Southwest Road Trip: 8 U.S. National Parks in 7 Days

Is it possible? Eight parks in seven days? I want to preface this post by sharing what the planning process was like for this trip. My dad and I planned out the destination points that we wanted to hit and said that we will get to as many of these places as we can in as little time as we can. The reason being that I had to be back at work by a specific date. So, our planning process really was just that – start driving and get as far as we can, making sure we hit those must-sees. We mapped out the best course of action which started with White Sands, then out to Death Valley as our furthest point West, and then back to everything else.

There were other parks that we could have added to this trip if we had more time and if the pandemic and California fires were not happening (Joshua Tree, Yosemite and Sequoia). So, is it possible to see 8 National Parks (plus 4 bonus stops) in one week? The answer is yes. If you want to see some of the most popular sites at each park, do an easy hike, and move on to the next park, then absolutely. If you have more time, want to take your time, and like more intermediate to difficult hikes – you can easily spend 1-5 days at these parks (it varies depending on which one).

ROAD TRIP PACKING ESSENTIALS

Hiking boots
Sunglasses
Long socks
Sunscreen
Water (you always want to have a case of water in case you get stranded or are hiking and too far from a store)
Snacks
Bucket hat (lifesaver)
GPS that works off satellite (This was great for when our phones did not have service. We used the OG Garmin.)
Atlas
Roaming America: Exploring All the National Parks (book)
Small backpack or fanny pack
Sports bra
Kleenex/Tissues
Chapstick
Tylenol (or some other headache medicine)
Motion sickness medicine
Car chargers
Travel pillow (one from your bed at home or a donut. I use two - one for my neck and one for my tailbone!)
Blanket
Layers (If you’re doing an early morning hike, it may start off cool in the morning, and then warm up quickly.)
Cleansing wipes
Hand sanitizer

VEHICLE RENTAL

Shop around for the best deals for a rental car. Be sure that there isn’t a mileage cap. We drove around 6800 miles for about $384 through Budget. We had a Toyota Camry. Do not think that just because you’re going on a road trip that you need an SUV or something that can go off-road. In National Parks – you won’t need something that is good for off-roading unless you plan to go to the permit-only parts of the parks.

ROAD TRIP SAFETY

Animal Crossings: My biggest notes on safety are about night driving and animal crossings. If I were on this trip alone or with other people, I probably wouldn’t have driven so much at night. My dad is an experienced driver, and I felt safe with him driving. There are so many animal crossing warning signs out West. PAY ATTENTION! If you don’t feel comfortable driving, don’t. That’s my best advice there.

Wildlife: Another piece of advice – if you see any wildlife – leave it alone. We saw wild rams at Valley of Fire State Park, and we made sure to be cautious.

Rest Stops/Areas: Be aware of your surroundings, and never go into a rest area alone. Rest stops are notoriously known for being unsafe. Even if the rest stop was nice, I always had my dad wait for me right outside.

Food and Water: Make sure that you have enough food and water on the road. There are plenty of roads that you will take where you will have no service and won’t see another car for hours. If something were to happen and you were stranded, you want to have food and water.

Fun Fact: There are historical markers all over the Southwest. Be sure to stop and check some of them out. Here’s my dad at one of them.

NATIONAL PARK GENERAL NEED-TO-KNOWS

Pandemic: Due to the pandemic, there are some parks that require a reservation before visiting. None of the parks below that we visited required a reservation to enter the park when we went. There was, however, a shuttle reservation required to access parts of Zion National Park. I suggest that you check the National Park Service website before you visit each park to make sure that you are aware of any and all restrictions. In addition, face coverings may be required. Again, double check what the current rules and regulations are.

National Park Pass: If you’re going to visit more than two parks, get a National Park pass. You can typically buy one at any of the National Parks. They are valid for a year. They were sold out (I don’t know how that happens) at the first two or three parks that we went to, but don’t worry, once you finally get to a park that has the passes – you will be credited if you have your receipts from the other parks. Also, if you go early enough – there may not even be a charge to get into the park. When we went to Arches and Death Valley, we went early enough where it was free to get in because no one was working the entrance yet.

Entrances: Most National Parks have a few different entrances to the park. Your itinerary will differ depending on where you enter at. Again, check the National Park Service website when planning your itinerary to determine what your day will look like based on which entrance you use.

Bathrooms: The bathrooms in the National Parks are, for lack of a better word, gross. They are tall (not great for short people like me), they don’t flush, and they stink. If you must go, you must go, but just keep this in mind. I tried to use the restroom before we entered the park at our hotel or breakfast stop (even if that was a gas station). If you stop at a rest stop, as I said above, be aware of your surroundings; and if possible, don’t go alone.

ACCOMMODATION

I have seen a lot of people post about how planning your accommodation is the most important thing to do when planning a road trip. However, I disagree with this if you’re trying to maximize and make the most of your time. You limit yourself by having to get to a certain accommodation by a certain day and time.

Many people on my Instagram were wondering where I stayed on this road trip. Typically for a trip I will stay at a cool property worth sharing on my social media account. However, because this was a road trip where we were, as I said, trying to maximize time, we booked random hotels as we went. I say random, but I use that term loosely. We would start driving to our destination, getting as far as we could for the day or night, and then while on our way, we could estimate when we wanted to stop for the night based on our energy level. At that point we would begin our search for a hotel.

My dad is a BEAST when it comes to driving. He does not get tired that easily while driving and can drive long distances no problem. So, full-disclosure, that really helped us cover a lot of ground. We used Expedia and Hilton mostly because we had points to use. This ended up giving us 2 nights of free stays.

Airbnb: There are so many cool and great Airbnb properties to stay at in the West – especially in Arizona and Utah. We didn’t stay at any of them because the cost for the unique and trendy stays is typically high. If your budget allows it, check out the different properties available. Another thing to note about booking an Airbnb is that you won’t have as many last-minute options. So, if you choose to book one, you will more than likely have to plan to be there on a specific date at a specific time. Therefore, we chose to just go with hotels so that we could book and stay according, as we went, to our loose schedule. Here are my tips to use when booking an Airbnb should you choose to take that route.

Hotel Tonight: Owned by Airbnb – this website and app are used to book last minute travel. We did not use Hotel Tonight, but it’s a great option for this type of road trip.

Expedia: If you’re like me and use Expedia to book travel arrangements from time to time, you might have a credit. I had a $50 credit from a past trip that I was able to use on one of our stays.

Hilton Honors: It’s free to sign up for Hilton Honors program. After so many stays you get a free night. We were able to get two free nights using our Hilton Honors account.

I will share below where we stayed before visiting each site.

ITINERARY

Again, keep in mind that this is my itinerary for a quick trip to each destination. Your itinerary is going to be different based off where you begin your road trip. I suggest that you map it out with what makes sense for you based off your starting and ending location. Also be sure to check each link below to see more hiking and trail options. We began with White Sands National Park because we drove from Atlanta after my dad picked me up from the airport upon arriving home from Mexico. If you live on the East Coast like we do (Ohio) – I suggest that you fly to Arizona or New Mexico, and then begin your road trip. This is what we would have done under normal circumstances. We actually saw everything we wanted to on this trip in six days with day seven being a day for us to drive home. The accommodations listed below are the places we stayed at the night before we began our day.

Quick Look

White Sands National Park - https://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm
Death Valley National Park - https://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm
Valley of Fire State Park (bonus) - more info
Zion National Park - https://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm
Bryce Canyon National Park - https://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm
Horseshoe Bend (bonus) - https://horseshoebend.com/
Grand Canyon National Park - https://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm
Mexican Hat (bonus) - more info
Monument Valley (Forrest Gump Hill) (bonus) - https://navajonationparks.org/tribal-parks/monument-valley/
Arches National Park - https://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm
Canyonlands National Park - https://www.nps.gov/cany/index.htm
Badlands National Park - https://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm

Day by Day - One Day Itineraries

*TIP: Always try to arrive early to the parks if you can. It’s the Southwest, and it can get very hot. Arriving early allows you to explore while it’s cool. Also, the parks are not as crowded in the morning.

Day 1 - White Sands National Park

Accommodation: Quality Inn & Suites - Alamogordo, NM
White Sands National Park:
- Boardwalk
- Hike the Sand Dunes
- Sledding - We didn’t go sledding, but we did see people (mostly locals) out there doing it.

Day 2 - Death Valley National Park & Valley of Fire State Park

Accommodation: Longstreet Inn Casino & RV Resort - Amargosa Valley, NV
Death Valley National Park:
- Zabriskie Point
- Badwater Basin - I suggest that you make this your first or second stop of the day. This is where the famous salt flats are located as well as the lowest point in the United States - 282 feet below sea level. It gets HOT. Even early in the morning it can be warm, and once you’re out past the boardwalk there is no shade. We got there around 6:30-7AM. TIP: You have to walk about 30 minutes out past the boardwalk before you start to see the large hexagon-like salt pools.
- Artists Drive

Valley of Fire State Park:
- Fire Wave - WARNING: DO NOT DO THIS HIKE WHEN IT IS TOO HOT. Seriously. I almost passed out. We added it in the middle of our day, which would have been okay if it wasn’t mid-September with a temperature of 102-105°F.

Day 3 - Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, & Horseshoe Bend

Accommodation: Hampton Inn & Suites Springdale/Zion National Park - Springdale, UT (loved this hotel)
Zion National Park:
- Canyon Overlook Trail

Bryce Canyon National Park:
- Bryce (Sunset) Point
- Rim Trail

Horseshoe Bend:
- $10 per vehicle to park
- The trail is an easy hike at about 1.5 miles

Day 4 - Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim), Mexican Hat, & Monument Valley (Forrest Gump Hill)

Accommodation: Rodeway Inn & Suites Williams Downtowner-Rte 66 - Williams, AZ
Grand Canyon National Park:
- South Rim Trail

Mexican Hat:
- Drive by photo opportunity. You can stop if you want, but I just took a photo from the car on the way to Monument Valley. A little grainy, but you get the gist.

Monument Valley:
- Monument Valley was closed when we went. However, we got to see the iconic rock formations and Forrest Gump Hill.

Day 5 - Arches National Park & Canyonlands National Park

Accommodation: Moab Gateway Inn - Moab, UT
Arches National Park: There are so many arches at Arches National Park. Many can be seen from the car or an outlook. Keep that in mind when choosing which hikes to actually take.
- Delicate Arch - Many people hike this at sunset, but we did it early in the morning. Either way, I suggest you go when the sun is not high as there is no shade.
- Sand Dune Arch
- Broken Arch Loop - Broken Arch, Tapestry Arch
- Balanced Rock - viewed from the car
- Skyline Arch - https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/arches-skyline-arch.htm

Canyonlands National Park:
- Mesa Arch
- Grand View Point

Day 6 - Badlands National Park

Accommodation: Comfort Inn Near Vail Beaver Creek - Avon, CO
Badlands National Park:
- Notch Trail
- Window Trail
- Overlooks - There are many different overlooks at Badlands.

Day 7 - Drive Home

You could fly or drive home. Whatever works for you.

This 7-day road trip itinerary serves as a guide and inspiration for you to create your own itinerary that works best for you. Always make sure to plan your trip including times and days for travel time.

Due to the pandemic, international travel is still so difficult. So, I definitely plan to take some more road trips and domestic trips this year!