Escape the Summer Heat Multi-day Guided Tour

This tour of Southwest Utah begins and ends in Las Vegas.

When visiting the St. George or Las Vegas area, most people avoid the summertime for very good reasons. Daytime temperatures can exceed 110° F (43° C), which can be very challenging with any outdoor activity. If you find yourself in Las Vegas to attend a conference or use vacation time for other reasons, we have created a sensible tour that takes into account summertime heat. Designing locations based on quality as well as comfort is what this tour represents. Taking anything from 20-25 degrees away from the high temperatures will ensure comfortable days of exploring and might even surprise you that this was even possible! Have a look at our tour and consider a summer adventure with Grand Circle Tours.

Day 1. Meet your group in the lobby of The Mirage Hotel at 9am. From here we depart for a 1 hour drive to the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area. Your guide will lead you on a scenic but easy hike of 1-2 hours high above and away from the traffic and heat of Las Vegas. Our hiking trail passes through nice forest scenery. You’ll discover what thrives in this high-altitude desert climate. After a few hours, we will have lunch out in nature before heading to our St. George hotel to wind down for the day. Dinner on your own.

Day 2. We meet in our hotel lobby at 9am, then head out for the cool weather of the Markugant Plateau and Cedar Mountain. Today we will enjoy two short hikes: Cascade Falls, which is the beginning of the mighty Virgin River that created Zion Canyon and the Canyon Overlook trail located inside Zion National Park itself. The morning drive will take us through Zion with the short hike to the Canyon overlook, then it’s out the east entrance, winding up for lunch at quaint Duck Creek Village. After lunch we will enjoy the walk to Cascade Falls and a few more scenic overlooks before descending down through the Dixie Forest and passing spectacular Ashdown Gorge before arriving at our hotel in St George. Hiking between 10,000-11,000 feet (3050-3350 m) can be challenging but our pace is slow and allows for plenty of photography.

Day 3. Departing our hotel lobby at 9am, we head north to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Here we will be at altitude and enjoy cool hiking weather once again. Before we reach altitude, we will stop to see the amazing petroglyphs of Parowan Gap. Our big hike for today will take you along the rim of Cedar Breaks to Spectra Point and Ramparts Overlook, both offering exceptional views. After lunch we will head up to the top of Brian Head Peak for an excellent view of the surrounding area. This ski area is the highest in Utah and a favorite for tourists in St George and Las Vegas. After lunch We will take another short walk to the Bristlecone trail and an overlook into upper Zion Canyon where we can view the oldest living things on earth, the Bristlecone Pine.

Day 4. Today we depart our hotel at 8am and head for a short hike on a cinder cone (mini volcano) near Snow Canyon State Park. A short steep hike to the top offers scenery of the nearby park and surrounding area. Next, we will head back down the cinder cone to the overlook of Snow Canyon for another photo stop. We will then head over to Anasazi Ridge. After less than a mile (1.6 km) hike, we arrive at some of the best examples of Anasazi rock art in Utah. The Red Mountain Wilderness and the town of Ivins provides an unusually scenic background during our short hike. These petroglyphs are some of the finest in Utah.

Day 5. Today we depart at 8am for the Vortex hike in the Red Mountain Wilderness. This hike will take us around a total of 3 hours with views of several volcanic areas and Signal Peak in the Pine Valley Mountains. After our short hike, we will head to the Dinosaur Discovery Center to see a large collection of early Jurassic dinosaur prints embedded in rock. We will also learn and view how they preserve the tracks in our short visit to the lab which is located onsite. After lunch, we will head back to the hotel to pick up our gear and head for Las Vegas. An optional extended stay in St George is available for our guests at the hotel.




Package Deals with The Advenire Hotel (a Marriott property).
Pricing for The Advenire hotel dates are as follows:
WD = Weekday / WE = Weekend
Tax rate: 12.32% for hotel
Tax rate: 8.2% for tour

*If you want to stay at The Advenire Hotel, Call Us First. We will handle your complete reservation.

Pricing for Full tours: $1499 per person, with a minimum of 3, plus cost of hotel room choice.
Pricing for Partial Tours: $899 per person plus hotel costs. If you prefer to skip the Las Vegas portion you may join days 2-5 with no return to Las Vegas.
You may also stay at another location if you wish, but all tours will meet at the Advenire Hotel.


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