Planning a vacation to Arizona and Southern Utah. Suggestions needed

The wife and I are planning on taking a vacation out west. While we have done a bit of traveling, neither of us have visited much of the Southwest, so we wanted to do that late this spring.

At this time we are planning on about 2 weeks, starting from the Dallas/Ft Worth area. Right now the plan is to leave on a Friday morning with the two of us and a dog, and head west to Carlsbad, NM, where we will stop for the night. Saturday will be spent checking out Carlsbad Caverns, and the local town, and probably stay the night, then head up to Roswell on Sunday. We arent big alien people, so just some time being tourist, and probably try to make Albuquerque that evening. Following day will be over to the Flagstaff/Sedona area, which will probably be our "base" are for the rest of the week.

We are wanting to do some sight seeing and offroading in the area, so we will be planning on the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Vermilion Cliffs, Antelope Canyon, The Wave, Cathedral Rock, etc. Also considering some stuff like hot air balloon ride, Grand Canyon tour, off road drive your own vehicle tours, etc.

From there plan on heading up to Southern Utah for the Red Cliffs, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase monument, etc, on the way back to TX.

We wont be going up to Moab on this trip, nor going into Nevada or CA, those will be follow-up trips. Dont want to get too far into really difficult offroading, as neither of us have a lot of experience, and we will be alone, a long way from home. But we do want to get off the beaten path, have some fun and adventure, and get in some sights. Dont mind hiking some, but the wife is dealing with some medical issues right now, so I dont want to plan on long hikes.

Anyone have any ideas, thoughts, things I am missing and should see, particular trails or roads, to hit or avoid, etc?

Thanks much!

Sedona is a beautiful area, as is Flagstaff. There is some decent wheeling in the Verde Valley as well. Oak Creek Canyon is beautiful, and if you like hanging out in rivers, swimming, ETC. There is a place called BullPen not too far. While in the Area, it may be worth it to check out Prescott. If you like old cowboy history, the famed Whiskey Row is there, right next to the courthouse where one of the fight scenes in the Movie 'Billy Jack' was filmed. Also, depending on when you go, Prescott is home to the worlds oldest rodeo. If you do go to Prescott, it's worth it in my opinion to go to the mountain town of Walker and just drive around on the dirt roads there. It's tucked away in the mountains, lots of pines and awesome little cabins everywhere. Last, I would suggest if you want to do some wheeling, hit up Crown King. Fun trail up to there, lots of history, and just a great place to experience. Have fun and let us know how it goes!

The town of Jerome is alittle west of Sedona, interesting place.

If you are going t be there do the Honeymoon Trail as seen in the 2013 JKX.

Thanks for the ideas! I will have to look up Jerome and Walker, as I am sure we will be in Prescott. May be able to check out the rodeo. Have been to the big one in Ft Worth 4-5 times, and that is always a good time.

Also, now I need to go watch the JKX videos again, see if I can actually get through the trail...

Elchupo, my family and I are going to Sedona tonight for 4 days. I'll be hitting broken arrow, soldiers trail and oak canyon for some fishing. I'll let you know how it turns out with pics.

Canvas JK said:

If you are going t be there do the Honeymoon Trail as seen in the 2013 JKX.

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Just made the wife watch the 2013 JKX again with me, and when we got to the Honeymoon Trail part and she saw it, she was down. So its officially "on the list".

Good call!

Hilop said:

Elchupo, my family and I are going to Sedona tonight for 4 days. I'll be hitting broken arrow, soldiers trail and oak canyon for some fishing. I'll let you know how it turns out with pics.

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Sounds fantastic, that would be great - thanks! What kind of fishing do you plan on doing? Used to fly fish with my dad, and have been trying to get back into it, and get the wife a fish. No luck with her when we went up to MO, or WY, but I might have to pack the fishing gear too, just in case...

I really like the Broken Arrow trail in Sedona. It's light wheeling and a pretty trail.

As for a base camp area there is a bit of driving between the Grand Canyon, antelope canyon and Sedona. I'd check out staying in Page Az for Antelope Canyon (sure to be a high light in your first week) or for a really nice experience stay at the Lake Powell resort it's just across the bridge from Antelope. Antelope Canyon is Indian land and you'll buy a ticket at one of the shops then the tribe takes you into the canyon.

What rim of the Grand Canyon are you looking to hit? If it's the North Rim there is one road in and out and it's a bit of a drive from Page Az, plan for four hours.

Sounds like an epic trip! You'll be hitting some of my favorite NP's and you're sure to love it!

You may want to look into the wave ahead of time. It's a hike and I think it's a lotto system to get the passes unless you've been on list for awhile. But don't quote me it's been a few years since I last looked into it. It's still on my bucket list.

On your drive between Bryce and Zion consider taking the U.S. Highway/Byway roads, it's really scenic.

Subscribed. The wife and I are planning a trip out west in May. Going to rent an RV possibly and pull the Jeep behind us. We're headed out for about a month. Hopefully finding a nice place to settle down into. Tired of living in frigid Maine.

let me know when you make it to Sedona/ Prescott area. I will see if I am available, extremely busy this year but may be able to do a day

Trail JK said:

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You may want to look into the wave ahead of time. It's a hike and I think it's a lotto system to get the passes unless you've been on list for awhile. But don't quote me it's been a few years since I last looked into it. It's still on my bucket list.

On your drive between Bryce and Zion consider taking the U.S. Highway/Byway roads, it's really scenic.

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Thanks for the info, will check out Page. Probably hang out around Sedona for most of the week, maybe check out the south rim of the GC, then head up the second weekend to Lake Powell and the Page, AZ area for a day or two, then go over to the North Rim and do the Honeymoon trail, and spend a few days in Utah before making a slow trek back checking out the sights on the way.

thanks for the heads up on the Wave, as well. We will just plan on missing it this time, and trying to hit it on a future trip, maybe when we spend more time in Utah and Nevada.

ChrisMR589 said:

Subscribed. The wife and I are planning a trip out west in May. Going to rent an RV possibly and pull the Jeep behind us. We're headed out for about a month. Hopefully finding a nice place to settle down into. Tired of living in frigid Maine.

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We will be in the area the 2 middle weeks of May. Its not exactly "frigid" in TX, but we are always looking for "Maybe Someday" places! If you will be around, maybe we can meet up with firecrew1.

firecrew1 said:

let me know when you make it to Sedona/ Prescott area. I will see if I am available, extremely busy this year but may be able to do a day

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Maybe we can meet up for a day trip or something. Nothing against you (or Chris), but I dont think I will be able to take more than a day out of the schedule, and I understand the busy part! We will have one of our dogs with us, and would love to meet up and wheel, or maybe just grab dinner or stop to shake hands and wish you a great day, however that goes.

Subscribed. Happy to join you for some wheeling in Sedona. We just got back from a fun trip through Broken Arrow Trail yesterday. I live in Scottsdale just two hours away.

While in Flagstaff there is Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater, Wupatki Indian Monument.

may also want to run smiley rock just outside Jerome, or smasher canyon in Clarkdale

Some medical issues have come up, and there is a surgery scheduled on May 8th, so it looks like we will be delaying this trip for a while. Dont know if it will be later this year, or if we will visit another location, and save this for next spring.

Thanks for the advice and offers!

Matt

el_chupo_ said:

Some medical issues have come up, and there is a surgery scheduled on May 8th, so it looks like we will be delaying this trip for a while. Dont know if it will be later this year, or if we will visit another location, and save this for next spring.

Thanks for the advice and offers!

Matt

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Sorry to hear that Matt. Keeping yall in my prayers.

Sorry to hear that!!! Keep us updated on the rescheduled trip and we'll throw more suggestions at you!

Appreciate it, thank you both.

This was something we knew was coming, but things got pushed up when a "non invasive" procedure on the wife induced quite a bit of pain. Solution is surgery we were hoping to push off for 5 years, but thats the way the cookie crumbles.

Plans are just delayed, still definitely planning on some time out west!