EISC Canyonlands Tour – 9 days / 8 nights / Oct. 4 – 12, 2021
$2009 per person full package price - double occupancy rooms
First payment: At sign up $1,000
Second payment: August 1st $1,009
Cancelation Date: June 5th
Trip Chair: Marty Stimson (until we can find other chairs)
A new trip everyone has been waiting for…. Come join 26 of your fellow ski club friends to explore the captivating Canyonlands of the southwest and experience spellbinding landscapes on this unforgettable National Parks tour! We depart Cedar Rapids on October 4th for Las Vegas and spend two nights before loading on our bus the morning of October 6th.
Highlights of this National Parks tour are your visits to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park. You will be staying inside Grand Canyon National Park, giving you the opportunity to see a stunning sunset over the canyon. If you miss the sunset, sunrise is also spectacular! In Bryce Canyon National Park, you'll be amazed at the bright red, yellow, and pink pillars called "hoodoos." Enjoy the beauty and peace offered at Zion National Park—with its massive canyon walls ascending toward the blue sky. Rushing streams over millions of years have carved these steep canyons and stone towers that will mesmerize you. You’ll have plenty of time here to explore the park, join a park ranger, or take a leisurely hike.
You will visit Monument Valley, one of the world’s most photographed places with its pinnacles of rock surrounded by mesas, buttes, shrubs, trees, and windblown sand. Have your camera ready for some spectacular shots during your 4-wheel-drive tour of mystical Monument Valley and its massive formations. At Navajo National Monument, visit the visitor center and view artifacts of the villages that date from 1250 to 1300 AD built by the prehistoric Puebloan Ancestors. You’ll also visit Glen Canyon Dam—the country’s second-highest concrete-arch dam—which holds back Lake Powell, the country’s second-largest man-made lake. Finally, you’ll visit Snow Canyon State Park, a park featuring soaring sandstone cliffs.
DAY 1 and 2 LAS VEGAS
Sahara Las Vegas - 2535 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, United States
Welcome to exciting Las Vegas, also known as “Sin City!” You’ll have the evening and following day to tour the city on your own. As time gets closer, we will see about setting up an organized tour for the next day if we can. Our Tour Director will be on hand late the afternoon of day 2 to answer any questions.
DAY 3 LAS VEGAS–WILLIAMS–GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Yavapai Lodge West – Grand Canyon National Park Lodge
Cross the desert and the old Mojave gold-strike country, passing through Williams on historic Route 66, and Kaibab National Forest, to arrive in the Grand Canyon by mid-afternoon. Marvel at one of the Natural Wonders of the World as you experience breathtaking views of Grand Canyon National Park.
DAY 4 GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK–NAVAJO NATIONAL MONUMENT–KAYENTA
Kayenta Monument Valley Inn – US Hwy 160 Hwy 160 & 163 Kayenta
If you miss the sunset over the canyon, sunrise is just as impressive! For a once-in-a lifetime experience, take our optional flightseeing excursion over the heart of the Grand Canyon for incomparable views of flame-colored walls plunging 6,093 feet into the Colorado River. Later today, Navajo National Monument. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the monument was established to preserve three cliff dwellings of villages built by prehistoric Ancestral Puebloans that date from 1250 to 1300 AD. At the visitor center, view artifacts and one or all three of the films available. This evening, join the optional Navajo cookout for dinner, surrounded by the red-rock canyons of Monument Valley.
DAY 5 KAYENTA–MONUMENT VALLEY–LAKE POWELL–PAGE
La Quinta Inn & Suites Lake Powell – Page, AZ
To experience the American West immortalized on the silver screen, journey across the Navajo Nation to Monument Valley. Situated on the Arizona/Utah border, the valley’s scenic desert vistas and iconic buttes have appeared in countless classic Western films. See the massive formations on a memorable 4-wheel-drive tour guided by a Navajo guide. Afterward, visit the Glen Canyon Dam, holding back the waters of the Colorado River in Lake Powell, the country’s second-largest man-made lake. This afternoon, consider an optional Antelope Canyon cruise, which takes you onto the lake and into the tight, winding canyons.
DAY 6 PAGE–BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn – Highway U-63 26 Sough Main, Bryce
Our optional early morning flight provides another unique perspective of Lake Powell. This beautiful sightseeing flight also includes Glen Canyon Dam, Wahweap Marina, Tower Butte, and Rainbow Bridge, the largest natural arch on Earth. Then, travel into Utah along the Grand Staircase to Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce is famous for its unique geology as erosion has created bizarre shapes, including slot canyons, windows, fins, and spires called “hoodoos.” Tinted with numerous colors, these rocks create a wondrous landscape.
DAY 7 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK–ZION NATIONAL PARK–ST. GEORGE
Best Western Plus Abbey Inn & Suites – 1129 S Bluff St, St George
“Zion” is an ancient Hebrew word meaning a place of refuge or sanctuary. Once a refuge for Mormon pioneers, Zion National Park’s striking landscapes of steep canyons and stone towers carved out by rushing streams over millions of years will mesmerize you. There is plenty of time to explore the park: take the park shuttle, see the Visitor Center and the museum, take a leisurely hike, bird watch, or join a park ranger to learn more about the animals, geology, plants, and human history. Upon arrival in St. George, enjoy an orientation tour of the most important Mormon community in southern Utah.
DAY 8 ST. GEORGE–SNOW CANYON STATE PARK–LAS VEGAS
Sahara Las Vegas - 2535 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas
The journey continues to Snow Canyon State Park, featuring a canyon carved from the red and white Navajo sandstone in the Red Mountains of Utah. Then, a stop at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport for those with homebound flights. Please schedule flights after 3 pm. The trip ends at your Las Vegas hotel for those guests with extra nights.
DAY 9: RETURN HOME TO CEDAR RAPIDS
As you sign up, please work to arrange your roommate ahead of time. This will help the trip chairs in setting up room assignments. We also need trip chairs for this trip. Please let Marty Stimson know if you are interested.
~article by Marty Stimson; photos from Ruth Van Tol