2025 National Parks Trip - Las Vegas

As we packed up on Tuesday morning to leave Zion, we saw snow flurries. So fun and crazy that we experienced snow at our 3 major stops on this National Parks trip.

We drove back to Las Vegas and stopped at a Costco to grab our lunch and dinner for our last evening away. We ate our lunch at some picnic tables outside of Gold & Silver Pawn. The kids have watched Pawn Stars on occasion and thought this was a fun surprise!

Stop 7: Las Vegas

After lunch we checked in at Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Desert Club. It was a sunny day so the kids hit the heated pool. After dinner, we hit a few sites in Vegas: the Eiffel Tower, the Fountains at The Bellagio, and some ice cream.

Wednesday morning we started our flights home. We flew Las Vegas to Charlotte and then Charlotte to Wilmington. This was such a fun trip! Jake's watch tracked 38 miles of hiking over the middle days of our trip. So many family memories were made.

2025 National Parks Trip - Zion

 

Sunday morning we left our lovely AirBnB and drove to Zion National Park.

Stop 6: Zion National Park

We did the Canyon Overlook.

We drove through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel - so cool.

After lunch we hiked the Kayenta Trail to the Emerald Pools. 

News Flash: we had an unplanned, but memorable, 1.5 mile detour on the way back.

And Benny found a perfect hiking stick.

We checked in to our room at The Desert Pearl. So lovely. Set right outside of Zion with shuttle service. Due to the pricing of food at the market and the room limitations, we ended up doing dinners out those two nights. Sunday night we had pizza at Zion Pizza & Pasta. On Monday evening we enjoyed dinner at The Hangry Goat. 

Monday we prepared for a big hiking day. We hiked up to Scout's Lookout, just before Angel's Landing. This was a pretty challenging hike and everyone did great! We came back to our room for lunch and to chill.  That afternoon we hiked up to The Narrows.

Scout's Lookout

Waiting for the shuttle at The Desert Pearl

2025 National Parks Trip - Bryce Canyon

 

We stayed at a lovely AirBnB in Hatch, Utah. It was great to have space to sleep, eat and play. The mountain views, sunrise, sunset and star-gazing were incredible all from the house. We also found a hilarious new game to play - Poetry for Neanderthals.

Stop 5: Bryce Canyon

At Bryce Canyon we hiked the Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop Trail and ended at Sunset Point.

Post trip, it seems that Bryce Canyon was the majority favorite. It was a more enjoyable hike as you could look around while hiking. We hiked through mostly slushy snow and some ice. It wasn't as intense of a hike as The Grand Canyon.