Hi Dopers. As we flee the Bay Area, our worldly goods moved by U-Pack (see moving thread), our wish is to drive across the country and take our time. Our first stop is the Grand Canyon/Painted Desert/Petrified Forest. Would you be so kind as to make recommendations as to how long to plan to stay at the Canyon in specific, as well as other recommendations: what to see, where to stay with two dogs in tow? We heard Sedona is worth a visit, as well.
We will drive from Oakland to the Grand Canyon, land out there first, then head east to Sedona and Holbrook, as it seems Holbrook is the place to stay when visiting the Painted Desert. Side note: I was born in Holbrook, as my mother lost weight while carrying me, as she was living on Parliaments and Pepsi, and the doctor told her she was 6 months pregnant, and she believed him, and my geologist father had always wanted to see the Petrified Forest, and so they went, and I came along in a tiny roadside hospital in Holbrook. Shock of their lives, and they never vacationed again until the kids left the house. Now all they do is vacation, but that is neither here nor there. Thanking you!
Dunno about dog accommodations, but The Druidess and I stayed in Williams, AZ and took Grand Canyon Railway up to the Grand Canyon. Think there is also a lodge at the canyon itself if you want to stay there. Also in the area is Bearzona, a drive-thru wildlife park, and Grand Canyon Imax Movie, which is worth seeing if you have time.
Sedona is a nice little hippie town. We enjoyed the ruins tour with Pink Jeep Tours, but there are all sorts of things to do around town…including some alleged “energy vortex” experiences if you’re curious about that sort of thing. The tourist area downtown features a place that claims to serve the world’s best hotdog. It’s big and comes in a bread pocket thingy. I liked it. The Desert Quail Inn is a neat little place to stay, but dunno if they allow dogs.
Do you plan on hiking the canyon?
Sedona is beautiful, but a bit touristy.
Holbrook, I’m sorry to say, is a pit.
I’d recommend a stop in Monument Valley, if you are heading East.
The canyon is splendid, but it is difficult to see in some ways. What I mean by that, is you kind of have to decide - North Rim, or South Rim. It is a long drive to see both. Then, if hou’re not planning on hiking in, you’ll miss a lot of it.
Monument Valley, and farther north, into the Canyonlands area, for my money is infinitely more accessible, and just as spectacular in many ways. The difference is you can drive in it, camp in it. Lots of good, high clearance two wheel drive roads are passable in good weather, they do a tremendous job maintaining these dirt roads. Bring the normal camping supplies and extra water and you’re all set.
I love Sedona, even though it’s touristy. We’ve taken jeep tours twice there, and saw beautiful parks and Native American historical sights. The company was Pink Jeep tours. I also love the Grand Canyon - absolutely stunning! If you aren’t willing to hike you can cover pretty much everything you want to see in a day, for each rim. South Rim is much more accessible from where you plan on going. We hike most of a mile into the Canyon from the South Rim, then turned around. We were not planning to hike all the way down, and were not going to take the full hike with unprepared. North Rim has less tourist stuff, but is also beautiful beyond words and very different from the South Rim. There’s a bus tour of the South Rim that takes you to most of the major sights.
One of the amazing things about the Grand Canyon is that it changes appearance with the shifting of the sun, with clouds, with rain, and with every step you take along the trail, including the easy walking paths along the edge of each rim. One day we got to the South Rim just before sunset. The setting sun hit one red rock stratum at just the right angle, and it glowed with the exact color of the sunset - an entire layer of the Canyon lit up in a gorgeous orange-red. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. I stood stock still and slack-jawed at it’s beauty.
Keep the weather in mind at the Grand Canyon. Not only is it away from trees, it’s at a relatively high altitude. It gets cold in the winter, and there’s nothing to stop the wind. It can also get cold at night, even in the summer.
If you drive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon you’ll pass through four distinct biomes, including the saguaro cactus forest that’s iconic of the southwest. It’s a fascinating sight once you know to look for it.
I can also recommend the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.
Here’s a link to a [thread=568968]thread[/thread] where we asked Dopers to help plan our southwestern vacation. We were going further north than you, but we had a great time. Kanab, UT was a great place to stay for several days in a row and take day trips to our destinations. It was nice having the same motel room, rather than packing and unpacking every day. We also got to see the town, and the Best Friends Animal Shelter just north of town.
The best way to see the Grand Canyon is the overnight mule ride down to the bottom. But you won’t be able to take your dogs. I also recommend the package in which you fly over the Canyon to the Glen Canyon Dam, get a tour of Antelope Canyon, then raft back down the Colorado River. It starts at 6:30 am, and you don’t get back until that night.
And I agree that Monument Valley is preferable to the Painted Desert or Petrified Forest. The latter is not so impressive, since so much of the pieces have been pilfered over the years. But if you do go there, I do NOT recommend the Wigwam Motel.
You’d be better off extending your trip into some of the National Parks in southern Utah.
One difference to me however is that Canyonlands and Arches seem isolated together, several hours away from anything else. Whereas the North Rim is also very close to Zion and Bryce as well as assorted National Forest and monuments.
First, if you have not been there before, start with Death Valley, it’ll be on your way to the Grand Canyon and it’s a nice drive down the 395. And then off to Zion, then the North Rim of the canyon.I’ll add that with dogs, you might be better off doing primative car camping on BLM or Forest Service land, there are places north of Kanab and south of Jacob Lake that you can find easily. Skip Sedona, it is nice but not so different from southern Utah that it’s worth the backtrack. From the north rim take 89A below the Vermillion Cliffs and Marble canyon. Resist the desire to go to Momument Valley, rather take 264 from Tuba City to Ganado (great drive) then up to Caynon de Chelly. Then drop down to Petrified Forest. May want to consider Chaco Canyon, or El Malpais national monument as you make your way east. If you really have the time, drop south to Chiricahua and southern Arizona and New Mexico.
I assume you have not seen the Grand Canyon yet in person. I would HIGHLY recommend blindfolding the person with you. Then you just walk them up to your pre-selected look out point, remove their blindfold and watch their reaction.
The look of awe on their face will be wonderful ! Trust me !
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I looked into rafting trips once; you could do the whole length of the Canyon in about 18 days, or shorter trips if you were willing to hike into or out of the Canyon. How much of the river can you raft in one day, and how do you get back out after the rafting?
As for the mules, I would think you’d probably have to book that pretty far in advance. I hiked across the Canyon several years ago; had to reserve a bed at the bottom a year in advance, and I was lucky to get it.
Hi all. We will have the dogs and won’t be able to hike in. As well, we won’t be camping, because we are going in early March and I don’t think we’ll have room in the car for camping stuff anyway. But thanks for reminding me that that is an option.
We are doing this on the cheap as we plan to be on the road for about a month, and we don’t have jobs yet where we are landing. We will probably only stay a day or two or three, depending on recommendations. So my questions are, what are the must sees? South Rim, North Rim? Are the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest worth seeing? What else in the area? Any ideas on cost-effective dog-friendly places to stay? Good diners and cafes? Sounds like Monument Valley, Death Valley are places to think about. Thanks for all the feedback. Please keep it coming.
The North rim is more picturesque and less crowded than the South, but it’s also harder to get to. As mentioned above, the North rim is reasonably close to a lot of nice places in Utah - Kodachrome basin, Zion, Bryce, Cedar Breaks, and Grand Staircase-Escalante (really amazing area). Antelope Canyon is also on the way to Monument Valley, and is one of the most-photographed slot canyons (requires reservations to enter). The Navajo and Hopi towns might be worth a visit, if you like that type of thing (I thought the drive from Tuba City to Second Mesa was spectacular).
A few years ago my family visited Zion in at the earliest early March (it could have been late March or early April) and the road to the North Rim was still closed due to snow. And I didn’t want to take the long way around to the South Rim. So look out for if and when the North Rim is open.
However, there was still a little snow in Bryce, and I find it very beautiful in that condition. If you had to pick a time to visit Bryce I’d say it would be when there is some but not a whole lot of snow. We almost camped at Bryce that March but we discovered that it usually got into the 30s at night due to the elevation so we picked Zion instead.
