5 Budget Friendly Destinations

Plus Tips for Saving Money While Traveling

It’s no secret that I love to travel as much as I possibly can. Traveling can be a pricey hobby, but not if you plan your trips around budget friendly destinations! I’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite budget friendly vacations and have included some tips on saving money while traveling that I hope you find helpful!

Top 5 Budget Friendly Destinations

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

The Grand Canyon – it truly is grand!

We visited The Grand Canyon for the first time a few years ago and I was utterly shocked at how little this trip cost us! Some might think that visiting one of the true wonders of the world would be expensive, but it was quite the opposite for us. National Parks are excellent destinations for budget-minded travelers since most Parks only charge a $35 entrance fee that’s good for seven days!  

South Rim Entrance

So, are you wondering how we saved money on this trip? To start, we traveled over Thanksgiving break in November. The months between November and February are considered the low season, and flights and lodging prices are typically much cheaper this time of year. We also stayed outside of the Park in the fantastic little town of Tusayan, which is also a much cheaper option. To our delight, the entire town was already decorated for Christmas which we absolutely loved!

Tusayan decorated for Christmas!

We stayed at the hotel at the Red Feather Lodge and really enjoyed this place. Since we were visiting in the low season, we paid under $100 per night for our room. Summer rates are a little higher, around $235 per night. From the hotel, it was less than a mile to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim entrance. The rooms at the hotel have refrigerators and microwaves, so we took advantage of this. We shopped at the grocery store in town and bought things for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. We are notorious for packing a picnic lunch to take with us on our hiking adventures and only spending money on dinners at night.

Views for days!

We spent two days at the Grand Canyon, which consisted of hiking, checking out the different look-outs and observation points, and exploring the Yavapai Geology Museum. Once we paid our entrance fee, we didn’t spend any money on any of the activities in the Park!

The hike back up from Ooh-Aah Point

Entrance Fee-Free Days at the Grand Canyon for 2023

  • Monday, January 16: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
  • Saturday, April 22: First day of National Park Week.
  • Friday, August 4: Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act.
  • Saturday, September 23: National Public Lands Day.
  • Saturday, November 11: Veterans Day.

We did choose to fly on this trip instead of road tripping. We actually had Spirit Airline credits that we HAD to use before the end of the year. While this is not my favorite airline, we actually had no issues flying out or returning home. We found that flights to Las Vegas were cheaper than flights into any of the airports in Arizona. So, this too helped us save money and we added a new state to our growing list!

Overall, we had a fantastic trip that didn’t break the bank! Click here to read more about our trip to the Grand Canyon!

We loved our visit!

Robbers Cave State Park, Oklahoma

Inside the cave at Robbers Cave

Robbers Cave State Park in Wilburton, OK is one of our favorite summer destinations! This little gem isn’t necessarily a place we go to beat the heat, but we always have a great time here. This state park is only about 2.5 hours from us in Texas, so it doesn’t even take a full tank of gas to get there! This is a fun destination that never costs our family too much!

It’s almost like Oklahoma has its own slot canyons!

This state park offers several activities from hiking, swimming, camping, horseback riding, ATVing, canoeing, fishing, rock climbing, and more! We like to load up our bikes, pack a cooler of food for the weekend, and hit the road! Once here, we always take the hike to the infamous cave that outlaws like Jesse James hid out in, hence the name Robbers Cave! Since we mostly explore and bring our bikes, we actually aren’t spending any money on these activities.

The hike to the caves is so fun, especially for kids!

You really can’t visit Oklahoma in the summer without spending time at the lake! Right across the street from the entrance to Robbers Cave State Park is the lake which has an area designated for swimming, canoe/kayak rentals, a playground, and small museum. There’s also a swimming pool that costs $5 per person for the day. We have never purchased tickets to swim at the pool, but we have paid about $20 to rent kayaks and then we swim at the lake. The kids loved this adventure!

Kayaking fun!
These boys love the lake!

We always stay at one of the 26 cabins in the park, but these are really just a step above camping. The cabins are small, but they include a living room, bathroom, 1-2 bedrooms, and a full kitchen. Very little time is spent inside the cabin, we mainly use it for cooking and sleeping. Other than that, you’ll find us outdoors exploring, grilling, or hanging out around the fire pit! Cabin reservations cost about $88 per night, which is what we spend the most on this entire weekend.

This was the cabin we stayed in!
We loved having a kitchen and an ac!

This is a great destination for just a weekend or a couple of nights. Our boys love exploring and climbing all the rocks behind the cabins! The caves in the area are pretty cool, too. Click here to read more about our last visit to Robbers Cave!

Even the parents had fun on this adventure!

Colorado Springs, Colorado

I will never get tired of this view!

Colorado Springs is one of those places that we find ourselves visiting again and again. There are so many things to do in this area and we will never tire of the mountains. I will admit that even though we’ve been to Colorado Springs a countless number of times, I have never actually based an entire trip around this destination. In writing this post, I have realized that I need to change that!

Garden of the Gods Park

So, we typically stop and stay in Colorado Springs on our drive to other places. It’s always a great location because it’s easy for us to get to or home from in one day of driving. We like to stay at the My Place Hotel due to the hospitality we received there a few years ago when our Yukon broke down right near this place. They were truly life savers in this unfortunate turn of events and have our loyalty! Plus it has a full kitchen, so that makes it nice to cook breakfast in the morning.

If you have kids, they will never get tired of exploring this place!

We love the many attractions that Colorado Springs has to offer, as well. Two of our favorites besides driving up Pikes Peak is Garden of the Gods Park and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. I could spend the entire day at Garden of the Gods and we’ve visited in several different seasons. The Manitou Cliff Dwellings only require a couple of hours! Garden of the Gods is FREE, so you definitely need to take advantage of this and add this park and visitor center to your itinerary! It costs $12 for adults and $7.50 for kids to enter the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. This allows you to explore both the dwellings and the museum.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings
The dwellings are the best part of this place!

Colorado Springs is a nice getaway and has lodging and attractions for just about any budget! It’s an ideal location to visit for the day, but I can see how we could spend an entire week here, too!

Even we enjoyed seeing and learning the history here!

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

The Big Room in Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We recently visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park this past winter and my mind is still blown away at the sheer size and beauty of the caverns. This was just flat out an epic adventure for our family! It’s also now one of my favorite destinations because of how little we had to spend for this adventure and how short the drive was from home.

The Chihuahuan Desert is fantastic!

We spent two nights in Carlsbad, NM and only needed one day at the caverns. I had been given some Christmas money and gift cards and decided to put it all together for a quick weekend trip. Since Carlsbad is only a seven hour drive, I knew this would be the perfect getaway over the long MLK weekend. The caverns are truly stunning and since we visited in the off season, it felt like we had them all to ourselves! All of us were mesmerized and the boys said it was one of their favorite weekend trips to date. We didn’t have to pay to enter Carlsbad Caverns National Park because my America the Beautiful pass is still valid for one more month.

Stalagmites and Stalactites galore!

We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Carlsbad, the rates were under $100 per night. And we definitely took advantage of the free breakfast each morning. We actually had lunch at the nearby Subway and got extra sandwiches to eat the next day on the drive home. We did splurge a little on dinner one night and had steak and seafood at YellowBrix in town. Totally worth it, the food was amazing!

We added a fun stop on the drive to New Mexico at Monahans Sandhills State Park in west Texas. This stop was super fun for the boys and only cost us $8 for the day! All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and I cannot recommend this National Park enough. Click here for information about our recent trip!

Monahans Sandhills State Park in TX

Orange Beach, Alabama

The beach is my happy place!

Orange Beach in the off season is truly a dream come true! This is one of those destinations that I’ve debated even sharing and letting the secret out. If you can visit in the spring, I think you will love it during this season just as much as we do!

No crowds in April!

This destination is awesome for families, friends, couples, etc.! We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Hampton Inn right on the beach. Overall, we saved about $400 visiting in the spring verses paying the summer rates the hotel charges. We loved those beach views and that free breakfast each morning! Usually when we travel to the beach, we spend most of our time at the beach /pool all day every day – which is always FREE. In the spring, the temperatures are not too hot and muggy to enjoy being outdoors and the water is just warm enough to keep the kiddos entertained!

I love a free breakfast that’s actually edible!

The difference in this location during the spring verses the summer is not only the price, but also the amount of tourists. Before my last visit in April, I had only traveled to Orange Beach in the summers. Don’t get me wrong, I still love it then, too! But it is really crowded, both on the beach and at restaurants and other attractions. In the spring, there’s no issues finding a great place to set up for the day at the beach. And there’s basically no wait at any of the restaurants.

Again, no crowds!
Only epic waves!

Orange Beach is a gorgeous beach destination, no matter what time of the year you choose to visit. Click here to check out more about our spring getaway to Orange Beach.

Yep, we all got sunburned!

More Tips for Traveling on a Budget

Driving vs. Flying – For us, driving is always the cheaper option when we travel. We don’t use credit cards, so this might not be the case for you if you like to use those points to book flights. But, we prefer to drive when we can. It’s much more budget friendly than paying for a flight, paying for seats & luggage, and then having to rent a car. Driving also allows us to bring more things with us, like food and snacks which also helps us save money!

I can even travel with just a shoe bag when we drive ha!

Food Options – When I look at our travel budget, it seems like the majority of our funds go to feeding our family of four. I have found that if we book a hotel that includes free breakfast, this saves us about $30+ per day. This is a savings of at least $150 if we stay for a week! I also prefer to book rooms that have a refrigerator and microwave. This allows us to grab items to make sandwiches for lunches, especially if our trip involves hiking or other outdoor adventures.

Picnic lunches are amazing when the landscape looks like this!

Off Season Travel – Traveling in the off season is my favorite time to travel! The prices are always cheaper and the crowds can be nonexistent. If you can handle cooler weather, since the off season is usually in the winter, then I highly recommend giving this a try! You might just find that the off season is your favorite time to travel, too.

If you prepare for the weather, off season travel can be a blast!

Staycation/CityPASSes – My boys and I just recently did a staycation in Dallas, TX and had the most fantastic time! We basically had a 45 minute drive to our hotel and saved a total of $115 by using the Dallas CityPASS to visit four popular attractions in the area. I cannot recommend traveling to your nearest city and spending a couple days exploring all that it has to offer. Several locations have a CityPASS or something very similar. We look forward to visiting different cities in Texas in the future!

We enjoyed our Dallas staycation this past summer!

Weekend/Day Trips – Not every trip has to be something grand! Weekend trips and day trips are a fun way to get out there and make memories with your family. You can still have a wonderful trip, even if you only have a couple days available in your budget. Day trips are also a great way to explore a local area or attraction without breaking the bank. For us, we have driven 2-3 hours to a location and just spent the day there and then drove back home. When you don’t have to pay for lodging, this can save you hundreds of dollars!

This was a fun day trip to Glen Rose, which is about 2 hours away!

National & State Park Trips – National Parks are great places to visit because the most you will pay is typically $35 for your entrance fee and this is usually good for seven days. There are also several different passes available that might offer you even more savings. We have visited several Parks for free using the Every Kid Outdoors Pass when our oldest was in fourth grade. We also saved about $75 this past year using my America the Beautiful Pass. This pass costs $80, but once you visit two Parks, it’s paid for itself! State Parks cost even less to enter. We just recently visited a State Park in TX and it only cost my whole family a total of $8 for the day.

The Every Kid Outdoors Pass got us into so many Parks for FREE!

National Park Entrance Fee-Free Days for 2023

  • Monday, January 16: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
  • Saturday, April 22: First day of National Park Week.
  • Friday, August 4: Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act.
  • Saturday, September 23: National Public Lands Day.
  • Saturday, November 11: Veterans Day.  

Travel Buddy – Finding a travel buddy is another fun way to save money! I love traveling with my best friend and her two boys. It’s so nice to split the cost of gas, lodging, parking, and more. If you have a friend that also loves to travel, you should plan a trip together! Girls/guys trips are also a way to travel together and split costs.

My best friend is my favorite travel buddy!

Rewards Programs – If you travel a lot, you should look into different rewards programs. Most of the time when I book a hotel, I use Expedia. Since I have attained Gold Status, I get really nice hotel discounts. These discounts have saved us a lot of money over the years. For instance, I once paid $20 per night for a room at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. I really like booking our hotel stays through Expedia because there’s an option to reserve now/pay later and you can usually cancel most hotel bookings 24 hours before your check in date. This has been extremely helpful in the past few years with the changing health protocols and travel restrictions.

It’s only January and I already have over $100 in credits to use!

I hope you have found these destinations and travel tips helpful! It truly is my passion to share all things travel with you. I haven’t done it all, but we sure have had a lot of fun over the years! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any help planning your next adventure! I’d also love for you to share any of your favorite budget friendly destinations. Leave a comment if you have a place that we need to add to our list!

Top 10 Hikes Across the US

It’s no secret that a lot of our road trip adventures have led to some pretty epic hiking destinations! I am sharing my top 10 favorite trails that we have hiked so far. These trails are all suitable for my boys that are under the age of 12!

10. South Kaibab Trail to Ooh-Aah Point at Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

We visited the Grand Canyon in November over Thanksgiving Break. I really wanted to hike down into the canyon, so we decided we would take the rim walk from Mather Point to the Kaibab Trail and hike down to Ooh-Aah Point. If I am being honest, I would have really liked to hiked rim to rim. But that just wasn’t an option with our boys. I also looked into mule rides to the bottom, but you have to be 9 and older and Jake was only 7 at the time. So, we did the hike and trail that we thought the boys would be able to handle the best. We ended up hiking 8 total miles because we went past Ooh-Aah Point. The views were truly stunning the father down into the canyon we hiked. The switchbacks on the start of the trail were really cool, until the hike back up! Just remember that however far you hike down, you must hike back up. And while we didn’t go that many miles down, it was very hard for me to get back up and I am in pretty decent shape. I am thankful that the weather was cooler, I cannot imagine doing that hike in the summer temps. The photos will never do it justice!

Click here for our Grand Canyon Trip Itinerary!

9. Hidden Falls Trail in Grand Teton National Park, WY

We were able to spend a couple days hiking in the Grand Tetons this past June on our Yellowstone Road Trip. I really enjoyed every hike, but this one was so peaceful and beautiful! This hike starts at the Jenny Lake area, so we decided to head that way and grab lunch at the store right at the trailhead. From here, we followed the trail around Jenny Lake. If you don’t want to hike, you can purchase tickets for a boat ride across the lake that drops you off about a mile from Hidden Falls. We decided to take the hike since we had been riding in the car so much on this trip! The views are fantastic around the lake and we even saw a deer along the trail. Before getting all the way to Hidden Falls you will eventually see a bridge with a raging river running under it. This is a great place to stop for photos! We stopped in this area and had a picnic snack on the rocks and just watched the river roar by underneath us. From this spot, it’s about a mile or less to the Hidden Falls. This waterfall is majestic and another great location for photos!

  • Hidden Falls Trail Information:
  • Distance: 4.9 mile out & back
  • Time: 2.5 hours
  • Location: Grand Teton NP, Jenny Lake area, Jackson, WY
  • Rating: Easy/Moderate
  • Grand Teton National Park website

Click here for our Grand Teton National Park Itinerary!

8. Lake Haiyaha Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

The hike to Lake Haiyaha was one of the toughest I have ever done. But I am beyond thankful that we persevered and made it to the lake because it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! I visited Rocky Mountain National Park this past October for a long weekend of hiking. RMNP is one of my favorite places on earth, but this was the first time I have ever hiked to Lake Haiyaha. The majority of the hike is up a steep incline and there were several times I wanted to give up and turn around. When you finally even out on the incline, you are then faced with several yards of boulders that you must scramble over to get to the lake. Once you do, the sight is amazing! Especially right now since a rockslide over the summer turned the lake a unique shade of blue! This is one hike that you don’t want to miss! And this is one of two listed hikes that I didn’t take my boys on, but I know that they would have loved the rock scramble. Please keep in mind that you do need timed-entry reservations for Rocky Mountain National Park from early spring through the fall.

  • Lake Haiyaha Trail Information:
  • Distance: 4.0 miles out & back
  • Time: 2 hours+
  • Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, Bear Lake area, Estes Park, CO
  • Rating: Hard
  • Rocky Mountain National Park website

Click here for my Fall in Rocky Mountain National Park Itinerary!

7. Munds Wagon Trail to Merry Go Round Rock in Sedona, AZ

We traveled to Sedona over Mother’s Day weekend in May last year. Our first hike of the trip was on Munds Wagon Trail, which is about 8 miles out and back. AllTrails had the hike at 6.4 miles, but I clocked us at 8.1 miles with all of the extra exploring and climbing we did along the trail. I would rate this trail as moderate, especially if you’re hiking with kids. We needed to stop for food quite a bit. Luckily the majority of the hike is uphill on the way to Merry Go Round Rock, which makes the hike to the car mostly downhill. The views are stunning and the trail was very well marked. We really enjoyed all of the hikes we did in Sedona, but this one had those infamous Sedona red rock views the entire way and that’s why I picked this one as my favorite!

  • Munds Wagon Trail Information:
  • Distance: 6.4 miles out & back
  • Time: 3 hours+
  • Location: Coconino National Forest, Sedona, AZ
  • Rating: Moderate

Click here to for our Sedona Itinerary!

6. Delicate Arch Trail in Arches National Park, UT

We visited Moab over our Spring Break in March. On our first day in Moab we decided to spend the day hiking at Arches National Park. I had to see Delicate Arch, so that was our first hike for the day. I kept a close watch on the live webcam at the ticket area, and never saw long lines to get into the park. We arrived around 10 am. I am sure it’s much busier during the summer. This was our first visit to Utah, so I didn’t really know what to expect at the Park. But it ended up being super easy! Take the map that is offered to you at the ticket area. The park has signs along the way and we were able to find the Delicate Arch hike fairly easy and we enjoyed the sights along the drive. What I love about this Park is that even people that can’t hike can enjoy almost everything! There are places to pull over and view the famous landmarks or you can park and hike to them. We knew that the hike to Delicate Arch would be the longest and hardest of the trip so we started there first. I am not going to lie, it was pretty hard in one part that is a very steep incline. The rest is fairly easy and the walk back down was no trouble at all. The kids did great and we saw people of all ages and ability levels able to do this one. And I promise that the view at the end is amazing! I also loved that everyone waited turns to take photos under the arch and we all offered to take photos of each other. Please keep in mind that you need timed-entry reservations for Arches National Park starting in early spring through the fall.

  • Delicate Arch Trail Information:
  • Distance: 3.2 miles out & back
  • Time: 1.5 hrs
  • Location: Arches NP in Moab, UT
  • Rating: Moderate
  • Arches National Park website

Click here for our entire Moab, UT Itinerary!

5. Stout Memorial Grove Trail in Redwood National & State Parks, CA

There are several different parks that make up the Redwood National and State Parks, so I had a hard time deciding which area to visit. We settled on Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park and the Stout Memorial Grove Trail to hike. I am so happy with this decision, we had the most amazing day in the Redwoods and ended our hike with a beach walk that was absolutely stunning! We encountered maybe 4 people on this day, at both the Redwoods and the beach! So, I highly recommend a visit if you want to experience a National Park with no crowds. The road to this trail does turn into a packed dirt road, but our 2 wheel drive rental car had no issues making the trip! Our boys loved climbing all the fallen trees, especially after being in the car for so long the day before. The pictures don’t really do it any justice, I have NEVER seen trees so big and tall in my life.

  • Stout Memorial Grove Trail Information:
  • Distance: 0.7 mile loop
  • Time: 30 min+
  • Location: Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park in Crescent City, CA
  • Rating: Easy
  • Redwood National & State Parks website

Click here for our entire Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip Itinerary!

4. Sunday Gulch Trail in Custer State Park, SD

My favorite day in South Dakota was hiking in Custer State Park! I can’t even begin to describe the trail we hiked. I came across images of the Sunday Gulch Trail and knew we had to do it. I am not going to lie, there were tears shed around the 2.5 mile mark from my oldest kiddo. (We didn’t know he was actually getting sick with a fever/cold at the time). This hike is 3.9 miles long, it’s labeled as a HARD trail with a lot of uphill and downhill hiking, trekking through water, over rapids and streams using rocks or tree logs to get across. It was so much fun, but so much work. I can’t even describe how beautiful the sights were and my pictures just don’t do it justice. We could’ve explored this park for 3-4 days! I didn’t get many shots of us on the crazier parts of the trail because I had to help pass our little one off to Jereme and didn’t want to drop my phone in the water. But trust me, it was so cool! We packed a picnic lunch and found a nice, shady area to eat and then took off. It cost us $20 to get into the park, but that includes a 5 day pass to return. There are bathrooms, a store/souvenir shop, canoe rentals, and probably more than I even saw. After the hike, the kiddos and Jereme jumped into the lake for a freezing cold swim!

Sunday Gulch Trail Information:

Click here for our Texas to South Dakota Road Trip Itinerary!

3. Secret Cove Beach Trail in South Lake Tahoe, CA

Secret Cove Beach was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever visited. The hike is not very long, roughly a mile from the parking lot. There are not a lot of signs marking the trail, but we still had no trouble finding the secret cove. It is a clothing optional beach, I would never go nude, but didn’t mind if others did. However, we didn’t see anyone else without swimsuits on. We were there pretty early and it felt like we had the entire cove to ourselves. We explored the trails above the cove and just took in the sights, then hiked down to the beach and relaxed on the shore and took a few swims.

  • Secret Cove Beach Trail Information:
  • Distance: 0.9  mile loop
  • Time: 30 minutes+
  • Location: Carson City, NV
  • Rating: Easy

Click here for our South Lake Tahoe Itinerary!

2. Emerald Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

We visited Rocky Mountain National Park in July a couple of summers ago. On our first day here, we were so excited and decide to head to the Park right before 4:00 pm, and didn’t wait in line for more than 5 minutes to enter. We drove right to the Bear Lake parking lot, used the restrooms at the trailhead, and began the hike to Emerald Lake. It was AMAZING!!!! The signs along the trail were easy to follow and take you around two other lakes, Nymph Lake and Dream Lake, before getting to Emerald Lake. Our boys, ages 10 and 7 at the time, did great on this one. I absolutely love this hike and this National Park! Please keep in mind that you need timed-entry reservations to Rocky Mountain National Park from early spring through the fall.

  • Emerald Lake Trail Information:
  • Distance: 3.2 mile out & back
  • Time: 2 hrs
  • Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, Bear Lake area, Estes Park, CO
  • Rating: Easy/Moderate
  • Rocky Mountain National Park website

Click here for our entire Rocky Mountain National Park & Beyond Itinerary!

1. Lower Caves Trail in Maquoketa Caves State Park, IA

If you are craving a unique travel adventure, then look no further! What makes this State Park so incredible is that it has 6 miles of hiking trails and 13 caves to explore, completely on your own. My family loves visiting caves, but usually that comes with a guided tour and a time limit on your caving experience. Not this place! You park your car and your adventure begins! There are no guides, no time limits, just a nicely marked trail system to venture at your own pace. My boys loved this adventure just as much as I did! We started with the lower caves, so that involved walking down wooden stairs to get inside the caves. There were different places for the boys to climb and explore, and if you have kids, you know that they love to climb and explore! I could not get over all of the geological features and was just in awe the whole time! We will definitely venture back to Iowa just to hike these caves again!

  • Maquoketa Caves Trail Information:
  • Distance: 1.7 mile loop
  • Time: 1 hour+
  • Location: Maquoketa Caves State Park in Maquoketa, IA
  • Rating: Easy
  • Maquoketa Caves State Park website

Click here for more information and photos of Maquoketa Caves State Park!

Helpful Hiking Tips: Bring plenty of food and water for the day, wear sunscreen and reapply often, use bug repellent, bring a first aid kit, take a swimsuit or change of clothes/shoes, expect to get wet, and have a blast!

Budget Friendly Hiking Gear Recommendations

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you purchase any items using the links provided at no extra charge to you.

I would love to hear what your favorite trails are! If you have a favorite trail or a recommendation, leave me a comment. And as always, thanks for following along on our adventures!

Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon Road Trip Itinerary

Seeing the Grand Canyon in person has been a dream of mine for a long time. I am happy to report that we finally made that dream come true over this past Thanksgiving holiday! And it was an ideal time to visit the park, the weather was perfect and the crowds were smaller than I have heard they can be in the summer months.

We booked this trip very last minute, so we didn’t get to stay inside the park, but we had the most amazing trip with our boys. If you follow along on our adventures, you know that I like to take advantage of our school breaks. And Jake had asked to go to the Grand Canyon for his birthday… in the summer. Being how it’s super-hot at the Grand Canyon during that time, I decided to push this one off until the weather got cooler. I was wracking my brain for somewhere to go over Thanksgiving break and decided that this might be the perfect time to see the Grand Canyon. We also had Spirit Airline credits that needed to be booked before the end of the year, so the trip planning began!

Being home for Thanksgiving was really important to us, so we decided that we would travel from Sunday – Thursday morning and fly home in time for lunch and dinner with our families. Thankfully we had zero issues with our flights and our traveling days went so smoothly… well everything except for the turbulence on the way home! Eek, that’s a story for another time haha!

Our Itinerary

  • Sunday – Flight to Las Vegas, Nevada
    • Drive to Horseshoe Bend in Page, AZ
    • Drive to hotel in Tusayan, AZ
  • Monday – Grand Canyon National Park
  • Tuesday – Grand Canyon National Park
  • Wednesday – Drive back to Las Vegas, NV
    • Stop by Hoover Dam
  • Thursday – Flight home to Dallas, TX

A big goal of mine is to get my boys to all 50 states, so since we had already been to Arizona, I thought it would be cool to start this adventure in Las Vegas and mark Nevada off the list. Plus, flights into Vegas were way cheaper than flying to Phoenix or Flagstaff. We had early morning flights and made it to Vegas by 8:00 am. We were on the road in our rental car by 9:00 am! We decided to drive down the strip and show the boys where we would be staying on our last night of the trip and then we headed to Arizona.

We never claimed to be good parents ha!

Even though this stop put us about 2 hours out of the way, I knew we needed to go by Horseshoe Bend since we were so close. And that’s exactly what we did! We made it right before sunset and it did not disappoint. This site is about 4 hours from Vegas, and then we had to drive another 2 hours to our hotel in Tusayan. The boys loved exploring Horseshoe Bend and being out of the car. They always enjoy climbing rocks and there were plenty for them to crawl and climb on. But they got so cranky on the drive from Page to our hotel. I mean, we were up at 3:00 am for our flights, so I understood. Because of this, we actually decided to sleep in the next day before getting up for the Grand Canyon.

Horseshoe Bend at sunset!

We really enjoyed our stay in Tusayan. We actually drove through after dark and the town was completely decked out in holiday lights and Christmas décor! We stayed at The Red Feather Lodge and really enjoyed it. Like I said earlier, we booked this trip in October, so I didn’t get to book lodging inside the park. However, the location of The Red Feather Lodge was wonderful and it only took about 5 minutes to drive to the South Rim entrance.

Grand Canyon Day 1

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when visiting The Grand Canyon. I didn’t think we’d see forests and animals, but man did we! Tall trees and lots of elk made the drive to the lookout points really exciting. We decided to start our first day at Mather’s Point. There was lots of space to park the car and a really nice visitor center area with food and coffee options, bike rentals, and Ranger talks. This visitors center was closed when we were there, but we probably wouldn’t have visited anyway. We were way too excited to see the Grand Canyon! The trails are paved and marked very well. The first sight of the canyon is truly awe-inspiring. I always knew it was grand, but it’s almost hard to take it all in, it’s that grand! The lookout points are very crowded, so we decided to venture along the rim trail and explore more on our own away from all the other visitors.

Lookout from Mather’s Point

I really wanted to get down into the canyon, so we decided from Mather’s Point we would take the rim walk to the Kaibab Trail and hike down into the canyon to Ooh-Aah Point. If I am being honest, I would have really liked to hike all the way to the bottom of the canyon and camp and then hike back up. But that just wasn’t an option with our boys. I also looked into mule rides to the bottom, but you have to be 9 and older and Jake is only 7. So, we did the hike and trail that we thought the boys would be able to handle the best. We ended up hiking 8 total miles. The switchbacks on the start of the trail were really cool, until the hike back up! Just remember that however far you hike down, you must hike back up. And while we didn’t go that many miles down, it was very hard for me to get back up and I am in pretty decent shape. I am thankful that the weather was cooler, I cannot imagine doing that hike in the summer temps. The views were stunning and the photos will never do it justice!

There are several dining options in Tusayan, but we opted for dinner at the Mexican restaurant at our hotel. It’s called Plaza Bonita Restaurant and it was so, so delicious! Plus, we got a discount for staying at the Red Feather Lodge! We also enjoyed lunch at Foodie Club while we were there! There were several options for all of us and it was a great stop before we hiked the canyon on day two.

Grand Canyon Day 2

Our original plan for the 2nd day in Arizona was to drive about 45 minutes and visit Bearizona. But, the weather had other plans for us and there was a 90% chance of rain there for the majority of the day. So, we decided to head back to the Grand Canyon to visit the Yavapai Geology Museum and do more exploring. This day was colder and cloudier than the day before, so it was nice to have a place to warm up indoors. The views were a little different here, especially with the clouds! We walked around for a bit and then decided to just drive around the park. It was exciting to see so many elk roaming around. We pulled over into a parking lot and explored the forest area. The boys played “pine cone dodge ball” and some hide and seek. Then, we decided to go back into town and have dinner. We LOVED the restaurant, We Cook Pizza and Pasta. The boys were able to get pizza and I really enjoyed the pasta.

Las Vegas

On Wednesday morning we checked out of the hotel and started the four hour drive to Las Vegas. We made a quick stop to see the Hoover Dam on the drive. The drive was really easy and felt like it went by pretty quick. The dam is really a lot cooler than I thought it would be. We didn’t do the tour inside because this is a bucket list trip for my Dad and I wanted to wait to take it with him! But it was fun to drive over the dam and we also walked along the bridge that overlooks that area. And I got a picture with my boys in their 32 state right there on the walk up to the bridge!

Our 32nd state!

Finally, we made it to Vegas. We stayed at the Bellagio and we were all impressed with the hotel! The Christmas décor was spot on. The only downside was how crowded it was. We got our best Christmas photo at 5:30 in the morning on the way to the airport. The boys just wanted to walk around the strip and check out the different hotels and sights outside. I tried to book tickets to a magic show while we were there, but there wasn’t anything available. We did about 6 miles of walking through different hotels and then decided to head back to our room and order room service for dinner. The boys thought we were so fancy! We only spent one night here and I think the boys actually liked it better than the Grand Canyon. I can’t wait to take them back in the summer so we can enjoy the hotel pools.

Overall, we really had a good time adding a new state to our list and visiting another National Park this year. I know there is so much that we didn’t see or do while we were there. Maybe one day we can visit again when the boys are a little older. I would love to hear any tips or recommendations that you have if you’ve been there. If you’re reading this to help plan your next trip, feel free to reach out with any questions! Don’t forget to follow our fun on my IG at road_trip_queen.

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Happy Travels!