What route
 

Ok you guys knew this would be next from me, right?
Here's the scoop: coming to Grand Canyon June 2016. My husband can't hike a lot. We would like some short, less than 1 hour, hikes on smooth-ish surfaces. As in no scampering over boulders or walking on rocky paths. He's fit, but has ankle, back and knee probs. Being completely unfamiliar with this area, I don't know how much time to plan to stay in various places since hiking is not our focus. Neither of us have been our west, so we're really looking forward to seeing the terrain and vistas.
The first part of our trip we'll raft the western Grand Canyon. We camp out for 3 nights. Yay!
For sure, since we are coming there to see and experience the canyon, we really want to see the south rim also, so have booked room for that for one night.
The other possibilities are the usual suspects: Zion, Bryce, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly.
Of those places, are any inappropriate if we don't hike a huge amount? Is there some place else that would be better for us than these? Can we easily, without hiking, see some pretty views at these places? The online pictures are beautiful, but I'm not sure if hikes are always involved to get to places like you see in those pics.
I really did not want to spend the driving portion of our trip driving quite so much! I realize that we could drive every day and see all those places, but I don't want to turn this into a forced march kind if thing. We can always come back, for Pete's sake!
We are flying into McCarran, but I've checked, and it would not be that much more $$ to fly out of Phoenix to home.
We are flexible with how long we stay since I haven't booked flight yet.
Would like to do this in 5 days, Monday at S.Rim.then finish up by Friday or Saturday. I have booked room at s.rim for a Monday, but am willing to see if I can move that if it would help planning.
Thanks in advance.

No, you cannot "always come back" unfortunately so go for it while you can and in whatever way. Trust me, I know this.

GC, Bryce, and Zion are all very accessible for someone with limited mobility. No need to hike at any of these to enjoy the sights.

At GC and Bryce you may be limted to walking the paved paths along the rim, and that's ok. At Zion you should have no problem walking some of the easier hikes - Weeping rock, riverwalk to the start of the narrows, and generally anywhere along the bottom of the valley parallel to the main road.

Regarding your rafting trip, be aware that that usuall involve some hiking. You will be on the motorized raft for only about 1/2 of each day, with the rest of the time on land, exploring side canyons or other dry sights along the river. You are not required to trek, but you will be required to set up and break down camp each day and that may require some scampering around.

Be sure your rafting co knows you have limited mobility. When I did a 2 week non-motorized rafting trip through the GC we had on our trip one 80yr old gentleman who had ankle and knee issues and he was able to enjoy the trip just fine. The crew, and others on the trip helped him when needed, and he was able to take shorter hikes with a guide whenever the main group did a more strenous hike.

Are your "first days" for the rafting before the Monday you have reserved at GC?
If so, then I would head to GC.

In GC, the rim trail is mostly a paved walk along the rim. If you go west from elTovar, there are a couple of places where you do go up or down a little, but no scramble and the shuttle parallels it, so you could always wait for the shuttle and get off at the next stop. The stops tend to be at places along the rim where there is a bend out into the canyon for photo ops. Go out to Hermit's rest on the shuttle if you decide not to walk the trail. Bright angel trail is wide and not too steep so you could go down a little way as long as you remember you will have to go back up. No scrambles there either.

If you continue east on 64 out of GC, stop at the view points along the way. You can see the river from some of them and watch rafters going through the rapids.

Then head north on 89. You could stop in Page, visit Antelope Canyon. The Native Americans take you in on their trucks, and once there the walk is easy and flat into the slot. You could do an easy walk to the "best dam view" and/or check out the dam. I would not walk out to the horseshoe bend overlook because that is over soft sand and not good for folks with knee problems. There are plenty of places to stay in Page.

Then head west and up to Bryce. There are pull offs where you can take pictures all along the road in/out of the park for the views there and a trail along the rim if you don't want to do the up and down.

Zion is less than 2 hours from Bryce. In Zion the Riverwalk is easy and not much change in elevation. It is only 3 hours from Zion back to Vegas.

This does involve a loop and could be done with the rafting at the end of the trip if that works better. Even though the airfare is less flying into one city and out of the other, there often is a large drop off fee for the rental car. Vegas has been better for rental car costs than Phoenix for us.

J62 and emalloy....Thanks! Yes we have explained the mobility issue to the rafting company, and we ended up with a trip that they suggested. My husband is actually agile and fit, he just doesn't want to risk ruining his new knee falling off a boulder or twisting it on a rocky hike! We are doing the short rafting trip for this reason, and my husband said that he probably won't do the the side hikes when we get into camp if they look hinky. We both camp, and put up our own tent so that kind of scampering around is a-okay. It's nice of you to ask these questions, sometimes people have suggestions or questions that I hadn't even thought about. The notes about what hikes to take for people with limited mobility are just priceless. I can't thank you enough for being thoughtful enough to include the notes about the sand and which are paved paths in this reply from both of you.
The raft trip will be at the beginning of our trip.
I like the loop plan. Do you have suggestions as to how long at each place? I'm at GC for one night (Monday). We actually return from the raft trip on the prior Sunday, but since it was at around 3 p.m. that we would get into the airport, I just thought we would spend that first night somewhere around Las Vegas since we would probably be tired from getting up early and rafting down the river and then taking a motor boat and then a bus back to Las Vegas. Do you two agree?
From this I gather that Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly are the things that we would cut from the itinerary to not just be rushing around from place to place.
I don't want to sound like I have heaping gobs of money to burn and throw around, but do you know how much is the penalty for returning the car to Phoenix instead of Las Vegas? We're at the point where time is more important than money. Ok....within reason!

You can check on rental car prices from Las Vegas to Phoenix, some times there is a drop off fee, some times not. However, if you are dropping Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly you would be returning to Las Vegas after Zion anyway so it's irrelevant.

If you want to include Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly, you're looking at only a day apiece for each park, including driving time between them. That's probably doable but super rushed.

You could always do the route in reverse and head to Zion after you return from rafting. It is a shorter drive and you would be there before sunset.

As for the parks, I think you could handle the Canyon Overlook trail at Zion. I don't remember it being real difficult and it doesn't involve a lot of elevation change. At Bryce you could likely do the trail at the far end of the park (Rainbow point?) as well as walking along the rim. Between Bryce and Grand Canyon you could stop at Page and do Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon.

And if you do the reverse route, you may want to drive down into Sedona via Oak Creek Canyon, it's a beautiful drive. Somewhat out of the way but there's plenty in the area to keep you busy for a day.

WhereAreWe...I was thinking that was rushed too. I'm going to have to prioritize nearby places and see what's reasonable. I like your suggestion to stop at Page. Would break up a long drive.
Now I'm going to sit down with all of your super suggestions and iron it out.
Thanks again!

If you do decide to keep in Canyon de Chelley and/or Monument Valley, you will be with a Navajo guide (or in MV only on the one car loop that you are allowed) and there is no difficult hiking in either. Although with just 5 days for the trip I would do a loop which can be done in either direction so day 1 could be day 5 etc. and if you do it with GC last flying out of Phoenix will save an hour or two of driving depending on where you stay day 1.

Day 1 drive to GC, spend the night in GC
Day 2 half a day in GC, drive to Page 64 to 89 spend the night in Page
Day 3 see best Dam view, the dam and Antelope Canyon, drive to Bryce 89 to 12, (12 is beautiful so if you have time before you do Bryce, continue past the entrance an hour or so then head back for the night near/in Bryce)
Day 4 most of the day in Bryce then head for Zion before sunset
Day 5 in Zion then head back to Vegas when you can tear yourself away

Since you are being shuttled back to Vegas from the rafting trip and expect to be tired, look for lodging in/near Vegas. If you decide to go to Grand Canyon first, then find a place south/east of the city and If you decide to go to Zion first then look for a place on the north side of town to minimize traffic on your way out of town.

If you are old enough (I think it's 62) get a senior pass for the National Parks a bargain at $10 and good for a lifetime. CdC and MV are Navajo parks so you will have to pay to go into them.

Always fill your gas tank when it gets to the half way point and there is a station. Always have water and food with you. Have paper maps of the area. One we like is the AAA map titled Indian Country Guide map which is published by the Automobile Club of Southern California and we got for free from our local AAA (they didn't have it in stock, but had it sent to our house).

Have a great trip.

Hey thanks again emalloy! And everyone.
I'm printing this all off now. Great great tips re food, GAS!!! and water. Really looking forward to seeing the south west in person.

When you are getting ready for the rafting part next spring, post back here and we can give you some tips.

Thanks, I sure will take you up on that. For one thing, is there a way to store things you don't need to take on the raft portion somewhere in Las Vegas? Stuff like nicer clothes for the 2nd part of the excellent adventure?

The rafting co will store your luggage for you. You will only be taking one dry bag (provide by the rafting co) on the raft with you.

Ok, I feel a little silly now. I guess that was obvious and now that I see the answer, a big DUH on my part. HA!

You will also want a place to either wash, or bag & seal your rafting clothes after you are done. Everything will be colored red and sandy. Expect fine, red sand to

A few quick tips that come to mind. Camera. Do not bring (rafting) any camera with moving parts - even a point & shoot with zoom. It will get ruined. Look into a waterproof point & shoot camera - good Christmas present.

If you need other holiday present ideas, let me know...

Where is the launch for a "western Grand Canyon" raft trip?
At Diamond Creek, mile 225?
Highly reccommed this river book - It is only $1.00 used:

http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-River...n+grand+canyon

RE: Canyon de Chelly - You can drive to overlooks at the south and north rims. LOCK you car - store EVERYTHING in your locked trunk !!

If you want to go into the Canyon - which you must - a Navajo Guide is required. You can hop on their vehicle, or if you have 4-wheel drive, a guide will accompany you. Not many places to stay, make reservation now. Also visit the oldest Indian Trading post on the reservation - Hubbell - http://www.nps.gov/hutr/index.htm

Vaga

Rv.vaga..The short western raft trip is from Whitmore Wash to Lake Mead. You helicopter in from Bar 10 Ranch. Thanks for the book tip. Looks like Christmas!

J62 excellent tip about bagging up post raft trip clothes. Oh hey...Fwiw...The raft company is not going to hold our extra luggage for us! Can you believe that? When I got in touch with them, and in their literature that we got just today, they suggest storing it at the hotel where you stay the night before. I think this is really ridiculous. Also I cannot believe that a hotel is going to want to store my luggage for the 4 nights that we are spending away on the raft trip. And additionally, if I wanted to fly out of McCarran, which is where the raft co. delivers us after the raft trip, I would have to go back to that hotel, retrieve my luggage, and then go back to the Airport. Isn't that just crazy stupid? I found a place in Las Vegas that is 5 minutes from the airport that stores luggage, I may use that place.
I have a waterproof shock proof camera, point n shoot, so I'll only take that.
Many many thanks again to everyone.