wvgirl

My husband & I are FINALLY going to the GC!! We fly into and out of Phoenix and are trying to plan our route. We arrive in Phoenix day one at noon...Our second night is the only night we have booked so far(Bright Angel Lodge). Places not to miss along the way would be kindly appreciated. We are thinking about Jerome, Verde Canyon RR, possibly an overnight in Williams(close to GC) and a possible helicopter ride at GC...we leave on day five in late a.m....thanks in advance

Bill_H

possibly an overnight in Williams(close to GC)

Sedona or Flagstaff or even Cameron would be better choices than Williams for an overnight near but not in the GC.

Jerome and Verde RR are good choices, but are you skipping Sedona totally?

wvgirl

no we are not skipping sedona....hoping to plan one night there in time to shop & dine!

MikePinTucson

Sedona is definitely NOT about shopping. It is all about the red rock beauty that surrounds you. Spending "one night there in time to shop and dine" means you will miss everything important that Red Rock Country has to offer. My suggestion would be to spend all of your extra nights at Sedona.

We enjoy the Verde Canyon Railroad, but for the short time you have, I would skip it. Pretty much the same with Jerome. You can see everything there in about half a day but, IMO, skip it because of the short time you have.

MikePinTucson

Forgot to add -- definitely skip Williams, there is not much of anything there.

LindainOhio

I would stay 2 nights if possible at the Grand Canyon but even if that is not possible, I would also spend the remainder of your time in Sedona. The town is nothing--we spent no time in town, but if you have never been to Red Rock country you will enjoy the amazing scenery and should try to do some hiking so that you can see the fabulous mesas, canyons, red rocks. Walk through Boynton Canyon and have lunch on the patio at the Enchantment Resort. Loved the views from the edges of Doe Mountain (it's a mesa--walk to the edges when you get to the top), enjoyed the Brins Mesa Trail, be sure to stop at Red Rock Crossing--the most photographed spot in Sedona, and enjoy the sunset from Airport Mesa or along Dry Creek Rd.

Many people also enjoy the Pink Jeep Tours in Sedona

I'm not into helicopters, so I wouldn't recommend a helicopter ride at the Grand Canyon. You can walk a bit down Bright Angel Trail and also take the shuttle out to the far end of the Rim Trail and walk back to Bright Angel Lodge. You can have great views at Mather Point and along the trail, stop at the Vistors Center, The Yavapai Observation Station and then back to your lodge. You can also take the Hermits Rest Shuttle out to several stops in the other direction. The shuttle picks you up right in front of Bright Angel--we also took the Hermits Rest Shuttle out to Hopi Point for sunset.
If you are an early riser, and since your lodge is right on the rim of the Grand Canyon, it is great to get up and walk the Rim Trail as the sun comes up and the light fills the canyon. Take your coffee outside and enjoy the peacefulness. Bright Angel has a nice dining room where you can have breakfast. We had a great lunch in the Arizona Room and a very nice dinner at the El Tovar.

Myer

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one dissing the town of Sedona.

It's a bunch of t-shirt stores, art galleries (from the Vortex days) and restaurants that close at 9PM.

However, if you're interested in doing a small/moderate amount of hiking and/or into photography then this is one amazing place.

Many people take the Pink Jeep tours. One of the most popular is Broken Arrow. It's a trail maintaine by the NPS and Pink Jeep. So there's a very scenic hike or the Pink Jeep tour.

I'm not sure which is easier.

I don't know when you're going. sprint/summer/fall? If so, a few hours out of your way will be worth out. Out the east exit of GC and north on Rt 89 to Page.

You have some world class sights. Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and the "Best Dam View".

Antelope Canyon is an easy walk after a 15 minute drive, Horseshoe Bend is a 3/4 mile hike and the "View" is a two minute walk down some rock stairs.

I don't know about the other posters but if I'm rating GC against other sights within 5 hours, GC falls to the bottom.

emalloy

I agree with Myer, EXCEPT for GC, I would go there at any opportunity that presents itself (this is still true after 6 or 7 trips to it). It is magnificent, and different every time we visit. I do agree that one or two nights is sufficient to get a fix unless you are doing long hikes into the canyon.

wvgirl

Thanks for all of your feedback and help. Our trip is in mid-November and we have decided to do one night in Flagstaff, next night at GC, night 3 in Sedona and last night in Phoenix(in order to catch mid morning flight)..We plan to do more than shop/dine in Sedona...of course we will take in the Red Rock Country.

MikePinTucson

Good choice. Near Flag -- visit Walnut Canyon

On the way to the GC, go up 89 and see Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument on the way to the east GC entrance. You might want to stop at the Cameron Trading Post for lunch (try the Navajo Taco) and maybe a bit of browsing.

Dayenu

With only 4 nights I would spend 2 in Sedona, 2 at GC.

wvgirl

Thanks to all of you for your help..we have everything planned except for our last night....would like to be kind of close to PHX airport for our 11am departure....dinner/hotel recommendations!?

MikePinTucson

There is an Inn Suites on Baseline Road, right near I-10. It is basic accommodations, but they do have a nice continental breakfast, including waffles, and an airport shuttle. Right across the street is a Claim Jumper restaurant.

http://www.innsuites.com/tempe/

http://www.claimjumper.com/

hawksbill

I just arrived in Sedona. It's my first time here. I'm here to hike, and I'm not one of those people who does recreational shopping while on vacation. However, plenty of people are, and it seems to me that this would be a great place for such people.

I just came from the Grand Canyon. South Rim. That was probably my main mistake. The Canyon is of course spectacular, but there are only so many ways to look at it, and I didn't much enjoy the overcrowded scene. I'd say that, unless one plans to do overnight backpacking, the right number of nights to spend at the GC is zero to one. I think it would make a great drive-through day trip.

Myer

hawksbill,
I agree with you 100%. Except I don't even consider a large bowl to be spectacular.

Spectacular is sunrise at Bryce Point, a nice hike in Zion, Antelope Canyon or hiking in the Sedona Red Rocks.

wvgirl,
What I remember about Phoenix was driving from Sedona for a 1PM flibht and not finding a gas station between the highway exit and the airport. They got me for the gas.

MikePinTucson

Myer,

You must have terrible eyesight if all you see is a large bowl. Are you sure you weren't at Meteor Crater? Now THAT is a large bowl. The GC is many things, but it most certainly is not, and does not resemble, a bowl.

Myer

Mike,
My fault.

I spent a pit stop night at GC on my way from Bryce, Zion and Page (Antelope Canyon & Horseshoe Bend) to Sedona (3 days in the Red Rocks).

How can the GC Bowl compare to those sights?

My daughter and her husband stopped at Hoover Dam on the way to the Grand Canyon. What salvaged their trip was going to Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend on their second day.

She rated Hoover dam & GC #11 & #12 out of 12 sights she's been to in the past year.

hawksbill

Myer, since my last comment, I've had the opportunity to get out around Sedona and hike a little. I have to agree with you. Speaking as someone who has just spent a couple of weeks driving and hiking around southern Utah and northern Arizona, I gotta say, these are some top quality rocks they have around here in Sedona. Far more beautiful and impressive than the Grand Canyon. Now I'm sorry that I even wasted any time at all at the Grand Canyon. Oh well, I guess I had to see it once.

I still think the GC is spectacular. And I agree that it's not really shaped like a bowl. It's shaped like a canyon, and I've seen many, many canyons on this trip. Many have been more spectacular than the GC, and many less so. One thing's for sure in my book: the GC is the kind of place where they should put a little turnout on the side of the highway, so that you can pull over, look at it for a few minutes, snap a photo of yourself in front of it, and then move on. Actually, it's extremely large, so they should have three or four different turnouts, so that you can check it out from different angles. Which, in fact, they do, at various places along Desert View Road. Stopping at those viewpoints is all the time a person needs to spend at the GC, in my opinion. And now that I've seen the mess that is the western part of the South Rim, with its jam-packed parking lots overflowing with hoards of tourists, agonizing one-way roads that force you to spend fifteen minutes driving around just to get back to the other side of the parking lot to look for a space again, terrible and sometimes non-existent signage... if I had to make my once-in-a-lifetime visit to the Grand Canyon again, I'd either figure out how to see it from the North Rim, or I'd strongly consider going only as far westward along the South Rim as Grandview Point or so.

One other thing occurred to me. Wvgirl (it's her thread, after all) didn't mention what time of the year she's going to the GC. The GC (well the top of it, anyway) is at something like 7000 feet elevation. For the past few days, daytime high temperatures have been in the mid 40's, and overnight lows in the mid 20's. There were snow showers yesterday at the Canyon, and today on the way out. I actually didn't find any of this to be a problem, because the snow showers were intermittent, with lots of sunshine in between, and during the sunny periods, the storm clouds made the Canyon views nice and dramatic. However, we Easterners tend to think of Arizona as a boiling-hot bone-dry desert, and I didn't want wvgirl to end up like the many tourists I saw wearing shorts in the snow! Culottes, in the case of the French people, who made up at least half of the tourists that I saw.

Myer

hawksbill,

I couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic or agreeing with me.

I'm glad I saw the Grand canyon and stopping at the viewpoints along the scenic road between the east end and the village was worth the time.

I also enjoyed sunset at Hopi Point (thought nowhere near spectacular like sunset at Cathedral Rock in Sedona or sunrise at Bryce Point). Then the next morning walking along the Rim watching the sun come up.

I don't know how long you'll be in Sedona but I can give you my choices. Note that I was there in early June when the days are much longer.

Sunset
#1 by far. The view of Cathedral Rock across Oak Creek at tghe Crescent Moon Picnic Area. The spot takes a bit of work to find. Note that this is a Vortex sight (if you are not familiar with Vortexes Google Sedona Vortex). Spectacular sunset as Cathedral Rock turns orange.

#2 and a lonf way down but very popular due to easy access is the airport.

Hikes.
Boynton Canyon Vista (another Vortex site). Not the complete and boring Boynton Canyon hike but the much shorter and very scenic Vista that is a detour near the start of the full canyon hike (I did both).

Broken Arrow. This can be deone as a hike or a Pink Jeep drive. Pink Jeep and the NPS both combine to maintain this trail and road. I'm not sure which is easier. The hike or being terrorized by the jeep driver. I was amused by the yelling from the jeeps that passed me.

Devil's Bridge. The only natural bridge in the area. Fairly scenic for the effort.

There's an excellent web site that describes many hikes in the area.

www.greatsedonahikes.com