My mom, sister and I are looking for something fairly close (no more than an 8 hour drive) to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving. Two year ago, we spent Thanksgiving at a cabin in Yosemite. It was beautiful! We're looking for something new.

Has anyone been to the Grand Canyon for Thanksgiving? Are there good restaurants where we can have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner?

We'll probably drive to our location on Wednesday and stay through Saturday. Any input would be appreciated!

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is closed at that time of year. The South Rim is open, and while the scenery would likely be beautiful, do you really want to go someplace that cold at that time of year? In-Park reservations are handled at Xanterra.com and El Tovar, the nicest lodging, appears to be full for Thanksgiving. Other lodging is open, though.

There are no places in the Park with cooking facilities, so you would be at mercy of whatever was open for 3 meals/day. El Tovar restaurant is really it for "nice restaurants" in Park - of course you could stay and/or eat outside Park, but that is about a 20 minute drive.

I think that is an absolutely marvelous idea, why didn't I think of it??? The Grand Canyon won't be that cold during the day and El Tovar has such a nice dining room and you must make reservations there. We've had good luck with the food there too. I would stay right next door at Kachina Lodge.