9-Nights Wonders of the American West

9 nights from: $6,595

Wonders Of The American West - Small Group
See the best of the American West on this 10-Day guided tour. Travel to Bryce Canyon National Park to explore its rock pillars and natural amphitheatres, then feast with your fellow travelers overlooking the park’s iconic orange rock formations. In Moab, see the ancient pueblo dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park, where the Ancestral Pueblo people once lived. Meet a Navajo guide in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, where you will board ATVs, explore the valley and learn about the tribe’s history. Later, eat a traditional Navajo meal amid the valley’s beautiful buttes and mesas. Then go off the beaten path into backcountry with your Navajo Guide. Join a Local Expert at Grand Canyon National Park for a one-of-a-kind experience: allow the expert to guide you through the park while teaching you about how this national treasure was formed.


Dining Summary

• 4 Dinner with Wine (DW)
• 9 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Dinner (D)

• Choose between two carefully selected activities
• Monument Valley: Spend the afternoon with a local tribal member of the Diné (Navajo Nation) on this optional Make Travel Matter Experience. You will venture off the beaten path into the backcountry of the Navajo Reservation where you will be guided through the art of making dreamcatchers. Traditionally used as protective charms, you will learn first-hand the spiritual and cultural significance of dreamcatchers. Then, seated amongst the vastness of Monument Valley, try your hand at crafting your own unique and personalized dreamcatcher. You will be guided along the process of this craft by a local Navajo member. This 1.5-hour long workshop will allow you to form the beginnings of a dreamcatcher with beads, string, feathers and other decorations. If you are unable to complete your dreamcatcher during the workshop, you can take additional materials and instructions on how to complete the dreamcatcher at home. Your participation in this activity helps sustain members of the Navajo Nation who live in and around the boundaries of Monument Valley.
• Monument Valley: Embark on an exclusive Insight Experience into Mystery Valley’s relatively unknown haven of Anasazi Ruins and rock art. Explore this intriguing stretch of desert full of graceful geological formations, petroglyphs, scattered artefacts like broken pottery shards and breath-taking views of the spectacular buttes of neighbouring Monument Valley Tribal Park. A true hidden gem, your visit  accompanied by a local Diné (Navajo) guide is a unique opportunity for a guided tour among ancient Indigenous ruins.
• Choose between two carefully selected activities
• Grand Canyon National Park: Join your Local Expert, Canyon Tim, for an informative talk about the wonders of the Grand Canyon. With over seven years of experience in geology, you'll learn about the origins of the five-million-year-old canyon, its rock formation and its current impact. You'll also discover the local flora and fauna, and find out where you might be able to spot elk, mule deer, coyotes, grey foxes, bobcats and mountain lions.
• Grand Canyon: Join your Travel Director for a relaxed hike along the rim of the Grand Canyon from Mather Point to Yavapai Point. 1.4 miles (2.25 kilometers) roundtrip, this scenic hike will provide spectacular views of the canyon's unique geology. Alternatively, join a local expert at your hotel to learn all about the local flora and fauna of the Grand Canyon.

• Welcome Dinner in Las Vegas • Navajo cookout Highlight Dinner in Monument Valley • Dine-Around evening Moab • Rim-side Dinner at Bryce Canyon National Park • Celebration Dinner at Grand Canyon National Park
• Las Vegas:
• Grand Canyon National Park: Enjoy dinner at the Thunderbird Room with an incredible view overlooking the South Rim.
• Moab: Enjoy a Dine-Around evening as you choose from a hand-picked selection of mouthwatering restaurants.
• Bryce Canyon National Park: Enjoy entertainment by local musicians during a memorable dinner set against the park's beautiful surroundings.

• Grand Canyon: Join your Travel Director for a relaxed hike along the rim of the Grand Canyon from Mather Point to Yavapai Point. 1.4 miles (2.25 kilometers) roundtrip, this scenic hike will provide spectacular views of the canyon's unique geology. Alternatively, join a local expert at your hotel to learn all about the local flora and fauna of the Grand Canyon.
• Monument Valley: Spend the afternoon with a local tribal member of the Diné (Navajo Nation) on this optional Make Travel Matter Experience. You will venture off the beaten path into the backcountry of the Navajo Reservation where you will be guided through the art of making dreamcatchers. Traditionally used as protective charms, you will learn first-hand the spiritual and cultural significance of dreamcatchers. Then, seated amongst the vastness of Monument Valley, try your hand at crafting your own unique and personalized dreamcatcher. You will be guided along the process of this craft by a local Navajo member. This 1.5-hour long workshop will allow you to form the beginnings of a dreamcatcher with beads, string, feathers and other decorations. If you are unable to complete your dreamcatcher during the workshop, you can take additional materials and instructions on how to complete the dreamcatcher at home. Your participation in this activity helps sustain members of the Navajo Nation who live in and around the boundaries of Monument Valley.
• Monument Valley: Embark on an exclusive Insight Experience into Mystery Valley’s relatively unknown haven of Anasazi Ruins and rock art. Explore this intriguing stretch of desert full of graceful geological formations, petroglyphs, scattered artefacts like broken pottery shards and breat
  See more packages & deals for Southwest USA

Located in southwest Colorado, Mesa Verde is one of the best places to view the ancient cliff dwellings built by the Anasazi. They lived throughout the area from about AD 550-1300, when their dwellings were suddenly abandoned. Other popular sites are at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, Canyon de Chelly in Arizona and Hovenweep National Monument on the Utah-Colorado border. Free Mesa Verde National Park Travel
Vacation Package Quote

Mesa Verde National Park Travel Travel Agents

Alisa Clark

Independent Travel Consultant

Destination Specialties
Costa Rica, Caribbean, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Hawaii, United States, Florida, California, Mexico, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Riviera Maya

 View Profile

Sara Rowlands

Sara Rowlands

Destination Specialties

 View Profile

Cindy Owen

San Antonio Travel Agent

Destination Specialties
Alaska, Costa Rica, Caribbean, Bahamas, Jamaica, Africa, Kenya, Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Japan, Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, United States, Florida, Las Vegas, California, Mexico, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Riviera Maya, Australia / NZ, Sydney, New Zealand, Melbourne, Tahiti

 View Profile

Tom Varghese

Indian and South Asian Destination Wedding Expert

Destination Specialties
Costa Rica, Caribbean, Bahamas, Jamaica, United States

 View Profile

Heather Bowman

Travel is my Therapy!

Destination Specialties
Alaska, Costa Rica, Caribbean, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, United States, Florida, Las Vegas, California, Mexico, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Riviera Maya, Australia / NZ, Sydney, New Zealand, Melbourne, Tahiti

 View Profile

Sara Grimm

Independent Travel Agent

Destination Specialties
Costa Rica, Caribbean, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Europe, Italy, Asia, Thailand, Singapore, Hawaii, Maui, United States, Florida, Las Vegas, Mexico, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Riviera Maya, Melbourne

 View Profile

Mesa Verde is special because the cliff dwellings can be viewed at close range. Some tours even let visitors enter the structures.

As the name suggests, Mesa Verde is on a mesa; therefore, visitors must make a long but beautiful drive across the upland plateau to reach the ruins. There are great views of the distant San Juan Mountains from scenic pull-offs along the way. The Mesa Verde Research and Visitor Center sells tickets for the guided tours, and the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum offers an introduction to the Anasazi culture and its communities at Mesa Verde. Most of the park attractions are open mid-April to mid-October.

More than 600 cliff dwellings can be viewed in the park, but there are three standouts: Spruce Tree House, Cliff Palace and Balcony House. Spruce Tree House is tucked beneath a cliff just a short walk from the museum; however, rock falls and unstable pueblo architecture have forced park officials to restrict access to this ruin. Visitors can still view it from overlooks near the museum. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America and can only be reached on a guided tour. A tour is also required to see Balcony House, perched in a cave high above the valley floor. The tour involves climbing up and down several ladders.

A visit to Mesa Verde could fill two days, but a half-day is enough time to make the drive across the plateau and see one or two of the ruins. There's a campground and a lodge in the park for those spending the night.

The park is open daily, and the entrance fee is US$15 per vehicle November-April, US$20 per vehicle May-October for a seven-day pass. Phone 970-529-4465. https://www.nps.gov/meve.