You have all helped me so much in planning national parks itineraries in the past for what my college roommate and I call our Thelma and Louise adventures. I am in the beginning stage of planning Thelma and Louise Take Nine for one week in April 2026. I live in New Hampshire and Karen lives in Tucson so Day 1 and 7 will be me flying back and forth from Boston to Tucson. This eliminates this time the need to rent a car since we will use Karen's care for our trip. And I am fine with taking the 3:15 AM bus from Concord, New Hampshire to Logan Airport as I have done the last few trips so I can take a very early flight and be able to do at least a little bit when I arrive at the destination. So the national parks on our agenda for this trip are Saguaro, White Sands, and Petrified Forest. I am looking for information on how long to spend in each national park and thoughts about lodging along the way. We are in our mid-70's, love to take walks in the parks (but we are not hikers, we stay we are strollers), We love doing scenic drives and getting out to take short strolls from there. And as far as lodging, we aren't fancy and just want clean, safe, places to stay. We do like to stay at least some of the time in local lodging rather than chain hotels, although we usually do a combination of both. Suggestions for restaurants too are always good and ideas of things we wouldn't want to miss along the way, I would appreciate any advice you can give me. My initial thoughts are :

Day 1 - fly to Tucson, drive to Saguaro West and see that section of the park and stay at Cat Mountain Lodge for one night (Karen had previously stayed here with her husband and recommended it).

Day 2 - spend the morning at Saguaro East and drive as far as we can towards White Sands National Park (hopefully most of the way)

Day 3 - finish the drive to White Sands and spend the day at the park

Day 4 - drive to Petrified Forest

Day 5 - spend the day at Petrified Forest

Day 6 - drive back to Tucson and stay at an airport hotel for an early flight home on Day 7 (in order to get to Boston in time to take the bus back to New Hampshire)

Day 7 - fly back to New Hampshire

And even though I said a day to drive between parks, I realize the day will mostly be driving, but there will also be part of some of those days to spend in a park before or after our drives but I don't which of those parks to spend more of that time in.

Thanks as always for your help!
Barbara

My 2c. Take it for what it’s worth before pennies go away.

Don’t bother to visit both parts of Saguaro. There are plenty of other non-cactus things to enjoy in the Tucson area.

Petrified forest is good for about an hour or 2. It’s very interesting if you happen to be passing by but not worth the time you’re investing. As an alternative, Sedona is closer and more interesting

I live in Tucson and I would recommend a visit to Sabino canyon in addition to visiting Saguaro. It's closer to Saguaro East.

We have always enjoyed the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum when we visit Tucson, and combine this with a trip to Saguara NP. It's outdoor, and you'll get to view some very interesting desert flora and fauna, plus a walk-through hummingbird enclosure. https://www.desertmuseum.org/

That's a great suggestion. And it's basically in Saguaro Park West.

Haha on the pennies! I'm actually worried about that because it has been a tradition for years that we have a penny hunt around my house at the end of my young kids piano recital and they all look forward to it. I'm starting to hoard pennies now in anticipation.

i realize some of the national parks are not as exciting as others, but since I'm on a quest to see them all, I am doing exactly that so Petrified Forest has to stay on the list. I have been pleasantly surprised by a few of the parks that i mostly went to as a check off on the national park list and they were actually more interesting than i expected.

Thanks for your thoughts - I wondered about doing both sides of Saguaro and it sounds like it would be mostly the same.

Thank you for the suggestion - we should be able to fit that in.

Thank you - that sounds like a great idea!

Meteor Crater is not far from PF and doesn't take long to visit. Worth it.

I would probably fly to Phoenix for nonstops and better airfare. Flagstaff (FLG) and Albuquerque are other options.

I've driven White Sands to Tucson and remember it as a pretty short hop, maybe 5 hours, but no need to break the journey.

Saguaro and White Sands and Petrified Forest are kind of drive by parks. It's possible to make an overnight out of a visit but really 2-3 hours will satisfy nearly everyone.

If you haven't seen Carlsbad Caverns and nearby Guadalupe Mts be sure to fit those in.

I'm not a big fan of Tucson atractions (other than the weather) but if you have time, Chiricahua Mts Nat'l Monument is a real wonder, about 40 minutes south of Interstate 10, but you would need at least a half day to see much.

Adding Show Low and Pine Top is a woodsy tourist center an hour or so south of Petrified Forest NP that has good lodging. Depending on the season it snows here. This is a Mormon area.

Fastest way to Tucson from here may be via Globe. You drive through 2 large Apache reservations on this route. The northern one, Ft. Apache or White Mtn is pretty, the southern one San Carlos is less attractive and has sketchy parts.

Thanks,mrwunrfl! I am watching the flights to both Phoenix and Tucson to figure out which will be quicker and easier. Since my Thelma and Louise partner lives in Tucson, those seem like the two best locations. Thanks for the suggestion on Meteor Crater.

Thanks, tom.mn! We are planning another trip that includes Carlsbad Caverns, Guadaloupe, and Big Bend for April 2027. I see how close Carlsbad Caverns is, but adding that on this trip would be too long away from home. My husband needs care when I am away. Clarify for me what you mean by "via globe" please. I think that is the route we were thinking about since Karen doesn't like the route from Phoenix to Tucson. I was looking at Brad's Desert Inn in Show Low but haven't made a reservation yet.

Ah Tom.mn, I just answered my own question looking at the map and seeing that Globe is a town - I hadn't noticed that before.

It’s an alternate and a bit slower route to say Gallup where you may be spending the night, but there’s a small volcano (Bandera) and ice cave that make a nice stop, then El Morro Nat’l Mon is just west and that also makes a nice quick stop. Leaving I-40 at Grants leads to a large volcanic area with lots of exposed lava flows, a bit like Hawaii or the area around Craters of the Moon, ID. There are lava tubes here if you have time. This route also goes through the Zuni Reservation, a tribe famous for art like pottery and fettishes.

Oh that's interesting tom.mn - sounds like a good alternative to just being on the highway!

Here’s a picture of the side route I mentioned.

https://ibb.co/xt7Nk2qG

El Malpais Nat’l Monument is lava flows. The independent Ramah Navajo Reservation is pronounced Ray-muh.

I will second tom_mn's recommended route. About two miles before El Morro NM is the Ancient Way Cafe. Arrive hungry and have some of the best pies ever.
https://www.elmorro-nm.com/

For something unusual consider staying in a teepee in Holbrook
https://sleepinawigwam.com/

OK Tom,mn I'm sold on the alternate route. And thank you for the pronounciation tip - I think you might have also been the one who gave me the correct pronunciation for Isle Royale (Royal like loyal) which I appreciated.

Thanks, Nelson! We will definitely plan on stopping for pie at least at the ancient way cafe! But I just looked at the teepees which sounded intriguing and the one night that we would be there, they are sold out on the teepees!