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Dear Arizona Travel:

I am visiting my son in February who lives in Phoenix, my sister and daughter are coming along and have never been to Arizona.  We are only there 4 days and I want to give them a crash course of the area.  We will be in Sedona for a night and would like to drive to the Canyon from there.  If we arrive at around 11:00am can we see some of the overlooks by just spending the day??  Say from 11:00 to 5:00?? Can’t find anything that gives me the distance we need to travel once we arrive? Realize this is all weather permitting but none of us have seen it and this could be our last shot. My son graduates in June!!
Any help our suggestions would be appreciated.  I have a triptik from AAA showing how to get there from Sedona, just don’t know how much time to allow, or if doable in a day?   Thank you for your time.
–Marlene

Read my suggestions for an hour-by-hour timeline on seeing the South Rim in just an afternoon, after the bump.

Hi, Marlene.  You absolutely can spend 11am – 5pm at the South Rim viewing different overlooks.  It’s hard to tell you how much you’ll be traveling once you get inside the park, as it’s up to you how much you want to do.  However, I highly recommend parking your car at one of the many parking lots and then riding the very easy hop-on-hop-off shuttle around the South Rim area also known as Grand Canyon Village.  You can also walk to several viewpoints along the Rim Trail…you can walk as little as 0.5 mile or up to 11 miles from one end to another.

If you like guided talks and information from park rangers, I highly recommend that you call  (928) 638-2771 before you even arrive to reserve spots for the Kolb Studio talk, which is limited to 12 participants only.  More on that later…

11:00 am

I would start your visit near the Verkamp’s Visitor Center (where you’ll also be near the historic El Tovar Hotel and Bright Angel Lodge and the Grand Canyon Railway train depot.)  You can do the 45 to 60-minute ranger-guided Rim Walk starting at 11am at the Verkamp’s Visitor Center.

11:45 am

Hop in your car and head 7 miles west to Hermits Rest – a popular overlook. (No Hermit Road shuttle available December – February.)

12:30 pm

I would have lunch at the El Tovar Hotel Lounge overlooking the rim. No reservations, it’s a first-come, first-served…but because you are visiting in the off-peak season, you should have little trouble if any.

2:00 pm

Here’s why I recommend making reservations for the Kolb Studio talk (Kolb Studio is back near the Verkamp’s Center.) Kolb Studio, built in 1904, spills five levels down the canyon wall. The Kolb brothers played an integral role in the early years of development at Grand Canyon. From the studio they photographed countless visitors as they began their mule trips. Fascinating stuff!

2:45 pm

Hop on the shuttle (no cars allowed) to Canyon View Plaza, where you’ll find a visitor center, bookstore, restrooms and a short walk to the beautiful lookout at Mather Point.  This is on the east end of Grand Canyon Village.

So to sum up, plan on driving or riding the shuttle up to 20 miles or so within Grand Canyon Village (7 miles out and back to Hermits Rest to the west, and about 2 miles each way to Canyon View Plaza to the east.)  Allow yourself about four hours inside Grand Canyon Village.

4:00 pm

Last, you have two options on exiting the park.  Of course you can head south back through Tusayan toward Williams (if it’s snowy, do this and get south of Flagstaff before the sun sets at around 6pm. You want to avoid the high-country area highways in the snow and the dark.) If it’s clear skies, here’s what I would do: You can see several beautiful overlooks by taking the Desert View Drive (Hwy 64) from Grand Canyon Village out toward the east entrance to the South Rim. This road is 26 miles and will let you out of the park near Cameron (check out the Cameron Trading Post) and then you would take Hwy 89 South back into Flagstaff.  If you take this route, plan on an hour of driving from Grand Canyon Village to Flagstaff without stops.. But because I know you want to see overlooks, give yourselves two hours with stops and weather considerations.

Winter at the Grand Canyon – Helpful Tips

Remember to dress warmly in layers.  It is cold on the rim in the winter (Feburary high 45 / low 21) and you’ll want warm shoes with plenty of grip or tread.  The overlook points are often accessed by stairs that get slippery in the wet snow and ice.  Use caution, but enjoy yourselves!  You will love seeing the Canyon in the winter. I hope the weather is just perfect for you!

PS:
Please find here links to a map of Grand Canyon Village

http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/200909village_map.pdf

and to The Guide, the national park’s visitor newspaper.

http://www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/upload/2009-10winterSRguide.pdf

These are two excellent national park offerings that really help the visitor visualize the lay of the land and get tons of info.

Enjoy your trip!

Tags: day trip, Dear Arizona Travel Q&A, Grand Canyon, itinerary, South rim, winter