My family does not want to fly. I want to take a trip to the Grand Canyon, but we live in SC! We are a small family - just me and DH and adult son and his wife in their early 20'sso we could share the driving. Has anyone done a drive like this and would it be scenic and fun or just a lot of land in between? We would only have 9 days and I am very iffy about it.

It is going to be a long drive. Where in SC do you live? It makes a big difference whether you live in Charleston or Greenville.

LOL! I've done Virginia to California stopping off at the Grand Canyon and SC (Myrtle Beach) to California stopping off at the Grand Canyon.

Interstate 40 is your route.

9 days, round trip? If round trip total time, that's not much for that long of a trip. Have you done a MapQuest or other on line map check, and decided how many hours/ miles you are willing to do per day?

With only 9 days you will not have time for an 'interesting' trip. You may be able to get there and see the GC, little else. The time allotted will not allow for much on the drive out and back... A long road trip can be fun but you need time to make it happen. Try to plan more time or plan a shorter trip.

I did go to mapquest and it is a LONG drive! We can't really get more than the 9 days due to son and daughter-in-laws work schedule. They can only get the week (M-F) and the weekends before and after. If we don't fly, I don't think we can do it and have any fun doing it.

Hi Antonia,

Take it from a guy who has ridden between south Alabama and San Francisco more times than I can remember. If you complete the drive from South Carolina to the GC in 3 days you will be driving long hours and seeing nothing but moving landscapes.

From Columbia you are looking at 2100 miles one way. That means doing 700 miles a day for 3 days. That is 10 hours of driving with no stops and no holdups. By the time you stop for gas and food, you are looking at perhaps 12 hours a day for 3 consecutive days, both going and coming.

That schedule will leave you 3 days to see the canyon and its surroundings.

Can it be done? Yes
Should it be done? Probably not.

You are trading 6 days of hard road pounding for 3 days of enjoyment.

By the time you pay for gas, motels, food on the road, etc., flying might not be that much more expensive and it sure would enhance your enjoyment of the trip.

Make that 14 hours driving a day.