This is literally exactly what I intended to post. I would only possibly include Canyon De Chelly.
Also the town of Moab is wonderful. Enjoy your trip!
Since you will be in Cortez for a few days, a trip to Mesa Verde is a no-brainer. It’s right there.
Similarly, since you are going to Natural Bridges, a stop at Hovenweep National Monument is right along the way.
I guess this is out for the OP, but for anyone else, I would really recommend this place. It’s the best museum I’ve ever been to, and I live in museum central. It’s as much a zoo and a park as a museum. Lots of cool animals, great trails and exhibits, and an awesome cave to explore.
One word of caution: some of the trails are real trails, albeit short ones. You’ll want good shoes, and you’ll want to exercise common sense: wear a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses and drink plenty of water. So probably not good for someone who has trouble walking.
The raptor flight alone makes it worthwhile. The birds swoop so close to your head you can feel it.
If you’re basing out of Cortez, stop by the Anasazai Heritage Center.
Four Corners Monument is a shithole.
I can’t believe you’re going to pass up a chance to see the rattlesnake museum. It’s only 4 hours (each direction) out of your way!
Well, I hope you’ll at least consider the route I suggested for the Petrified Forest to Phoenix leg of the trip- from Holbrook to Show Low and through the Salt River Canyon. It really is spectacular.
Sounds like a lot of fun, but you’re setting yourself up for a lot of really long driving days. For example, Phoenix to Grand Canyon is 5 hours, then from Grand Canyon to Cortez is another 5.
The Cortez to Monument Valley to Natural Bridges to Cortez is also 6 hours of driving, with 2 major tourist spots.
Might you rejigger some of your hotel plans? There may not be a LOT there, but maybe there are hotels near where US 160 and US 191 intersect; that’s on the way from Grand Canyon to Cortez and would mean shorter day trips to Monument Valley / Natural Bridges. Of course, checking the map, there’s nothing too close to that - looks like you’d have to head a bit north toward Monument Valley to find anything.
There’s a hotel in Mexican Hat.
I have a funny Four corners story.
When I graduated from college, I flew out to LA and bought a car, and a friend and I drove it across the country. One of our stops was the Four Corners. We drive up, and there is a Native American woman sitting along the roadside, and she had some signage around her indicating we needed to stop there before entering the park. We paid a few bucks to get into the park. She gave us one of those cheap pink raffle tickets as our proof of payment, which seemed kind of strange, but whatever. We get there, and there was a concrete slab in the ground showing where the 4 corners meet. Take the picture, of course, standing in 4 states all at once.
There were a bunch of what I recall as a bunch of small stands, where people were selling things… Souvenirs, trinkets… Looked like a flew market, and most of the stands were closed. Very cheesy.
In the way out, I was reading the info about the park in one of the AAA booklets. It is a free attraction. The native American woman was gone. I don’t know how many people she scammed out of money, but I found it to be funny that she sat there all day getting suckers like me to stop and pay. I also wondered what happened if someone knew she was scamming them, since it IS free. I’m guessing if she did it every day, someone that works for the US Park Service would politely get her to leave. I’m sure people complained when they found out they were duped, but it wasn’t worth the effort for me.
I feel like it was a reasonable trade off. The Native Americans live on the absolute worst land in the nation, so I can understand why they’d want to scam a few bucks from the tourists. Man, did our government shit on the people who originally lived on the continent.
As for your trip, I skimmed the answers and didn’t see anyone mention the Grand Canyon walkway. There is a see-though walkway that juts out of one of the canyon rims, and it is supposed to be spectacular (it wasn’t there when I was.). Also, the Grand Canyon is incredible, but if you don’t plan on taking a mule ride to the canyon bottom, or some other canyon activity, you might find yourself leaving there relatively quickly. I personally could have looked at it all day, but my friend was bored after 5 minutes.
Durango is a cool little town, and I have wanted to get back there someday. I also loved Albuquerque, and spent a week there just relaxing during a separate trip out west.
There is a lot to see and do, but like others have pointed out, there is a lot of driving, and a lot of what I call “road runner” scenery… It starts to look the same, like it’s on a roll and you just keep passing the same things over and over.
One other thing. I would prepare for an emergency, like the car breaking down if you are planning on staying off the main highways. The desert is no place to be when there is no one around.
Have fun… And if you have ever seen the movie U-Turn (it’s a strange movie with Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte and a bunch of other stars) that takes place in a town called Superior, AZ. If you’ve seen the movie and have the time, maybe take a drive there. I don’t know if the movie was shot there, but hey, it is supposed to be a small town literally in the middle of nowhere. Can’t get enough of those!
A similar thing happened to us in Oatman, AZ. We pulled into town on old 66 and saw a sign “Parking $2.” Paid a guy sitting nearby and got a $2 coupon for a nearby t-shirt shop. It didn’t dawn on us until we pulled out of town what happened. We just laughed it off. The t-shirt was pretty cool.
Too bad Oatman would be out of the way. It’s an interesting place. The kids would like the burros.
Carlsbad Caverns seems like it might be out of your path…but it’s mighty nice!
You mentioned Phoenix: try the Phoenix Zoo. I’ll always speak well of them! I’ve been there three times, and hope to go again. I’m from San Diego, and am kind of a zoo snob, but, doggone, Phoenix does it right. Excellent place to visit.
The walkway is quite some distance away from the touristy areas - like a couple hundred miles:
Stunning and I imagine well worth it, but very out of the way, insanely expensive, and some of the rental car agencies have explicit “you can’t go there” rules because apparently the road is terrible getting there.
Oh - and an funny story re our last trip to the Grand Canyon. We were there travelling with a bunch of friends from all over North America, including one from Jamaica. Several families were leaving the GC and heading to Las Vegas on the same day, but there were no plans for any meetups in Vegas; the gathering was over the last day of the GC visit.
So we were driving west, then wound up needing a bathroom / food break - and pulled into a McDonald’s in Kingman. We walked in, stood stock still, and started laughing hysterically, baffling everyone in the place except the 3 people we’d last seen 4 hours earlier.
I guess it isn’t that wild - we were all going the same way, Kingman is about the only thing of any size on the way, and McDonald’s was the closest thing to the highway - it was still funny.
I think we pretty much have things nailed down. Thanks for all the suggestions. Based on what I’ve read in this thread, I’ve made some major changes.
Fly into Phoenix on Friday night and hang with the family Saturday and Sunday.
Early Monday morning we head up the the Grand Canyon. Apparently they have tram rides to take you around the canyon. From what I understand, you can get off the tram at any stop, look around and grab the next tram 15 minutes later.
Then we head to Cortez. I know it is a long drive, but we’ll be starting out around 2:00 in the afternoon or so. We should get there relatively early in the evening.
My wife insisted on a hotel with Wifi for her and a pool for our son. There are plenty of hotels around - I actually had seriously looked at a hotel in Bluff, UT - but very few with the pool and wifi.
Tuesday we head out to Monument Valley. Natural Bridges is a “nice to do” if there is time, but we’re not going to get upset if we can’t fit it in. I’m thinking I might make this excursion last to late into the night so I can do some star gazing in southeastern Utah.
In order to satisfy my conditions to consider the state visited, we’re thinking of heading out to Shiprock or Farmington New Mexico on Wednesday. We’re within spitting distance of the Four Corners monument anyway, so we’ll stop there on the way down from Cortez. If it’s not too late, we’ll hit Mesa Verde on the way back to Cortez.
We check out of the hotel in Cortez on Thursday and head to the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook AZ. This is my wife’s idea. She’s willing to give up one night of wifi and a pool to sleep in a tipi. Depending on time and if we were able to do it the day before, we may hit Mesa Verde on the way.
Holbrook is about 15 minutes away from the Petrified Forest. So on Friday we’ll drive through the Petrified Forest on our way back to Phoenix. And yes, Bumbershoot, we will be taking the route you suggest. It brings us into south Phoenix which is where my cousins live. I didn’t know about the Salt River Canyon, but thanks for the tip.
We’ll stay with my cousins again Friday and Saturday night and leave on Sunday.
Stink Fish Pot, thanks for the concern. We’re renting a car (Chevy Impala or similar) and staying on paved roads. We’ll have plenty of water and such in case of a breakdown. Plus, cell phones with car chargers - assuming there is coverage. If not we just stay with the car until we can get help.
Trinopus, like you, we tend to be zoo snobs. We have 2 excellent zoos here in Chicago. However, while we’re in Phoenix, we’re leaving the event planning to my cousins. If that’s where they want to take us, then that’s where we’ll go.
Yes, there is a lot of driving, but I’m looking forward to it. I enjoy driving, but I’m really looking forward to what the driving here in Chicago lacks. Wide open roads with little to no snow on them.