Road Trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix
In October of 2019, my husband’s grandfather turned 100 years old. My mother in law and extended family planned a birthday party for him in Phoenix, AZ. The party happened to be taking place during our fall break. I had an epic 7 day road trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix on my short list of family trips I wanted to take. The stars were finally aligned to make this journey!
When planning our road trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix, organization was key to seeing as much of this beautiful part of the country as possible. I started by making a list and a map on a site called Roadtrippers. You can see my list of stops and map here:
Roadtrippers is a free app for road trips up to 7 waypoints. For more stops, there is a subscription fee of $29 per year.
The main stops we visited on our road trip were:
- Las Vegas
- Zion National Park
- Lake Powell
- Grand Canyon
- Phoenix
In this post I will share my day by day itinerary- where we stayed, what we did, where we ate, and more. Use this as a guide when you are planning your itinerary- but tweak it to suit your families likes and interests!
Day 1: Las Vegas
Hoover Dam
We arrived in Las Vegas at 8am (thanks 3 hour time change)! We headed straight from McCarran International airport to the Hoover Dam. It is about a 45 minute drive from the airport to the dam. We paid $10 to park in the garage, however there is free parking 1/4 to 1/2 mile away.
I would recommend the Guided Dam Tour for $30. This tour includes a visit to the historic tour tunnels and a ride to the top of the Hoover Dam in the original elevator. You walk through the inspection tunnels at the center of the Hoover Dam, and view the Colorado River through the inspection ventilation shaft. This tour also includes the Guided Powerplant tour, and the Visitor center. As a history buff, learning that the dam was built during the Great Depression fascinated me. Thousands of men and their families came to build the dam, and it took less than 5 years to build. 96 men were killed building the dam, although contrary to popular belief, there are no men “buried” in the dam. There is a fascinating movie about the construction of the Hoover Dam in the visitor center.
Sight seeing Las Vegas
After our educational visit to the Hoover Dam, we headed back to the Las Vegas Strip. We checked into our hotel, which is one of my favorite places to stay while in Las Vegas- the Cosmopolitan. Fortunately, my husband does a good bit of traveling for his job, and Marriott has a great loyalty program and many different brands of hotels to choose from, so we were able to use points to stay in this amazing hotel! Find out more about Marriott’s rewards program here.
It was time to see the sights of Sin City. If you’ve never been to Vegas, just walking through all the different themed casinos is so entertaining. We had a great time walking through the Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, New York New York, and Paris.
After checking out the casinos, we had dinner in Caesar’s Palace at Trevi. I can not resist fettuccini, so of course I had the fettuccini pollo carbonara. It was delicious. You can never go wrong with Italian food, I say.
After a long day of traveling and sight seeing, we called it a night.
Day 2 and 3: Zion National Park
The morning of day 2, we did a bit more sight seeing- New York, New York and it’s roller coaster. (Kids- always lured in by roller coasters!) Then headed for the second stop on our road trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix, Zion around 1pm. It takes a little more than 2 and 1/2 hours to drive to Springdale, UT where Zion National Park is located. The hotel we chose for Springdale was Springhill Suites Zion. This hotel was perfect for our family of 5, as the rooms are a little larger than your average hotel, with 2 queen beds and a sofa bed. It is centrally located in the adorable little town of Springdale, and the views are phenomenal.
Friends- if there was one thing I would change about this trip- I would have loved to spend more time here. It is ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING! I should let you know that I love the great outdoors- so trips were I can adventure outside are my jam. And let’s just talk about Springdale for a minute. This entrance town to Zion National Park is perfection. Park your car and don’t use it again until you leave. There is a shuttle that takes you anywhere you want to go in Springdale, including to the entrance to Zion National Park. Once you arrive at the entrance, you will board a different shuttle that takes you around the park. Driving private vehicles in the park is forbidden unless you are a guest of the Zion lodge. Tickets must be purchased in advance here for a whopping $1.
After settling into the Springhill Suites Zion, we headed to dinner. We chose the Bit and Spur Saloon– directly across the street. It is quite popular, and we had a bit of a wait. Well worth it for the delicious tacos and margaritas!
Hiking in Zion National Park
Waking up early the next morning to head to Zion National Park, we grabbed a shuttle. After arriving at the park, we transferred over to the park shuttle and headed to stop #6, the Grotto. Our plan was to take the Kayenta trail. This trail connects to the Emerald Pools trails, and ends at Zion Lodge. Here, we could have lunch before heading out to our next destination.
There are so many trails for all different abilities of hikers. I do not pretend to be an expert hiker- as Indiana is about as flat as you can get. This hike was challenging enough for us- and I will say that while wearing tennis shoes sufficed, I did wish I had hiking boots with a little more traction. I would love to go back to Zion and try more challenging trails in the future. When choosing a trail, I would just recommend doing your research so you don’t choose a trail that is too difficult for you or you don’t have the proper equipment. After hiking and lunch, we grabbed the shuttle at the Zion Lodge and headed back to our hotel to embark to our next stop on our roadtrip from Las Vegas to Phoenix: Lake Powell, approximately 2 and 1/2 hours away.
Day 4 and 5: Lake Powell
Our home base for Lake Powell was the Lake Powell Resort in Page, Arizona. This resort is located in national park lands, so there is a park fee to enter the lands. Fortunately, Spencer was a fourth grader and there is an awesome program called Every Kid Outdoors. From September 1 to August 31 of a child’s 4th grade year, they get a free National Park pass for the entire family. Thanks Spencer! Find more information on that here. As we were going in and out of national parks and national park lands all week, this really saved us a lot of money. If you are not fortunate enough to have a 4th grader with you, I would probably recommend getting an annual park pass.
Boating on Lake Powell
We stayed at the Lake Powell Resort for 2 nights. The resort was nice, had great views, a restaurant, a couple of pools which the kids enjoyed. The rooms could probably use renovating, they were a little outdated, but we barely spent any time in our room so it suited us fine. On day 4, we rented a Bayliner VR4 from Canyon Boat Rentals and headed out on to Lake Powell. You guys- Lake Powell is huge!!! You could definitely get lost on this Lake, so make sure you have map and pay attention to the numbered markers. There are little floating stations around the lake that you can stop at to use the restroom- so no worries there! Also, I would recommend wearing a watch. On the lake you are going back and forth across different time zones- and it really messes with your cell phone. An old fashioned watch helps you know when you have to return your boat rental! It was a gorgeous and relaxing day exploring many nooks and crannies on Lake Powell!
Relaxing on the lake is hungry work- so we went looking for a great place to eat! We discovered this little gem of a BBQ restaurant that was an old gas/service station. If you are in Page, AZ do not miss Big John’s Texas BBQ! It was delicious BBQ plus live country music- this was my kind of place! Plus the singers called Drew and Spencer up on stage to play the tambourine- it’s not every day you see that!
Antelope Canyon
On day 5, we visited Upper Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon. It is the most photographed slot canyon in the world. The upper canyon does not have any climbing which makes it easily accessible to everyone. The canyon was formed over hundreds of years by water that ran through the sand stone- and it is gorgeous. Both the upper and lower canyons are located on Navajo lands, so you must take a tour with a licensed Navajo guide. There are many tour companies that offer tours to Antelope Canyon. Book as far as you can in advance- this is an extremely popular activity.
We then headed out towards the Grand Canyon, approximately 2 and 1/2 hours in the car. Check out Horseshoe bend on the way, a gorgeous landmark. There is quite a bit of walking and elevation change to see this sight so keep that in mind.
We entered Grand Canyon National Park through the East Entrance to a little settlement called Desert View. There, we checked out Desert View Point. This was our first sight of the Grand Canyon, and it did not disappoint!
We also explored the Desert View Watchtower. Mary Coulter designed the stone watch tower in 1932. This makes me just want to start singing the Jimi Hendrix song All Along the Watchtower…
With a brief preview of the Grand Canyon under our belts, we headed to the gateway town of Tusayan to our abode for the night- The Red Feather Lodge. The lodge was basic, but nice and clean. And I just love this vintage looking sign!
Day 6: Grand Canyon
This was the best day of the road trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix! It started off with a splurge- McDonalds breakfast. Kidding but not kidding. Tusayan’s McDonalds has to be one of the most expensive in America. The real splurge though was a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. THIS WAS AWESOME. I have never been in a helicopter, and it was so crazy to me how it could just like, hover and land in one spot. Our pilot made taking off so exciting, playing Kenny Loggin’s song Danger Zone from Top Gun. So fun. We used Papillon Helicopter tours. The views were unreal and it was so cool to see the canyon from above- just to feel the enormity of it. If you get a chance to take a helicopter ride, do it!
After our amazing ride, we headed back to the Grand Canyon to explore some more. We headed to the South Kaibab trail to Ooh Aah Point. This hike is about 1.8 miles round trip, which doesn’t sound like very far. You hike about 0.9 miles down into the canyon, but alas what goes down must come back up! I’d say it’s a moderate hike: a little strenuous but not terrible. The hike took us about 2 hours. It was a little scary with steep drop offs and no railings, so be careful and pay attention to what you are doing!
Next stop was the historic hotel, El Tovar. El Tovar has had hotel guests since 1905. I had read online that many ghosts haunt El Tovar- so I knew I had to check it out. I loved the rustic vibe. While we were there we had lunch in the El Tovar dining room.
Under Canvas
After lunch, we headed to a resort called Under Canvas. Here, you can participate in what’s known as “glamping”. I was so excited for this, as I love regular camping. Travis, not so much a fan of camping. I convinced him it would be awesome, and so he was game! The kids were a little nervous when we told them there would be no wifi- but they ended up having the best time! Staying here was my absolute favorite thing we did. I think the reason I loved it so much was that it just took you back to when life was simple- and you just spent quality time with your family with no interruptions. It reminded me of the family resort in the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel- if you watch that show you know what I’m talking about!
The staff held cornhole tournaments that you could play with other guests. There were games you could borrow and play with your family. The food in the community tent was amazing. All the guests gathered around the campfire and shared stories of things they had seen and did. It was so much fun to meet people from all over the world.
The accomodations were spectacular. You slept in a tent, but it was the fanciest tent I have ever stayed in. Our tent had it’s own bathroom. We did have to keep our little wood burning stove going throughout the night, but the bedding was so warm and cozy. The boys had a “hive” next door, which kind of looked like a teepee. Incredibly warm sleeping bags were provided and they had no complaints. I would highly recommend Under Canvas, and I hope to stay at another location someday!
Day 7: Phoenix
Last stop on the road trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix- the main event in Phoenix! Travis’s Grandpa Miller turned 100. He is amazing! He still rides his bike, plays the accordion, and is sharp as a tack. It was so wonderful to be able to celebrate a centurian! Family converged from all over the United States to celebrate!
Finally, we were fortunate to spend time with friends who live in Phoenix before flying back home again to Indiana!
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Jess
I'm a pharmacist who has a passion for traveling. I enjoy reading, cooking, sports, learning new things, and history. I love traveling with my husband, Travis, and 3 sons: Austin, Drew, and Spencer.
4 Comments
Amanda
What an amazing trip! This itinerary should come in handy for my family in a couple of years!
Jess
Thanks! I hope this itinerary gave you some good ideas for when you plan a trip out west!
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