USA Southwest Guided Walking & Camping Tour- 12 Days

The ultimate guided hiking & Walking tour in USA’s Southwest National Parks

The American Southwest is a long time classic on everyone’s bucket list and for good reason! A guided hiking tour in America’s Southwest region brings you to the national parks we’ve all seen blasted across our social media and in the movies! The scenery here is different and otherworldly, offering a surreal experience that makes you feel almost like you’re on another planet!

We’ve taken our time to craft this guided US Southwest hiking tour, mixing in all the must see attractions and famous places, while still taking the route less traveled where possible to offer that Fresh Adventures twist! You’ll explore the heavy hitters, like the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion and much more, and you’ll also venture off the beaten path, heading along the eastern slope of the Sierra’s past Mammoth Lakes and into Yosemite NP through the backdoor of Tioga Pass.

On your guided walking tour in the Southwest you will mix all the cliche American cultural experiences- road tripping Route 66, stopping at movie sets, seeing Western Towns and eating in classic western diners, plus a visit to Las Vegas! But it doesn’t stop there… we head North while most would head West, exploring the Eastern Sierras on our way to Yosemite and San Francisco to see picture perfect sights like Movie Road and Alabama Hills.

No USA National Parks hiking tour would be complete without a visit to Yosemite National Park, so we spend a couple days there with several options to explore the best hiking trails in the park, getting up close to the famed waterfalls and looking across at towering rock monoliths like Half Dome. There are few places better for photography and loading up on a year’s supply of Instagram selfies, so be sure to bring your camera! Afterall, this is where so many of the famous influencers we’ve heard of roam!

During your hiking and camping tour in the US Southwest you will be camping as a group with a few hotel stays mixed in. Camping in the Southwest region is a ton of fun, with reliable dry, sunny weather and warm clear nights to stargaze and enjoy a campfire.


USA Southwest Guided walking Tour Highlights

✔ Hike the Grand Canyon’s Trails

✔ View the Desert Sunset from Horseshoe Bend

✔ Guided Hiking in Zion National Park

✔ Stand Below Towering Sequoia Trees in Yosemite

✔ Visit Bryce National Park and Antelope Canyon

✔ Lose the Crowds in Eastern Sierras & Alabama Hills


US Southwest Hiking Tour Quick Facts

Tour Length:

12 days/11 nights

Tour start/ end:

Start: Las Vegas @ 7 pm
Tour End: San Francisco @ 1 pm

Fitness/ skill:

Level 2-3- Active
Hikes 3-5 hours/ day
10-18 km, ~500 meters

Food:

Some meals included. Tour Menu to suit all diets. (GF, Lactose, Vegan)


Accommodation:

Camping- 9 Nights
Hotel- 2 Nights

Packing:

Hiking boots, bathing suit, sleeping bag (or rent), rain jacket, clothing, day pack

Activities:

Guided Hikes, Camping

Reserve Your Space!


US Southwest National Parks Guided Tour Description

Our Southwest USA guided hiking tour is the culmination of several classic American experiences combined into one incredible experience. Feel the freedom of a classic road trip, along the famed Route 66, travelled by nomads, famous musicians, bikers and countless explorers for decades before. This is where so many films have been created and songs have been written, and you’ll soon see why. The range in landscapes and views is hard to describe, with surreal rock formations around every corner!

The American national parks hold some truly spectacular scenes, like the towering red cliffs of Zion, to the seemingly bottomless canyon of the Grand Canyon, and the soaring rock fortresses of Yosemite. Each area we visit is unique in its own way and together they weave the ultimate tapestry of natural splendor for us to explore on this guided hiking trip in the US Southwest.

There may be no better place for a camping tour than the Southwest, with wide open skies, fiery sunsets, and pleasant warm air and a lack of rain to ensure easy camping and comfort as we stretch out around a campfire and compare photos from each day. Your guide provides a delicious menu of camping food, mixed in with some restaurant meals along the way.

At each of the national parks we head out on guided hikes to explore the incredible sights and rock formations each place is famous for. Wander through towering pillars in Bryce Canyon, among the lofty ramparts of Zion, into the depths of the Grand Canyon, and through the famous Antelope Canyon. On this guided hiking tour, we stop at all the must see attractions and hike to many more!

While most tours would head straight West from Barstow, we head North exploring the eastern slope of the Sierra Mountains, heading to places far less visited and quite possibly more beautiful, and certainly less crowded. This brings us through Tioga Pass into Yosemite National Park, with dramatic scenery and a stop at the simmering shores of the Mono Lake salt flats.

We do our best to keep you moving and hiking as much as possible, though covering so many parks in one trip does mean some time in the van, which is a great time to relax and watch possibly the world’s most iconic road trip scenery go by!

USA Southwest National Parks Hiking Tour Itinerary

  • Fly to Las Vegas, the city of lights, and meet your travel friends and guide at 7 pm. Here we get introduced and then head out for a dinner together and chat about the days to come on your USA hiking adventure. After you can head out on the town, but don’t worry- what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!

  • We depart Las Vegas and head for the Valley of Fire, where we hike the White Domes trail for a taste of the picture perfect desert landscapes that are in store for us. The Valley of Fire is made up of Aztec Sandstone, carved by windstorms over time and after massive inlands seas disappeared. Narrow slot canyons and caves keep every moment of your hike interesting. A second walk at Mouse’s Tank provides further opportunity to stretch our legs and marvel at the ancient petroglyphs that line the canyon walls. This evening we arrive at camp and get settled into desert camping as a group!
    Stay: Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort - Camping 2 Nights
    Hike: White Domes Trail and Mouse’s Tank- 2 miles, 2 hours
    Drive: 3 Hours

  • This is the ultimate Zion National Park hiking tour, heading for Scout Lookout, where we get ridiculous (and famous) views over the sheer cliff walls and dramatic valleys and peaks that make up Zion. Stark contrasts between white and red rock walls, soaring rock fortresses and the beginning of Angel’s Landing are just some of the sights you can expect on your guided hike in Zion. Once we complete our main walk, we head up the Virgin River trail to explore the Temple of Sinawava and the Zion Narrows, in this area of fierce and unrelenting erosion. The rock walls seem to reach the sky, with the cool stream flowing through the narrow valley bottom, making for some of the most beautiful scenery in the entire country!
    Hike: Scout Lookout & Riverside Trail- 6 miles, 1400 feet elevation, 3-4 hours.

  • We pack up camp this morning and head out, stopping briefly at Belly of the Dragon, for some fun photos inside a surprising and impressive cave carved out by thousands of years of water for our enjoyment! Next up, we head into Bryce Canyon National Park for a guided hike along a combination of Navajo, Queens Garden and Peekaboo Canyon trails to form an astoundingly beautiful loop, ending at Sunset Point. Some of the highlights today are dramatic red rock walls, and a narrow slot canyon that would inspire even the most reluctant photographer! Tonight we settle into a new campground and our base for the night!
    Hike: Queens Garden & Navajo, Peekaboo Canyon- 7 miles, 5 hours
    Stay: Ruby’s Inn & Campground
    Drive: 1.5 hours

  • After departing our camp we join up with a renown Navajo tour guide to explore the world famous Antelope Canyon. Antelope Canyon (or culturally known as “the place where water runs through rocks” is rooted deeply in Navajo history and serves as a symbol that there are things greater than oneself at work in the universe and a reminder of the power of Mother Nature. As a group you will be entering the sacred canyon at the prime time of day, when beams of sunlight stream down through gaps in the top in the canyon, reflecting off the ochre colored walls and making for some world famous photos!
    After your guided hike in Antelope Canyon, we will continue on our trip, arriving at Horseshoe Bend just in time to marvel at the views of the Grand Canyon as it glows in the warm light of sunset. From the viewpoint you will be looking down over 1000 feet into the famous bend of the Colorado River, standing where countless artists and explorers have stood in awe over the past several hundred years. (Just please don’t write us a poem!)
    Drive: 4.5 hours
    Hike: Antelope Canyon - 1 hour
    Stay: Mather Campground- 2 Nights

  • Today is a free day for you to explore the world famous Grand Canyon on your own, or with some friends from the group. Commercial guides are not allowed to guide below the rim of the canyon, so our guides are there to ensure you know where you are going, have all the information you need and a tasty picnic lunch to bring with you. There are several trails t choose from, ranging from easy scenic walks to lengthy challenging endeavors into the heart of the canyon.. whichever suits you!
    Optional activity is a scenic helicopter flight. $379 USD. Your guide can help you arrange this.
    Hike: Self-guided hiking options ranging from 2-10 miles, 1-6 hours

  • Today we begin our journey westward towards Yosemite National Park and the Eastern Sierras. We travel along the notorious Route 66, which has been featured in countless songs and movies over the past several decades.
    We stop along the way to break up the drive at Pete’s Gas Station Museum, the old western town of Oatman and Seligman. As we cross the desert region we arrive in Barstow, where we stop for the night and go out for a classic American diner experience.
    Drive: 5 Hours
    Stay: California Inn- 1 Night

  • As we continue our journey to Yosemite National Park, we spend the day passing through and exploring Alabama Hills, which is a seldom seen corner of California, taking us far from the crowds further west and to some iconic views, including a mountain range that was featured in the first Ironman movie.
    We do a small hike to Mobius Arch, known for the unique and otherworldly rock formation where you can take some cool photos. As we arrive, we settle into our campground for the night with views of the Sierra Mountains and brilliant starry skies.
    Drive: 3 hours
    Hike: Mobius Arch Trail 1-3 miles, 1+ hours
    Stay: Brown’s Town Campgrounds

  • Capture the morning light at Mono Lake. Mono Lake is unique, being a soda saline lake, which means it has a very high salt content, since there is no outflow for the water to cycle through the lake. As a result, brine shrimp inhabit the lake, which supports a population of some two million migratory bird species in this delicate ecosystem.
    Next we head West through Tioga Pass, stopping for a hike at Lembert Dome, one of the granite rock formations that Yosemite is famous for. From the top of the dome, ou can see the park stretching out to the West and the iconic mountains all around.
    Our next stop is a Tuolumne Grove for a walking tour through an ancient grove of massive Sequoia trees. Some of the trunks are big enough to drive a car through, and it would take many people connecting hands to wrap around the trees, which tower far above us.
    Drive: 2 hours
    Hike: Lemert Dome & Tuolumne Grove- 6 mile, 1000 feet, 3.5 hours
    Stay: Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes Campground- 3 Nights

  • “The Mountains Are Calling, And I Must Go”.- John Muir.
    Today the mountains call and we will go! You have the option to hike with your guide, or venture on your own, with a variety of trail options and sites to choose from.
    As a group, we will start out hiking the 3 mile Upper Vernal Falls Trail for some classic Yosemite waterfalls cascading down sheer walls right in front of us!
    After this, we transfer over to Glacier Point for a 2 mile hike up Sentinel Dome, with views you will likely recognize from your computer desktop wallpaper and phone backgrounds. As we return to Glacier Point at the end of the hike, we spend some time taking in the afternoon views of Half Dome, which is the most famous rock in Yosemite and arguably in the world. You will see why soon!
    Drive: 1-2 hours (local transfers)
    Hike: 3+2 miles, 1000+500 feet, 3+2 Hours

  • Today is our last day to hike as a group, so we make it count with an epic guided hiking trip in Yosemite National Park to North Dome! North Dome is one of the best rated and revered hikes in Yosemite with absolutely epic views of Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley.
    Walk through sunny pine forested slopes, until we arrive at the dome, which looks out over some of the most iconic scenery in all of California.
    Hike: North Dome Trail- 10 miles, 2700 feet, 6-7 hours

  • We pack up camp and head to San Francisco, stopping to check out the Golden Gate Bridge on the way. Drop off at Stanford Court at 1 pm.
    Drive: 3 Hours
    Drop Off Time: 1 pm


USA Southwest Tour Dates

✔ DEPARTURES ARE GUARANTEED to run

  • September 7-18, 2025

  • September 21- October 2, 2025

USA Parks trekking Tour Details

    • 9 nights camping with all camping equipment (sleeping bag can be rented)

    • 2 nights accommodation in lodges, hotels or cabins

    • Transportation from pick up to drop off

    • National Park entry fees

    • Meals: 8 Breakfasts, 6 Lunches, 5 Dinners, plus general snacks, water and coffee/ tea while camping

    • Local guide at Antelope Canyon

    • All National Park buses/ shuttles

    • Brief San Fransisco city highlights tour

    • Travel to and from tour start/ end locations

    • Single room/ tent upgrade ($695 cad)

    • 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 7 dinners (at local cafes and restaurants)

    • Optional Activities and Excursions (if applicable)

    • Travel & Trip Cancellation Insurance

    • Guide Gratuities ($10 per guest, per day, per guide is typical)

    • Sleeping bag rental (if desired) $100 for duration of tour


Southwest US guided hiking trip Prices and packages

All prices are in $ CAD and are subject to a 5% local tax.  Prices are subject to change.

Base Tour: $4995
Optional Single room & Tent Upgrade: $695


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More Information on Our guided us Southwest Hiking holiday

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  • Our groups are small and sociable and we believe that our Fresh Family is what makes our tours amazing! We are lucky to attract very warm, welcoming people from all over the world who share a passion for adventure and sharing experiences with new people.

    Age Range: 30-75 (Average age around 50)
    Gender: Roughly 60 percent female/ 40 percent male
    Booking Size: Roughly 60 percent are travelling solo and 40 percent are couples and small groups of 2-3 friends.

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