katherinebw

In late August/early September, my husband and I are going out west for about 2.5 weeks. We would like to fly into Phoenix, stop at the Heard Museum then drive to Sedona for a night or two. Then:
Grand Canyon North Rim two days
Antelope Canyon
Monument Valley
Bryce for two days
Zion for two days
Then we drive to CA to visit a relative and stay in Sonoma for 4-5 days
Fly home out of SF

I have maps but don't see exactly where Monument Valley is. I'm only hoping it's close to the GC. I googled the distance from GC to Antelope Canyon and got something like 5.5 hours which seems too long.

After Zion, we'd drive through NV stopping at Great Basin NP for a day and overnight. Is it reasonable to think we can get from Great Basin to Sonoma in a day or should we stop near Tahoe, or Reno? I realize we are late in planning this, but I do have reservations at the Bryce Canyon Lodge on a Weds &Thurs so we can hopefully do a stargazing night on Thurs. I will keep calling GC North Rim for cancellations. Any advice will be appreciated. If it helps, we could fly into another airport, but then we'd probably skip the Heard and possibly Sedona (which I've seen before but would enjoy another visit).

janisj

Grand Canyon to Monument Valley takes at least 4 hours

Where on earth did you find GC to Antelope Valley taking 5+ hours? IME it takes about 3-ish hours.

As for Great Basin to Sonoma - that is one hellacious drive - at least 10 hours 'car time' w/o any stops. And probably more if you hit traffic in Reno, Roseville/Sacramento, and the I-80 corridor west of Sac.

dshamritsky

Hi katherine,

The first problem that I see is your choice of the North Rim over the South Rim. First off, the drive from Sedona to the North Rim is 8 hours, compared to 2 hours to the South Rim. From there, Antelope Canyon in Page is an additional 5 hrs from the North Rim, compared to 2.5 hours from the South. The reason that you could not find Monument Valley was because it was much further east, on the AZ UT border NW of Kayenta, AZ. Monument Valley is really nothing special except for the one quintessential cowboy movie scene backdrop from the top of the hill looking at the valley. I would suggest that you drive from Sedona to the South Rim for 2 days, to Antelope Canyon, and then to Bryce Canyon and Zion. I would add on the day that you gain from not going to Monument Valley to either Zion or Bryce, because they are much more beautiful. I really can not help with the Nevada and California part of you trip, but it sounds like a lot of fun.

janisj

Oh - I didn't notice you were talking about the North Rim. Yes, that is a much longer drive.

MmePerdu

I agree that the outlier on this trip is Monument Valley. So if you can bear to leave it for another time your trip will have an easier trajectory.

As janisj says, about 10 hours to Sonoma so it depends entirely on you whether you do it in 1 long drive or stop along the way. From your tastes in places you've indicated, if you decide to stop overnight and would like to see Lake Tahoe, I suggest the North Shore area, not terribly far off I-80 and much nicer, in my opinion, than South Shore. More woodsy vacation areas instead of casinos.

katherinebw

I will skip Monument Valley, then. JanisJ, where would you stop between Great Basin on Sonoma? We can take a few days getting from one to the other.
Dshamitsky, where would you stop along the way between Sedona and GC North Rim? (I've seen the South Rim and once was enough, but I've heard great things about the North Rim and will go even if it's only a one-day stop due to lack of lodging.
MmePurdue, how long would it take us to get from Great Basin to Lake Tahoe North Shore?
I guess another option would be to fly from Salt Lake City or Las Vegas to SF if that drive truly is awful. Thanks for the advie--you are quick!

MmePerdu

Great Basin to Tahoe City is 7 hours. If you aren't longing to see Tahoe then flying would make a certain amount of sense. And if you can live without Great Basin you could save even more time by flying out of Las Vegas. Or out of Flagstaff which will include a change in Phoenix.

spirobulldog

We are camping in Great Basin this summer. Just so you know, there is very little in the way of lodging and food near Great Basin.

katherinebw

Thanks again. I will re-think and maybe get back with more questions.

MikePinTucson

If you drive from Sedona to the north rim, but don't stay overnight, you will see next to nothing at the NR. The viewpoints are much further apart than at the south rim. So keep checking for vacancies at the NR. Or you can check at Kaibab Lodge, which is abour 12 miles from the rim, if I recall correctly. That is the next closest lodging.

http://www.kaibablodge.com/

katherinebw

I was able to book a room at the motel on the North Rim. I've read that the cabins are doubles and have very little privacy. Can anyone confirm that? (I had a bad experience at the South Rim in a double-type cabin.) Also thinking of spending a day and overnight in Kaibab to do a guided tour of South Coyote Buttes. Can anyone tell me about this? Does it require walking to see anything of interest, or could a guide drive us to various points of visual interest? I'm concerned about my DH and the heat, but inside an air-conditioned vehicle with plenty of water, he'll be fine.