Arizona and Grand Canyon Motorcycle Tour - 8 Day

Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, Zion and Las Vegas, with Route 66 on the way back. This self-guided loop takes eight days to cover around 1,175 miles, and it works through Arizona and southern Utah’s best-known country without repeating itself.

Sedona and Jerome open it. The red rock formations around Sedona are the obvious draw, but Jerome is the surprise, an old copper-mining town clinging to the side of Cleopatra Hill with its streets stacked above one another. Williams follows, then the Grand Canyon on the way to Page and Lake Powell.

Utah takes over for the middle of the trip. The Vermillion Cliffs lead to Zion National Park and Springdale, and the canyon road through the park is one of the best short rides in the region. Las Vegas comes next as a change of pace, then the route heads back into Arizona over the Hoover Dam and picks up Route 66 through Kingman and Seligman towards Flagstaff. Montezuma Castle, a five-storey cliff dwelling built into a limestone alcove around 900 years ago and still remarkably intact, sits on the final run back into Phoenix.

EAGLERIDER supplies the bike and books each of the seven nights, with Harley-Davidson touring models and Triumph and BMW sport machines available. Fuel, meals and insurance are separate. Riding days range from 120 to 270 miles, so there is room for an unhurried start most mornings. Two states, two national parks and the Mother Road, from a city with good flight connections at both ends.