Travelers en route from Flagstaff Arizona to Wupatki/Sunset Crater National Monument, Lake Powell, Zion National Park, and other points North must be prepared for possible delays as ADOT crews shift traffic on US Highway 89 at Fanning Drive.  This would also apply to those taking the Eastern route from Flagstaff to Grand Canyon South Rim via Cameron. 
The US89/Fanning Drive [...]
Read the rest of this entry

We are staying one night in Vegas, getting a rental car, stopping at the Hoover Dam, then hiking and backpacking down the canyon. We my stay another night in vegas on the way back to the airport. I was wondering if there is some other neat little town or something different to do in between.

During the long drive to Grand Canyon you pass through Kingman, a mining town. Williams there is a cool train that takes you to and from the Canyon. Between are some of the most open spaces, no telephone poles or signs of humanity against Mother Nature. Enjoy the scenery including the cactus and red cliffs. On the way to Hoover Dam you will pass through Henderson and onto Boulder City, a small quaint town with wonderful small shops. Enjoy the houses built on the edge of BC for the Dam construction supervisors, now worth plenty.

Some things about the Grand Canyon never cease to amaze me…. well, the Grand Canyon never ceases to amaze me, but that’s a given.   What amazes me is that in this day and age of information on demand, MapQuest, Google Earth, et al., I still continue to field questions from folks having difficulty [...]
Read the rest of this entry

i understand the drive is about 700 miles 14 hours …is this about right? if so it is definately too much to drive in 1 day. thnx for your time

`I’m baffled about this Q
Where did the 700 miles number come from ?
It should be an easy and super scenic one day drive If I was doing this drive (and I have many times and in all seasons) and I was in a hurry I would route it like this
Pop this into mapquest exactly like this :GCN> Colorado City AZ > Hurricane UT >SLC<<554.58 miles
Make sure that you fill-up in Cameron AZ& Hurricane UT
Note :The turnoff for 89A at Bitter Springs AZ can be a little tricky the first time.If you’re about to start climbing a steep grade ,then you missed it .Go back and find it
If you haven’t driven the downhill run thru Zion NP (and you really should )
Modify that to this :
GCN>Fredonia AZ>Mount Carmel Junction UT>Hurricane UT >SLC >>570 miles
Having driven it many times I can honestly say that the SR 64 > US89N >US89A and then back to US 89 at Kanab UT is one of my favorite stretches of road in America
If you just want to get there then do it this way
GCN>Page AZ>SLC> 533.5miles
Note Don’t do that routing on a friday night b/c people towing boats from Phoenix to Lake Powell will really slow you down from Cameron to Page

We are planning to spend 2 weeks holiday. We’d like to visit Grand Canyon (4 or 5 days) and San Francisco (3 days?).
Is it realistic to drive from SF to Grand Canyon in that time? Any suggestions? Thanks!

Yup, surely possible. I drove from SFO to GC, drove for about 6 hours (including 3 stops), stayed overnight at Mohave and then did about 6-7 hours the next day. Just make sure you do most of the driving early in the day or later in the afternoon since it’s summer time. I am guessing you’re driving in summer. It does get extremely hot in the desert. Here’s the combination I did and it was pretty smooth drive:
101 to 152 to 5 to 46 to 99 to 58 to 40 to 64.

Check out my old question and some real helpful answers at this link:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnRxRU3aER7Qh.qcw.RueEjty6IX?qid=20061218122605AAKsvyS

Just some helpful tips:
- Keep plenty of water with you.
- As soon as the gas in tank is less than half, fill it up (in the desert they sell the gas pretty expensive and it’s possible to run out of it with A/C shooting off on hot summer days).
- Rest at nights, do not drive after 10 PM, get enough sleep so you can drive during day time.

Have a great vacation!

I’ll be driving from vegas to grand canyon. I would like to know what is the best and cheap tours for grand canyon. Please give me advice me. Its a one day trip.

If you can drive from Vegas, you’re already set. The Grand Canyon National Park South Rim is open all year round, 24/7 and it’s $25/car. This fee is good for both the north and south rim for seven days. The Grand Canyon Village has a free shuttle bus that takes you along the rim and drops you off and picks you up at various scenic spots. The visitor center has some great information. It’s about a 5 hour drive from LV, so leave early. We did it last summer, stopped for a short time at Hoover Dam, and took the slightly longer way to drive down Route 66. We did the whole thing in one very long day.
I’ve also gone on guided tours to the North Rim, and the Hualapai Indian Reservation, but, although fun, that was really pricey! It was a few years ago, and it still cost almost $300 per person. Lunch was included, but still….
Here is a link for some tours/activities for mule/horse/raft/helicopter trips: (I’m not so computer savvy, so you’ll have to copy and paste to get it to work.)
http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm

Here are links to Grand Canyon maps that will assist you in planning your trip. The files are in PDF format, which means you will need a PDF Reader (free). You can save the maps to your computer or print them. The quality is fantastic and the information is current.

Grand Canyon Area Map
(83kb PDF File)
Positions Grand Canyon National Park in relation to Las Vegas, Nevada, Flagstaff, Arizona, and major regional highways.

============================

South Rim Village Map
(371kb PDF File)
Plan on driving into the park? This map shows the layout of the village, including how the road has been changed near Mather Point. A must for bus tour travelers.

============================

South Rim Village Shuttle Bus Map
The South Rim – including the
East Rim Drive and Desert View
grand-canyon-south-rim-east-rim-map
(237kb PDF File)
Takes you from South Rim, Grand Canyon Village all the way to the East Rim.

============================

The South Rim – including the
East Rim Drive and Desert View
(237kb PDF File)
Takes you from South Rim, Grand Canyon Village all the way to the East Rim.

============================

Grand Canyon Panorama Map
South and North Rim
(317kb PDF File)
Generalized overview. Distant features are at a smaller scale than foreground areas. Excellent map letting you know what’s on the “other” side.

============================

Lots of folks take the Las Vegas to Grand Canyon tour bus to the South Rim. If that’s you, I highly recommend that you download the South Rim Village Map and the Shuttle Bus map.