Day 1
Phoenix - Scottsdale
On arrival in Arizona, independently make your way to your hotel in Scottsdale. Enjoy the superb facilities and grounds of this desert oasis. At 6.00 pm, join your Tour Director and fellow guests for a Welcome dinner.
Hotel: Hotel Valley Ho, Scottsdale (Dinner with wine included)
Day 2
Sedona and the Wonders of the Mighty Grand Canyon
Head north to the quaint bohemian colony of Sedona, where you can browse the stores and galleries. Enjoy one of Arizona's finest drives through Oak Creek Canyon, before travelling on to Grand Canyon National Park, where you can take an optional flightseeing tour by helicopter or plane over this natural wonder. Spend the night inside the park, enjoying the peace and quiet after the crowds have departed. Take time to experience the breathtaking vistas and sunset on the canyon walls. During your stay, join a local expert for an informative presentation about the wonders of the Grand Canyon. This evening, enjoy a Highlight Dinner in the Thunderbird Room while taking in the magnificent views of the Grand Canyon's South Rim.
Hotel: Grand Canyon National Park Lodge (Breakfast)
Day 3
Excursion to Monument Valley and Lake Powell
Today, move on to the Historic Cameron Trading Post, featuring Southwest American Indian arts and crafts. The journey carries on through the Painted Desert, a colourful fantasy land of mesas, buttes and badlands, and through the Navajo Indian Reservation. Later, join an excursion to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park for a guided tour. Stop at the Glen Canyon Dam to learn about its impact on the Colorado River before arriving at your lakefront resort. Check into your room which has guaranteed lake or Marina views.
Hotel: Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas (Breakfast, lunch & dinner with wine included)
Day 4
Leisurely Lake Powell
This morning is yours to do as you please. Relax and enjoy the resort's facilities or join an optional float trip down one of the most scenic stretches of the Colorado River. Later take a leisurely cruise through scenic Antelope Canyon with its dramatic steep, sandstone walls.
Hotel: Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas (Breakfast & dinner with wine included)
Day 5
Bryce Canyon's Stony Symphony
Head to Bryce Canyon National Park in Southern Utah today and enjoy a leisurely walk along Sunset Point to view the great amphitheatres of odd-shaped monoliths known as hoodoos.
Hotel: Zion National Park Lodge (Breakfast included)
Day 6
Zion National Park
Enjoy a relaxed start this morning, as you have a full day to explore the park. After a leisurely breakfast, you will tour the canyon aboard a privately chartered open-air vehicle, with live commentary from a Local Expert to show you the many scenic highlights of the canyon. This afternoon you can choose to join your Travel Director for a guided hike to the Emerald Pools. Alternatively, visit the Zion Human History Museum. Later, join your fellow traveler's for a Highlight Dinner hosted at the lodge.
Hotel: Zion National Park Lodge (Breakfast included)
Day 7
Salt Lake City
Travel to Salt Lake City, the capital and most populous city in the State of Utah, and headquarters of the Mormon faith. Join your fellow travellers and Tour Director for a relaxing and delicious dinner at your hotel this evening.
Hotel: Hilton Salt Lake City Centre (Breakfast & Dinner with wine included)
Day 8
Jackson and Grand Teton National Park
This morning, join an orientation tour of Salt Lake City seeing the famous Temple Square. Then travel north across the Oregon Trail to visit historic Jackson, where arches of elk antlers adorn the central square. Later, continue to your lakeside lodge overlooking Jackson Lake and the stunning peaks and glaciers of Grand Teton National Park.
Hotel: Springhill Suites Jackson Hole (Breakfast included)
Day 9
Nature on the Boil at Yellowstone National Park
The Grand Tetons thrust skyward 6,562 ft (2,000 metres) from the valley floor. Stop to admire some of the incredible views at Jenny Lake. Then enter Yellowstone, established in 1872 as the world's first National Park and known for its unique geothermal activity, spectacular landscapes and abundant wildlife.
Hotel: Yellowstone National Park Lodge (Breakfast included)
Day 10
Geysers and Colourful Mudpots at Yellowstone
After breakfast, walk among the geysers and watch them erupt. There is plenty of time to see the colourful bubbling mudpots and observe Old Faithful shooting water over 120 ft (37 metres) in the air. View free-roaming deer, elk and bear in their natural habitat. Then experience the roar of the Lower Yellowstone Falls as they thunder down the steep canyon walls.
Hotel: Yellowstone National Park Lodge (Breakfast included)
Day 11
Buffalo Bill, Billings and Bills of Fare
Depart Yellowstone National Park and travel through the stark Shoshone Canyon and Absaroka Rocky Mountains to reach the Wild West town of Cody. Visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, built in honour of one of America's great Western legends. Take in the rustic charm as you're hosted at a traditional Wyoming Family ranch. Start off the evening with a cocktail hour in the historic Ranch House bar. After a home-cooked dinner, enjoy a fire pit with live entertainment, including country, folk and bluegrass music.
Hotel: Ranch at UCross (Breakfast and Dinner with wine included)
Day 12
Devils Tower into the Black Hills of South Dakota
Start your morning fishing, horseback riding of just relaxing in this beautiful setting before heading to Devils Tower, a geologic feature considered sacred to the Lakota and other tribes. Travel to Spearfish Canyon where the breathtaking limestone creek-carved gorges are more ancient than the Grand Canyon.
Hotel: Spearfish Canyon Lodge (Breakfast included)
Day 13
Deadwood, Custer State Park and the Black Hills of South Dakota
Relive Custer's Last Stand, learn all about Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and the history of the Indian Wars at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Keep a lookout for pronghorn antelope as you cross the great high plains to the Black Hills of South Dakota. In Deadwood, join Kevin Costner's Original Deadwood Tour and explore this once lawless town. With a local expert, hear about the days of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, who made this town famous during the gold rush of the 1870s. Also meet Chief Bald Eagle who will share a living narrative of the Great Sioux Nation. Continue on to Custer State Park, renowned for its beautiful landscape and abundant wildlife. Look out for buffalo, deer and elk, or stroll through the pristine pine forest.
Hotel: The State Game Lodge (Breakfast included)
Day 14
South Dakota and the Presidents
Today, view the Crazy Horse Memorial, dedicated to all American Indians. Move on to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, where carvings of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt dominate the Black Hills. The rest of the day is yours to spend at your leisure, before enjoying a celebration dinner. Perhaps get up close and personal with herds of buffalo on an optional jeep safari, followed by an authentic chuckwagon cookout at a secluded canyon.
Hotel: The State Game Lodge (Breakfast and Dinner with wine included)
Day 15
The Rocky Mountains National Park - Denver
Travel south from Custer State Park to where your tour ends in Denver. Make your way to Denver International Airport arriving approximately at 16:30 pm. Please do not schedule any flights before 19.30 pm.
(Breakfast included)
