As a last minute thing Ive decided to go to the Grand Canyon. I will be driving from Phoenix and heading back there the following day. What would you do there? Also a place to stay? Thanks

North or South Rim?

There are plenty of hotels to stay in, pick one. You give no criteria from which anyone could make a suggestion.

The average visitor (this is true) to the Grand Canyon South Rim spends something like 12 minutes actually standing at the rim looking into the Canyon and take the obligatory snapshots. What do you plan do do with the rest of your day?

On a more serious note, I would suggest the North Rim over the South Rim. The drive has a lot more to see and the North Rim only gets 10% of the visitors the South Rim does. Of course this assumes you are planning to go when the NR is open. It closes for the winter and won't open till May 15.

I wasn't sure what to do once we got there. We were probably going to take the obligatory pictures LOL! How much further is the north rim?

WHEN? Whether you can even get to the North rim depends when the trip is. It is closed off until at least May 15 each year.

And if you are traveling in the next few months -- more than likely accommodations at the South Rim are booked up. So check on that first . . .

OH - I see you said 'last minute'. Which would indicate now . . . The North Rim is no go at this time of year.

If you aren't eager to linger at the Grand Canyon, and it seems you won't, I suggest staying the night in Flagstaff. It's a great town, good places to eat and not far from the GC, on your way back to PHX. You might like to drive through oak Creek Canyon from there next day and have lunch in Sedona.

1 day visit I recommend hiking the S. Kaibab trail as far as you comfortably can, either;

1.5mi each way, 1200' elevation change gets you to Cedar Ridge, an ok turn around.

3.0mi each way and 2000' elevation loss/gain gets you to Skeleton Point, and ideal turn around point. For someone of average fitness expect to take 5-6 hrs round trip. Low fitness the hike back up could be much longer.

> You might like to drive through oak Creek Canyon from there next day and have lunch in Sedona.

My wife and I are driving from Grand Canyon to Tucson first week of May. We thought of passing through Sedona, at least for a meal, maybe to spend a night. We've never been there.

We aren't vegetarians, but tend that way and enjoy local and organic food as much as possible. Even better if they have local beers! We are not into fine dining.

A search brought up this place.
http://chocolatree.com/menu

Gets generally good but mixed online reviews. Some people complain about the prices, but they seem reasonable to me.

Any comments or other recommendations? Thanks.

There are usually last minute cancellations for lodging inside the park - I would call and check on that every day until you get a room. Get a room in Flagstaff as a backup plan. Tusayan is right outside the park but it's about 12 miles from the rim so it's kind of in no-man's land. Too far from the rim to be convenient and there's not much to do there, so if you can't get a room in the park Flagstaff is better because at least there's something to do there.

Either MmePerdu's plan or J62's plan is good, depends on how much hiking you want to do.

We like to exit the park at the east exit and stop at the Cameron Trading Post and have some fry bread, then visit Wupatki/Sunset Crater on the way back to Flagstaff.

When driving Oak Creek, it is best to go down the canyon for better views.

Actually WhereAreWe, the IMAX theatre in Tusayan has a Grand Canyon movie that is as close to being IN the Canyon on a raft as you can get without actually doing it.

I would agree though that it is the only thing of note in Tusayan.