Travel Guide: Arizona
Travel Guide: Arizona
What to see, explore, and know before you go
Cameron and I traveled to Arizona almost a year ago - wow, how quickly time goes by! This is my first “travel guide”, which is basically a recap of the things we did, sights we saw, and lessons learned on our voyage. I want the guides to serve as documentation of our travels and also help you if you are planning to visit any of the places we went to!
This trip’s intentions were to fly into Phoenix, rent a car, and head north to see the desert. Our major destinations included:
Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim
Page, AZ (Horseshoe Bend and Lower Antelope Canyon)
Sedona, AZ (Hikes)
However, I neglected to do more research than I should have on the weather of our various destinations (don’t make my same mistake!). We had plans to camp in the Grand Canyon for 2 nights but the low temp was down in the 20s, which we did not pack or prepare for. This led us to scrap our plans and head even further north to Utah, which turned out to be a major highlight of the trip! I’ll cover what we did in Utah in a separate travel guide.
THE BASICS:
Flew in/out of Phoenix
Lodging included a mix of tent camping and two-three star hotels
Got my first rental car ever from Sixt - would recommend! Good prices and they might upgrade you, like they did for us!
Don’t forget to bring your America the Beautiful Pass if you have one or you’ll have to pay $30 for each National Park entrance (America the Beautiful Passes are available for purchase at any national park and if you visit more than 3 parks, it’s more cost effective to just get the pass). The $30 individual park pass gets you access to the park for up to 7 days.
We saved some bucks by eating lots of snacks on the road, fast food on late night drives, and hotel continental breakfasts. The few restaurants we went to will be linked below.
THE ITINERARY:
Day 1: Flew from Seattle to Phoenix
Day 2: Camping in Sedona
Day 3: Sedona hiking and Grand Canyon National Park
Day 4: Bryce Canyon National Park (will be covered in Utah travel guide)
Day 5: Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, and Zion National Park (Zion will be covered in Utah travel guide)
Day 6: Grand Canyon National Park
Day 7: Flew from Phoenix to Seattle
PHOENIX:
We didn’t spend much time in Phoenix at all, just to fly in and out. It would have been more convenient to our destinations to fly in/out of Flagstaff but the flights were more expensive and there weren’t any non stop flights from Seattle.
Phoenix didn’t charm us like I thought it would. It’s very possible we just didn’t know where to go and did not spend much time there at all. But we did drive around a bit and eat on our way in/out of the city.
Eats:
For breakfast, we enjoyed the warm temps and ate breakfast outside at 3onSmith Cafe. The patio is an extension of the parking lot, so not very scenic, but the service and food were really good!
On our last night, we dined at Pizzeria Bianco, as recommended by a friend. There are two locations in Phoenix and we ended up at the one in a shopping village. We sat on the patio again, and even though it was around other stores, most everything was closed so it was quiet and peaceful.
SEDONA:
Sedona is beautiful! What a transformation in the landscape as we drove from sky scrapers in Phoenix to red rocks dotting the Sedona skyline. Sedona is this weird but wonderful little pocket in the middle of Arizona that has a lot to offer from the outdoorsy type to the relax-at-a-resort-type. I wish we had more time to explore the many hikes in the area, but we’ll just have to tackle them next time!
Driving through the main strip in Sedona is tourist-ville, lined with souvenir shops, Pink Jeep tours, and gated resorts, so we headed north on 89A to find a swimming hole. The highway was lined with recreation activities like campgrounds, hiking, and several state parks. The scenery changed from tall red rocks in a flat landscape to more forested areas as we continued north. We stopped at Grasshopper Point State Park to check it out for the swim opportunities. We paid $5 to park (cash only) and picked a random trail from the parking lot and kept walking till we found a little swimming hole. The water was pretty cold still at this time of year. We made it in about waist deep and then had to bail, haha. Us Washington folk aren’t down with the cold water temps.
Later, we returned to town to grab supplies and dinner at the grocery store and then proceeded to head east on 89A, and onto Forest Service Road 525 to find a camp spot for the night. I had done some research on places where we could disperse camp outside Sedona but it was pretty much a total crap-shoot - I wasn’t sure what to expect! Our rental sedan handled majority of the roads alright, but there were some that only a 4x4 could handle.
Home for the night
Pro tip: Find a camping spot earlier in the day. We started to search for a camp about an hour before sunset on a Wednesday night and it was quite difficult to find a spot that wasn’t right next to someone else’s giant RV. There were numerous spots to choose from out there, but there were just tons of RVs, vans and trucks out there camping too (which is awesome!). As the sun was setting and we kept driving, we selected a spot to set up our camp for the night, and watched the sun set on the red rocks in front of us. We enjoyed a warm campfire under the night sky, with the moon shining and the campfire crackling.
HIKES:
Due to time constraints, we could only squeeze in one hike in Sedona. We chose the infamous Devil’s Bridge due to the short trail and the uniqueness of the bridge at the top. We arrived at the trailhead around 9am and the parking lot was full - so if you want to avoid crowds, consider going very early or very late in the day. If you have a 4x4 vehicle, you can go further down the road to the true trailhead - just look out for families of hikers and prepare for rough terrain.
The 2-mile RT hike was easy and the Devil’s Bridge was really cool! I can see why it’s a popular spot to take photos. A lot of people seemed scared to walk across the bridge but it isn’t as narrow as it looks. The drop-off on either side is pretty steep though, for those who are scared of heights.
If I was to do this hike again, I would choose to do it during sunset to get better light and avoid the crowds.
Additional Sedona hikes we considered during our trip, but didn’t get to:
Cathedral Rock
Doe Mountain
Brins Mesa
Exploring the views of Sedona from the top
GRAND CANYON:
From Sedona, we continued north towards Grand Canyon National Park. We were so stoked to finally visit this park! We were just so excited to see it, we pulled over in the nearest lot we could find, walked a few feet to the Rim Trail, (which is a paved trail that lines the rim (hence the name) and can be accessed at many different points in the park), and got our first glimpse of the immense canyon. One reason I love photography is to capture moments that I might otherwise forget, but I can safely say that the memory of walking up to the railing and seeing the canyon for the first time doesn’t need photographic evidence for me to remember the emotions I felt right then. The depth and length of the canyon and all the layers of rock are so mesmerizing, you really could stare it at for hours.
Back in the car, we drove to the Bright Angel Trail and did a short section of the hike. The trail will take you all the way to the river of the canyon floor, but it is long and steep! Many people attempt the hike without proper equipment and need to be rescued, as there is no water on the trail. Be careful, be prepared, and make sure you give yourself plenty of time if you plan to hike to the bottom.
We only had a couple of hours before sunset, so we decided to drive to the other side of the south-end of the park and hike part of the South Kaibab Trail. Note: the trailhead is only accessible by shuttle bus, which stopped running by the time we arrived, so we walked the paved road instead which took about 30 minutes.
We went about a mile or so down a series of switchbacks on the trail, watched the sunset and took some photos, then blue hour set in and we turned back because we left our headlamps in the car. Even though we had been hiking most of the day or driving in the car, it felt so wonderful to experience a beautiful sunset and feel like we were truly alone in this massive canyon in a massive national park.
Sunset in the Grand Canyon on the South Kaibab Trail
Photos taken at Rim Trail, Bright Angel Trail, and the South Kaibab Trail
One of the first views of the Grand Canyon via the Rim Trail
Like I said earlier, we had campground reservations at Mather Campground but we decided to bail on those plans due to the cold night temperatures. Instead, we drove several hours north to Kanab, Utah to check a few more National Parks off our list. On Day 6, as we headed south to Phoenix, we decided to swing over to Grand Canyon one more time to take in it’s beauty one more time. We walked further down the Rim Trail and checked out some of the other sites the park has to offer.
Until next time GC….
PAGE:
The last stop of the Arizona tour was Page. Page is a small town, but it has a lot of beauty to offer! The recreation areas in Page get a lot of tourists year-round, so please remember to pack out what you pack in and respect the land you are on when visiting these places.
This was our only “nice” hotel experience of the trip. We stayed for one night at Lake Powell Resorts & Marina and treated ourselves to a nice dinner at their hotel restaurant. Accompanied by a nice Arizona sunset by the pool - we felt like we were living in luxury.
HORSESHOE BEND:
Our goal was to be there for sunrise. But because of the time zone changes between Arizona and Utah, I got my sunrise hours mixed up and set the wrong alarm. This put us an hour behind schedule but we still made it out there to see if it was worth the hype!
Parking lot wasn’t busy when we arrived, but I have no doubts it fills up quick as the day goes on. The dirt trail is short and fairly easy and before you know it, you’ll be looking at that iconic view. The cool part about the desert is how vast it is - you can definitely find a spot away from the crowds if you choose to. Again, just be mindful of where you’re going and if there are fragile ecosystems that you might be infringing upon.
If I were to do this hike again, I would hike it right before sunset. Because the sun was already up past the canyon when we arrived, the back half of the bend was lit and the front half was not, which wasn’t ideal for photos. I’ve heard sunrise at this location is good too, if you can wake up on time ;)
LOWER ANTELOPE CANYON:
There are numerous slot canyons all over the Southwest. Since we had limited time and weren’t familiar with slot canyons at all, we opted to go on the popular guided tour of Lower Antelope Canyon with Ken’s Tours. Note: many canyons in the area require a guided tour! Follow the rules and know before you go.
There are multiple companies that offer tours of lower and upper antelope canyons. I don’t think you can go wrong with either canyon or touring company.
With Ken’s Tours, cameras were allowed but no backpacks or bags of any kind, except hydration packs. Recommend wearing tennis shoes or hiking boots to navigate the stairs and ladders.
Slots fill up fast, so it’s best to reserve your spot(s) in advance on their website. It’s about $50/person. Note: There are Navajo fees that you pay before you go on the tour that are strictly cash only. We wanted to play it safe, so we brought all cash for our full reservation.
You enter the canyon in a group of about 40 people and go down a set of stairs and ladders. There are several guides in the canyon and they’ll keep you moving along, but will also point out unique things and take photos of you and for you. They even gave tips for how to take photos on your phone and which filters to apply (haha) before entering the canyon. We weren’t rushed through the canyon, but I would have liked to move through the canyon a bit slower and been able to get more intentional photos (photographer probs). Try to get your camera settings dialed in before you go or when you first enter the canyon to reduce time spent looking at your screen, and more time staring up at the enormous canyon walls around you.
Thanks for everything Arizona!
It felt like we crammed a lot into our multi-day trip in Arizona, but we could have definitely stayed longer because there is so much stuff to explore! I encourage you to check out these other places and activities that I have my eye on for next time:
Havasu Falls (requires a permit!) My group was actually lucky enough to get one for the 2019 year and we’ll be going in March - eeek!
The Wave
Lake Powell
Tonto National Forest
Saguaro National Park
North and West rims of the Grand Canyon
If you’ve traveled to Arizona, let me know what else I should add to the list for next time! And if you’ve never been to Arizona and are planning your first trip - I hope you found this guide helpful. Let me know if you have any questions about this travel guide below!
xo,
a little rainey