MiMary

We are planning a trip to Arizona in mid June. We will be traveling with our children, ages 14, 11 and 8. We will probably fly into Phoenix (or is Las Vegas better?). Want to see the Grand Canyon (of course) and Hoover Dam. Any suggestions for a one week itinerary? Any good places for horseback riding, ghost towns, chuck wagon dinners or mining? Also, do you know any kid friendly hotels (indoor water park, arcade) between Phoenix and Grand Canyon? Is it worth trying to hike the Grand Canyon with children? Thanks!

spirobulldog

My 13 year old likes to hike and we have been doing it with her for 3 or 4 years now. You can go down as far in the canyon as you want and turn around when you want to. Just remember coming up is harder than going down. I would hike early morning. Late day can still be hot.

MFNYC

You should fly into Pheonix and out of LV or vica versa. We did a similr trip with our 2 kids. We flew to LV, stayed a couple of days and visited Hoover Dam, then drove to Grand Canyon and spent the night (didn't hike, it was winter with snow and ice at the canyon). We then continued on the Pheonix/Sedona/Tucson.

I don't know of any hotels with water parks or arcades, but Sedona is a nice place to spend the night in between the Pheonix and GC. You can take a Pink Jeep Tour while there.

maria_so

there's the apache trail that goes through the superstitious mountains south of phoenix that you can do as a day trip. the legend of the lost dutchman would be cool for the kids. there's an old mining town right at the beginning that's a pretty cool sto, a few lakes you can stop and swim in, and a a damn.

Sedona is a definite stop between Phoenix and GC. Be sure to stop by slide rock state park - that will be alot of fun for the kids - a natural water slide. If you can do an open jaw trip and come in from pheonix and leave from LV (or vice versa) you can cover more. there's alot to see in that area. meteor crater is not too far away from flagstaff too, which can be a cool thing for the kids (and adults too) to see.

maria_so

jerome is also a nice ghost town in between sedona and GC.

maria_so

if there is availability, have you thought of doing the mule ride down the grand canyon? There's an overnight that takes you all the way down to phantom ranch and there's a day trip that takes you 3000 ft above the colorado river.

MiMary

To maria_so: we are not planning on doing the mule trip in the Grand Canyon because my husband is a tall guy and weighs over 200 pounds. I read that you can't go on the mule tour if you weigh over 200 lbs.

maria_so

ahhh, yes they don't and are very strict about it. That's too bad.