Things to see/do between Grand Canyon South Rim & Anaheim

Figment&Piglet

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Oct 28, 2000
After spending some time in Sedona and then the Grand Canyon South Rim, we will be driving to Anahem to stay at Disneyland. Instead of one long driving day, we are going to take the "scenic route" and drive Route 66 for as much of the drive as we can, and are planning to stop in Kingman overnight and splitting the drive over two days.

So...I need any tips and ideas for places to stop and things to do and see in those 2 days. Any thoughts? Also, given where we'd spend the most time, was Kingman the best choice for overnight?

This will be mid-August.

TIA!
 
I was originally going to say it depends since you say Sedona. If you were taking the 10, i would check out Joshua Tree, but since you are taking 40, maybe Calico ghost town? Otherwise not a whole lot I can think of.
 
Yeah there's really not much along that route except desert scenery and some "historic" small towns. Calico is interesting for an hour or so but will be brutally hot in mid-August. Personally I would do one long driving day and spend more time at DL or in AZ.
 
Check out the Grand Canyon Caverns. It's off Rte. 66. and we discovered it by chance just checking out the roadside attractions we saw billboards and signs for. It looked a little scary (creepy) when we pulled up LOL but the tour was really cool. It was a little pricey (adults $20 per person) but after we did the tour, we felt it was worth it.

http://gccaverns.com
 


If you have the time, you could always go a bit north and go to Hoover Dam. Could spend the night in Boulder City or go on to Vegas. Another option would be to go east from Kingman to Laughlin.

Were you planning to take the Oatman highway (Historic Route 66) through Oatman for a more scenic route? Haven't done that yet myself, but something want to do in the future.
 
Given the feedback we received here and on similar boards, we've decided to do the drive all in one day and stay a night longer in Sedona instead of splitting the drive up over two days and staying in Kingman. For at least part of the drive, we will go onto 66 to see a couple of the towns.
 
There's a national park services site on Old 66 that mentions Peach Springs, AZ as one of the inspirations for Radiator Springs. Just in case the Seligman to Kingman section of Old 66 is on your agenda.
 


Thanks for asking....we had a wonderful trip and would highly recommend our itinerary! We flew into Phoenix and stayed overnight near the airport. The next day we drove to Sedona, stopping at Montezuma National Castle along the way, and stayed 3 nights in Sedona. We are glad we added an extra night there because there was so much to see and do, so many hikes and restaurants and points of interest, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time. Would like to go back again for sure and see more. Then we drove from there to Grand Canyon South Rim and stayed 2 nights. We found that to be plenty to hike the rim trail, take a sunset Jeep tour, etc. Then we left Grand Canyon around 10 a.m. and drove to Seligman via the interstate, and stopped in Seligman to have lunch (perfect timing) at Delgadillo’s Sno-cap drive-in and walked around Seligman for maybe a couple hours, in and out of the shops, etc., after lunch. We then drove Rte. 66 for awhile, which was fun, and we were going to stop in Oatman but decided it was getting late and that we’d get in to Anaheim too late if we did. We then got back on the Interstate around Oatman, figuring we’d seen enough of Rte. 66 if we weren’t going to stop. We spent 5 nights in Anaheim, spending the first day at the Santa Monica Pier and the last few days in the Disney parks. All in all, we loved the mix of locations, sites and places, and thought it was one of our best trips ever! Feel free to ask more questions if interested!
 
Hi,
Thanks for asking....we had a wonderful trip and would highly recommend our itinerary! We flew into Phoenix and stayed overnight near the airport. The next day we drove to Sedona, stopping at Montezuma National Castle along the way, and stayed 3 nights in Sedona. We are glad we added an extra night there because there was so much to see and do, so many hikes and restaurants and points of interest, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time. Would like to go back again for sure and see more. Then we drove from there to Grand Canyon South Rim and stayed 2 nights. We found that to be plenty to hike the rim trail, take a sunset Jeep tour, etc. Then we left Grand Canyon around 10 a.m. and drove to Seligman via the interstate, and stopped in Seligman to have lunch (perfect timing) at Delgadillo’s Sno-cap drive-in and walked around Seligman for maybe a couple hours, in and out of the shops, etc., after lunch. We then drove Rte. 66 for awhile, which was fun, and we were going to stop in Oatman but decided it was getting late and that we’d get in to Anaheim too late if we did. We then got back on the Interstate around Oatman, figuring we’d seen enough of Rte. 66 if we weren’t going to stop. We spent 5 nights in Anaheim, spending the first day at the Santa Monica Pier and the last few days in the Disney parks. All in all, we loved the mix of locations, sites and places, and thought it was one of our best trips ever! Feel free to ask more questions if interested!
Hi, just wondering where you stayed overnight at the South rim of Grand Canyon? We are stopping for a night and not sure where to stay. Thanks!
 
Hi,

Hi, just wondering where you stayed overnight at the South rim of Grand Canyon? We are stopping for a night and not sure where to stay. Thanks!

We stayed at the Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn. It was best rated in the area by TripAdvisor and friends had stayed there previously. Location was perfect, just down the road from the GC park entrance, and as long as you stay in one of the newer buildings (we were in 7 I think after moving from one of the older bldgs.) it was good. The area is very quiet with not much else to do there but it’s perfect for seeing the canyon and they have pools too. If you have any questions please ask.
 
We stayed at the Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn. It was best rated in the area by TripAdvisor and friends had stayed there previously. Location was perfect, just down the road from the GC park entrance, and as long as you stay in one of the newer buildings (we were in 7 I think after moving from one of the older bldgs.) it was good. The area is very quiet with not much else to do there but it’s perfect for seeing the canyon and they have pools too. If you have any questions please ask.
Thanks!
 
Hi,

Hi, just wondering where you stayed overnight at the South rim of Grand Canyon? We are stopping for a night and not sure where to stay. Thanks!

We ended up booking two rooms in Williams. We will have a one hour drive to get to the Canyon. What did you decide?
 
We ended up booking two rooms in Williams. We will have a one hour drive to get to the Canyon. What did you decide?

We decided to do the train to the canyon and spend the day there. Spending the night before at the railway hotel in Williams. We were originally going to spend the night somewhere in the area and do more of a drive by of the Canyon (like in the movie Vacation lol) and continue on up to Utah, but we decide to do Utah (Bryce Canyon specifically) on the way to Disneyland and the Grand Canyon on the way home. Not sure if we made the right decision with the train but we have three boys and they (especially the 8 and 10 year old) love trains and have only been on a couple, so they will like it. We are a bit nervous because we have never driven so far and one of the roads we are taking is called "The Lonliest Highway" through Utah and Nevada. My kids said, "Great, like the Donner Party!" Scary!

Hope you have a great trip! :flower1:
 
8DAD3E5B-3E41-4888-97C9-587642626B33.png
We decided to do the train to the canyon and spend the day there. Spending the night before at the railway hotel in Williams. We were originally going to spend the night somewhere in the area and do more of a drive by of the Canyon (like in the movie Vacation lol) and continue on up to Utah, but we decide to do Utah (Bryce Canyon specifically) on the way to Disneyland and the Grand Canyon on the way home. Not sure if we made the right decision with the train but we have three boys and they (especially the 8 and 10 year old) love trains and have only been on a couple, so they will like it. We are a bit nervous because we have never driven so far and one of the roads we are taking is called "The Lonliest Highway" through Utah and Nevada. My kids said, "Great, like the Donner Party!" Scary!

Hope you have a great trip! :flower1:

That sounds great
And this is creepy. Doing a screen shot.


Oops. It appeared up top.

The info harvesting is scarier than the lonliest highway.
 
I'd skip stopping in Kingman unless it happens to fit your schedule for the night. Not much of a town in my opinion.
From Grand Canyon drive south to Williams (Small route 66 town that still looks like it did back in the day complete with neon signs).
In Williams visit Bearizona drive thru animal park which also has a walk thru zoo which is well worth the visit.
Just outside Williams is the Deer Petting zoo. Lots of fun.
In Williams is a small zip line on route 66 as well as several old fashioned shops, restaurants and diners.
From Williams drive to 2 miles west of Ash Fork on I-40 where you can start the countries longest remaining stretch of route 66.
Along this route stop at Grand Canyon Caverns. Take an elevator deep into the caverns for a tour.
Keep driving on route 66 and stop at Keepers of the Wild animal sanctuary. Well worth a tour here.
After Kingman, keep on route 66 thru the town of Oatman. Very small old town but fun. Usually has wild donkey's wandering thru town.

Keep in mind during the summer it can get quite hot beginning about 20 miles west of Williams.
 
After spending some time in Sedona and then the Grand Canyon South Rim, we will be driving to Anahem to stay at Disneyland. Instead of one long driving day, we are going to take the "scenic route" and drive Route 66 for as much of the drive as we can, and are planning to stop in Kingman overnight and splitting the drive over two days.

So...I need any tips and ideas for places to stop and things to do and see in those 2 days. Any thoughts? Also, given where we'd spend the most time, was Kingman the best choice for overnight?

This will be mid-August.

TIA!

We stayed at Hyatt Pinion Point in December it was so beautiful and a great price. Our place was huge with full kitchen, washer & dryer, Jacuzzi tub, private deck. We loved it. At the Grand Canon we stayed at El Tovar, gorgeous & right on the canyons edge near plenty of walking paths.
Then we drove to Vegas, then flew back to CA. Have fun sounds like a great trip!
 

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