Help me plan Grand Canyon trip

[ncbyrne]

DH and I are planning a trip to northern Arizona next September for 7-9 days. I live in NJ and have never been west of the Mississippi River, so have no clue what to expect. We'll be flying into McCarran (Las Vegas airport and renting a car). We are NOT going to Las Vegas. Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon are must sees. I've done some research and figure that the dam will only take a few hours to see. But, how much time do we need for the Grand Canyon? I'll need to know in order to make hotel reservations. What else in the northern Arizona area will we have time to see in a week to 9 days?

 

[Amy]

Oh, I can't wait to go back to the Grand Canyon! We were there July 2004, and it is absolutely magnificent. You see all the pictures and you know it's going to be great, but to actually SEE it in person - words can't describe it.

Ok, a few suggestions: there are 4 hotels on the South Rim - El Tovar, Kachina, Thunderbird, Bright Angel. The El Tovar is the fanciest and also the only one that has air conditioning (at least last year it was the only one). But you really don't need the AC, even when we were there in July. Once you figure out your travel dates, MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS ASAP! I made our reservations in Oct. for July, and the El Tovar was already booked. We stayed at the Kachina, which was very nice. The rooms are small, but (just like Disney) you're really not in your room very much. All 4 hotels are right on the rim - I think it was $10 or $20 extra per night at the Kachina for a canyon view room, and it was worth it.

We stayed 2 nights, mostly because we knew our 2 DS's (they were 12 and 14) couldn't handle that much "nature" without a lot of whining. Three nights would have been ideal; if you're into hiking, add another night or two.

The mule ride to the bottom: if you plan on doing this, you'll also have to make your reservations as far in advance as possible. We didn't do this: none of us had ever been on a horse before and we figured a 4-hour mule ride along those narrow trails wasn't a good way to start! Plus, there's a weight limit of 200 (or 210?) pounds, fully clothed carrying water, etc. DH weighs 200 to begin with, so he probably wouldn't have been able to go. Turns out they had a horrible rain/hail storm the day before we arrived and the trail was wiped out, so they canceled the mule rides anyway.

There are stables right before you enter the park (I can't think of the name right now), and they offer trail rides thru the Kaibab National Forest that surrounds Grand Canyon National Park, on nice, flat terrain. We took an hour-long trail ride and it was really nice. There's also a company (Grand Canyon Jeep Tours) that will take you on a jeep tour late afternoon to another section of the Grand Canyon to watch the sunset. I don't recall it being very expensive, but it was something different to do.

You're right about Hoover Dam - we did it in 1/2 day. Of course, DH is an engineer and he would have spent the entire day there if we let him!

Can't tell you much about other places in Arizona - DH's brother lives in LA, so we drove from the Grand Canyon to LA to visit him, and then we spent 2 days at Disneyland/Calif. Adventure. It's an 8-hour drive from the Grand Canyon to LA/Anaheim - we broke it into 2 days, and stayed overnight at Lake Havasu City, AZ (I heard about it on the Travel Channel). Can't tell you much about Lake Havasu - the day we were there, it was 113 degrees in the shade, so we didn't leave the hotel.

Oh - driving from Vegas to the Grand Canyon, make sure you stop in Seligman, AZ and eat at the Road Kill Cafe - they have great food!! Their motto is "you kill it, and we grill it." It's on historic Route 66.

Ok, I'd better get some work done. PM me if you need more info.

 

[Amy]

Thought of a couple other things:

Map Quest was better than AAA at giving us directions. We drove from Vegas to the Grand Canyon to LA/Anaheim and back to Vegas.

At the Grand Canyon, you probably won't need your car. They have a bus system to take you to various points along the South Rim. You can walk/hike along the rim and take the bus back to the hotels, or the other way around.

There's a neat train that you can take from Williams, AZ to the Grand Canyon, but it's only a day trip. You really should stay overnight a couple of nights so you can see the sunrise and sunset. At sunrise, the elk come right up to the hotels - really neat to see them up close like that!

 

[chyam]

You are going to the Canyon at one of the best times of the year! I had been there in July and it was very hot to me, We didn't do the mule ride although had reservations for it, it was just to hot and it was a 7 hour trip to the bottom! I would suggest at least 2 days there or if you really want to relax do 3. All of the hotels suggested are good. The trail ride a previous poster suggested is from a lodge right outside the gates and I believe the name is the Moqui Lodge, we took the 4 hour morning ride, and it was beautiful, we were able to see some wildlife along the trail. Won't repeat what others have said. There is also a rail trip from Flagstaff to the Canyon but haven't done that. Maybe a boat trip on Lake Mead would be nice also.

 

[TTFN]

If you plan on going north I highly recommend Zion National Park. We went in September of 2004 to Grand Canyon North Rim, Zion, and Bryce. Zion was by far our favorite. http://www.nps.gov/zion/ Be prepared for all types of weather...we had mid 90's in the Grand Canyon (the hike from hell), and below freezing when we were at Bryce. If you decide on Zion, try to get reservations inside the park at the lodge. Well worth the money. The hike down the river (I mean you hike in the river) was absolutely gorgeous.

 

[golfgal]

Another option would be to fly into Phoenix and go from there to the Grand Canyon. You could stay in Phoenix or Sedona for a couple days, too. The Meteor Crater is sort of on the way to the Grand Canyon from Phoenix, too.

Personally I couldn't spend 7-9 days at the Grand Canyon. There is a lodge there but I don't know what the rooms would be like. I have no interest in doing the mule train either, not after seeing how DEEP the canyon really is . We spent one full day there and probably could have spent 2 maybe 3 days if we were staying there.

From Phoenix, San Diego isn't that far, or California for that matter. That would be someplace else to go for a couple days if you wanted more side trips.

You said you aren't going to Vegas. Have you been there before? It is actually kind of fun just to walk in and out of the different hotels. We spend one full day doing this and didn't even get to half the hotels on the strip. You could spend a day doing that if you wanted and not gamble. You could also eat there for about $20 for the whole day.

 

[chyam]

If you plan on going north I highly recommend Zion National Park. We went in September of 2004 to Grand Canyon North Rim, Zion, and Bryce. Zion was by far our favorite. http://www.nps.gov/zion/ Be prepared for all types of weather...we had mid 90's in the Grand Canyon (the hike from hell), and below freezing when we were at Bryce. If you decide on Zion, try to get reservations inside the park at the lodge. Well worth the money. The hike down the river (I mean you hike in the river) was absolutely gorgeous.

I was going to suggest these 2 parks also.......I absolutely loved both of them, the hikes in these parks are relatively easy, we did the Emerald pools hike in Zion. If you have 9 days I would defineately check these 2 out, Zion and Bryce are close together so the major drive would be from the Canyon to them but IMO well worth the trip, they are not as congested as other NP either.

 

[ncbyrne]

Three of the six lodges within Grand Canyon Nat'l Park are booked solid for our dates in Sept. The Bright Angel Lodge has an historic cabin still open. Wondering if we should take it for 2-3 nights, or stay outside the park. Any opinions. Thanks to all who have responded. We've done WDW trips many times and this is a completely new adventure and much harder to plan!

 

[chyam]

I would defineately take the cabin, I don't know much about them but waking up right there would defineately be worth it, the thing about the canyon is it looks different at different times of the day, if you are not all that into nature just spend 2 days and check out some other previously posted suggestions (at least on the internet) to see if they would be something you would also be interested in.

 

[Mom2R&D]

We took a family vacation to Arizona this past March and loved it! We flew into Phoenix and drove into northern Arizona stopping at Montezuma's Castle and Tuzigoot along the way. We missed seeing Montezuma's Lake but did see the train that runs from Williams (?).

When we made our reservations there were absolutely no rooms available at the Canyon itself. The North Rim was still closed and we chose to stay at the Red Feather Lodge that's just a mile or so from the Grand Canyon's South Rim entrance.

We spent an entire day there and wished we'd had more time. There are several park ranger "shows" that are interesting AND educational. There is a Junior Ranger Program for kids, they have to fulfill the requirements set for each age range and attend a certain number of the Park Ranger shows and they are "sworn" in and given a badge and certificate proclaiming their Junior Ranger status. It's a neat thing for kids to do and both of my boys loved it.

There is so much to see while you're there, I'm certain your family will enjoy it more than you anticipate! It was my first trip out West (I'm a Gulf Coast kinda girl) and I loved it so much that I wish we could move there!

We drove along the Mogillon Rim and through the Kaibab Forest as well. There's also Snowbowl (I think it's around Flagstaff? My memory is failing...) where you can rent skis and snowboards (I think they manufacture snow if there hasn't been any yet, it had been snowing when we were there in March) and I think there's also a ski lift that you can ride that's just for "scenic" riding.

Good luck and enjoy yourself!

 

[Imzadi]

I posted this over on a recent Sedona thread. The Grand Canyon & Sedona are two of my favoritest places in the world. I've gone there about 7-8 times. I've traveled cross-county twice making sure I pass through there each time. I know I'll go back again someday. If I wasn't so attached to NY, I'd seriously consider moving to Sedona to retire.
http://www.visitsedona.com/

I usually make the circuit from the Grand Canyon, to Flagstaff and book a hotel room there as it is cheaper than either Williams or Sedona & there is more to do. It is a decent size city. I drive down route 89A, which is rated a Top 5 Scenic Drive in America by Rand McNally, down to Sedona.

There are ONLY two ways into Sedona, one is Highway 17, which may get you there faster, but you'll miss all the beautiful scenery, along route 89A, with it's incredible view of rocks, buttes, canyons, rivers and streams. Stop at Grasshopper State Park, for the gurgling brook & peacefulness. About 3 miles right before you get into Sedona, there is a wonderful bridge. Stop & park in the lot, just south of the bridge, on the right. The view of the river gorge is incredible.

After a day at Sedona, I drive back to Flagstaff & stay overnite. Then the next day, I drive up to Monument Valley (about 1 1/2 hrs away,) for the day. Also one of my other favorite places in the world.

If you believe in God or a Higher Power, in Monument Valley, there is called the Valley of the Gods. There you can see the "mud monuments" called buttes that God created. Then he set down his mud "Mittens" (actually called that) in the valley when he was done.
Monument Valley Mittens

 

[monkeyboy]

Went once
got lost
befreinded a small native American boy
we shared hot dogs and beans I had in my flashilight

 

[dandelion garden]

We did the AAA Rails to the Rim (I think that's what it's called) package which included a 2nt stay in Williams & a train ride to the canyon.
You stay overnight the day before your day at the canyon. In the morning they do an Old West kinda cowboy show (which DS still brings up at times, 3 years later) before you board the train. We chose to upgrade to the club car (Full bar!) which I would highly recommend. We had mimosas on the way down while DS made buddies and played cards & GameBoy with a bunch of other kids.
I can't remember how much time you have at the Canyon but I know we had time to explore the rim a bit, have lunch at the lodge, take a shuttle bus to check out an enclosed viewing area, and a soda & snack on the train before it pulled out.
On the ride back the cowboys from the show that morning reappear. Some play guitar & lead sing-alongs, others just chat up the kids. Then the bad guys ride up on horseback to stop the train & rob it. Very cornball but very cute. The kids had a blast.
I could have used more time at the Canyon. But for an "introduction" it was great.
We spent 10 days in AZ to attend a wedding over Easter. We also visited (and loved) Kartchner Caverns, Meteor Crater, Jerome, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum & Red Rock Canyon in Sedona.

 

[rascalmom]

Check out "Canyon Dave" the Grand Canyon tour guide. Sounds kind of hokey - but he came highly recommended by our hotel. We took our then 15 & 11 y.o. dd's & we all had a great time - very educational and very interesting. He has a website - just google "Canyon Dave."

El Tovar was booked when we went - we ended up staying in town instead of out on the rim. We stayed at the Grand Hotel - nice indoor pool & clean, comfortable rooms. Try having a nice dinner at least at El Tovar - they have a very nice restaurant that will remind you of Wilderness Lodge.

 

[Megan's Mom]

You have to go to Monument valley and Four Corners. I can't believe that no one has mentioned Four Corners. my dad has talked about going to Four corners for years. My DH did that last year. There isn't much to do there but you can say you've done it. With 9 days you will have plenty of time to go there. Lots of NAtive Americans along the way selling their wares.

 

[charabby]

Unless they stopped doing it, you can take an overnight train trip from Williams. We did it in '98. The train ride itself is not that scenic, so I wouldn't bother to sit up in the viewing car or whatever they call it. I would think 2 to 3 days at the canyon would be plenty.

I reccommend a visit to Sunset Crater. It is a dormant volcano that is gorgeous (sunset colors. . .), but it's also really interesting. In the valley, where you go in to the park, is a lava flow from hundreds (?) of years ago - it's rock, but you can see the flow. It's really hard to describe, but very cool. You can also climb up into the crater of another dormant volcano. Very cool.

Also, if the painted desert is half a day's drive from there.

And, finally, you must go to Winslow, Arizona and stand on the corner. It's such a fine site to see. They even have a girl in a flat bed Ford. . .

 

[Imzadi]

Also, the painted desert is half a day's drive from there.

I have take the drive from the G. Canyon through the Painted Desert to get to Monument Valley. It is gorgeous.

 

[DisneyMomOK]

I would take the Bright Angel cabin, but continue to check on reservations. I would also check out the train from Williams. There are several types of train/hotel plans available, including one that incorporates a night at one of the GC hotels. The turn over on res for all the National Parks is significant and I would just keep trying, if my first choice is not available. I would also recommend Zion. And, no matter what else you might do, be sure and make res to eat at El Tovar, the food is wonderful. You will have a great vacation!

Sharon

 

[spoon full of sugar]

 

[Imzadi]

Oh and have some Navaho fry bread while you are there. I had it at a couple of places. Yum!