Itinerary · 14 days · 70 places
14 Days in the US West
Two weeks clockwise through the Southwest: from Las Vegas via Zion, Bryce and Page to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, then across Death Valley and over Tioga Pass into Yosemite Valley. The stages are planned so that each day stays in one area and the long drives always fall in the morning.
Open in the appThere you can adjust the plan to your dates, your pace and your interests.
Photo: Sam Jotham Sutharson · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arrival in Las Vegas
Arrival in Las Vegas
Hotel check-in
A base on the central Strip between Bellagio and Paris Las Vegas, from where the fountains and pedestrian bridges are within walking distance.
Fountains of Bellagio
Seen from the railing on Las Vegas Boulevard, jets of water shoot over the artificial lake every 15 minutes, choreographed to music and lit up.
Day 2Las Vegas: neon, springs and the Strip
Neon Museum
On the open-air lot at the northern edge of the city stand the dismantled signs of demolished casinos, from the Stardust to the Moulin Rouge.
Springs Preserve
The spring site from which Las Vegas grew, now with a desert garden, botanical garden and a museum on the history of the Mojave basin.
The STRAT Tower
From the observation deck 260 metres up you can see the entire Strip from the north to the airport and the mountain ranges all around.
Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden
The glass hall behind the lobby is completely replanted five times a year, with fresh flowers, water features and moving figures.
High Roller observation wheel
The 167-metre wheel above the Linq takes half an hour to turn and gives you a bird's-eye view of the Strip.
Evening: Linq Promenade
The pedestrian lane between the Flamingo and the Linq with open-air bars, street music and the illuminated wheel at the end.
Day 3Across the Mojave to Zion Canyon
Onward to Springdale
Hotel check-in
Zion Canyon Visitor Center
The free shuttle into the canyon starts at the park entrance; the exhibition explains the rock layers and the trails that require a permit.
Court of the Patriarchs
Three sandstone towers named after Abraham, Isaac and Jacob stand in a row above the valley floor, five minutes from the viewpoint.
Emerald Pools Trail
The trail leads behind a thin waterfall and on to three pools that mirror the red walls.
Canyon Junction Bridge
From the bridge over the Virgin River you look downstream to the Watchman, which glows red when the sun is low.
Evening: Zion Park Boulevard in Springdale
The village's one street, with galleries, a brewpub and an ice-cream parlour, while the canyon walls above stay bright even after sunset.
Day 4Zion: the Narrows and the valley floor
Temple of Sinawava
The shuttle's last stop, where the canyon narrows to a few hundred metres and the walls rise vertically above the river.
The Narrows via the Riverside Walk
A paved riverside path ends where the trail becomes the river itself and you carry on knee-deep between the rock walls.
Big Bend
The wide river bend offers the only view of the back wall of Angels Landing and of the Great White Throne.
The Grotto
Shady picnic meadow beneath cottonwoods, the starting point for the West Rim Trail and the climb to Angels Landing.
Pa'rus Trail
This paved path follows the Virgin River from the campground to Canyon Junction and is the only trail in the park open to bikes and dogs.
Evening: starry sky above the Watchman
From the edge of the meadow by Watchman Campground you look up into a sky free of light pollution, with the Milky Way above the canyon mouth.
Day 5Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon
Onward to Bryce Canyon City
Hotel check-in
Sunrise Point
First view over the amphitheatre, where thousands of orange rock spires stand packed together in a hollow.
Sunset Point
The viewpoint above the hoodoo field known as Silent City, with the free-standing Thor's Hammer directly below.
Navajo Loop and Wall Street
Switchbacks lead 160 metres down into a slot where two Douglas firs have grown up towards the light between the rock walls.
Inspiration Point
From the uppermost level you overlook the entire amphitheatre in three tiers, one above the other.
Bryce Point
The southernmost point above the amphitheatre juts out like a pulpit, showing the hoodoos backlit in the late afternoon.
Evening: astronomy programme at the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center
In summer rangers set up telescopes in the car park; the altitude and dry air make the sky exceptionally clear here.
Day 6Page: slot canyon and the Colorado bend
Onward to Page
Hotel check-in
Horseshoe Bend
A 1.2-kilometre sandy trail ends at the unfenced edge, 300 metres above the horseshoe loop of the Colorado.
Lower Antelope Canyon
Ladders lead down into a narrow sandstone crack where the light turns the polished walls orange and violet.
Glen Canyon Dam Overlook
From the rock ledge you see the 216-metre dam wall and the bridge spanning the Colorado below it.
Wahweap Overlook on Lake Powell
The hill above the marina gives views over the branching arms of the reservoir and the island of Castle Rock.
Evening: Lake Powell Boulevard in Page
The main street of the town built in 1957 for the dam workers, with brewpub, ice-cream parlour and views across the plateau.
Day 7First look into the Grand Canyon
Onward to Grand Canyon Village
Hotel check-in
Mather Point
The viewing platform just behind the visitor centre reveals some 16 kilometres of canyon width at a glance, with the Colorado far below.
Yavapai Geology Museum
The glass-walled hall stands on a rocky promontory; inside, models explain the 1.8 billion years of rock laid out beyond the window.
Grand Canyon Village Historic District
Old railway station, Hopi House and the log buildings of the Fred Harvey era stand close to the rim, some designed by Mary Colter.
Bright Angel Trailhead
The start of the best-known descent; the first switchbacks and the tunnel with the rock art can be done in half an hour.
Hopi Point
The far-jutting point on Hermit Road is considered the best sunset spot on the South Rim, with views of three stretches of the Colorado.
Evening: Rim Trail between Bright Angel Lodge and Verkamp's
The paved rim path can be walked even after dark, beneath one of the darkest skies in the USA.
Day 8Grand Canyon: Hermit Road and Kaibab
Yaki Point
Eastern viewpoint reached only by shuttle, from where you see the ridge of O'Neill Butte and the South Kaibab Trail.
South Kaibab Trailhead
Unlike the Bright Angel, this trail runs exposed along a ridge; it is 45 minutes down to Ooh Aah Point and an hour back up.
Powell Point
A granite memorial to the 1869 Colorado expedition stands on the promontory, with the view opening up to the west behind it.
Mohave Point
From here you can see three Colorado rapids at once and, on still days, hear the roar of Hermit Rapids rising up.
The Abyss
The Great Mojave Wall drops almost 900 metres in one go here, the sheerest view anywhere on the South Rim.
Hermits Rest
End of Hermit Road: Mary Colter's 1914 stone hut with a huge fireplace, a water stop and views of Hermit Canyon.
Evening: Lookout Studio on the canyon rim
The limestone studio clings to the edge; from its terraces you look into the darkening canyon in the evening.
Day 9Route 66 and the Hoover Dam
Onward to Boulder City
Hotel check-in
Hoover Dam
The 221-metre arch dam of 1935 holds back the Colorado to form Lake Mead; the guided tour goes down to the turbines inside the rock.
Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge
From the footpath on the concrete arch bridge you look 270 metres down into the gorge and across at the entire dam wall.
Boulder Beach on Lake Mead
Flat shingle beach on the reservoir with pale mineral bands visible along the shores, marking the former water level.
Boulder City Historic District
The town, planned from scratch in 1931 for the dam workers, still has no casino, but antique shops around Wilbur Square.
Evening: Nevada Way and Boulder Dam Hotel
The short row of shops with the white Colonial-style hotel of 1933 where Howard Hughes stayed, plus a brewpub with an open-air terrace.
Day 10Death Valley: below sea level
Onward to Furnace Creek
Hotel check-in
Badwater Basin
The lowest point in North America, a salt pan of hexagonal crusts; on the rock face a sign marks sea level.
Artist's Palette
A one-way road runs along slopes coloured green, pink and turquoise by iron, manganese and chlorite.
Golden Canyon Trailhead
A dry streambed leads between golden-yellow walls up towards Red Cathedral; the full walk there and back takes about two hours, but a good hour covers a first stretch.
Zabriskie Point
From the small lookout above the folded mud hills of the Furnace Creek Lake beds, the whole badland glows at sunset.
Evening: starry sky at Harmony Borax Works
Among the remains of the 1883 borax works stretches the sky of a top-tier dark-sky park, without a single light source on the horizon.
Day 11Owens Valley beneath the Sierra
Onward to Lone Pine
Hotel check-in
Manzanar National Historic Site
The reconstructed camp where more than 10,000 people of Japanese descent were interned from 1942, with barracks, watchtower and cemetery obelisk.
Museum of Western Film History
Props, posters and vehicles from more than 400 westerns shot in the Alabama Hills since the 1920s.
Alabama Hills and Mobius Arch
Rounded granite boulders on a desert plain; the small arch frames Mount Whitney almost by itself.
Whitney Portal
The road ends at 2550 metres by a waterfall and the trailhead for the highest mountain in the contiguous United States.
Evening: Main Street in Lone Pine
US-395 as a village high street, with cinema, saloon and a view straight down the road to the snow-capped Whitney range.
Day 12Over Tioga Pass into Yosemite Valley
Onward to Yosemite Valley
Hotel check-in
Tunnel View
The classic view just beyond the Wawona Tunnel: El Capitan on the left, Bridalveil Fall on the right, Half Dome at the end of the valley.
Bridalveil Fall
A 189-metre fall that the wind scatters into spray halfway down; the paved path to the viewpoint takes ten minutes.
Valley View on the Merced River
From the gravel bank beneath the pines, El Capitan and Cathedral Rocks are mirrored in the calm water of the river.
Sentinel Bridge
From the bridge over the Merced, Half Dome sits exactly on the axis — the view Ansel Adams made famous.
Evening: Cook's Meadow in the evening light
The boardwalk across the valley meadow, from which Yosemite Falls and Half Dome can be seen at the same time.
Day 13Yosemite: waterfalls and Glacier Point
Lower Yosemite Fall
A short loop ends at the bridge below the lower tier, where in early summer the spray reaches the path.
Mirror Lake
A shallow lake at the foot of Half Dome that dries out to a gravel bar in summer; the loop leads through oak woodland along Tenaya Creek.
Vernal Fall Footbridge
The paved Mist Trail climbs 120 metres to the bridge, from where you see the 97-metre fall head-on.
Glacier Point
From the lookout 980 metres above the valley floor you see Half Dome at eye level and the peaks of the High Sierra beyond.
Washburn Point
The viewpoint just before Glacier Point shows Vernal and Nevada Falls one above the other in the Merced gorge.
Evening: Great Lounge at the Ahwahnee
The hall of the 1927 hotel, with ten-metre windows, granite fireplaces and Native American patterns on the walls, is open in the evening.
Day 14Giant sequoias and journey home
Tuolumne Grove of giant sequoias
A gravel path drops 150 metres to two dozen giant sequoias, including a drive-through tunnel tree from 1878.
El Capitan Meadow
From the meadow on the valley floor, use binoculars to watch the climbers as tiny dots on the 900-metre granite wall.
Departure from San Francisco
Make it your trip
Viatro AI opens this plan in the app — with map, travel times and opening hours. You change the days, pace and places yourself.
