Saturday, June 20, 2026
Heading out from Vegas! Case in point why we have to go carry on only… and the Toyota Sienna minivan has a BIG trunk!
Drive to first stop, Vegas > Valley of Fire State Park.
First stop, Beehives!
Visitor Center:
Picked up a map and chatted with the sweetest park ranger older lady, Carol.
Tons of foreigners here! Waiting with me to ask questions were two pairs from France (Paris!), some people from Austria, Germany, China, and Japan. I asked the guy from Paris if this (red rocks/desert/100+ degrees) was a “a little different from Paris??” And he laughed and said, “Very!” 🙂
Atlal Rock. Awesome petroglyphs!
Near the “old” visitor center: bighorn sheep!! Aren’t they the coolest?
Scenic drive through the park.
I liked how the road looked between the rocks.
Me pretending to be a travel influencer in a silly pose… hahaha. 😆 This is why I don’t do things like this, because I look quite goofy. 😜
Trail at Mouse Tank:
Majority of long trails in Valley of Fire are closed in summer (heat!). We just did one short 0.5 mile round trip hike and that was PLENTY through the sand! Gorgeous though!!!!
A few more scenic stops. Loved this park! Definitely recommend. Nice that long hikes not necessary to still enjoy amazing views! (Could have done a few other shorter ones too but in interest of time/heat we didn’t.)
Super cool- red rock meets white rock.
Balanced Rock:
The cabins:
At the elephant rock trailhead:
They agreed to this family shot:
LOVE THESE!!
On the way out of valley of fire, headed toward St. George.
Utah state line:
Food stop in St. George!! Obligatory In and Out burgers!! Yummmmm… my parents’ and the boys’ first time.
Back on the road- next stop (final stop) = Springdale, Utah, just outside Zion National Park and our home for the next 3 nights.
First impression- love Springdale! Such a clean, classy looking town. Has like an, “upscale nature vibe”, if that’s a thing.
View from outside the grocery store! Quick stop for a few things.
Checking into hotel:
Rocks everywhere!!! Amazing.
Settled in, then headed to Zion Canyon Brew Pub. We ate those big burgers too late so weren’t really hungry for a proper dinner, but we got beers and enjoyed the views and shared a mango shrimp ceviche.
Note- Utah has VERY strict alcohol laws! Ivan had to run my mom back to the hotel for her ID because they had to literally scan our IDs before we could be admitted to the beer garden area. 😳 She was like, clearly I’m over 21!!!! lol. But no dice, ID was required.
The boys opted to stay back and watch a World Cup game.
Drive from Vegas to Zion is about 2.5 hours total but we were in car longer with all the stops through Valley of Fire. They just wanted to chill and then go to the pool.
We got back in time to watch them in pool a bit and relax outside a little before bed.
That’s all for day 2!
Sorry these posts are going to be photo heavy and text light- just not much time but want to keep up since summer is crazy later and I doubt I’ll have time to do full posts later!! I’ll maybe jump back into these and add some more details if needed later. Enjoy the pics at least! 🙂
Off to our e-biking day! It’s a beauty of a day:
GRATEFUL KAE 
I love this! I haven’t been to Utah yet but when I do I’ll be revisiting this post for ideas.
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Agree on the “upscale nature vibe” of Springdale. When we went we stayed at the Zion Lodge inside the park and ended up opting to just eat there the whole time except for sandwiches etc we bought at the grocery store, but if we’d stayed outside the park I really would have loved to check out some places in Springdale. We did go somewhere for acai bowls and fancy coffee on our last morning when driving on to Bryce Canyon, and it was delicious.
Valley of Fire looks absolutely stunning. I really cannot get enough of cool red rock formations. I need to talk my family into returning to that area again so we can do Valley of Fire and maybe some other stops that we couldn’t fit in on our big Utah trip two years ago. It seems challenging when it’s 100 degrees but it looks like you guys were still really able to enjoy the park even in those temps! It’s nice that Zion is a bit cooler than the Vegas area.
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That same thing happened in Tennessee with my stepdad! He forgot his wallet and they wouldn’t serve him any alcohol without it. Crazy!
All of these pictures are AMAZING. I really want to do one of these trips someday, but it will definitely need to be when I have my fitness level back.
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OMGOMGOMGOMG!!! I love this so, so much. Seriously, this is the part of the country I want to see the most. I know I probably sound like a spoiled brat, but I’m tired of the Florida scenery. I want mountains! Rocks! DRY heat (I mean I know it’s hot there- but I’m sooooo tired of humidity). I love how everywhere you go there, there’s beautiful scenery around you. I absolutely can’t wait to read about the e-bike day, and luckily I don’t have to. Scooting on to that post right now.
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I love all your photos and travels and adventures and the ebike rental is amazing! I remember having to take the bus and it did feel logistically dificult… what an awesome way to explore the park. We went 8 years ago when I was pregnant with Ezra, I would love to go back.
Also, I am so glad you got an in-n-out, I LOVE in-n-out. I’m not going to lie, I looked at that picture of burgers way longer than a normal person would…
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One time my husband was buying alcohol in a grocery store and even though he had his ID, they wouldn’t let him buy it because I was with him! I guess they thought he was buying alcohol for a minor? We were pretty young, but not THAT young!
We solved the problem by going out the car, and then he went back in and purchased it without me there.
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