Phoenix to Sedona, GC, etc in September

[lolmoms]

I will be flying into Phoenix on 9/15 and flying out 9/23. I would like suggestions for the best use of my time. We arrive at 3:00 pm in Phoenix on the 15th and will check-in at the Canyon for one night (only thing available) and from there it's our choice. We are flying in from Florida and have never been out west. Thank you!

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

That, of course, depends on what you consider the best use of your time. You could spend your week driving around northern Arizona and southern Nevada and Utah seeing Hoover Dam,, Las Vegas and some great National Parks such as Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Arches as well as some other great natural settings like the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Monument Valley. Or you could take a less peripatetic approach and spend your time exploring northern Arizona seeing some of the old mining and cowboy towns like Jerome and Cottonwood, exploring the old Sinagua ruins including Walnut Canyon and Tuzigoot, taking in the Museum of Northern Arizona (anthropology), checking out some astronomy at the Lowell Observatory and Meteor Crater, and hiking through the Red Rock country around Sedona. There is certainly no shortage of 'western' things to see and do in either case.

AZBuck

[RedCorral]

Hi,

Are you sure you can't find some place in Tusayan, just outside the Park, for a second night? If you spend a full day, which is easy to do, exploring the south rim, hiking into the canyon even a short distance (should do if you are able), and sunset on the canyon, you'll need a place nearby to rest. If there isn't some place in Tusayan you may have to go as far as Williams. Then work your way back south through Sedona (via Oak Creek Canyon) and on to Prescott (pronounced press-cut), via the western towns of Cottonwood and Jerome. This area is high and cool, compared to Phoenix and Tucson. Willow Lake, just north of Prescott, is quite an interesting lake with amazing rocks rising out of the water.

Of course, you could do the whole canyon by driving around to the north rim (quite different since it is much higher). From there you could loop up to Zion and Bryce, and on around to Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, and back to Phoenix.

If you need an alternate loop, the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, in the eastern part of the state is unique. From there it is an interesting drive south through the Salt River Canyon to Globe and back to Phoenix (the Heard Museum of Indian art is excellent)!

There could be good fall color at the higher elevations in this area by then.

Anyway, more than enough for a week in Arizona!

Craig Sheumaker
co-author of the travel guide: America's Living History-The Early Years