Wupatki Monument vs Walnut Canyon vs Sunset Crater
 

Trying to work out an itinerary and would like a little feedback please. How much time to allow at each - if we're short on time, is there one we should forgo for the sake of the others?

We'll be driving and over-nighting in the Grand Canyon from Sedona and I'm trying to figure out how much time to allow for the drive visiting one/two of above and also stopping for photo ops in Oak Creek Canyon.

Which would you allow the most time to visit?

How does Montezuma compare with the above?

Thank you.

All three are nice and have short hikes. By short hikes, I think I ended up hiking about 3-4 miles total that day. I visited each of them during one (long) day which also included driving from Monument Valley and then driving to Winslow.

I liked all three. Sunset Crater has the crater and a dramatic landscape formed by the volcanic eruption. Walnut Canyon has a pretty hike that includes cliffs where Native Americans once lived. And Wupatki has open vistas and ruins of Native American pueblos.

I haven't been to Montezuma so can't answer that question. The amount of time you'd allot to visit each would depend on how much hiking you'd want to do and which place sounds most interesting to you.

Also, when are you going? I went last September and had lovely weather but I bet it gets hot in summer and cold in winter.

And here's some photos to give you, I hope, a better idea of the three places:
http://suewallace.zenfolio.com/p503288334

Also, Wupatki and Sunset Crater and right next to each other so if you drop one due to time constraints, it would make sense to drop Walnut Canyon.

Montezuma's Castle is worth a stop and it would be a quick one. Figure you only need an hour at the most.


Utahtea

Easy to do both Wupatki and Sunset Crater together since they are adjacent and part of the same loop-detour off highway 89. Not much to do at Sunset since you can't hike up to the rim of the crater, just a couple of short hikes. The one across the lava flow was interesting. More numerous hikes (mostly short) and some short side roads in Wupatki; you'll probably spend more time there.

Walnut is OK, cliff dwellings instead of pueblos in the open like at Wupatki. Kind of scenic in the trees. So not a bad idea to do both just to see the differences between the cliff dwelling culture and the open terrain structures. Won't take long to tour Walnut but it's a few miles out of the way whereas Wupatki/Sunset are on the way to GC east entrance.

Montezuma is somewhat similar to Walnut in that it's a cliff dwelling. I think these were Sinagua Indians (Anasazi at Walnut IIRC, unknown precursors probably of the Hopi at Wupatki, so three different cultures). The Well at Montezuma is interesting but again this is a fairly short stop. Unless you have sufficient time I would pick one of Walnut vs Montezuma, and then for sure do the Wupatki/Sunset loop. If you have the extra 30-60 minutes then doing all 4 is probably worthwhile.

I like Wupatki the best (My comment on it has been published in 2-3 editions of the AZ guidebook - thank you Fodors). I like the main ruins - be sure to go all the way down to the blow hole and ball pit. Also stop at one of the other ruins (there are several different sets of ruins to visit)

At Sunset, walk the main trail near the crater. If you want a good (short but STEEP) trail, hike the Lennox trail)

Walnut Canyon is nice because you are actually at the ruins, but it is a short and steep) trail to the Ruins.

Montezuma's Castle is the most impressive, but you just look at it - you can't go inside. I like Montezuma's Well - again just to look at (small buildings built into the side of the sink hole), but impressive to see the Well and how the people used every available space to build defensively.