Feeling overwhelmed at planning Grand Canyon trip
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Anonymous
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I would like to do Grand Canyon/Sedona next spring break with my family (DH, me and two dds aged 11 and 9) but I feel so overwhelmed. I've never been to Arizona so am unsure where everything is in relation to each other. I feel like I know the basics - fly into Phoenix. Couple days in Sedona, couple days in Grand Canyon.
How is the drive between Sedona and Grand Canyon? Easy highway driving? Where is a good place to stay in Sedona? I would love to do Enchantment resort but that looks a little pricier than we would like. What is a good itinerary for this trip? |
Anonymous
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Sedona is about two hours from the Grand Canyon and the drive between Sedona and the Grand Canyon is around two hours as well. The latter of the two drives is very scenic, as you drive through part of Oak Creek Canyon via 89A. The elevation and terrain change very quickly. I was there in July two years ago and if you leave early in the morning (around 8:00), there is no traffic. Most of the drive is on a two-lane highway, if I remember correctly.
Sedona Real Inn and Suites is a very nice hotel. It serves free breakfast in the morning and has a nice pool. It is an easy 10-minute drive to Red Rock State Park and Cathedral Rock (gorgeous at sunset) and there is a Whole Foods five minutes down the road if you need to pick up some groceries. Make sure you also go to Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village. It has a lot of unique stores and a great ice cream shop. Two full days should be sufficient for Sedona. Unless your family is super into hiking, I recommend no more than two days at the Grand Canyon. I also suggest adding on a day in Flagstaff, which has a nice downtown area with a really good candy store. There is a nice Embassy Suites there. Meteor Crater is awesome as well and is only 30 minutes or so from Flagstaff. Your DDs will probably really like it. Also, if you or any one in your family is an Eagles fan, Winslow (as in standing on a corner) is near Flagstaff as well. There is a mural dedicated to the song and part of Route 66 runs through the town. You also might want to consider adding on a day or two in Las Vegas and flying home from there, with a stop in Oatman, AZ along the way. Your DDs will love the wild donkeys that roam the streets. |
Anonymous
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Driving is easy. Don't need long in Sedona. Spend more time at Grand Canyon and take a day to just pack a picnic and hike down as far as you can go in a few hours, eat lunch, and hike back up. See the glass walkway at the indian reservation. hear a ranger talk. Look closely at the visitor center.
Sedona is good for a short hike, and maybe a pink jeep tour. I would spend the $$ on the back country jeep tour rather than the resort. 2 nights in Sedona = arrive, eat, sleep. Jeep tour day, then sleep. Grand canyon the next day. If you forgo the dayhike in the Canyon and have extra time you might consider a visit to a native american site such as Walnut Canyon Natl Monument. Will add a nice dimension to your trip and of course the ruins are unique to the area. |
Anonymous
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Second Walnut Canyon as a good suggestion.
Lake Powell is another idea (further north, on the Utah border, but really pretty). You also go right by Montezuma's castle (no relation to the actual Montezuma) and Sunset Crater, either of which could be worth a stop. I think of PHX to GC as more like a 5-6 hour trip, really, but maybe I'm mis-remembering. It's an easy drive with a lot of nice scenery. Depending on which way you go, you can easily cross through beautiful Navaho country (and can buy some really beautiful jewelry and other artisan's work). I would take about 3 days at the GC and so something like this: one day, let the kids earn their junior ranger badges and go to some ranger talks/visitor center; second day, maybe go horseback riding or something like that; third day, take a day hike into the canyon -- remember that it's twice as hard coming back up, so if you can hike for 2 hours, turn around after 40 minutes. Bring lots of snacks and water and take breaks. It is really, really beautiful -- way prettier when you get into the canyon, plus it gives the kids some sense of how tough it is to go all the way in and back. I'm not sure about PP's suggestion of packing a lunch -- the path is not that wide and there are not many turnoffs to stop and have a picnic. (Indian Point is halfway down and has lots of picnic space, but it's a crushing 6 mile walk back up, so unless your kids are really big hikers, I wouldn't try it at that age.) I would just do heavy snacks that can be eaten while on the move or standing. Yogurt covered raisins, sunchips, nuts, GORP, etc. Many many years ago when I was a kid we stopped at the Hopi cultural center and it was one of my favorite stops on that trip. The hominy and lamb stew with fry bread at the restaurant was the bomb. They closed it for years, but google indicates it may now be re-open. It's a little out of the way, though. If you do decide to fly back out of Vegas, Hoover Dam is worth a stop. They have a tour and it's tremendous. |
Anonymous
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If your kids like that kind of thing, check out Slide Rock near Sedona. It's your usual river with a big rock where people enjoy sliding down. Basically go swimming outdoors for a couple of hours.
That'd be more interesting to me at ages 9/11 than the art museums and vortex thingy in sedona... |
Anonymous
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Thanks! Would you recommend flying into Vegas and making that our base instead of Phoenix? I checked air fares between here and Phoenix and Vegas. Both seemed a bit high (around $500 for Phoenix, could get it around $400 for Vegas).
Is that normal? Or would it go down more the closer we get ? |
Anonymous
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Just be aware, OP, that weather in spring in Northern Arizona is unpredictable, so you may want to be flexible with your planning. Flagstaff sits at 7000 feet and big snowstorms in spring aren't unheard of.
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Anonymous
That's great during summer, not so much for spring break. |
Anonymous
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Sedona pink jeep tour is a must. Bet your kids will remember that more than the Grand Canyon. Plan something other than a basic hike at Grand Canyon. I know it is unAmerican but the Grand Canyon can get dull so go with the suggestions of horse ride, the glass bridge, could you white water raft any of it (I'm not sure).
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Anonymous
| We did a week -- flew into Las Vegas and then drove to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park and Grand Canyon. Then back to Las Vegas. One of our best family memories! |
Anonymous
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I've been the GC a couple of times - only once with my kids. I don't think it's worth more than a full day. If I were doing your trip, I would do a travel day - if you're flying into Phoenix, you can travel to the GC area (I like Williams for hotels) in the same day. It's long, but not that bad. Then you have an entire day at the GC. Then make the next day a travel day - stop and see whatever you feel like you missed and drive to the Bryce/Zion area. I'd spend at least two full days in that area. Then travel back to Sedona and have a nice evening of shopping and dining followed by a day of hiking and pink jeep tours.
PP is right about the weather. It can be unpredictable. Also, as far as flights, you aren't going to get anything cheaper - it's spring break |
Anonymous
Did you camp or stay in inns/hotels? |
Anonymous
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OP here - thanks for the great tips!
Crazy idea time - continue to plan Grand Canyon as a spring break trip or do it that first week in November that MoCo schools are quasi off? More of the Grand Canyon lodges are available, Enchantment Resort is cheaper, flights are cheaper. From what I gather, weather during both times isn't necessarily ideal. Is one time (early April vs. early November) better? Would the full activities (at Grand Canyon) still be going on even though it isn't a popular vacation time? |
Anonymous
The big question is what you plan to do in each place. If you want easy hikes with great views and amazing sunsets I say spend more time in Sedona with a day trip to see Grand Canyon. Weather is weird that time of year. We went to Sedona in October and just took a day trip to Grand Canyon. Daytime in Sedona was warm maybe 80's, but nights and morning were cold (40s). The drive from Sedona to GC was interesting. Due to elevation changes, Sedona is at a much lower elevation, there were spots where it was very cold, in 30's, our car gave us warning to watch out for slipping due to such cold conditions. It was chilly at GC as well, but nice felt nice during our easy hike. |
Anonymous
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We did the Grand Canyon for spring break last year. Our itinerary was...
Fly into Las Vegas One day in Vegas - saw some of the highlights and then drove out to Red Rock Canyon for a short hike Drive to GC via the Hoover Dam (very impressive) Stayed 2 nights in GC at the Bright Angel Cabins, right on the rim. Hiking and some jr. ranger programs in GC and just driving around the rim to see the view Drove to Flagstaff, stopping to see Meteor Crater 1 night in Flagstaff. Visited the Lowell Observatory in the evening Drove to Scottsdale - stay 2 nights at the Arizona Grand Resort, which has a big water park We'd planned to do a Sonoma Jeep Tour but one of the kids got sick so we skipped that and just relaxed at the resort I don't particularly like Las Vegas but my 12 yr old wanted to see it. He wasn't impressed either but glad he can say he's been there. 
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