Touring Grand Canyon & Area

Hello,

We've never been to the US before, but my wife has always had a yen to
see the Canyon before she pops her clogs, so we are definitely going
this year. This is what we would ideally like:

1) To stay at one base, travelling out to sights on a day tour;
2) The weather at the base good enough for sunbathing, as we won't want
to travel every day.

I thought a good plan might be to fly to Phoenix, stopping overnight
near the airport, then driving to Flagstaff the next day and staying
there as our base, visiting the Canyon, Zion (is that too far for a
day???), and so on. Coming back, perhaps we'd stay at Phoenix for a
couple of nights, and see Death Valley before returning home.

We thought late August/early September would be good, being Brits
anything over 25C/77F is getting pretty damn hot.

Do the assembled audience think this a workable plan, please? Also, why
is there such a massive temperature difference between Phoenix and
Flagstaff when they are only about 150 miles apart? Is Flagstaff at
2000 or 3000 feet?

I'd appreciate any comments,

Thanks,

Paul

wrote:
my wife has always had a yen to see the Canyon before she pops her
clogs

An excellent yen to bear.

Flagstaff the next day and staying there as our base, visiting the
Canyon, Zion (is that too far for a day???), and so on. Coming
back, perhaps we'd stay at Phoenix for a couple of nights, and see
Death Valley before returning home.

VERY ambitious. You need a couple of weeks.

We thought late August/early September would be good, being Brits
anything over 25C/77F is getting pretty damn hot.

Then you'd better choose some other time to go!

why is there such a massive temperature difference between Phoenix
and Flagstaff

Altitude. Just as you thought.
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wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,

We've never been to the US before, but my wife has always had a yen to
see the Canyon before she pops her clogs, so we are definitely going
this year. This is what we would ideally like:

1) To stay at one base, travelling out to sights on a day tour;
2) The weather at the base good enough for sunbathing, as we won't want
to travel every day.

I thought a good plan might be to fly to Phoenix, stopping overnight
near the airport, then driving to Flagstaff the next day and staying
there as our base, visiting the Canyon, Zion (is that too far for a
day???)

Much too far

, and so on. Coming back, perhaps we'd stay at Phoenix for a
couple of nights, and see Death Valley before returning home.


Death Valley is 440 miles and at least 10 hours driving
from Flagstaff

We thought late August/early September would be good, being Brits
anything over 25C/77F is getting pretty damn hot.


It will be 100F plus in Phoenix or Death Valley at that time of year
and extremely uncomfortable

Do the assembled audience think this a workable plan, please? Also, why
is there such a massive temperature difference between Phoenix and
Flagstaff when they are only about 150 miles apart? Is Flagstaff at
2000 or 3000 feet?


No its at 7000 ft and your plan is completely unworkable

Flagstaff is a reasonable base to visit the Grand Canyon,
Petrified Forest NP , Sunset Crater.

If you dont want to do too much driving I'd suggest
staying a few days in the Sedona area where you can relax
and visit Montezuma's castle, the Red Rock area around
Sedona, the ghost towns like Jerome etc

The drive to Flagstaff up toute 89A through Oak Creek Canyon
which is a delightful drive. In Flagstaff choose a motel
away from old route 66 as you may find the train noise
incompatible with rest

BOOK YOUR HOTELS NOW - its probably already too
late to find accomodation at the Canyon itself and the better
places in Flagstaff tend to fill up early

Keih

wrote in message
oups.com...
I thought a good plan might be to fly to Phoenix, stopping overnight
near the airport, then driving to Flagstaff the next day and staying
there as our base, visiting the Canyon, Zion (is that too far for a
day???), and so on. Coming back, perhaps we'd stay at Phoenix for a
couple of nights, and see Death Valley before returning home.

Nearly impossible is the only word. Flagstaff is do-able from Phoenix ; 2
1/2 hours, but Zion from Flagstaff is going to take over 6 hours.

Death Valley is not scenic and not worth a trip, IMHO. It is famous for
being hoy, and you don't want that and it is not particularly interesting
desert landscape. You would be better served by using Flagstaff for a base
for several days in northern Arizona and then go to Springdale, Utah (Zion)
for several more days before returning. Check out the things to do around
Flagstaff, and Page (on way to Zion) etc.. There is the Petrified Forest,
Sunset Crater, and more. ALl day trips in your temperature range.

Phoenix is not much to tour either. Big sity, no charm or interesting
sights, unless you golf.


We thought late August/early September would be good, being Brits
anything over 25C/77F is getting pretty damn hot.

Phoenix will be about 100F for a high and 80F for the low in late August,
but flagstaff will be 77F and 46F - right in your range.
Death Valley will kill you. Stay north around the canyon.


Do the assembled audience think this a workable plan, please?

See above


Also, why is there such a massive temperature difference between Phoenix
and
Flagstaff when they are only about 150 miles apart? Is Flagstaff at
2000 or 3000 feet?

Phoenix is 1,100 feet elevation, Flagstaff is 7,000 feet. There you go. Wait
until you drive uphill so fast your ears pop on the way - cool.

wrote...
| We've never been to the US before, but my wife has always had
| a yen to see the Canyon before she pops her clogs, so we are
| definitely going this year. This is what we would ideally like:
| 1) To stay at one base, travelling out to sights on a day tour;
| 2) The weather at the base good enough for sunbathing, as we
| won't want to travel every day.
| I thought a good plan might be to fly to Phoenix, stopping overnight
| near the airport, then driving to Flagstaff the next day and staying
| there as our base, visiting the Canyon, Zion (is that too far for a
| day???), and so on. Coming back, perhaps we'd stay at Phoenix for
| a couple of nights, and see Death Valley before returning home.

IMO, the distances are too far to make day-trips practical. I think
that you'd find it more interesting, with less driving, and likely less
expensive, to fly into Las Vegas, drive 3 hours to Zion, then...
1. Return to LV and do an overnight trip or 'copter ride to GC;
2. From Zion, drive to the North Rim of the GC, stay at the lodge
in the park for a night and then return to LV; or
3. What I did... Drive around the East side of the GC via the Glen
Canyon Dam to the GC Village (5 hours), stay at a lodge in the
Village for 2 nights, and then return to LV via the Hoover Dam.
[Rog']

wrote...
| We've never been to the US before, but my wife has always had
| a yen to see the Canyon before she pops her clogs, so we are
| definitely going this year. This is what we would ideally like:
| 1) To stay at one base, travelling out to sights on a day tour;
| 2) The weather at the base good enough for sunbathing, as we
| won't want to travel every day.
| I thought a good plan might be to fly to Phoenix, stopping overnight
| near the airport, then driving to Flagstaff the next day and staying
| there as our base, visiting the Canyon, Zion (is that too far for a
| day???), and so on. Coming back, perhaps we'd stay at Phoenix for
| a couple of nights, and see Death Valley before returning home.

IMO, the distances are too far to make day-trips practical. I think
that you'd find it more interesting, with less driving, and likely less
expensive, to fly into Las Vegas, drive 3 hours to Zion, then...
1. Return to LV and do an overnight trip or 'copter ride to GC;
2. From Zion, drive to the North Rim of the GC, stay at the lodge
in the park for a night and then return to LV; or
3. What I did... Drive around the East side of the GC via the Glen
Canyon Dam to the GC Village (5 hours), stay at a lodge in the
Village for 2 nights, and then return to LV via the Hoover Dam.
[Rog']

Roger (B) wrote:

wrote...
| We've never been to the US before, but my wife has always had
| a yen to see the Canyon before she pops her clogs, so we are
| definitely going this year. This is what we would ideally like:
| 1) To stay at one base, travelling out to sights on a day tour;
| 2) The weather at the base good enough for sunbathing, as we
| won't want to travel every day.


You don't say how may days you have. This matters. There
are many great sights to see in the Arizona-Utah area.
Distances are great but driving is very easy. Look at a map.

The Grand Tour is to fly to Vegas, the see (either direction)
the Grand Canyon, Page AZ (Glen Canyon ... currently a
scenic disaster, but you should vists Antelope Canyon), Monument
Valley, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Capitol Reef, Bryce NP,
Zion NP, and back to Vegas. There are side trips to varoius
other sites, including superior Indian ruins.

Doug McDonald

has always had a yen to see the Canyon...
Flagstaff...as our base


Paul, if you're going to use a base city, I would pick Las Vegas
rather than Flagstaff. However, due to the distances involved
I strongly suggest that you don't try to return to the base
every night.

You might consider something like this:

1) Fly into Las Vegas and spend the night there. You may want
to spend the next day sightseeing in the city if you want to
see Las Vegas or if you're prone to jet lag and want to have
a day to recuperate from your flight.
The most popular place to stay in Vegas is "the strip", which
is the area where most of the newer casinos are located.
However this area can also be expensive, and if you're not
interested in gambling there are nice hotels in other parts
of the city that are considerably less expensive. You might
want to visit the Las Vegas newsgroup for advice.

2) Rent a car and drive to the Grand Canyon. It's possible to
do this as a day trip (it's about a 5 hour drive each way), but
if the Canyon is the main point of your trip then it would be
silly to only spend a few hours there. Get a hotel close to the
south rim and spend at least 2 days there if you can. It would
be ideal to get a hotel in the Grand Canyon Village, which is in
the park right at the rim (reservations needed far in advance),
or you can probably save some money by getting a room in the
nearby village of Tusayan which is outside the park.
The Canyon has magnificent overlooks, miles of trails along
the rim, etc.; you'll love it. It's also possible to take mule rides
into the canyon, either as a day trip or an overnight trip to
the bottom (must be reserved far in advance), or you could
hike into the Canyon by foot on the beautiful Bright Angel Trail
(overnight to the bottom, or just walk a few hours on the trail
to get a taste of the experience and to enjoy the magnificent
views from below the rim).

3) Drive to either Zion or Bryce parks and spend the night.

4) Return to Las Vegas. If time permits you might want to visit
nearby attractions such as Hoover Dam, and Red Rock Canyon.

5) Visit Death Valley. You can do it as a day trip from Vegas,
although you won't have time to see everything.
By the way, I noticed that another poster said that Death Valley
wasn't worth the trip. I respectfully disagree; it's a popular
tourist destination and is magnificent *if* you enjoy stark desert
terrain, sand dunes, etc. Do a Google search for Death Valley
info and photos and decide for yourself if it would appeal to you.
Personally, I loved it.

6) Fly home from Las Vegas.


The weather...late August/early September

In general it'll be very hot, especially in Vegas & Death Valley,
although it gets cooler in the higher elevations. Go to
http://weather.yahoo.com/ , look up the place you're going
to visit, and then click the "Records and Averages" link on that
page to see the average temperatures in that place throughout
the year.

If you don't enjoy hot weather, I'd suggest delaying your trip a
few months.

Jim

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Paul, you've received some excellent suggestions already. Let me
throw in my two cents' worth.

The problem with trying to do everything from a Flagstaff base is
that, well, there's this big canyon in the way. :-) However, you
could break up the trip into two segments, one based in Flagstaff
and one in southern Utah. Of course, you'll need to allow time (a
full day?) to get from one to the other, but one repositioning would
still be more efficient than driving to everywhere from Flagstaff.

From Flagstaff, you could explore the south rim of the Grand Canyon;
Lowell Observatory; Sunset Crater, Wupatki, and Walnut Canyon National
Monuments; Meteor Crater; and, on the way up from Phoenix, the Sedona
area.

From Kanab, Utah, you can have easy day trips to Zion, Bryce, and the
north rim of the Grand Canyon. (Very different from the south rim.
Forested and very pretty.)

Anyway, those are my thoughts, based on being very impressed with both
the Flagstaff and Kanab areas.


Patty

Just a small clarification to my previous post in which
I suggested Las Vegas as your starting and ending point...

If you decide *not* to visit Death Valley, I'd be less inclined
to make Vegas your base. Patty's suggestion of using
2 bases, one northern and one southern, sounds like a good
suggestion if you don't need to go as far west as Death Valley.

But in either case, I'd still recommend spending at least one
night in a hotel that's *very* close to the Canyon. Some of the
most beautiful moments are near sunrise and sunset when
the sun is low in the sky, and you'll miss them if your motel is
hours away and you're only there in the afternoon.

Jim

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