Personalized Itinerary: Southern, CA to National Parks to Boise, ID
1st Stop: Lake Havasu (1 day)
It will take a little over 4 hours to drive from Palmdale to Lake Havasu. This is worth the stop. It is a really nice lake that is legendary for the London Bridge of the US. There a lots of cute shops around the lake and the perfect spot for lunch. It is also fun to people watch:)! If you get here early enough, it is a great spot to rent a dune buggy and ride out in the desert!
2nd Stop: Grand Canyon (2 or 3 days suggested)
Possible sites to see while in The Grand Canyon:
1. Mather Point
2. Hopi Point and Powell Point
3. Mohave Point
4. Hike Bright Angel Trail
5. Bike the South Rim between the Grand Canyon Visitor Center and South Kaibab Trail
6. Hike Shoshone Point (1 mile)
7. Visit Hopi House
8. Skywalk Bridge by the West Entrance.
Another super fun site is Bearizona. The kids LOVE this place...you actually drive thru while bears are walking up to your car! Really neat place to see wildlife!
Possible Places to Stay
3rd Stop: Kanab Visitor Center
On your way to your next stop, check out The Wave! It will take you about 3.5 hours to get here from the Grand Canyon.
4th Stop: Zion National Park (at least 2 days) and Bryce National Park (1 day)
After a morning visit to hike The Wave, continue on for about another hour to Zion National Park. Right outside of the Zion gates are multiple shopping, dining and hotel options. There is also lodging in the park as well and you'll want to stay here AT LEAST 2 nights. This park has SO much to do!
While here, you'll want to do your absolute best to explore The Narrows. Outside of the park are rental shops where you can rent water hear to be able to hike in The Narrows. In addition you'll want to:
1. Take a full bus tour through the park so that you can get yourself acquainted.
2. HIKE THE LOWER EMERALD POOL HIKE! This takes you behind a waterfall and there is nothing more magical than standing behind the water and watching it fall in front of you. This is not a long hike and is kid-friendly.
3. Hike the Riverside Walk (this will lead you to the beginning of The Narrows!)
Lodging Options
If you don't mind a 2 hour drive there and back, you can stay in the accommodation you choose for Zion, however, if you wanted to continue the drive, stop at Bryce and then stay the night there, here is an option:
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce is a small park, but totally worth the drive. You can take the scenic drive and stop to see the Hoodoos. It the weather allows, try the Queen's Garden Trail. It will take you about 1 or 2 hours, but takes you on a descend into the Amphitheater and hike amongst to hoodoos. Easier hikes include the Mossy Cave Trail, Sunset Point to Sunrise Point (super easy and paved), or The Rim Trail.
5th Stop: Capitol Reef National Park (1 day)
About two hours from the hotel is Capital Reef, one of my favorite parks on this trip. I suggest you check out of the hotel, drive to Capitol Reef, explore, and then stay at the accommodation below. What I loved about Capitol Reef, is that not only were there cool sights to see, but it gave you a glimpse into the past lives that lived on these lands. As an educator, it was the highlight of my day to see an old one-room schoolhouse (Fruita Schoolhouse)! The inside was replicated to look like an 1800s classroom! In addition, I was able to show my children petroglyphs and explain to them what they were! That was an unexpected educational moment! Capitol Reef is a small park and at first, you think you drove past it or missed it as it doesn't immediately have the traditional big park signs that most National Parks have. However, once you drive in, you'll eventually see a Visitor's Center where you can also get a park brochure. This is a park where you can take a scenic drive with a few stops alongside the road. There are many hiking trails to take advantage of, however, with my family, we decided on the Hickman Bridge Trail. This trail is 0.9 miles and takes you to a 133-foot natural bridge with canyon views.
Lodging for this Leg
6th Stop: Canyonlands, Dead Horse State Park and Arches (2 or 3 Days Recommended)
Check out of your hotel and get ready for the next leg of the trip!
Dead Horse State Park
Upon arrival, there is a visitor center that you can stop at for information. Right outside the visitor center is a nature trail that offers views of the basin. This is a fairly easy hike and great for children. After exploring, aim to get to Dead Horse Point right before sunset as the sunset from this point is magnificent (I also hear the sunrises are beautiful too, but we only experienced a sunset). An interesting legend about this point is that ranchers would bring their Mustang horses to this point and only take the ones they wanted. They would then leave the rest here to suffer from thirst, under the sun, while looking at the Colorado River.
There are miles of trails that outline the rims of this park and each trail is between 200 ft to 3.5 miles which again, makes it great for families to explore the beauty of the desert landscape.
Canyonlands National Park
If you are pressed for time, Canyonlands and Dead Horse State Park could be visited on the same day. These two parks are extremely close to each other, however, if you have time, there is enough to do to break the two parks into two separate days. Canyonlands is divided up into four parts- Needles, The Maze, Islands in the Sky, and the Rivers. We didn't have the opportunity to spend as much time in this park so the only district we visited was Islands in the Sky. Upon arriving inside the park, a Visitor Center welcomes guests, and right outside, across the street, is Grand View Point. Since we could only pick one or two hikes in this park, we chose the Mesa Arch hike and the White Rim Overlook hike. The Mesa Arch Hike is a short 0.6-mile hike, great for kids, but offers the legendary Mesa Arch at the end! This spot has views of the La Sal Mountains and you can take the classic picture of looking at the desert through the arch. The White Rim Overlook Trail hike offers several views of the Colorado River, Monument Basin, and La Sal Mountains. This hike is about 0.8 miles, and again, great for kids.
Arches National Park
I will say, that when we went in March, the winds were high....be prepared to walk into the wind at times and Chapstick will be needed (as well as the essentials: water, and snacks). Before your trip, check the Arches National Park website as you may need a timed entry for the park. Once you enter the park, stop at the visitor center (videos, shopping, restrooms), and make your way to Balanced Rock. This was amazing as I'm still wondering, "How in the world is that rock balancing like that!?" There is a short trail (0.3 miles) around Balancing Rock so that you can see all viewpoints. The next stop is the Windows Section. Here, you'll be able to walk to Double Arch, the North and South Windows, and Turret Arch (0.6 miles). The last hike of the day was to catch an amazing view of Delicate Arch. The hike we chose was the Upper View Point Trail. With the high winds, I was not comfortable taking my children on the actual Delicate Arch Trail (to get up close to the arch) as there are narrow rock ledges. The Upper View Point Trail was tedious as it is steep (my 7 and 10-year-olds were able to do this hike with no problems, but we left my 2-year-old at the bottom with my parents as he would have struggled). Once at the top, you can get a view of the Delicate Arch. The Lower Viewpoint is easier and does have wheelchair access. Although windy, this was a favorite for sure!
Lodging for this Leg
7th Stop: Salt Lake City
On your way to Boise, you can stop here for the night (3 hours and 42 minutes). Suggestions of things to do include:
Suggested Lodging for the Night
8th and Final Stop: Boise, Idaho!
Boise is about 4 hours and 20 minutes from Salt Lake City!
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