We’ve enjoyed traveling over Thanksgiving week the past few years and after a stellar trip backpacking the Escalante Route in the Grand Canyon last year we applied for permits for another backpacking trip this year. Denied! No worries though, the Southwest offers unlimited options for hiking and we put together a nice Plan B: Zion National Park, Snow Canyon State Park, Yant Flat, and Valley of Fire. Steve and I had previously visited Zion National Park several times (it would be a first for Norah), but all the other spots were new for us, so we were looking forward to exploring some new parks.

Another new thing for this trip was renting a campervan. We’ve seen these rentals on previous vacations and have always been intrigued, so looked into it for this trip. Prices were reasonable and we would’ve camped anyway, so this saved us bringing our tent and other gear (we did still bring our sleeping bags because it was cold at night). We rented a van from Escape Campervans in Las Vegas and we loved it! We would definitely do it again.

The only hitch in our plans was a day of rain in Zion, which almost derailed our plans for hiking the Narrows, which closes above a certain water level. Luckily we were able to find time in our itinerary to fit in this hike and the water subsided enough, so it was a go. Steve and I had done the Narrows before and after hearing about this hike, Norah was very excited to do it and she was not disappointed. It was one of the highlights of our week. Another highlight was Yant Flat, a delightful off the beaten path location outside of St. George full of interesting rock formations and colors. Our only regret on this trip was not camping at Yant Flat - we definitely could’ve spent more time there.

This was our final itinerary:

Friday: flight from NYC, overnight Las Vegas
Saturday: pick up our ride from Escape Campervans and drive to Zion, Angel’s Landing Hike
Sunday: Sunrise at Canyon Overlook, Observation Point and Hidden Canyon hike
Monday: Rainy Day - Steve ran from the East Rim Trailhead to Weeping Rock Trailhead, Norah and I visited the rock shops in town and played Exploding Kittens, picked up our gear at Zion Adventure Company
Tuesday: Sunrise at Towers of the Virgin (behind the Zion Museum), The Narrows Hike, drive to Snow Canyon State Park
Wednesday: Hidden Pinyon Trail for sunrise, visits to Petrified Dunes, Whiterocks, and the Lava Flow Trail in Snow Canyon State Park; afternoon at Yant Flat, overnight Snow Canyon SP
Thursday: drive to Valley of Fire, visits to Silica Dome, White Domes Trail, Crazy Hill, and the Fire Wave; overnight primitive camping on BLM land west of Valley of Fire
Friday: Finishing up in VoF - Crazy Hill, Nike Rock, Pink Canyon, Fire Wave, Windstone Arch, and Elephant Rock; drive to Vegas, overnight Bally’s
Saturday: flight back to NYC

The Southwest never disappoints and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Please click on individual galleries to see pictures from the different places we visited. Thanks for stopping by!