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Waco
biplanes take sightseers over Oak Creek Canyon
& Sedona |
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Horseman
Lodge Restaurant |
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The
"back road" to Indian Gardens |
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Creekside
Steakhouse in Christopher, Arizona |
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I'd plan this 4½-day trip in the following
order. Start your drive in Phoenix, drive north to Camp Verde,
which is about 100 miles from Phoenix on I-17. (On the way,
you can also visit Arcosanti
at Cordes Junction). Spend the remaining daylight exploring
Fort
Verde State Park. For an excellent dining experience,
drive a few miles to Cornville for supper at the Manzanita
Inn. Stay in Camp Verde or head to Sedona for the night.
On the second day, explore Sedona
for a few hours. Try a Pink
Jeep Tour or ride
up-canyon in a biplane. Have lunch, and then drive north
on State Route 89A to Indian Gardens and Slide
Rock State Park. (Check for locally grown produce at the
store there.) If you go in July or August, be sure to keep
your eyes open along the creek for wild blackberries. Dangle
your feet in the cool waters for a while, fish for rainbow
trout, and then continue on to Flagstaff and the Horsemen
Lodge, just north of town on US Highway 89. Have supper
in this real ranch-oriented establishment. (The salad bar
is my favorite anywhere.) Afterward, drive back down State
Route 89A to Flagstaff, Sedona or Cottonwood. Spend the night,
and then take the train (at Clarkdale) for a ride through
Sycamore Canyon.
After the train excursion, visit mystical, mysterious
Jerome for a couple of hours in the afternoon and maybe have
a cowboy supper at the Blazin'
M Ranch. (Alternatively, you could visit Jerome the next
morning, along with Tuzigoot
National Monument). After Tuzigoot, drive east on the
Crook Trail (State Route 260) to Payson. Payson has Zane
Grey's cabin at the Rim Country Museum (It's a reconstruction
- the original near Kohl's Ranch burned in a wildfire a few
years ago.) Consider continuing out State Route 260 to Christopher
Creek and having supper at the Creekside Steakhouse (which
also has cabins if you want to stay overnight).
Next morning, have breakfast at the great little
260 Café on State Route 260 (on Payson's east side),
then make the ninety-minute drive back to Phoenix on State
Route 87. If you're catching a flight out of Phoenix, allow
at least 2½ hours for the drive from Payson to the
Phoenix airport, and more if you will be arriving during the
busiest times of the day. It'll take you another half hour
to drop off your rental car and get to the terminal on the
shuttle bus.
Total distance is about 340 miles; total driving
time is about 7 hours.
[Map]
Bob
Schaller
December 31, 2006
