National Park Explorer - An Adventure through Nevada, Utah and Arizona's Wilderness

Fifteen days round the Colorado Plateau from Las Vegas, which is the densest concentration of national parks anywhere in the United States.

Las Vegas opens it with two nights, the High Roller wheel and the Mob Museum. Zion follows for two, with guided hiking and optional rock climbing or tubing down the Virgin River, which carved the canyon in the first place. Bryce Canyon comes next along the Rim Trail, and its hoodoos are spires left behind where ice has split the rock apart over thousands of winters.

Torrey gives access to Capitol Reef, the least visited and quietest of the Utah five, then Moab gets three nights. Arches holds over two thousand natural arches including Delicate Arch, Canyonlands has dinosaur footprints and petroglyphs, and whitewater rafting on the Colorado is optional.

Monument Valley follows for a night in the Navajo Tribal Park, where the sandstone towers stand three hundred metres above the floor and the Wildcat Trail walks round one of them. Lake Powell then gets two nights; the reservoir filled from 1963 when the Glen Canyon Dam closed, drowning a canyon that some people have never forgiven, and the guided hike through Antelope Canyon is the highlight. The Grand Canyon closes the trip with two nights and a helicopter flight over it. Original Travel include the hire car, accommodation, the guided hikes and flight, concierge access, a 24-hour helpline and carbon absorption. International flights and most meals are separate. Prices run from 4,700 to 7,500 pounds per person.