Phoenix to Grand Canyon (Top Sites + 5 Day Itinerary) - 10 Traveling Feet (2024)

Phoenix, Arizona to the Grand Canyon is a absolutely phenomenal vacation adventure to take with your family. This area is simply bursting with awe-inspiring scenery and mind-blowing activities that are sure to impress and create memories that will last a lifetime.

Our family was completely blown away by how incredible this area of Arizona was. There are so many diverse and stunning landscapes to see (aside from the impressive Grand Canyon.) There is so much history here to try and understand from enormous meteor craters to vast lava fields to numerous Native American dwellings. And the hiking here is absolutely fantastic! (And perfect for families!)

Below, I would love to share with you the top sites that our family found on our own vacation from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon.These are our favorite sites, the best kid-friendly trails that we hiked and I’ll give you our 7 day itinerary in hopes that this can help you more easily plan a spectacular adventure from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon with your own family.

Montezuma Castle is one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America!Built approximately 800 years ago by the Sinagua Indians, this incredible 5 story, 20 room building lies practically hidden among the limestone cliffs in the Verde Valley of Central Arizona.

Today you can only gaze at it from afar, but our family really enjoyed visiting this site and trying to imagine what it was like living up in this cliff-side dwelling hundreds of years ago.

10 Traveling Feet Fun Fact: Along the 0.4 mile loop path to see Montezuma Castle there are white barked trees with gnarled branches. These are Arizona Sycamores and they can be over 200 years old!

Where is Montezuma Castle Located?

Montezuma Castle is right off of I-17N and about 1.5 hours north of Phoenix, Arizona.

Sedona is a great town that is completely surrounded by a spectacular landscape full of majestic red rock formations and stunning scenery. This is a true hiker’s paradise and there are breathtaking trails for all levels and ages.

Our family was seriously impressed with Sedona. Before visiting I had no idea just how beautiful it would be. Sedona’s dramatic landscape, incredible atmosphere and its ever-changing colors that dance upon these rocks simply took our breath away. We highly recommend visiting!

10 Traveling Feet Tip: If you are able to, try and catch one of Sedona’s phenomenal sunsets and/or sunrises. They are completely breathtaking!

Where is Sedona Located?

Sedona is located just 2 hours north of Phoenix, Arizona and 2 hours south of the Grand Canyon.

Read More:

5 Easy Hikes in Sedona Your Family Shouldn’t Miss!

The West Fork of Oak Creek Trail in the Coconino National Forest is an insanely fun trail that is full of gorgeous scenery, spectacular rock formations and it crosses a creek 13 times! Just grab some water shoesand walk all or part of this 3.3 mile one way, shady, breathtaking trail. It’s Fantastic!

10 Traveling Feet Tip: Arrive early to hike this trail. (Due to it’s popularity the parking lot fills up quickly.) There is also a charge to park at this trailhead.

Where is West Fork of Oak Creek Trail Located?

The West Fork of Oak Creek is located just 10 miles north of Sedona.

At Walnut Canyon National Monument you can walk through an ancient cliff dwelling consisting of 25 cliff-side rooms! These dwellings were once inhabited by the Sinagua people. It’s amazing to think how these Native Americans accessed these dwellings so high up in the cliff and lived here for so many years.

Where is Walnut Canyon National Monument Located?

Walnut Canyon is located on the east side of Flagstaff, AZ. (Flagstaff is 2 hours north of Phoenix.)

I’ll admit, I was unsure about visiting Meteor Crater Natural Landmark when I first saw that it was privately owned and kind of pricey, but I am so glad we decided to go. This incredible crater is ~1 mile across and ~700′ deep! It is also the best preserved impact site on Earth!

Our family thoroughly enjoyed seeing this impressive site. Just to give you an idea of this crater’s size, there is a cut out of a 6 foot tall person down in the center. (You can see this cut out with a telescope that they provide). But in the picture above there are four real people standing along it’s rim on the side closest to me. There are simply no words to describe how small you feel standing next to this massive hole!

The museum at this site is excellent too! Our children really loved all of the interactive videos of how meteors impact Earth and they were really excited to be able to touch a pillow sized meteor fragment from the site that weighed over 1,400lbs!

Where is Meteor Crater Natural Landmark Located?

Meteor Crater lies 45 minutes east of Flagstaff, Arizona. This would be a fun side trip off the direct route from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon.

Petrified Forest National Park is one of the largest concentrations of petrified wood in the world! View miles upon miles of beautifully-colored petrified wood lying scatted across the ground. Several short trails here will take you out among the large groupings of petrified wood and let you get a closer look at its amazing colors!

Our family really enjoyed visiting the Petrified Forest and learning about how all of these petrified logs came to be. Don’t miss Giant Logs Loop and Crystal Forest Loop in this park for some fantastic examples of petrified wood. And as you continue through this park, make sure you check out Blue Mesa Trail (see picture below.) It was like walking through another world!

Where is the Petrified Forest Located?

The Petrified Forest is 1 hour 45 minutes east of Flagstaff, Arizona. This would be a longer side trip off the direct route between Phoenix, Arizona and the Grand Canyon, but it’s definitely worth it if you have the extra time.

At the end of your visit, continue on this road and you’ll immediately end up in another incredible area called the Painted Desert (see our next top site below).

Read More:

Petrified Forest/ Painted Desert, AZ

(Important Information You Don’t Want to Miss!)

Journey through a land of beautifully colored scenery in the northern section of the Petrified Forest National Park. Numerous overlooks and fun trails will immerse you into this fascinating and unearthly landscape. Visit in the late afternoon or early evening to watch the colors explode and dance across these hills.

Where is the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert Located?

The Painted Desert is on the north side of the Petrified Forest National Park and lies 1 hour 45 minutes east of Flagstaff, Arizona.

Did you know that you can visit a volcano and walk in its lava flow in Arizona? Just 30 minutes north of Flagstaff, AZ (or about 2 hours south of the Grand Canyon) is Sunset Crater Volcano. Here, around 1085 A.D., a powerful eruption dramatically altered the landscape and changed the lives of the people that once lived here forever.

When I first discovered Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, I knew I had to visit with my family. My children had never seen a volcano, let alone be able to walk in a lava flow! This was a great opportunity that I didn’t want to miss! Here, our family had a blast hiking on both the Lava Flow Trail (1 mile) and the Aa Flow trail (0.2 miles). We highly recommend both trails! Just imagine walking on a lava flow that cooled over 900 years ago. This is truly an incredible experience!

Where is Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Located?

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument is located 25 minutes north of Flagstaff, AZ and just over an hour south of Grand Canyon’s Desert View Watch Tower.

In just a 20 minute drive north from Sunset Crater Volcano you can find the ancient pueblos of Wupatki. Ruins of these prehistoric villages dot the landscape today across an environment where food and water would seem impossible to find. And yet 900 years ago populations here used to thrive.

The Wupatki Pueblo (shown above) is the largest of the pueblos found at this national monument. Here, there are about 100 rooms in ruins that you can walk around.

Our family really enjoyed seeing this ancient pueblo and imagining what life must have been like to live here. But it’s actually not the ruins that impressed us the most about this site, even though the ruins themselves are pretty cool. What impressed us the most is found along the bottom of the trail, just past these ruins. This trail will take you to their ancient ball court. And here you will find“the blowhole.”

“The Blowhole” is a fascinating geological feature. Here, cold air naturally flies out of the Earth through a small opening. The ancient Native Americans used this natural phenomenon to their advantage. They built a small structure around it and basically created an outdoor air conditioner! We were ecstatic to feel this blast of continuously cold air! This air caused our hair to fly and cooled us off in the hot Arizona sun. It was an amazing experience and something you won’t want to miss!

Where is the Wupatki National Monument Located?

Wupatki National Monument is located just over 30 minutes north of Flagstaff, Arizona and right off US-89. It is also just over 15 minutes north of Sunset Crater Volcano and about 50 minutes south of Grand Canyon’s Desert View Watch Tower.

The impressive Grand Canyon National Park certainly needs no introduction. It alone is the reason why many people travel to Arizona and it’s not hard to see why. Witness millions of years of geologic history layered in bands across this magnificent canyon that is 277 river miles long, up to 18 miles wide and a mile deep. Here your senses will become overwhelmed from its immense size and breathtaking scenery. This truly is a spectacular place to visit!

Our family began our Grand Canyon Adventure on the east side of the South Rim at the Desert View Watch Tower, which has a fantastic view (and restrooms.) We then drove west, along the rim, and really enjoyed our scenic overlook stops at Navajo Point, Lipan and Grand View Point before reaching the Grand Canyon Visitor Center.

The main area near the Grand Canyon Visitor Center has a ton of fantastic viewpoints to check out like Mather Point and Yavapai Point. We also chose to hike the Kaibab Trail to Ohh Ahh Point so that we could venture below the rim. This is 1.8 miles round trip and 671 feet down into the canyon. But this also means that it is a steep 671 feet back up. It was a tough journey back up but our 7 year old did great on it and the views were beyond spectacular!

Looking for an Incredible Experience?

Try the Popular 45-minute Helicopter Flight Over the Grand Canyon

Day 1:

• Fly to Phoenix, Arizona
  • After we landed at 9:20am, we went to eat at Mat’s Big Breakfast, just 10 minutes from the airport. It was fantastic!
• Drive 1 hour 40 minutes to Montezuma Castle National Monument. (~30-45 minutes)
• Allowed 50 minutes to slowly drive the beautiful Red Rock Scenic Byway (SR 179) to our hotel in Sedona. Sky Rock Inn of Sedona
• We ate an early dinner at the Hideway House. It’s just 5 minutes from the Sky Rock Inn of Sedona. They had really great salads and pizza.
• Sunset Hike on Doe Mountain Trail (We allowed 2 hours to enjoy this trail, just make sure you allow plenty of time to hike down off the mountain before the sun fully sets.)

Day 2:

• Sunrise at Airport Mesa Overlook.
  • We had a picnic breakfast while watching the sunrise. (There’s a Whole Foods next to the Sky Rock Inn where we picked up supplies the night before.)
• Hike at Bell Rock/ Courthouse Butte Loop (this trail took us 2 hours and 40 minutes. If you are short on time then just stop at Bell Rock and hike near there or skip it and you can see Bell Rock from a pullout along the road itself.)
• Pink Jeep 2 hour Tour – Broken Arrow Trail
• Rest at the hotel during the heat of the day.
  • We had an AMAZING early dinner at Picazzo’s Healthy Italien Kitchen. The pizza was absolutely incredible!
• Early Evening/Sunset hike at Fay Canyon.(We hiked for 1 hour and 45 minutes)

Day 3:

• Drive 30 minutes to West Fork at Oak Creek Trail. We hiked 3.5 miles in for a total of 7 miles (~4 hours), but you can go less and still see great scenery on this spectacular out-and-back trail.
  • We grabbed fast food for lunch as we passed through Flagstaff.
  • And we picked up Subway Sandwiches to have a picnic dinner overlooking the Painted Desert later that night. (We use this wonderful IceMule cooler bag to keep food cold for all 5 of us when we travel. We love it!)
• We drove 2 hours (from the West Fork Trail) and passed several sites, to get to the Petrified Forest, so that we could see it and finish it in time to see the late afternoon/early evening colors light up the Painted Desert. (The evening colors are amazing!)
  • Please note that this park may close before sunset so check the closing time before you go.
  • We spent 3.5 hours at Petrified Forest/ Painted Desert.
• We stayed at the Best Western Arizonian Inn, just 20 minutes down the road and enjoyed our stay there.

Day 4:

• From the hotel shown above, we drove 55 minutes to Meteor Crater Natural Landmark
  • We spent 1.5 hours here, but we spent a lot of time with the hands on interactions in their museum with our kids.
• Then drive 1 hour to Sunset Crater Volcanic National Monument. (~45 minutes)
  • (We didn’t have time on this specific trip but you could also stop at Walnut Canyon on the way. It’s 40 minutes west of Meteor Crater, on the east side of Flagstaff.)
• Next drive 30 minutes from Sunset Crater to Wupatki National Monument. (~45 minutes to visit)
  • We ate lunch in Cameron, AZ but the restaurant we ate at is closed now. There are very few choices out in this area but the Cameron Trading Post near here is ranked well.
• Drive 50 minutes to Desert View Watchtower. You’ll enter at the Grand Canyon East Entrance shortly before you get to the Watchtower.
• Drive along Desert View Drive to the Grand Canyon National Park Visitor Center.
• We chose to take an evening hike on the Kaibab Trail to Ooh Ahh Point.
  • 1.8 miles and about 2 hours to hike for our family.
• From Mather Point and Yavapai Point we watched the sun set with beautiful colors bursting from the canyon walls.
• We stayed the night in the Grand Canyon Village at the Maswik Lodge and really enjoyed it. They have a food court here too if you’re looking for something quick to eat.

Day 5:

• Watched the sunrise over the Grand Canyon at Yavapai Point.
• Our family left the Grand Canyon mid-morning.
  • We continued on toward Las Vegas to continue our trip. This drive is about 4 hours and 30 minutes.
  • You could easily return back to Phoenix to fly out. This is a 3 hours and 30 minute drive.
• If you needed to, you could fly out this evening if you only had 5 days.
• If you have more time, then you could alter this schedule and spend more time in Flagstaff, Phoenix or at the Grand Canyon itself.

Phoenix, AZ to Grand Canyon

This 5 day itinerary of Phoenix, AZ to Grand Canyon National Park was our own family’s itinerary when traveling between these two destinations and for us, it was amazing!

I realize that this schedule may be too fast-paced for some people, but this is how we enjoy traveling. We try to make every moment count and see as much as we can with limited vacation time. So please just look at this as a suggestion of one way to see these incredible sites.

I hope you found this information helpful in your planning and that you even discovered several sites that you would like to visit on the way to Grand Canyon National Park from Phoenix, AZ.

Have a Great Trip with Your Traveling Feet!

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