Julie1958

We are finalizing a March trip to Grand Canyon and Sedona (Husband, me and 3 almost adult kids). We decided to fly in/out of Phoenix. We have 2 days at GC and 2-3 days in Sedona. Thought it would be fun to add a day in one of the small towns near Sedona (not too far out of the way for drive back to Phoenix).

I've heard Jerome is a cool town. Any others? Is it worth it to stay in a small town rather than drive back to Sedona?
What about Camp Verde?

Would also like to experience American Indian culture (not touristy).

Thanks!

emalloy

If you go from GC to Sedona, take 64 east to 89 south, stop at Wupatki (Native American ruins) and Sunset Crater. When you get to I-40 go east about 10 miles and go to Walnut Canyon, a small site of cliff dwellings you can climb up in to.

susieQ122

We spent a week in Sedona, making day trips, and we loved it. We went up to Jerome for a few hours and enjoyed walking around, had lunch, looked in shops, etc. It started snowing up in Jerome and someone told us they had just arrived from Phoenix where it was in the 90's (we were there the last week in April a few years ago). Our flight out of Phoenix was late in the afternoon, 4PM maybe, so we checked out of our timeshare and drove to Phoenix and spent a few very pleasant hours at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens before heading to the airport. I think you would enjoy Jerome. We did.

bigtyke

Verde Canyon Railroad

Julie1958

Thanks! emalloy...I looked at the National Monument website for all three places you mentioned. It look intriguing. Curious about Sunset Crater...someone commented that teens love the lava flow paths. That didn't sound too exciting to me. Am I missing something?!!
Are all 3 spots close together? Was hard to tell from the website.

emalloy

Julie, all three are pretty close together, probably less than 50 miles total.

Go to this web page:

http://www.nps.gov/wupa/planyourvisi...cinity_map.gif

Tomsd

Jerome is ok - pretty area around it - but I wouldn't make it a special trip.

Tomsd

Not sure if the above included this if you are visiting places around Flagstaff, but the Meteor Crater - 35 miles east - is amazing. It's HUGE - and they have a nice Visitor's Center/IMAX theater/small museum.

http://www.meteorcrater.com/

Julie1958

If we visit the monuments perhaps we should stay in Flagstaff area our last night....any suggestions?

WhereAreWe

I think the idea was to visit the monuments on your drive from the Grand Canyon to Sedona. Combined, they would take half a day or so, depending on how much walking around you do.

garyt22

We did a similar trip and made several of the above stops... Lowell Observatory, Meteor Crater, sunset crater, Jerome, Montezuma Castle, Holy Cross Chapel... all are quick stops and worth seeing... just map it out...