OT: Grand Canyon vacation ?

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JohnnyB

JohnnyB

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My wife would like to see the Grand Canyon on our vacation this June.

Is there anything else to do in the area? I thought it would be cool to stay in Scottsdale but that is like a 5+ hour drive to the canyon.



Any thoughts or ideas from people who live in the area?



Or any other vacation ideas, cool places for 2 - 30 something yr. old's with no kids.

Thanks
 
Stay in Kanab (sp?) That's where we stayed. About 1 hour to the Grand Canyon, 1 hour to Zion (which is amazing BTW), I think it was a little further to Bryce Canyon, and about 1 hour to Lake Powell where we rented a boat and wakeboarded/intertubed/hung out for the entire day. That lake is amazing, and you can see straight down.
 
I would recomend going to all the places Jeff C listed. My family went with another and took an RV trip a couple of years ago. We started in Phoenix and did a loop and came back to Phoenix. It was a great time. We went to Sedona, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Canyon Lands, Arches, Lake Powell, and other places that I cant remember off the top of my head right now. But this trip was very cool and I know I definately would do it again.
 
If you go to Las Vegas, it's only about a two hour drive to the Western Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's a nice scenic drive except the last 21 miles are on a dirt road through an indian reservation. I drove in a Ford Escort rental car and had no problems except almust colliding with a big tourist bus coming around a blind curve on the dirt road.



Ther is plenty to do in the Las Vegas area that don't involve gambling, The rooms a fairly cheap, the food is cheap and there is plenty of entertainment and things to do there.



If you like to look at beautiful scenery, then take a drive out to Red Rock Canyon, or The Valley of Fire. You can also go visit the Hoover Dam and take the Dam Tour, and you cross over the dam on the way to the Grand Canyon.



I must admit that I also like the Phoenix Scottsdale area as well but it's a bit more expensive. I had a rental car there as well and we went out to Carefree, AZ and Rawhide, AZ. Carefree is a nice little artist community and Rawhide is a reproduction Old West town with lots of shops and resturants, where you can get some fried rattlesnake...it taste like chicken. :rolleyes:



...Rich
 
Yeah, go to the North Rim. It's prettier, cooler, and much less crowded. Plus very close to Zion which is a great contrast to visiting the Grand Canyon. At Zion, your down on the bottom looking up.
 
If you go to the South rim, stay in Williams and take the train to rim. It's an awesome ride. They do the “get robbed by the bad-guys” thing. It’s a fun day for a family. If you want to spend the day at the canyon then you can take the train back the same day or you can stay the night up there and come back the following day. I guess it depends on what you really enjoy doing. Williams is about 30 minutes from Flagstaff. Nice mountains and a beautiful old downtown that I've enjoyed just walking around.



I will agree though, that the North rim is much more beautiful and with Zion right there as well, that would be my first choice of how to see the Grand Canyon.



The West rim, is a waste of money IMHO. I live about an hour away. The West rim isn't run by the National Park Service, it's part of an Indian Reservation. And while they are making improvements to it, as of now there just isn't much to see and it's expensive to get into. Right now they are building a glass bottom platform that extend out over the rim of the canyon so that you can step out and look directly down into the canyon. Not my cup of tea but I know lots of folks that are excited about it.

 
Play in Las Vegas, take the helicopter ride over the canyon, play some more in Las Vegas...
 
Like mentioned above, the North Rim is far less crowded than the South Rim, however, I've seen both rims, and the view is far far better from the South Rim. The North Rim is too far away from the river, so it's hard to get decent views of the Colorado. The South Rim has numerous scenic overlooks along the road to get great views.



Of course, I wouldn't just go there to look, I go there to hike to the bottom and really get some nice views.



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flew into Vegas stayed 3 nights then rented a car and drove to the hover dam, did that in a few hours and drove on to canyon for two nights (we stayed right in the canyon park in one of the hotels, it was a 3 min walk to the canyon) , then south to sedona for one night and onto scottsdale for two nights and flew out of phoenix. great time, scenary was amazing....especially standing 2 feet from the edge of the canyon during sunset and sunrise!!
 
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Go to Sedona, it's worth it. About an hour south of Flagstaff. Rooms in Scottsdale in the summer are pretty cheap. Usually around $100 compared to $300++ right now.
 
Sedona is a nice place to drive through, but it is very pricey. You'll pay a handsome amount for a hotel room in that area.
 
We stayed in Sadona last Oct. on our way back from Dallas National Meet, and stayed at the Quality Inn which was very reasonable (at that time). And, from Sadona we went up to the Grand Canyon which you'll want to spend several days especially if you like hiking. Also, Rachel Ray's show $40 a Day on the Food TV channel did a show there, and had dinner at a place on the S. rim east side where there is Native American entertainment in the evening. Check out Foodtv.com for specifics.
 
Stay in Moab,UT and go to Canyon Lands and Arches National Park. Much nicer than the Grand Canyon. You can rent a Jeep and just go griving (off road) thru the parks. Great time and absolutely beautiful.
 
Horseback riding at Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Hoover Dam tour and a rafting trip down the river starting at the base of the Hoover Dam. AWESOME!!!!!!!! I've been there once with family, now I am toying with the idea of honeymooning there. :D
 
There is a newly opened walkway on the South rim in a section owned by an Indian tribe that has a circle walkway going out several feet out from the rim. It is enclosed with a clear glas wall and you can look straight down to the bottom. I don't remember all the details, but a resturant and motel are being built too. I saw an article about it in the Sunday morning paper magizine called Parade.
 
JohnnyB,

I guess you will have to circle the entire Grand Canyon and tell us which part you liked best! :D



...Rich
 
Very seriously--the best way to see the Grand Canyon is to go whitewater rafting through it. I did it about 10 years ago, it was the best vacation of my life. Depending on what mode of rafting is used, there are trips that run the entire length of the Canyon (about 288 miles!) in anywhere from one to three weeks. A quick web search will find you many vendors that run the trips--mine was through Grand Canyon Expeditions, whom I highly recommend.
 
I've been in AZ for 6 yrs now and have never ventured to the West rim and it's close to where I live. I think. South rim is cooool Guaranteed to take your breath away. Very pretty. OH and Sedona, love that town. That Oak Run drive is VERY nice! :)
 
Wow, alot of info here. Thars great, thanks to all! We will have to sought through it all and see what suits us.
 
Lots of very good advice here! I have vacationed in the area three times and am ready to go back. Vegas is a hoot (and I don't gamble). Hoover Dam is awesome! Sedona is absolutely wonderful! Flagstaff Arizona is neat! Oak Creek Canyon! Seeing Grand Canyon in person reminds you how unimportant you and your problems are in this world! Lots of other smaller things to do and see along the way, like Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, several indian ruins, mountains / elevation changes. Make sure you get a rental car and just drive between some of these points so you don't miss all the smaller stuff.



Fly to Vegas or Phoenix and rent car is best bet. Vegas is very cheap at certain times of the year.



I don't know if it is still open, but Biosphere in Tuscon is worth a few hours.



http://www.bio2.com/

 
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