serious ground to cover. We woke up to snow in Zion (not what I was expecting given we chose the Southwest to avoid the cold from our hometowns of Chicago and NY), but didn’t let that stop us. However, our car had other ideas and decided to get stuck on switchbacks to our first hike - Canyon Overlook Trail. However, holler at the park ranger that helped dig our car out.

We had ~ 3 hour drive to Page, AZ which is where Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend are located. We listened to Michelle Obama’s audio book as entertainment. Highly recommend! I do want to call out that Antelope and Horshoe bend were very touristy. We managed to make the most of it, but it felt draining at points. Note that for Antelope Canyon, you need to book a tour in advance. We chose Navajo Tours.

We ended the day driving to Sedona, which was another 3 hours. It was snowing, so we detoured through Flagstaff to avoid mountain roads.

Accommodations: Flow Cabin Tiny House in Sedona, AZ

Canyon Overlook Trail, Zion National Park

Day 6-7: Sedona

Sedona aka red rock mountains galore. Except…we woke up to even more snow. However, the snowfall gave us an excuse to get a lazy start so we walked to Indian Gardens Cafe where we enjoyed a latte and some amazing pancakes. By the time we were done, the sun was out and the snow was quickly melting.

We covered 3 hikes while in Sedona: Devil’s Bridge Trail, Cathedral Rock Trail & Soldiers Pass. I definitely think Devil’s Bridge and Cathedral Rock were my two favorites. All in all, Sedona was a treat and such a magnificent way to end a trip to the Southwest (the snow didn’t stop us!)

We drove back up to Vegas on our last day in Sedona since we had early flights the next AM. If we were to extend this trip, I think we would’ve continued driving onto Phoenix to explore the surrounding area there. Arizona has so much to offer, it’s wild. We didn’t do Grand Canyon just because we had both been there when we were younger, but I would love to go again as an adult.

The Southwest feels like another planet - Mars, probably. The vast landscapes we covered (on top of all 4 seasons) was truly a treat. This trip has me wanting to explore more of Arizona and Utah, so maybe that will be in 2020? Stay tuned.