Highlights of the Canyonlands

Highlights of the Canyonlands

Trip Duration: 7 Days/6 Nights

 

Starr has partnered with Cosmos Vacations, a leader in the packaged travel industry. When you travel with Cosmos, you'll have the opportunity to experience the inside stories behind each destination. For 80 years, Cosmos has been a leader in escorted travel with inspirational Tour Directors who not only show you the sites, but take you deeper into each place you'll see. With Cosmos, you get little-known insights, engaging commentary, and unique cultural experiences.

 

 

Trip Inclusions:

• Meals: 3 Breakfasts, 1 Lunch

• Tour Director upon arrival in Las Vegas

• Round Trip airfare EWR/PHL airport

• Transfers between airport & hotel

• Baggage handling and related gratuities

• Taxes

 

 

Trip Highlights:

 

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is famous for its luxury hotels, casinos, and nightclubs, located in the area known as "the Strip." Mormons from Utah settled the site in 1855 and abandoned it in 1857. It became a railroad town in 1905 and was incorporated in 1911. Gambling was legalized in 1931, and Las Vegas expanded rapidly after 1940. Its connections to crime syndicates began in 1946, when Bugsy Siegel opened the Flamingo Hotel. By the turn of the 21st century it was one of the country's fastest-growing metropolitan areas, attracting a year-round population as well as tourists.

 

Historic Route 66 in Williams, AZ

You'll feel as if you stepped back in time to the heyday of Route 66 when you pull into Williams, Arizona, just 60 miles south of Grand Canyon National Park's South Rim. Explore its vibrant historic downtown where you'll hear the greatest hits of the 1950s and '60s playing on seemingly each corner. You'll discover a ton of Route 66 memorabilia and souvenir shops, as well as restaurants that bring to life the 1950s and 1960s.

 

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon is considered one of the finest examples of arid-land erosion in the world. Incised by the Colorado River, the canyon is immense, averaging 4,000 feet deep for its entire 277 miles. It is 6,000 feet deep at its deepest point and 18 miles at its widest.

 

Navajo National Monument

Explore the astoundingly well-preserved, 800-year-old infrastructure and celebrate the cultural heritage of the Navajo Nation at Navajo National Monument. Navajo National Monument preserves three large pueblos dating to the 13th century C.E., as well as the archaeological evidence that documents human use in the region over the past several thousand years.

 

Kayenta

Prepare to be mesmerized by the dramatic landscapes of the Colorado Plateau when visiting Kayenta, the gateway to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in northeastern Arizona. Vast expanses of deeply hued red earth. Impossibly blue skies. This sacred landscape exerts a transcendent pull on all who set foot here. Simply put, Navajo tribal land is synonymous with the American Southwest, and the region's red spire-like buttes rising out of the desert floor are among the most recognizable vistas in the world.

 

Monument Valley

Monument Valley is a Navajo Nation tribal park, straddling the border of northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah of the Colorado Plateau. It preserves the Navajo way of life and some of the most striking and recognizable landscapes of sandstone buttes, mesas and spires in the entire Southwest. The area is entirely within the Navajo Indian Reservation near the small Indian town of Goulding, established in 1923 as a trading post.

 

Lake Powell

Created by the Glen Canyon Dam, picturesque Lake Powell encompasses almost 2000 miles of shoreline and spans an impressive 186 miles in length. It's so massive that it took almost 14 years to fill the lake after the dam's completion in 1963, and another four years to reach its capacity. Since then, the Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Recreational Area have become a premier attraction for millions of annual visitors from around the globe.

 

Page

The City of Page is the perfect gateway to outdoor adventures in Northern Arizona. Located in northeastern Arizona, Page is known for being a most excellent base camp for exploring nearby outdoor attractions, including Lake Powell and the surrounding Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument and Monument Valley. Founded in 1957 as a housing site for workers building the Glen Canyon Dam - which formed Lake Powell - the town has blossomed into a visitor-friendly community.

 

Bryce Canyon National Park

Red Rocks, Pink Cliffs, and Endless Vistas. Hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) exist on every continent, but here is the largest concentration found anywhere on Earth. Situated along a high plateau at the top of the Grand Staircase, the park's high elevations include numerous life communities, fantastic dark skies, and geological wonders that defy description.

 

Zion National Park

Utah's First National Park. Follow the paths where native people and pioneers walked. Gaze up at massive sandstone cliffs of cream, pink, and red that soar into a brilliant blue sky. Experience wilderness in a narrow slot canyon. Zion’s unique array of plants and animals will enchant you as you absorb the rich history of the past and enjoy the excitement of present day adventures.

 

St. George

Below the rim of the Great Basin sits Utah's warm-weather retreat, the town of St. George. The stunning valley combines transitional land features from the neighboring basin and Colorado Plateau with the landscapes and wildlife of the Mojave Desert. Red rock mesas and lush waterways create the setting for one of Utah's fastest-growing cities.

 

Snow Canyon State Park

Welcome to Zion National Park's little brother, Snow Canyon State Park. Criminally underrated and overlooked because of its proximity to Zion, Snow Canyon is a world all its own. Towering sandstone cliffs make you feel small, and rolling petrified sandstone dunes make you feel like you may have gone to a whole new planet. This canyon has been the setting for several Hollywood westerns like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Hondo," and "Jeremiah Johnson."

 

Antelope Canyon

Northern Arizona's pristine slot canyon invites visitors to step inside a monumental natural sculpture. Guided tours are required to visit Antelope Canyon, located on private land within the Navajo Nation. Shaped by millions of years of water and wind erosion, the magnificent canyon was named for the herds of pronghorn antelope that once roamed the area.

 

Colorado River

The Colorado River provides water to more than 40 million people in seven states and Mexico. The Colorado River is highly esteemed for both its iconic beauty and as a vital natural resource. It is often described as the most regulated river in the world with a complex and extensive history surrounding its development.

 

Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon Dam, rising 710 feet above bedrock within the steep, rust-colored sand-stone walls of Glen Canyon, was constructed to harness the power of the Colorado River in order to provide for the water and power needs of millions of people in the West. It is the second highest concrete-arch dam in the United States, second only to Hoover Dam which stands at 726 feet. The 25.16 million acre-feet of water storage capacity in Lake Powell, created by Glen Canyon Dam, serves as a 'bank account' of water that is drawn on in times of drought. This stored water has made it possible to successfully weather extended dry periods by sustaining the needs of cities, industries, and agriculture throughout the West.

 

Grand Staircase

The Grand Staircase is an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south for 100 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park through Zion National Park and into the Grand Canyon. In the 1870s, geologist Clarence Dutton first conceptualized this region as a huge stairway ascending out of the bottom of the Grand Canyon northward with the cliff edge of each layer forming giant steps. Dutton divided this layer cake of Earth history into five steps that he colorfully named Pink Cliffs, Grey Cliffs, White Cliffs, Vermilion Cliffs, and Chocolate Cliffs. Since then, modern geologists have further divided Dutton's steps into individual rock formations.

 

Kaibab National Forest

Check out the Kaibab National Forest for a three-in-one adventure like no other. The forest has three districts to explore: Williams, Tusayan, and North Kaibab. No matter which one you choose, you're sure to discover plenty of natural beauty, diverse wildlife and vegetation, plus fantastic recreation. The forest is spread across nearly 1.6 million acres, it is bisected by the Grand Canyon National Park, and the Mogollon Rim forms the southern boundary.

 

Rainbow Bridge

Rainbow Bridge is one of the world's largest known natural bridges. The span has undoubtedly inspired people throughout time - from the neighboring American Indian tribes who consider Rainbow Bridge sacred, to the 85,000 people from around the world who visit it each year.

 

Red Mountains of Utah

A large block of Navajo Sandstone is the geologic setting of the approximately 18,700 acre Red Mountain Wilderness. Newly designated in 2009, a portion of this Wilderness is within the also newly-designated Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. The Santa Clara River channel bounds this unit on the west, while Snow Canyon State Park partially wraps around its southern and eastern boundaries. The mountain top is a dramatic expanse red sand and slickrock. Rugged sandstone outcrops push up through pinyon pine, Utah juniper, and an understory of sagebrush, manzanita, and scrub oak.

 

Tower Butte

A butte is a solitary hill with steep side and a flat top; Tower Butte rises 5,000 feet above sea level on the edge of the painted desert, just outside Page, AZ. It took millions of years to form, as the solid rock at the top protected it from the erosion of the surrounding land, leaving it towering over its surroundings. It is destined to erode eventually, but thankfully not for millions more years!

 

Wahweap Marina

Just south of the Arizona state border at the most southwestern point on Lake Powell, you'll find Wahweap Marina - the largest marina and home of Lake Powell Resorts.

 

 

Need to Know:

 

Proof of Citizenship Requirement: Government Issued Photo ID

 

Deposit/Payment Policy:

• Deposit is $300 per person.

• Final payment is due by 06/04/2025.

 

Cancellation Policy:

Cancellation penalties: If cancellation occurs from booking date to 6/4/25, a $25.00* per person penalty will be assessed.

If cancellation occurs between 6/5/25 and 6/29/25, a $1,100.00* per person penalty will be assessed.

If cancellation occurs between 6/30/25 and 9/2/25, the passenger is in full penalty and no refund will be granted.

 

*In addition to the cancellation polices listed above, if additional payments have been made to Starr for the purpose of securing your airline reservation, these monies are non-refundable once received. Any name changes after final payment is made will be assessed a per person change fee. The amount of the fee will be determined by the airline.

 

Flight Information:

TBD *Flights are subject to change.

 

Only 1 piece of checked baggage is allowed on this trip and there will be a charge by the airline to check any luggage.

 

Travel Insurance:

Travel Protection is recommended through The National Tour Association's (NTA) Travel Protection Plan administered by AON Affinity. For more information or to purchase, call 800-388-1470 or log onto: nta.aontravelprotect.com Starr's Tour Operator location # is 306035.

 

Gratuities:

Gratuities to individuals noted below are not included in the price of your tour package. Customary recognized guidelines are as follows:

*Motorcoach Driver – $4-$6 per tour guest, per day

*Tour Director – $4-$6 per tour guest, per day

 

 

Accessibility:

Starr has a select quantity of wheelchair accessible motorcoaches available; therefore, we suggest you contact a Travel Advisor to discuss any needs you may have before reserving your trip.

Accommodations:

 

Night 1:

Sahara Las Vegas, Las Vegas or similar.

 

Night 2:

Yavapai Lodge West, Grand Canyon National Park or similar.

 

Night 3:

Kayenta Monument Valley Inn, Kayenta or similar.

 

Night 4:

La Quinta Inn & Suites Lake Powell or similar.

 

Night 5:

Best Western Plus Ruby's Inn, Bryce Canyon National Park or similar.

 

Night 6:

Best Western Plus Abbey Inn & Suites, St. George or similar.

 

Note: Hotels are subject to change and are confirmed 30 days prior to departure.

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