Phoenix area - Any day trip ideas?
 

I'm meeting girlfriends in Phoenix and we are looking for a fun day trip. I thought about Tombstone but it is about 3 hours away - doable, but is it worth the trip?

We are mid-50's, not really into a spa-day this trip. We usually go wine-tasting, second-hand-store shopping, antiquing, and the like. We don't mind corny venues. :)

Thanks in advance for your help.

you just really look into going to sedona! amazing place!

Prescott -> Jerome -> Sedona loop might work well for you. Lot of variety, from a small hillside mining town like Jerome to the glitz of Sedona.

Here's a link to some other suggestions:
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/DayTr...ix-Arizona.htm

When I visit Phoenix, I always enjoy driving out to Cave Creek. If time permits, lunch and walking around at the Boulders Resorts is always fun. There are a few fun shops in Cave Creek as well.

You can drive to Tucson in around 2 hours but that would be a bit long for a day trip.

Also drove out to the Superstition mountains area one day and that was fun

Thank you all for the ideas. Bill_H, that website has some good suggestions with map details. Wouldn't the Prescott-Jerome-Sedona loop you mention take longer than a day trip?

I also like the idea of the Superstition mountains. I'll check into that some more.

OK, I just looked at mapquest and see that Sedona is just over 2 hours away. For some reason I thought it was much further. (Just used to California, I guess.) I will definitely look into that.

Thanks again.

I would consider Sedona and Jerome, but would skip Prescott. It's a nice enough town for the people who live there, but not interesting enough for a tourist to go hours out of their way to get to. In fact, I don't think it's interesting for tourists at all. Jerome is fun for a few hours -- perched on the top/side of a hill, old buildings, now shops for the most part (and homes). Sedona -- I don't like the town, but the red rocks are spectacular, so I'd go just to see them, maybe take a short hike (there are hundreds - google "hiking trails Sedona").

<b>I also like the idea of the Superstition mountains</b>

When is your visit? Doing a loop past the Superstitions (Apache Trail, maybe all the way around to Globe and then Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior if you have time) is great in the late winter and early spring (say mid-Feb - April), especially if there were good winter rains and the wildflowers are in bloom.

Other times of the year it's OK but not 'prime' like during wildflower season, when it's one of the most scenic drives in the state.

I'm going the end of this month - too early for wildflowers. But I can let my friend, who just moved there, know so she can make that trip in a couple of months. Thanks for the information.

I think we will drive up to Sedona for the day and hang around Phoenix - maybe go to Guadalupe - the other day I am there.

I really enjoyed a visit to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix when I visited Arizona. There is a special sculpture exhibit currently (separate admission) and they have concerts on Sundays. I also saw brass bells being poured at Cosanti in Scottsdale. The whole Arcosanti thing is pretty interesting.
http://www.arcosanti.org/expCosanti/main.html

We did a day trip to Sedona and had a great time. We drove all the way to Flagstaff, then down through the canyon to Sedona.

dsgmi, did the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix have Roadrunners, and Javelina, and some other wildlife to observe?

Sorry... I don't mean to hijack the subject matter. I'm headed towards Phoenix next fall so this whole thread interests me.

No problem. I'm going there next week and, judging by the amount of rain we have been having here in SoCal, there could be snow in the mountains, maybe even in Sedona. I may need some back-up plans . . .

The latest edition of Arizona Highways magazine features many pages of day trips from Phoenix.

If you like Antique shops you might consider downtown Glendale. There is also a nice Germanesque restaurant there called Haus Murphy that a lot of people rave about.

jgwagner, that's a great idea. Thanks!

If you go to Sedona, be sure to stop for pie at the Rock Springs Cafe (exit 242 off I-17). They are incredible! You can even pre-order a whole pie. http://www.rockspringscafe.com/pies.html

Have you considered going to Scottsdale? If you like architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West is quite interesting to tour. You could also visit the Wright-designed First Christian Church in Phoenix and the Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium at Arizona State in Tempe (call ahead for visiting/tour info). And though not the primary architect, Wright was also a consultant on the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.

Back to Scottsdale, there are lots of shops and galleries to browse through as well, although they can be pretty ritzy.

Keep your expectations in check with the Rock Springs pies. They've undergone changes recently, apparently, and when I went there after hearing sky-high raves from co-workers for years, I was sorely disappointed. They weren't terrible or anything, but just, as I said, keep expectations in check.

If you're willing to do an overnight, you could head south and:

Go shopping on Tucson's Fourth Avenue for funky, secondhand shops. Then stop at San Xavier del Bac, immediately south of Tucson (an amazingly ornate, striking mission), then drive down to the Sonoita area for tastings at a number of wineries. (The musical "Oklahoma" was filmed near Sonoita, for some random trivia.)

Either stay in Sonoita or in tiny Patagonia, about a 20-minute drive and higher up in the mountains (I once stayed at the Duquesne House B&B in Patagonia -- DELICIOUS breakfast, and the rooms have their own outside entrances so you don't have that B&B awkwardness). Eat dinner at the Velvet Elvis in Patagonia -- fantastic wood-fired pizza.

The next day, you could drive over to Tombstone (which is corny, yes, but still kinda fun, for an hour or so). Visit the OK Corral, the Bird Cage Theater and the Tombstone Courthouse State Historical Park (due to close March 29 because of budget cuts). You could head down to Bisbee (a funky mining town turned art haven, with lots of bookstores), or stop at Kartchner Caverns for a cave tour on your way back to Phoenix.

That's a lot for a weekend, but see if any of that interests you. I hope you have a great trip!