After an early morning departure, we will drive to Page, Arizona. Here we will tour Horseshoe Bend where we will get a fabulous glimpse at the winding Colorado river, which slices through tower rock walls. Our guide will explain the incredible geology of this unique region of the world. In the afternoon we will hike to a spectacular overlook at Arizona’s Glen Canyon National Recreation area and marvel at miles and miles of colorful sandstone strata.

Buckskin Gulch is the longest and deepest slot canyon on the planet and considered one of the top hikes in the world. Simply put – it’s gorgeous.nnThis is a rare and beautiful place, quite possibly without peer anywhere in the world. Almost every list of “great hikes in the world” includes this trip. The 1000-foot red rock canyon walls and a peaceful river will be our constant companions throughout this epic journey.

The Paria Canyon – Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness beckons adventurers who yearn for solitude, scenic splendor and the chance to explore some of the most beautiful canyons in the world. On this exciting and breathtaking day hike, we will experience soaring walls streaked with desert varnish and serpentine canyons so narrow in places that the sky is reduced to a ribbon of faded blue. Vast rock amphitheaters, sandstone arches, intricate erosion-carved sculptures and hanging gardens of ferns and orchids are found here.

Coyote Buttes and the Wave is one of the few places in the world left untouched by man. It’s protected in this condition so that you can take in its breathtaking beauty. Here we will explore this world-famous sight and other jaw dropping sandstone formations. The heart of the earth is laid bare in this region and few places are as spectacular. The multicolored Vermillion Cliffs rise as much as 3,000 feet, an escarpment dominated by its massive and thick Navajo Sandstone face.

At the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in the Kanab Wilderness Area is the Snake Gulch Rock Art site. Here we will go on a moderate hike while surrounding ourselves with history, writings, etchings, and structures from Native American inhabitants. While there, we will discuss possible meanings and significance of this fascinating rock art site. Red Rock Country is rich with historic sites scattered around the area. The Snake Gulch Rock Art site is an excellent examples of ancient Anazasi pictographs, which were constructed in the red sandstone cliffs.nnThe Anasazi, ancestors of the Hopi, lived here from about AD 1100 to 1300, preparing meals, raising their families and making tools from stone, leather and wood. Nearby they hunted for deer and rabbit, tended various crops and gathered edible wild plants. Our guides will explain the significance of these incredible pictographs.

The slot canyons of the southwest are some of nature’s grandest spectacles. Most intrepid hikers are familiar with Arizona’s Antelope Canyon, known for its narrow, twisting, intricately carved red-rock walls, a magnet for photographers. But Antelope is commercial which attracts mobs of tourists throughout the year.nnTo experience far more solitude as well as a genuine slot canyon encounter, we will drive north about 60 miles north of the Grand Canyon, deep in the heart of Southern Utah’s canyon lands. We will explore the most beautiful areas of Utah’s amazing Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. We accessed the Hole in the Rock Road and hiked into three spectacular slots, Dry Gulch, Spooky and Peek-A-Boo Gulch.

Our final day will include a tour of Calf Creek Falls, a delightful 6.2-mile romp which leads to a breathtaking waterfall, has it all. Lush green vegetation, including birch trees rarely seen in canyon settings, check. A clear, bubbling stream with beaver dams and trout easily viewed, check. Towering, desert varnish-stained Navajo Sandstone, check. Prehistoric granaries tucked into ledges on high canyon walls, check. Life-sized pictographs, check. And a stunning 126-foot waterfall with a large plunge pool shaded by tall trees, check!nnWhile millions of people are familiar with the Grand Canyon, few realize that surrounding the canyon lies a landscape equally awe-inspiring. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument protects a magnificent land of deep canyons and abrupt mountains, a place where rivers continually deepen canyons and 500-million-year-old rocks are slowly eroded by the elements of the ages.nnWe will return to Phoenix, culminating a memorable eight days in one of the most beautiful regions of the world!