Planning trip to Grand Canyon National Park?
We are planning a trip to Grand Canyon with a 12 kid in early April. Can someone suggest the best place to stay, and to see? No too expensive in price. And share some of your experience would be great appreciated! Planning to flight in Phoenix and rent a can from there. Thanks! Thank you all very much. they are all very helpful!!!
Other - United States - 3 Answers
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1 :
Here is a pretty good resource http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/grand_canyon/national_park.html
2 :
Coming from Phoenix, your coming in on the South Side of the canyon. The best and cheapest places to stay are on the campgrounds within the park. However it is hard to get a reservation, so try and reserve a spot early. If your planning on doing a motel, the closest, cheapest ones are probably Flagstaff AZ. There are no real other near by cities and a few mom and pop motels that are a bit closer, but Flagstaff is your best option. If you want to spend the money, go to the Grand Canyon airport and buy a sightseeing tour. The plane has large glass windows and flies over an extended portion of the canyon. Views like none other. Helicoptor rides are ok, but only cover a small area, where the plane cover larger areas, and you can plug headsets in to hear the guide in different languages. Otherwise anthing on the south rim for hiking is worthwhile.
3 :
The drive from Phoenix is approximately 235 miles if you take 17 north to 40 west to 64 north which is the route I recommend. That takes about 3.5 hours not including stops. The Grand Canyon is one of my favorite parks and while on the South Rim I like to stay at the Maswik Lodge (first choice) or the Yavapai Lodge. I don't like to stay right on the rim at the El Tovar Hotel, Bright Angel Lodge, Thunderbird Lodge and Kachina Lodge. I don't care for the great number of people in the area although you may not mind that. The views just outside those lodges are among the best in the park. I like the Maswik because it's about a quarter mile from the rim and village (short walk) and is in a much quieter area. I like the Yavapai Lodge for the same reason but it's about a half mile from the rim, farther from the village and spread out over a large area. Depending on your accommodations you may have to drive down to the Market Plaza where the cafeteria and shuttle bus stop are located. This is not a problem at Maswik as the buildings are situated closer to each other and you're never more than a hundred yards from the cafeteria and shops. Go to the this web page and download the PDF version or the Park Map, Grand Canyon Village Map and Panorama Map. Use the alternate links if the primary links don't work. You can use these maps to plan your activities. http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=GRCA# Things to do: 1. See the Grand Canyon Village area. There are many shops and the views are awesome all along this area. Drop into the historic El Tovar Hotel if you want to and browse through the Hopi House across the driveway from the El Tovar. 2. Take a short walk down the Bright Angel Trail but be careful not to go too far. You're at 7,000 ft elevation and if you you're not used to the thin air this will make the hike out a whole lot harder than going down. 3. Take the park shuttle out to Hermits Rest on the West Rim for more great views. Stop at some or all of the viewpoints and consider hiking the rim trail that interconnects the viewpoints. You can hike from point to point and jump back on the shuttle when you want to. You can see Granite Rapid from Pima Point. This is one of the fiercer rapids on the river (been there, done that, one of my favorites). 4. See the Canyon View Information Plaza then walk out to Mather Point. Walk the 1.1 mile paved path from Mather Point to Yavapai Point where you can reboard the shuttle or continue walking the remaining 1.75 miles to the village. It's paved all the way and a very enjoyable walk. I once saw a squirrel get treed by a fox in this area. Great family photo ops along the way. Just ask someone else to take the photo or carry a light tripod. 5. Take your car to the East Rim out to Desert View. More great views and you'll notice that the canyon gets shallower as you go east. Stop at the Tusayan Ruin and Museum. You might want to do this on the day you leave the park and after seeing Desert View, continue east to exit the park. After exiting the park you'll enter the Navajo Indian Reservation. The natives have setup a number of roadside stands. There you'll find some beautiful Navajo jewelry and crafts. You'll also find some Hopi jewelry there. The Hopi Tribe does not have access to the highway so they lease the space from the Navajo. The shops are not all grouped together so don't spend all your money at the first stop. Buy it if the you like it and the price is right. Otherwise, move on but don't count on there being more shops down the road. There may not be. If you exit through the east, continue on 64 east then take 89 south back to Flagstaff. Along the way you'll pass the Wupatki National Monument. There are some interesting ruins there that your 12 year old will enjoy. Be sure to see the "wind spirit" and stand over the blow hole for the refreshing wind that blows up out of the ground. From Wupatki, you can continue on to Phoenix for your flight home. However, if you have time I suggest you take your 12 year to see Meteor Crater. It's located east of Flagstaff on hwy 40. Take exit 233 at Rimmy Jims and go south on Meteor Crater Road. You can't miss it. Very impressive. Lots of meteors in their museum too. As for Sedona, I personally didn't care for the place. Too touristy and "new age" for me. Have a great time.
