Activity note: Hotel check-in from 4:00 p.m.

Afternoon: Program Registration: 5:00 – 5:30 p.m. After you have your room assignment, come to the Road Scholar table outside the meeting room to register with the program staff and get your welcome packet containing the up-to-date schedule that reflects any changes, other important information, and to confirm the time and location of the Orientation session. If you arrive late, please ask for your packet when you check in. Orientation, 5:30 p.m. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. We will be accompanied by a Northern Arizona University naturalist who will serve as our Study Leader, leading hikes and field trips unless specified otherwise. Please bring a refillable water bottle on the program and on all hikes. Periods in the schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Dinner: We will enjoy a dinner buffet catered by the hotel restaurant, plus coffee, hot and iced tea, and water; other beverages available for purchase.

Evening: At leisure. Continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead. Be sure to prepare for check-out and transfer in the morning.

Activity note: Driving approximately 165 miles; about 2.5 hours. Hiking approximately 1.5 miles roundtrip; about 1 hour; roughly 69 feet in elevation change; paved but sometimes uneven or muddy trails.

Breakfast: In the hotel restaurant, we will have a breakfast buffet featuring a variety of items, plus coffee, tea, water.

Morning: Once checked out of the hotel, we will board the motorcoach for our transfer north toward Zion National Park. Along the way, our instructor will enhance our travel time with insights into the geology, plants, animals, and human history of the region. We’ll travel through the Basin and Range Province, the upper Mojave Desert, and the Virgin River Gorge, en route to the Colorado Plateau and Zion National Park. Upon arrival in St. George at the Bureau of Land Management Visitor Center, we’ll get off the motorcoach to explore its small museum independently.

Lunch: At the Switchback Grill just outside of Zion National Park, we’ll choose what we like from the tasty lunch buffet with coffee, tea, lemonade, milk, water included. Enjoy spectacular views of the magnificent surroundings.

Afternoon: Moving on, we’ll travel to the Visitor Center at Zion National Park where we’ll see a large-scale 3-D map of the park for an overview of where we'll be exploring. We’ll then board our vehicle and enter the park and travel to the Zion Lodge inside Zion Canyon. Nestled at the base of stunning canyon walls, the grounds of the Zion Lodge invite people to linger among its shady cottonwood trees and grassy field. At the Lodge, your Group Leaders will give an overview of the area and offer activities at one or more locations. Activities may include walking the Lower Emerald Pools Trail, the Grotto Trail, or a historic walk around the Zion Lodge.

Dinner: At a local restaurant in the heart of the town of Springdale, we’ll have plated meals with soft drinks, coffee, tea, milk, water included; other beverages available for purchase.

Evening: After dinner, we will meet to discuss free time options in the park. Your Group Leader will provide park information and shuttle maps to the group. We will discuss how the shuttle system operates and orient the group to the many highlights, viewpoints, trails and feature in the park. Your Group Leader will also discuss tomorrow’s dining options for dinner on your own.

Activity note: Free Zion Shuttle; 16 miles round trip; 90 minutes without getting off at stops. With stops and walks approximately 4 – 6 hours. Self-guided elective walking distances; Weeping Rock walk is about 1/2 mile roundtrip; less than 1 hour; paved trail with 100 foot change in elevation. Riverside Walk is approximately 2 miles roundtrip, about 2 hours; paved trail with little change in elevation.

Breakfast: At the hotel, we will enjoy a breakfast buffet, with coffee, tea, water included.

Morning: Free Time. Take this opportunity for personal independent exploration to see and do what interests you most. Please refer to the list of Free Time Opportunities. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Your Group Leader will be available in the morning at a predetermined location and time in the lobby of the hotel. Sack lunches for the day will be distributed at this time. Your Group Leader will facilitate entry into the park and be available for any questions that may arise.NOTE: please remember to bring a day pack with you to carry your sack lunch, water bottle and sun protection during your park explorations.

Lunch: Sack lunches in the field at your leisure.

Afternoon: Continue free time to explore Zion National Park.

Dinner: Dinner is on your own in the quaint town of Springdale, where you can enjoy a variety of restaurants, bars, gift shops, art galleries, and more. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

Evening: At leisure. Be sure to prepare for check-out and transfer in the morning.

Activity note: Driving about 85 miles, around 1.5 hours, to Bryce Canyon National Park. Walking about 1 mile along Bryce Canyon rim to Sunset Point; approximately 1 hour; about 100 feet of change in elevation; unpaved trail. Elevation is approximately 8,000 feet at Bryce Canyon.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: We’ll board the motorcoach and travel to Bryce Canyon National Park, one of America’s smaller national parks, covering only 56 square miles. Bryce is renowned for its unique geological features, carved by nature into hoodoos and pinnacles of an amazing palette of colors. Along the way we will travel through the one mile long Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel and stop at Checkerboard Mesa to hear why it has horizontal layers and vertical cracks. We will also discuss how the vegetation and habitat changes from the valley floor 2,000 feet below us. Then, we will climb the Grand Staircase via US 89, heading up Long Valley, rich in early Mormon history to Bryce Canyon National Park.

Lunch: At a local restaurant near the entrance to Bryce Canyon, we’ll have an extensive buffet meal, plus coffee, tea, soft drinks, water.

Afternoon: Then we will take the motorcoach to Inspiration Point and get off for a walk to Sunset Point. This one mile, unpaved trail winds along the rim through bristlecone and other pine trees, juniper trees, and fir trees with great views of the Bryce Amphitheater and the hoodoos, fins and spires of red, pink and yellow rock. All along the way, we'll have great views of rows of hoodoos, with diagonal scour markings. The contrast between the exposed rock hoodoos and the spruce, fir, and bristlecone pine surroundings is stunning. In the late afternoon, we will check into our hotel.

Dinner: At a favorite local restaurant, we will have a buffet featuring a soup, salad, and variety of entrée choices, plus coffee, tea, water.

Evening: Evening at Leisure.

Activity note: Driving about 50 miles total throughout the day; approximately 2 hours total drive time, with stops. Walking approximately 3 miles total: sunrise walk to Bryce Point is less than 1/2 mile roundtrip, paved; Queen's Garden walk is about 2 miles roundtrip; walk to Yovimpa Point is approximately 1/2 mile roundtrip, paved.

Breakfast: At the hotel, we will have a plentiful buffet, featuring an assortment of hot and cold items, eggs, breakfast meats, biscuits and gravy, French toast, pastries, potatoes, yogurt, and fruit, plus coffee, tea, water.

Morning: Before breakfast there will be an elective motorcoach trip to Bryce Point where early risers will be rewarded with a spectacular sunrise over the richly colored hoodoos of Bryce amphitheater. Here we can watch both the brightening eastern horizon and the hoodoos change below us in Bryce Amphitheater. In the horizontal light of dawn, the colors are wonderfully rich. After breakfast, we’ll all board the motorcoach, drive to a location near the Bryce Rim and take a short walk to Sunrise Point. Here, we’ll also see the famous Twinkle Toes tree, and learn about the forces of erosion. From here we will have several hikes or walks to choose from. The hardest choice is a 1.8 mile roundtrip hike led by one of our Group Leaders, who will take us below the canyon rim to Queen’s Garden for the experience of an entirely different view from the canyon floor, looking up at the hoodoos. You may elect to turn around part way down, or you may choose to walk with our other Group Leader along the flat, paved rim. Then we'll all reboard our motorcoach for the spectacularly scenic drive to Rainbow Point.

Lunch: At Rainbow Point, at 9,115 feet above sea level, we’ll enjoy a boxed lunches featuring sandwiches, chips, fruit and cookies.

Afternoon: At Rainbow Point, we’ll have a photo opportunity before setting out on a short walk through high woods of many types of conifers to Yovimpa Point. From here, we’ll enjoy expansive views from the top of the Grand Staircase and Navajo Mountain to the east, and the Kaibab Plateau to the south. After walking back from Yovimpa Point, we’ll board the motorcoach for the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center to view the award-winning park video, and visit the natural history museum. We’ll then return to the hotel.

Dinner: At Ebenezer's Barn and Grill, we will enjoy a tasty dinner from the buffet, plus coffee, tea, soft drinks, or water; other beverages available for purchase.

Evening: During dinner, we will enjoy a country music show before returning to the hotel for a relaxing evening at leisure. Be sure to prepare for check-out and transfer in the morning.

Activity note: Driving approximately 185 miles total throughout the day; about 4 hours total of driving time. Walking up to 1.5 miles, about 2 hours, total throughout the day; about 1/2 mile around Pipe Spring National Monument mostly paved, flat terrain; walk to Bright Angel Point is approximately 1/2 mile down roughly 150 feet; mostly paved, somewhat steep terrain.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: Checking out of the hotel, we will begin our journey towards our third national park of the program. We’ll board the motorcoach for the southbound trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We will travel down the several steps of the Grand Staircase and move on to Arizona where we will visit Pipe Spring National Monument and join a park ranger for a walking field trip of Winsor Castle – a fort built by Mormon settlers fort beginning around 1870 – and the surrounding grounds. Then, we’ll continue aboard our vehicle as the road climbs up the Kaibab Plateau. Stopping at the Le Fevre Overlook, we’ll enjoy a larger-than-panoramic view of the Grand Staircase. Here, we can look north and see the southern end of Bryce Canyon National Park atop the Staircase, and the tops of the Towers of Zion National Park. After nearing 8,000 feet elevation, we’ll arrive at Jacob Lake for lunch.

Lunch: At the Jacob Lake Inn, a pine-surrounded log structure with a fireplace and a wonderfully homey feel, we will enjoy some of its home-cooked fare with a plated meal. Coffee, tea, soft drinks, water included.

Afternoon: We’ll then continue southbound across the Kaibab Plateau through forests of Ponderosa pines, spruce, fir and quaking aspen, as well as huge meadows—more reminiscent of Montana than Arizona. En route, we’ll learn through an onboard lecture why fire is important to the health of Ponderosa pine forests and what happens when fires are suppressed for 100 years. As we travel, we may see the unique Kaibab squirrel, wild turkey, and deer. Upon arrival, we'll take a half-mile roundtrip hike on a steep paved trail to Bright Angel Point, a promontory at an elevation of 8,148 feet that offers panoramic views of Roaring Springs, Bright Angel, and Transept Canyons, as well as the inner gorge of the Grand Canyon. After our walk, we’ll check in for our stay in the rustic cabins near the main lodge building and the canyon views on the back porch of the lodge.

Dinner: In the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, we will enjoy a truly memorable experience with spectacular views of the sunset over the canyon accompanied by tasty plated meals from a select menu. Regional as well as foods popular in the 1930s are featured throughout the extensive menu, prepared with the freshest and healthiest ingredients. Coffee, tea, soft drinks, water included; other beverages available for purchase.

Evening: In the onsite auditorium, we will enjoy a lecture by a National Park Service ranger. Afterwards, you may consider a walk out to one of several viewpoints overlooking the canyon to watch the stars rotate overhead.

Activity note: Driving approximately 90 miles total throughout the day; about 2 hour, with stops. Walking approximately 2 miles total for the day, about 2 hours combined: nature walk is about 1 mile; Transept Trail hike about 2 mile rim hike; all are unpaved, rolling trails with about 200 feet of elevation change.

Breakfast: Lodge buffet.

Morning: If you would like, rise early on your own to take a short walk and experience a sunrise over the canyon to the east. After breakfast, we’ll then decide how to spend our mornings; A guided walk on the Transept trail, or a nice stroll through the Ponderosa Pine forest on the Bridle path, back to the lodge. In the mid-morning, we’ll check out of our cabins and load our luggage. Depending on the interest of the group, additional time on the rim or additional stops at points of interest en route to Kanab will be added to our morning activities.

Lunch: In the field, we will have boxed lunches including a deli-style sandwich, chips, fresh fruit, and a cookie or granola bar.

Afternoon: We’ll depart for famous Jacob Lake Inn and onto Kanab, Utah. We will have the chance to make stops along the way to learn about the geologic history of the "Grand Staircase" of Southern Utah. We will arrive at the hotel in Kanab, Utah in the mid afternoon, giving us time to explore the quaint downtown that calls itself, "The Greatest Earth on Show".

Dinner: Plated meal at a local restaurant.

Evening: After dinner, we will have the opportunity to explore downtown Kanab. Centrally located on Main St., your hotel is in the perfect location for short walks to local art galleries and gift shops.

Activity note: Hotel check-out by 8 a.m. Driving approximately 210 miles from Grand Canyon to Las Vegas; about 4 hours. Expected arrival at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport by approximately 11:30 a.m.

Breakfast: Lodge buffet.

Morning: Once checked out, we will depart from the North Rim via motorcoach for our return trip to Las Vegas McCarran International Airport.

Lunch: En route to Las Vegas, we’ll enjoy a sack lunch of sandwiches and cookies.

Afternoon: Upon arrival in Las Vegas, we will make drop-offs at McCarran International Airport, followed by the starting hotel. This concludes our program. If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!