Scottsdale to Gr. Canyon to Vegas
 

I will be attending a conference in Scottsdale from 4/22 - 4/26. My husband will join me on the 26th. He is renting a car which we will drop off at the airport in Vegas on May 3rd. We definitely want to spend time visiting the South Rim area of the Grand Canyon. We've never been to AZ before; so I'm looking for ideas for where we should go. We like nature, historic sites, architecture, native american culture. We're mid-50's and not fit enough for adventure stuff (although I wish I were!); and we don't care about night life but do enjoy a fine restaurant. For this trip we're looking for places to stay that are decent and moderately priced. Any ideas anyone?

Definitely take the drive north via Sedona (red rocks area), stopping at Montezuma's Castle -- short walk to see ancient cliff dwellings/not strenuous -- and Casa Grande
-- prehistoric Indian ruins. North of SEdona, drive up through the Oak Creek Canyon Drive for beautiful scenery,unless the fires last year caused too much damage. Lots to see walking the So Rim of Canyon without hiking down. Spectacular scenery!

If you don't spend the night in Sedona (or even if you do) then you could stay over in Flagstaff. I got a good rate at a very nice Residence Inn there that was right off of I-40 and close to US-89.

North of Flagstaff is Sunset Crater Volcano N.P. and Wupatki N.P. I very much enjoyed driving through those two parks, especially Wupatki. I was there in September of 2005 and the desert vegetation and the desert itself were colorful and beautiful. There had been recent rain.

Continuing north on 89 from Flagstaff (and Wupatki) to Cameron and then west to GCNP is a good way to go. You won't backtrack going that way, and there are several stops along the road for magnificent views of the canyon. Then when you make to G.C. Village you can park your car and take the park shuttle.

When I drove on to Vegas, I stopped at Hoover Dam and, at 4:18 (IIRC), just missed the last dam tour of the day.

Oh, and if you have a heavy foot then Meteor Crater is only an hour east of Flagstaff.

Thank you both for the information! We are so looking forward to this trip. I've read that the Sedona area is a must-see. So we'll definitely head that way. We both enjoy walking and I love nature photography.