We are planning on visiting Arizona and New Mexico in May? We are going to the Grand Canyon, so any suggestions on that would be great. I know some say that one side is better than the other.?? Any suggestions on what to do and places to see would be great, thanks so much!! What about Carlsbad Caverns?
Paula
Southwest Gardeners - can you help?
First, are you driving or flying? If driving Interstate 10 or 40...so much to see on either one.
On I-10 at Benson....just before Tucson, Kartchner Caverns are fantastic!!
The old St Xavier (sp) mission in Tucson is a good stop, and just seeing all the flowers blooming tin Tucson is worth the trip,,,especially the Red Mexican Bird of Paridise...which I think is orange but are my favorite flower here in the West.
Hit Sodona....but watch you pocket book...things are expensive here...leaving here you will probably find a lot of Native Americans set up along the road selling their merchindise....some nice things too.
Be sure to stop and visit Montezuma's Castle...very calm and pretty there.
I must have napped between there and the Canyon as I don't remember anything except the pretty red rocks.
At the Canyon they had little buses that ran around the rim and you get on and off at will.
I have never been to the North Rim. They close it in the winter, and it is too far to go to get over on that side.
There are no places to stay right at the Canyon, unless you hike down to the lodge....I THINK...some one can come along and correct me as I never intend to ride those mules down into those ......oh well....I;ll watch from above!! Jo
All adults or are there children? If so what ages? And like Jo said, are you flying or Driving?
Thanks for the info. We will be flying into Phoenix probably, but so far the times arriving are at night and I don;t like that. It will be just my daughter and I...this is her senior trip and for some reason she wants to go the AZ to rappel down the canyon, hang glide and ride the in a hot air balloon. We will be renting a car and making our way to TX and seeing the sites along the way. So any info in any of the states, good places to eat, places not to miss, or anything would be greatly appreciated.
The North rim is much less visited and I like it better. The views of the Canyon itself are fewer here, but the elevation difference (about 1,000 feet high at NR) and reduced crowds make up for that to me. The NR is a longer drive and accommodations are fewer. The views are still spectacular.
2nd chance...thanks for that link, but...don't know if I could do that or not. My daughter would probably love it.
Willy thanks for your input, I knew someone had told me they preferred one over the other.
Would it be best to stay there? I guess it takes more than one day to really see it, especially if we do a jeep tour or something??
Kartchner Caverns outsideof Benson in SE AZ is a wonderful place to explore.
http://azstateparks.com/parks/kaca/#top
Hot air balloon rides are popular around here and lots of fun. Google AZ hot air ballon ride for a list of the many companies that take people out. Gorgeous views and so very quiet!
Rawhide can provide an interesting dining experience.
http://www.rawhide.com/
I frequently stay at The Duquense House in Patagonia. Lovely accomodations and awesome breakfast. They are near the AZ Wine Country and the scenery is beautiful.
http://www.theduquesnehouse.com/
There are tons of Mexican food places. A favorite for me is Los Olivos in Scottsdale Great food and you will be right near downtown old town Scottsdale where there is a lot of things going on, http://www.losolivosrestaurants.com/
Out of Africa is a cool place to see animals, not too far from Sedona.
http://outofafricapark.com/
Hope this hekps a little.
Susie
Paula - you don't have to go out on the bridge - just send her! Swing through Santa Fe on your way to TX.
On the North Rim, you drive yourself (or you did last time I was there). On the South Rim in summer, I believe you cannot drive yourself and you must use their buses. There are no Jeep tours into the canyon--you must hike or schedule a mule ride.
There are motels/etc on both rims. Check the web for current info.
What a fun trip!! Kartchner Caverns will do for the cave thing....Carlsbad Caverns is really incredible, but a big drive out of your way. What part of Texas will you be going to see? Carlsbad caverns is in the far southern section, while Sante Fe is up north so the southern route would take you through El Paso and the Sante Fe route would take you to Amarillo. Road trip wise, you could drive from Flagstaff (south of Grand Canyon) to Albuquerque on I 40 (about 6 hours), then north on I 25 to Sante Fe (about an hour). There are some really excellent pueblo tours north of Albuquerque. A good resource is to go to the New Mexico Magazine website (nmmagazine.com) which has an excellent travel section giving dates for tours and idea on what to see.
I'd take the North route from the Canyon to Albq and take a hot air balloon ride there. Albq is a real nice city.
Unless you're going to do a jeep tour or ride a mule down, in my opinion one day is plenty. It is breathtaking, but it is just a big crack in the ground.
LOL!! Thanks for that info..I think we are just going to take it one day at a time. I think Texas is out, its just going to be too far to drive. Right now....subject to change...we are going to fly into Las Vegas...see Circe de soiel (?) and then head to the Grand Canyon...anything after that will be based on how much time we have. I really do want to go to Santa Fe , for some reason.
So best place for Hot air balloons is Albequerque? Any one you would recommend?
Paula, how much time are you going to have?
7-8 days. I think were going to fly in on Sun. and come back the following sun. or Mon.
Albq is the hot air balloon capital, so there are hundreds of them. There must be a DG member from Albq around here. . . .
If you are flying into Vegas, it'd be easy to hit the North Rim and you could visit Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks very easily. The Escalante Wilderness is something that really shouldn't be missed--and it's an easy drive. It starts in (I think) Panguitch and ends in Torrey. You WILL NOT regret this drive.
I'm from Albuquerque - and can tell you that the hundreds of hot air balloons are there only in October when they have the big hot air balloon festival. Now that is spectacular!! In general, the rest of the year you see about as many hot air balloons in the air in Albuquerque as you've got in this area (more in the summer than we have because they have cooler summers, more in the winter here because we have warmer winters).
Ok, its set...We are flying into Santa Fe NM, renting a car...heading to Arizona then we fly out of Las Vegas. We have tickets to see Mystere Cirque de soliel the night before we fly out. We plan on doing the hot air ballon in Albuquerque. From there...not sure
Anything else in Santa Fe or Albuquerque of interest?
What about the petrified forest?
Paula, your trip will be fabulous! I can highly recommend staying at La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe - it's where we stay and have never been disappointed. It's located on the Plaza and puts you within walking distance of the Governors' Palace and across from St. Francis Cathedral Basilica - both which shouldn't be missed for at least a walk through. http://www.lafondasantafe.com/about-la-fonda/ This link will give you additional information about Sante Fe: santefe.org
When you drive down to Albuquerque, be sure and take a tram ride: sandiapeak.com The views are spectacular and it's really neat to travel straight up the side of a mountain - about 4,000 feet in 15 or 20 minutes! There are a million things to do in Albuquerque depending on your interests so let me know - history, art, food, wildlife?
If you're into history then you should stop at the El Morro National Monument which will be on your way between Albuquerque and Flagstaff. There are beautiful hiking trails but the main attraction is Inscription Rock located on a sandstone bluff. Travelers - including Spanish conquistadors from the 1600's - etched their names in the sandstone to record their passing. On top of the bluff is the remains of an ancient pueblo - the Atsinna ruins. http://www.nps.gov/elmo/index.htm We loved going here as kids because the inscriptions tied in with what we were learning about history in school!
I've never been to the Petrified Forest, however it looks interesting! http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm
Santa Fe has GREAT food.
petrified Forest is worth a stop, probably just a short one unless geology is a real interest of yours. NM & AZ are just chock full of great sites to visit.
Carlsbad Caverns are a great place to visit. You can stay to see the bats fly out of the cave at sunset. Millions of them! It's wonderful. If you decide to go the southern route through New Mexico, it's a MUST to visit White Sands. Literally solid white sand dunes that stretch for miles. Like another world.
Sedona jeep tours on the cheap from Deal Chicken: https://www.dealchicken.com/phoenix-az/36133?source=em%7Cphoenix-az%7Cdailydeals%7Csr&sub=abelclan@cox.net&modal=no&et_cid=59929255&et_rid=abelclan@cox.net
You're gonna need six months.
Lol! What about boating on lake mead and/or checking out the Hoover dam? A once in a lifetime chance to drive on Rt 66, visit Seligman and possibly meet the man who saved it? I can't remember if anyone has mentioned canyon De Chelly? There is really a ton of things to do!
Wonderful! A lot of great suggestions...thank you all so much! If you think of any more keep posting. Yall are a great help!