Enchanting Canyonlands - Small Group

Arrive in Scottsdale beneath the McDowell Mountains and settle into your hotel. Explore Old Town’s gallery lanes, courtyards and public art, or stroll the Waterfront for a first feel of the desert light. This evening, meet your Travel Director and fellow small group travellers for a dinner in a local restaurant, sharing regional flavours and the first conversation of the trip.

Drive the Red Rock Scenic Byway into Red Rock Country, then roll into Sedona and pick up its gallery lanes and independent shops, or stop for open views across the sandstone formations. Leave town behind and run Oak Creek Canyon, climbing through Coconino National Forest on a route counted among America’s great scenic drives. Arrive at the Grand Canyon and choose how to take it in: join an Optional Experience flightseeing trip by helicopter or fixed-wing plane, or head straight to the rim viewpoints and the Rim Trail. Later, meet Local Expert “Canyon Tim” at the South Rim where you'll learn to read the canyon through its rock layers and human story, and discover the plants and wildlife that live along the edge.

Depart the Grand Canyon with your small group and travel across Navajo Nation country to Cameron Trading Post, with time to browse textiles, jewellery and the everyday life of a working trading post. Continue to Shash Diné EcoRetreat where you'll join Baya in her family hogan for Navajo tea and an introduction to Diné life today. You’ll then have the chance to join an Optional MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, a guided visit to Upper Antelope Canyon led by a Navajo-owned and run team on Navajo land, or enjoy time to relax at the retreat. Later, you’ll arrive in Monument Valley for a guided tour among the buttes and open spaces, then end the day with a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience at a Navajo cookout and dinner.

Start the day in Monument Valley with Insight Choice. Choose a guided visit into Mystery Valley, a quieter backcountry area known for rock art, ancient ruins and sandstone formations, or join the Monument Valley sunrise tour, following the 17-mile loop road with stops at key viewpoints as first light reaches the buttes. Later, you’ll visit Goosenecks State Park for the rim-top lookout over the San Juan River’s dramatic bends, then pause at the famous “Forrest Gump” backdrop on U.S. 163, where the straight road frames Monument Valley in the distance.

After breakfast, travel to Horseshoe Bend and take the walk out to the overlook, looking down around 305 m (1,000 ft) to the Colorado River as it makes its 270-degree turn through Glen Canyon. Continue on to Zion National Park for time in Zion Canyon, where the Virgin River runs beneath pale Navajo Sandstone cliffs and cottonwoods line the canyon floor. Later, arrive at your hotel and enjoy a free evening: perhaps step outside for sunset views and a short stroll, or settle in with a drink and a quiet night after a day of canyon country.

Depart Zion and travel towards Bryce Canyon, with the scenery changing as the road climbs onto the Paunsaugunt Plateau and the landscape opens out beyond the windows. On arrival, Bryce’s natural amphitheatres come into view from the rim, where thousands of hoodoo spires crowd the bowl below at elevations around 2,438 m (8,000 ft) and higher. Then it’s time to explore on foot, choosing the viewpoints and short trails that suit the day, pausing to see the colours and rock layers shift as the light moves across the canyon. This evening, join your small group for dinner and raise a glass together to toast the end of the trip.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport, saying goodbye to your small group and Travel Director at the end of your journey through Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon.