• climbing the Angel's Landing Trail and Observation Point Trails in Zion National Park
• hiking the Peekaboo Trail in Bryce
• enjoying the November solitude

Sometimes you just want to fit as much hiking into four days as you can. We've designed this trip to hike some of the best trails in the two parks in a short period- there won't be significant amounts of downtime on this trip.

 any healthy woman in good physical condition who loves hiking and wants to do lots of it

•  three nights at Zion Park National Lodge

• experienced guides
• three nights of double occupancy accommodation
• all meals from dinner on Friday to lunch on Monday
• transportation during the trip
• National Park entry fees

 

at the Las Vegas airport at 11 am on November 6

we will be back at the Las Vegas airport by 4 pm on November 9 and you can fly out anytime after 5:30

 

November is typically excellent hiking. Some years, however, early snowstorms have closed some trails. Even if that happens, we'll still find some fun hiking options.

Friday: We'll meet you at the Las Vegas airport at 11 am. The drive to Zion National Park is about 2.5 hours. This afternoon we'll have a shorter warm-up hike, the Emerald Pools Trail System. The hike to the Upper Pool is about 2.5 hours roundtrip and passes both pools and waterfalls, as well as the lush environment of the lower pool and the dry environment of the upper pool. Overnight Zion National Park.

Saturday: Today we'll hike to Observation Point. This steep trail passes Weeping Rock and then climbs through Echo Canyon, gaining 2,150 feet in four miles. From there we can decide whether to continue on to Deertrap or Cable Moutains (either would be about 10 miles round trip). Overnight Zion National Park.

Sunday: We will get up early this morning for the 2 hour (or so) drive to Bryce. The drive itself is quite pretty and if you've never seen Bryce Canyon, your first look over the rim will take your breath away. Our trail today is the Peekaboo Loop. In contrast to yesterday where we climbed out of Zion Canyon, today we'll start by descending into Bryce Canyon. This 6 mile trail follows a loop around a major formation with constantly changing views and provides an excellent opportunity to see hoodoos from the bottom up and from every possible angle. Too bad we can't spend the night there but we'll drive back to Zion so we'll be ready for the next day's hike.

Monday: Maybe we're saving the best for last? This is undoubtedly one of the classic hikes in Zion: Angels Landing. This trail switchbacks up the side of a cliff and then follows a narrow ridge (there are chains there to hang onto) out to a fantastic overlook high above Zion Canyon. Even if you choose not to go out on the more exposed part, there is a great view from the area where you can wait for others to return. We'll plan to leave Zion by 1:30 pm and be back in Las Vegas by 3:30 pm (we gain an hour when changing time zones) so you can get a flight home after 5 pm.