I pulled over on Highway 163 in southern Utah last September because I thought something was wrong with the truck. The engine was fine. I was the one having a problem.
The road stretched out for miles—perfectly straight, red dirt on both sides, sandstone towers rising from the desert floor like something from another planet. I’d seen it in photos a hundred times. It didn’t look like the photos.
It looked like church.
That was day two of a five-day road trip through the American Southwest. It cost less than a week at a resort. And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
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01. THE ROUTE
Fly into Las Vegas. Rent a truck or an SUV. Drive east. Five days, roughly 1,100 miles round trip. Here’s how I’d break it up.
DAY 1
VEGAS TO ZION (~2.5 HRS). Skip the Strip. Drive northeast through the desert into Springdale, Utah. Check in. Hit the park by early afternoon. Take the shuttle to the Riverside Walk or Canyon Overlook Trail. Both are easy. Both are stunning.
DAY 2
ZION TO MONUMENT VALLEY (~5 HRS). The long drive. Worth every mile. You cross into the Navajo Nation and the landscape turns red. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is $8 per person. Do the 17-mile dirt loop in your own vehicle. Stay at The View Hotel or Goulding’s Lodge—both have rooms facing the buttes.
DAY 3
MONUMENT VALLEY TO GRAND CANYON NORTH RIM (~4 HRS). This is the day that changes you. The North Rim just reopened on May 15 after the Dragon Bravo fire destroyed the historic lodge and over 100 structures last summer. There’s no overnight lodging inside the park this year. Stay in Kanab or Jacob Lake. But go. The views are wide open and the crowds are almost gone. Point Imperial and Cape Royal are quiet enough to hear the wind.
DAY 4
NORTH RIM TO PAGE, AZ (~2.5 HRS). Drive through Marble Canyon. Stop at Navajo Bridge—a 470-foot span over the Colorado River. Walk across it. Then continue to Page. Horseshoe Bend is ten minutes from town. Get there early or at sunset. The light at golden hour is worth the drive alone.
DAY 5
PAGE BACK TO VEGAS (~4.5 HRS). Easy drive home. Or add a stop at the Valley of Fire State Park, 45 minutes northeast of Vegas. Red rock formations, petroglyphs, and almost nobody there on a weekday. Drop the rental. Catch your flight.
02. WHAT IT COSTS
Rental SUV, 5 days | $350 |
Gas (~1,100 miles) | $155 |
Hotels, 4 nights | $600 |
Park fees (national + tribal) | $55 |
Meals, 5 days | $350 |
Total (not including flights) | ~$1,510 |
Per person, splitting the car and gas with your wife or a buddy. Flights from most major cities to Vegas run $150 to $300 round trip if you book a month ahead.
03. WHAT I’D SKIP
▸ The South Rim. Crowded. Parking is a war. The North Rim has better views and a tenth of the people. Especially this year, with reduced services keeping the casual tourists away.
▸ Antelope Canyon in peak season. It’s gorgeous. But you’re herded through in groups of twenty with a timer. If you can book a morning slot with a Navajo guide, great. If not, Horseshoe Bend gives you the same awe with none of the rush.
▸ Driving at night. The roads between parks are dark, empty, and full of deer. Plan your drives for daylight. You’ll see more and worry less.
Some places look better in person. This one makes the photos look like lies.
04. WHY THIS TRIP HITS DIFFERENT
Most trips are about what you do. This one is about what you see.
You don’t need a plan for every hour. You drive. You stop when something catches your eye. You eat at a diner in a town with one traffic light. You sit on the edge of a canyon at sunset and don’t take a picture because the picture can’t carry what you feel.
This isn’t a vacation. It’s a reset. The desert strips everything down to rock and sky, and somewhere on that road, your brain goes quiet in a way it hasn’t in years.
I pulled over on Highway 163 because the view stopped me. I sat on the tailgate for twenty minutes. Didn’t check my phone. Didn’t think about work. Just looked.
That’s the whole trip in one moment.
Rent the truck. Drive east.
— Walter
P.S. What’s the best road trip you’ve ever taken? Not a flight. A drive. Hit reply and tell me where you went and what surprised you. I’m planning my next one.
