Desert Southwest
 

Planning a trip to the desert southwest in September commencing in Sedona. Haven't yet decided if I'll drive all the way from my home in the upper peninsula of Michigan or fly to Denver and rent a car. I would rather not have to make reservations for hotels before hand, would rather be spontaneous and see where I end up. What is the lodging situation out there, is there a lot to choose from or are they few and far between?

September is the busiest month for travel in the southwest.

Map out a plan of places you want to see/do. Fly into the northern most city and home from the southern most city so you don't have to backtrack. Maybe into Denver and home from Phoenix or Las Vegas...

The International Balloon Fiesta is in Albuquerque and is a must see. Allow at least 2 days in ABQ as the balloon ascension is weather dependent. Also, while it is more crowded, the weekends are really better than weekday as more balloons go up. IF you decide to do this, you need hotel reservation right away.

In many places, if they are large enough cities, towns you may be ok for hotel room. Last minute will be $$$ and may not be the type of place you like to stay. Some places have limited facilities.

What interests you here in the southwest? Lots to do and see here.

Other things being equal, I would recommend flying -- but maybe to Phoenix or Albuquerque or even Las Vegas, rather than Denver. Denver is probably a better base for exploring the Rockies; if the desert southwest is the focus of your trip, one of these others might make a better base. It would take several days each way, I should think, to drive down from the UP, and you might be starting to get tired of driving by the time you arrive!

In places like Sedona, Albuquerque, or Phoenix, I'm sure you can always find accommodations. But in a lot of the smaller towns, there are only a few hotels and they may have as few as 40 rooms. So for the smaller towns, you should probably at least call ahead early in the day.

The other thing to keep in mind is that some of the Park Service accommodations are well worth staying in, but advance reservations for those are usually a must. We had one of our best NP experiences ever at Mesa Verde, where we stayed at the Far View Lodge, for example.

Below, I'll post some links to some albums I've put up on Flickr of some places around the southwest, in case you might be interested:

Sedona:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/276859...57632778236402

Mesa Verde:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/276859...57644817864120

The Grand Canyon:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/276859...57632560721363

Monument Valley:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/276859...57632741702094

<<The International Balloon Fiesta is in Albuquerque and is a must see. Allow at least 2 days in ABQ as the balloon ascension is weather dependent.>>

Two notes: (1) if "September" means early to mid-September, the Balloon Fiesta is irrelevant. It starts on October 1. (2) "weather dependent" is an understatement. You may think that sunny skies means balloon flies. Not so. Wind at 8 mph or more means the balloons won't launch no matter how nice the weather is otherwise.

That said, the ascensions are cool when they occur.

And Denver is not in the Southwest. Just because it's south of Michigan . . . that's like saying New Jersey is in the south if you're from Vermont ;-). Arizona, New Mexico and Texas are in the southwest, as are (if defining the concept loosely) the southern parts of Nevada, Utah and Colorado. Denver's not there - it's 200+ miles to the NM border.

BigRuss, cut the geography lectures, OK? the OP may have all kinds of reasons to fly to Denver.

I mentioned the Balloon Fiesta because (1) it's awesome to see and (2) perhaps the OP might work it into their plans if possible since the OP never said the length or duration of the trip.

Realizing that Denver is not southwest; perhaps the OP had reason to start there - things/people to see.

As always, with out more info -- just a bunch of speculation and suggestions from us.

;) You know I love ya, Big Russ...

>>cut the geography lectures, OK? the OP may have all kinds of reasons to fly to Denver.<<


Dukey -- Sure -- the OP <i>might</i> have a reason, but IF not, Denver <i>isn't</i> in the SW, now is it?? Some folks 'out east' think Denver or SLC are the best places to fly into the 'SW', when Vegas, Phoenix, Albuquerque or somewhere else fits the itinerary better.

Dukey, come down from the high horse. Accuracy in details helps the OP and all other posters focus and with perspective. Your commentary does not.

Debit: I know. I'm just trying to narrow down the OP's dates. If he's going in late Sept., then the Balloon Fiesta would be a good add on. If he's going around Labor Day and not traveling for 5 weeks . . . not so much.

It will still be very hot in Phoenix and Las Vegas so if you land there, move out quickly.