Well Organized. Fun. Educational. Delicious Food. Worth every penny. These are a few of the sentiments we have about our recent trip to Asheville, NC on one of Veg Jaunts and Journeys fantastic tours. Kim, our tour guide and fabulous leader, made the experience very memorable by having our outings well organized and by her being flexible when we wanted to detour from the planned event.
2 National Parks
Epic Canyons, Pink Sand Dunes and Hoodoos
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
Utah’s Geological Wonders & Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
On this tour, we’ll explore some of southern Utah’s most beautiful landscapes, including Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, along with time at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab. The week focuses on national park visits, animal sanctuary experiences, and exploring the outdoors.
Plant-based food options can be limited around the national parks, but meals will be planned in advance so everyone is well fed during the whole tour. Group dinners will include shared meals in Kanab, with two evenings at Angel Village Café overlooking the canyon, catered by Best Friends.
Throughout the week, we’ll stay at Best Friends Roadhouse in Kanab and take day trips to the surrounding parks. The tour begins and ends in Las Vegas, with group transportation and full days spent exploring some of the most unique landscapes in the American Southwest.
Why You’ll Love This Tour!
Volunteer at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the largest sanctuary of its kind in the U.S. and healing home for 1,600 dogs, cats, birds, bunnies, horses, pigs and other animals
Visit Utah’s oldest national park, Zion, gaze out the window at an incredibly scenic drive and awe at the expansive canyon that averages 2,000 feet of depth
See Bryce Canyon National Park and the largest concentration on earth of hoodoos, impressively tall spires of rocks formed by erosion
Experience Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, explore the reddish-pink dunes formed from eroded Navajo sandstone and take in the dramatic desert cliffs
Click the Tabs to Find Out More
Essential Info
Essential Info
Price
$3900 USD/per person
*A non-refundable deposit of 25% of the tour cost, along with a registration form, are required in order to join the tour. Your space is not guaranteed until both of these are received.
Dates
May 10 – 16, 2027
Tour duration
6 nights/7 days
Group size
Up to 12 people
Included
- 6 nights accommodations
- 6 breakfasts
- 5 lunches
- 6 dinners
- Sightseeing and activity admissions
- Transportation between activities
- All logistics are taken care of for you
Not included
- Airfare
- Travel insurance
What to bring
Comfortable shoes and/or light hiking boots
Travel insurance is highly recommended for any unexpected emergency expenses.
A suggested packing list will be provided before your tour.
About your guide
Kim Giovacco and Jackie Burke will be your tour leaders.
Trip Overview
After our first group dinner in Las Vegas, we will depart for Kanab, Utah, the next morning. Along the way, we will stop at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, where broad fields of pink‑tinged sand have been shaped over thousands of years by winds and the erosion of surrounding Navajo sandstone, creating a rare and striking desert scene.
Once in Kanab, we will check in at Best Friends Roadhouse, a comfortable, welcoming base just minutes from the Sanctuary. We will spend the next day volunteering at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, giving us the chance to tour the grounds, meet the animals, and help with a range of meaningful tasks. The next day, we will explore the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, known for its colorful rock formations that tell a story spanning millions of years. In the evenings, group dinners will include two nights at Angel Village Café, a space with sweeping canyon views as the sun sets over the desert landscape.
We will also take a day trip to Zion National Park, where massive sandstone walls rise above the canyon floor and the Virgin River winds through narrow slot canyons, hanging gardens, and scenic viewpoints along the main road. Another day will take us to Bryce Canyon National Park, known for its series of giant natural amphitheaters filled with thousands of hoodoos — colorful rock spires shaped by frost weathering and erosion over millions of years.
On the final morning, we will depart Kanab early for the drive back to Las Vegas, arriving in time for mid‑afternoon flights.
Itinerary
On Monday, there will be airport pickups throughout the day and you will have some time to settle in at our hotel. Later in the evening, we will all meet for our first group dinner to meet each other and get ready for the days ahead.
On Tuesday, we will leave Kanab, with a stop at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, where the reddish-pink sands stretch across broad dunes shaped over thousands of years from eroded Navajo sandstone. We will have a relaxing day hiking and playing in the pink sand, enjoying the unique desert scenery and taking plenty of photos. Afterward, we will continue to Best Friends Roadhouse, which will be our welcoming home base for the next couple of days. In the evening, we will gather for dinner at Angel Village Café, with sweeping canyon views as the sun sets over the desert.
Meals Included
Day 1: Dinner
Day 2: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
The next day, we will visit Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, a short drive from our lodging. The sanctuary provides a safe haven for over 1,600 rescued animals, including dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, horses, and pigs. We will take the grand tour of the sanctuary and have the opportunity to spend some time volunteering. They even have a vegan restaurant on-site, and we will support them by having lunch there. In the evening, we will all gather again for dinner and have some time to relax.
On Day 4, we will head out to explore the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a vast wilderness of nearly 1.9 million acres with stunning landscapes of cliffs, hidden canyons, and rugged badlands. After a day of discovery among colorful rock formations and ancient paleontological history, we will make our way back to our home base to relax over dinner.
Meals Included
Day 3: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 4: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Friday begins with a relaxing morning as you enjoy breakfast with lovely views. We will then head to Zion National Park, Utah’s first national park and home to one of the most scenic canyons in the United States. We will ride the park shuttle along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, so you can get an overview of the park. Then, we will visit the Emerald Pools, where you can choose an easy, moderate, or more challenging hike to reach the different pools. After a gorgeous day in this desert park among sandstone cliffs, rivers, and waterfalls, we will head back to home base for dinner.
The next morning, we will take about an hour’s drive to Bryce Canyon National Park, home to the largest concentration of hoodoos on Earth — irregular rock columns. There are also many natural amphitheaters, or horseshoe-shaped canyons, along eroded escarpments. These whimsical limestone formations were shaped by wind and rain over thousands of years, and on a clear day, the park offers stunning vistas with up to 150 miles of visibility. We will spend the day exploring, with options to take one or more hikes depending on your comfort level. In the evening, we will return to our sanctuary for a relaxing dinner.
Meals Included
Day 5: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 6: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
We will depart early in the morning for the approximately 3.5-hour drive back to Las Vegas, arriving in time for mid-afternoon flights.
Meals Included
Day 7: Breakfast
Good to Know
Amount of walking: 5 miles per day (approximate)
Please plan to fly into Las Vegas, Nevada (LAS) on the first day, as we will depart for Kanab in the morning (about a 3.5-hour drive, with a stop at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park). If you are flying out on the last day, please keep in mind the approximately 3.5-hour drive back to Las Vegas and book flights for mid- to late afternoon to ensure you have plenty of time to reach the airport.
Previous Guests Praise Veg Jaunts and Journeys
Our trip to Berlin was OUTSTANDING! Thanks so much, Kim! We could have never planned a trip like this without you. The vegan restaurants were out of this world!
5 stars
Thank you for putting together a great tour. The food was a wonderful treat. Your personal service and help prior to the trip were impressive.
