My Dad and I traveled out to Azusa, California to visit my #1 top choice for college (Days 1-3, March 16th to March 18th). Days 1 through 3 consisted on driving to California from Colorado and then touring the APU campus. We decided to take our time on the way back and “road trip it”, going through Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.
TRAVEL ITINERARY: Days 3-5
Thousand Steps Beach- Even though Thousand Steps Beach is located 4 miles from Laguna Beach (a very popular tourist beach) it is unknown by most people. This beach is one that only the locals know about (and for good reason). The peaceful serenity that is hidden by the towering cliffs is truly magnificent. The entrance to this beach is hidden between two homes; we easily drove past it the first time. Parking was difficult, but I would suggest parking anywhere from 8th-10th street (it is on 9th street). We walked up to the entrance and looked down on hundreds of steps. The name may suggest that there is 1000 steps, but there is actually only 218 (my dad counted). (This picture was taken 4/5th of the way down)
We came close to sunset, so the beach was just magnificent. The waves came up to just the right level and the lighting was perfectly golden. We walked down the beach, feeling the sand on our bare feet and looked out at the local surfers. We headed down the beach to the left toward the beach caves. It was absolutely breath-taking.
The next day we got on the road and headed towards Las Vegas (or more specific, Boulder City). Then we hung out with family friends for a while, talking and laughing. We left in the afternoon and then headed toward Zion National Park.
Zion National Park: We stopped in St. George, Utah at Chick-fil-a and we talked to some locals. It was spring break, so we knew that all the hotels and camping spots would be taken near Zion. The local told us about BLM land right outside Zion National Park.
The road that leads into ZNP goes through a few different towns. Before you get to Springdale (one of the main towns), you go through a small town called Rockville. There you turn off on a neighborhood road that turns into a dirt road. You continue up Eagle Crags Road until you see a hiking spot and a loop of camping spots. It is an absolutely beautiful place to camp and not known by many people. Even though it was spring break. we only saw one other group up there.
Important Info: You will see many signs that say no camping and such, don’t let those scare you off. Just continue up the mountain and you will hit BLM land.
We woke up and went on a long hike up the canyon. We ended up on a ledge looking over Zion National Park and it was magnificent. We then got on the main road wanting to go through Zion, but there was so much traffic that we decided to go around. We then drove to Page, Arizona.
Horseshoe Bend (Page, Arizona): We got to Horseshoe Bend right before sunset and we hiked the simple 1 mile hike toward the cliff. There were so many people (again…spring break), but it still didn’t take away from the beauty of the area.
We then looked for a hotel, but everything was either booked or expensive. We ended up at a Motel 6….and that was a whole other experience.
This was a longer road trip and we stopped at too many stops for just one blog post. It is for this reason that I decided to break the two up into 2 blog posts. (Days 3-5, and Days 6-7)
Travel Dates: March 16, 2016 through March 22, 2016
Redamancy Design 