Southwest US: Itinerary
About
Best months to visit the American South West are September - Early October. We took a week off work and traveled here from Oct 8 - Oct 14, 2018. If we had more time on this trip I would add:
Arizona: Grand Canyon, North Coyote Buttes “The Wave”
Utah: Arches National Park, Zion National Park
Nevada: Valley of Fire
New Mexico: Santa Fe, Carlsbad Caverns
Texas: Marfa, Cadillac Ranch
Day 1: Supai, az
Supai is an Indian reservation, the land is home to the Havasupai people and while tourism is a good source of revenue for their village, hikers must treat their home with respect (more here and here). Reservations made here. We reserved a 1-night permit but strongly recommend a 2-night permit.
Fly into Phoenix or Flagstaff or drive.
Drive from Flagstaff to Hualapai Hilltop (3 hours).
Stop in Seligman on the way (tiny roadside town that inspired Cars movie).
Park at Hualapai Hilltop and hike 8 miles down to Supai village. Check-in and get permit then hike another 2 miles to Havasupai campsite.
Stop at Navajo Falls and Fifty Foot falls on the way from Supai village to campground.
Note: The trail is not hard, but long with no shade. You can stop in Supai village for food. There is a general store and cafe. The campground has bathrooms and drinkable spring water.
Day 2: Supai, az
Hike to Mooney falls (1-mile past campsite) and Beaver Falls (2-3 miles past campsite).
Note: This includes a steep vertical descent, ladders and river crossings. It’s not easy to get to Beaver falls but worth it. Recommend going first thing in the morning if you want to enjoy it alone. We started the hike at 7am.
Hike ~3 miles from Beaver Falls back to Havasupai campsite for lunch. Pack up camp, hike 12 miles back to Hualapai Hilltop.
Drive from Hualapai Hilltop back to Flagstaff, spend night in Flagstaff (3 hours).
Day 3: PAGE, az
Drive from Flagstaff to Page, AZ (2 hours 30mins)
Antelope Canyon
You need to book a tour to visit Antelope Canyon as this is also Indian reservation. (Tips for Canyon tour, Upper vs. Lower). We ended up doing upper antelope canyon, because the lower canyon closed due to potential rain (it’s subject to flash flooding). Since so many tours were closed we last minute hopped onto a local tour in Page.
Upper Canyon: More crowded, more light beams (light beams best between 10-12pm).
Lower Canyon: Less crowded, longer tours (cooler imo).
Alt tour options we considered: Adventurous antelope tours, Dixie Ellis’s Lower Canyon Tours.
Lake Powell
After the canyon tour, we went kayaking on Lake Powell. Kayak Powell has several guided tour options or you can just rent your own and go solo.
North Coyote Buttes, “The Wave”
The Wave is ~1 hour from Page. 20 people are permitted to hike to the Wave from Coyote Buttes per day. It's a lottery permit system, you can apply online (10 permits picked per day) or show up in person (another 10 permits picked per day). Unfortunately we didn’t win the lottery, but this stop was at the top of my list. Apply for a permit here.
Horseshoe Bend
Drive from Lake Powell to Horseshoe Bend (10 min).
Walk from car park to overlook spot 3/4 miles (afternoon/evening has the best light) and it is very crowded.
Drive from Horseshoe Bend to Kayenta, spend the night in Kayenta right outside Monument Valley (1 hours 30mins).
Day 14: MOnument Valley + AlbuquerqUe
Drive from Kayenta to Monument Valley for sunrise (30 mins)
Stop at visitor center for map and info.
Do Tribal park loop, 17-mile drive on dirt road takes 2 hours. Great views of all monuments.
Good lookouts: Artists Point, John Ford’s Point or hike the Wildcat Trail for good view of the “mitten buttes”. More about the drive here.
Stop at “Forrest Gump Lookout” on the way out.
Drive to Albuquerque (5 hours)
Stop at “4 Corners” on the way where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah all touch.
Stop at “Shiprock” on the way, a monument that resembles a ship.
Albuquerque activities: Visit San Felipe de Neri Church and Old Town Plaza. If you’re a Breaking Bad fan, there is a tour where you visit all the filming locations, or you visit them yourself. Hike to Petroglyph National Monument, take Sandia Peak Tramway.
Stay the night in Albuquerque.
Day 5: AlBUQUERQUE + WHITE SANDS
International Hot Air Balloon Festival: Annual festival in Albuquerque every Oct, lasts 2 weeks. The best times to view balloons are during the morning and evening “mass ascensions” on Sat and Sun. Tickets here. You can go for a ride which is around $500. Would recommend walking to the festival from your hotel, its faster than driving with all the traffic and the grounds are easily accessible.
Check-out Hot air balloon fiesta for 7:00am “mass ascension”
Drive from Albuquerque to White Sands (3 hours).
Visit White Sands visitor center. They issue camping permits until 5:30pm every day, first come first serve, there are about 8 campsites and they are not heavily used.
The drive through all of white sands takes about 45min. If you want to hike, I would recommend the Alkali Flat trail (its isolated and unpopulated). Roadrunner picnic area has great dunes for sledding.
Every evening there is a free ranger lead Sunset Stroll where you can learn about the park’s history, geology wildlife and more.
If you don’t want to camp, you can easily stay in Alamogordo (20mins away) La Cruces (50mins away) or El Paso (1hour 30mins away).
Day 6: White Sands, NM + El Paso, TX
Spend morning in White Sands
Drive from White sands National Monument to El Paso International Airport (1hr 35min)
Fly or drive home.