Sedona area things to do and Grand Canyon

[bbodb1]

If you are planning on doing a number of national parks you may want to consider getting a Annual Park pass. A Grand Canyon admission is $30 per Vehicle for a 7 day admission. An annual pass is $80, this cover pass holder and all vehicle occupants at parks where admission is by vehicle, it cover pass holder and 3 guest at parks where admission is per person.

So do a little planning on your NP visits and figure out Fees.

I opted for an annual pass and used it for two trips instead of one.

There are a few FREE entrance days each year, you could also look them up and see if that aligns with your dates.

It is worth doing a little thinking first.

Sandy,

Just to confirm - is this the pass you are talking about? The America the Beautiful Pass?

Thanks!

 

[SmithOp]

Sandy,

Just to confirm - is this the pass you are talking about? The America the Beautiful Pass?

Thanks!

Yes, thats the one. I just got the Senior version. It works at the NPS trailhead parking lots.

The weekly pass is $15 and readily available at all lots, there are solar powered machines that take credit cards. I have purchased that on previous trips.

All this talk about Sedona made me book a visit too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Sandy VDH]

Sandy,

Just to confirm - is this the pass you are talking about? The America the Beautiful Pass?

Thanks!

Yes as SmithOp said, that is the one.

It $80 for the annual pass. If you are US citizen over the age of 62 you can get a seniors lifetime pass for a one time fee to process the card (it went up $10 or $20 now I think.)

Not a senior yet, so I planned two trips on mine, a fall trip one year and a late spring trip the following year. It is good to the end of the 12 month from the day you get your pass.

So if conveniently you happen to be traveling at the beginning of the month of say May 2017, the pass will be good through the last day of May 2018. It is NOT a calendar year, but rather 12 months from when you get it.

 

[mdurette]

Thanks for the info on the Sr. Pass.....Dad (of age to get) just decided to join us in Sedona and I will have him get one while we are there. Looks like he can buy at Red Rock Visitors Center.

On another note: I decided to take a tour from Sedona to Grand Canyon. Found a groupon for less than $400 for the 4 of us. I know, could have drove myself, but to be honest I really felt that if I did that we would have drove, took a peek, said cool and turned back around and came back. This way someone else gets to deal with the driving...there will be stops along the way to other interesting sites and we have a guide. For us at least....I think having someone there to make it interesting/informative is going to be worth it.

I also found a groupon for a jeep tour - saved a few $$ there too.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Just make sure you Dad has proof of age and residency/citizenship in order to get Senior Lifetime Pass.

Website says....You must be a permanent U.S. resident, or a U.S. citizen with identification such as U.S. Driver's License, Green Card or U.S. Passport.

 

[vns]

Thanks for starting this thread, very informative. We are also visiting Sedona last week of August. Have exchanged into Hyatt PP for a week. We are still planning, We are thinking of flying into LV on a Tuesday and spending 4 days visiting Zion, Bryce, Page and GC south rim before we checkin into HPP on Saturday. Chilling in the resort visiting local attractions for a week and flying out of PHX. Is the 4 day road trip too much to take on ? Cann't leave any earlier that Tuesday due to work constraint.
We are active couple with 2 kids 9yrs and 7yrs !!! Any suggestions ?

 

[sue1947]

Note that the National Park pass works for National Forest or National Park lands. However, it does NOT work for state parks like Red Rock or Slide Rock SP. Those have a separate entrance fee.

Also note: when I was there in January quite a few places we visited warned of not following gps directions to the park. The gps systems all seemed to use roads that either no longer existed or didn't go where they said they did.

Sue

 

[vns]

Thanks for starting this thread, very informative. We are also visiting Sedona last week of August. Have exchanged into Hyatt PP for a week. We are still planning, We are thinking of flying into LV on a Tuesday and spending 4 days visiting Zion, Bryce, Page and GC south rim before we checkin into HPP on Saturday. Chilling in the resort visiting local attractions for a week and flying out of PHX. Is the 4 day road trip too much to take on ? Cann't leave any earlier that Tuesday due to work constraint.
We are active couple with 2 kids 9yrs and 7yrs !!! Any suggestions ?

Actually, not 4 days. We will be flying from East coast, so we'll just crash on Tuesday. Planning to book JW Marriott as it is away from the strip using rewards for 2 night. Wednessday morning - Hoover dam, late afternoon catch a kid friendly show in Las Vegas. Leave Thrusday morning to Zion and Bryce. Stay Thrusday night in Zion. Leave Friday morning to Page, Cover surrounding Lake Powell and Antelope canyons and Stay around Page on Friday night. Leave Saturday morning to GC and get to HPP around 4-5PM on Saturday ! Just did a google map, and seems doable. Any suggestion for places to stay in/around Zion and Page ?

 

[WalnutBaron]

I know everyone is different, but your itinerary before you get to HPP seems so hurried that it feels like you're going to do a "fly-by" vacation for the first half of it. "Okay, Kids, wave to Bryce Canyon while we drive by...and now on to the Grand Canyon!" If it were me, I'd choose to take more time, get into the park and do some hiking, and really explore. I think you might get frustrated by trying to do too much in too little time and feel like you cheated yourself. So if it was me, I'd recommend choosing 1 or 2 of the parks--but definitely not three--and planning to spend a little more time at those you visit. My own personal preference would be Grand Canyon as a first choice and Bryce as a second choice.

 

[WinniWoman]

Thanks for the info on the Sr. Pass.....Dad (of age to get) just decided to join us in Sedona and I will have him get one while we are there. Looks like he can buy at Red Rock Visitors Center.

On another note: I decided to take a tour from Sedona to Grand Canyon. Found a groupon for less than $400 for the 4 of us. I know, could have drove myself, but to be honest I really felt that if I did that we would have drove, took a peek, said cool and turned back around and came back. This way someone else gets to deal with the driving...there will be stops along the way to other interesting sites and we have a guide. For us at least....I think having someone there to make it interesting/informative is going to be worth it.

I also found a groupon for a jeep tour - saved a few $$ there too.

Yes- and his pass will be good for all of you in one car. My husband got his last year when we were in Lincoln- at the visitor center.

BUT- you won't need it as you are doing the tour. That is a good idea also.

 

[shorts]

Thanks for the info on the Sr. Pass.....Dad (of age to get) just decided to join us in Sedona and I will have him get one while we are there. Looks like he can buy at Red Rock Visitors Center.

I'm not sure when your trip is, but you may not want to wait for your Dad to get his Pass. The National Park Senior Pass is going up in price this year to $80 the same as the regular annual pass although it is still a lifetime pass. An annual pass is available for $20 and can be applied toward the cost of the lifetime pass. They have not announced a date for when this will take effect just some time this year.

If he is not close to a location to purchase a pass now, I believe he can purchase online and just pay an extra $10 shipping charge making the total only $20 for the lifetime pass.

Have a great trip. We loved Sedona, Jerome, the Grand Canyon and all the surrounding areas.

 

[mdurette]

Hello All - OP here and we are back from our trip to Sedona. WOW - what a beautiful place. I wanted something different for this trip and it certainly fit the bill. For all of you following and looking for ideas, here are the major things we did, the rest of the time was filled easily with walking around, checking out shops, etc. At the last minute my father joined us, so it we were two adults, a senior and 11 year old.

Day 1: Two trolley tours of the area. We did these to get an idea of the area so when we ventured out on our own we would be familiar with things. One to Boyton Valley and the other Chapel of Holy Cross. They were just ok, we did via a groupon purchase so the cost wasn't much. Not worth the full price.

Day 2: Jeep tour. We didn't do an extreme/rugged one due to the mix of people. But had a lot of fun. If you have kids only...I would bet the bumpier ride would be more fun for them.

Day 3: All day tour of Grand Canyon. Highly recommend for first time visitors. Cost was a bit more than $300 with a groupon and well worth the money. The driver we had was so informative. And the best part was I didn't have to drive (I don't mind it - but it being the driver you miss out on what the area had to offer since you have to watch the roads so much).

Day 4: Out of Africa Wildlife Park - we did VIP experience, this was our splurge and very much worth it. I thought we would be only a few hours there - we spent the entire day. Great time.

Day 5: Scenic drives all around - focused on red rock state park area.

Day 6: Horse riding at Dead Horse Ranch state park followed by a visit to Jerome.

I wrote detailed review of the resort on TUG for your viewing - it should be up as soon as its approved.

Thanks All for the advice - wish we had more time to do more, but what we did was great!

 

[WalnutBaron]

Hello All - OP here and we are back from our trip to Sedona. WOW - what a beautiful place. I wanted something different for this trip and it certainly fit the bill.

Thanks All for the advice - wish we had more time to do more, but what we did was great!

So glad you had such a great time, mdurette, and thanks so much for sharing with us all of your adventures. DW and I agree! Sedona is such a singularly beautiful area, and we felt it a privilege to be able to be there and just immerse ourselves in the Red Rocks region.

I'm also glad you decided to save Bryce and Zion for another trip. They, too, are spectacular--but not for a one-week trip. One of the things folks from the northeast don't have an appreciation for unless they've spent time here in the West is that just because a place you'd like to visit is in a neighboring state, it doesn't mean one can just drive over and see it easily. Distances are huge here as compared to much smaller distances in New England. I spent three years living on Cape Cod during the early part of my career and loved being able to drive through parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Connecticut on one 3-day weekend.

In any case, very nice of you to share your itinerary with us, and I'm looking forward to your review of Hyatt Pinon Pointe.

 

[mdurette]

Oh yeah...one tip for the resort (or probably any Sedona property) the lighting is dim at night on purpose so you can see the lovely stars at night. If you have a small flashlight, bring it with you to walk around at night. HPP provides flashlights but they big and bulky. A small LED flashlight to throw in your pocket or purse would be perfect!