Sedona - 1 day for sightseeing

[Matthew]

Not exactly aviation, but I have to ask anyway.

My family plans on being in the area in a few weeks (driving). We'd like to spend pretty much a full day in Sedona and I'm looking for some ideas. No young kids, both are late teens. Never been to that part of Arizona before, either.

Any particular Sedona things that MUST be seen/done/experienced? Any particular things to avoid? Our first thoughts were to look into one of those Jeep tours, we're not exactly hikers. We've done horses before, but I tend to get a little too sore, too quick for that anymore.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[citationxjl]

Pink Jeep tours does a good job I have been told. I have never been on one, but that is who we use for our passengers when we fly them to Sedona. There are also a lot of short hikes that would not be too strenuous. Drive up Oak creak canyon as well. Make sure you are there for the sunset. It really lights up the rocks!!

 

[Matthew]

Thanks, some other folks I've talked to have had the same suggestions.

Matt

 

[bstratt]

Pink Jeep tours does a good job I have been told. I have never been on one, but that is who we use for our passengers when we fly them to Sedona. There are also a lot of short hikes that would not be too strenuous. Drive up Oak creak canyon as well. Make sure you are there for the sunset. It really lights up the rocks!!

Or rent your own jeep. The jeep tour places give you a map of the trails. A LOT more fun driving your own than being dragged around as cattle!

 

[Henning]

Not exactly aviation, but I have to ask anyway.

My family plans on being in the area in a few weeks (driving). We'd like to spend pretty much a full day in Sedona and I'm looking for some ideas. No young kids, both are late teens. Never been to that part of Arizona before, either.

Any particular Sedona things that MUST be seen/done/experienced? Any particular things to avoid? Our first thoughts were to look into one of those Jeep tours, we're not exactly hikers. We've done horses before, but I tend to get a little too sore, too quick for that anymore.

Thanks,
Matt

Pink Jeeps, and you can spend quite a few hours perusing the art galleries if you are into that sort of thing.

 

[Henning]

Or rent your own jeep. The jeep tour places give you a map of the trails. A LOT more fun driving your own than being dragged around as cattle!

Yeah, but if you have a driver, that means you can take a bottle of tequila with you....

BTW, we rented a Ford Escort, and it went pretty much everywhere the Jeeps did....

 

[bstratt]

Yeah, but if you have a driver, that means you can take a bottle of tequila with you....

BTW, we rented a Ford Escort, and it went pretty much everywhere the Jeeps did....

True but some of the places I went I wasn't sure the jeep was going to make!

 

[Matthew]

We'll have a rental, but I'll need it to get us home, too.

 

[Henning]

We'll have a rental, but I'll need it to get us home, too.

No you don't, all you have to be is within cell phone range. "Hertz Emergency Line, how can I help you?" "I need a new car, this one broke" "Ok, did it just quit running? Did you check the fuel?" "No no maam, you don't understand, it broke...in half..."

 

[gprellwitz]

No you don't, all you have to be is within cell phone range. "Hertz Emergency Line, how can I help you?" "I need a new car, this one broke" "Ok, did it just quit running? Did you check the fuel?" "No no maam, you don't understand, it broke...in half..."

I'm sorry. Are you on a paved road? You realize that your rental agreement specifies that the vehicle only be driven on paved roads. Should you have been found to have violated this, you are not in compliance with the rental agreement and any insurance, whether purchased through us or other sources, will, in all likelihood, be null and void. Have a nice day!

 

[Henning]

I'm sorry. Are you on a paved road? You realize that your rental agreement specifies that the vehicle only be driven on paved roads. Should you have been found to have violated this, you are not in compliance with the rental agreement and any insurance, whether purchased through us or other sources, will, in all likelihood, be null and void. Have a nice day!

Luckily, no such stipulations in the contract, you can even take them to the race track if you want. Been seeing quite a few of the Hertz Shelby's there. Pay the CDW and they'll always just come and bring you a new car with no problems.

 

[gprellwitz]

Luckily, no such stipulations in the contract, you can even take them to the race track if you want. Been seeing quite a few of the Hertz Shelby's there. Pay the CDW and they'll always just come and bring you a new car with no problems.

Sweet. I was just reading about those stipulations in preparation for the Alaska trip.

 

[bstratt]

By the way, when you rent the jeep they provide you with an emergency cell phone which works in the back country (old brick style!).

 

[Matthew]

No you don't, all you have to be is within cell phone range. "Hertz Emergency Line, how can I help you?" "I need a new car, this one broke" "Ok, did it just quit running? Did you check the fuel?" "No no maam, you don't understand, it broke...in half..."

Yeah, I'll just return the parts.

 

[t0r0nad0]

Definitely do some off-roading. You can stop at any information center and get a trail map. My brother and his fiancee took my girlfriend and I in his Jeep when we were there in December. I hear that the pink jeep tours are good, but if you can, rent your own Jeep.

Also, the chapel in the hill is a great place, even if you're not Catholic. I'm not, and I still found it really cool as the view from there is breathtaking and the architecture of the place is really cool. Really though, even if you don't go "do" any activities, it's just really cool to spend time and appreciate the breathtaking red rock cliffs all around you.

Here are some pics from when I was there in December:

The first three are the view from the chapel in the hill... the fourth is the gigantic house right below the chapel. Next is the chapel from the road below, and last is my brother's Jeep after we went through a puddle while off-roading. He was so proud of it being so dirty .

 

[Matthew]

Great pictures. We'll be there sometime mid-next-week. I'll try to post some of our own pictures when I can.

edit - I love the observatory on top of that house!

 

[Matthew]

OK - time to resurrect this one:

We never did take that trip - had a funeral we had to organize the day before we were going to leave. Looks like the trip is finally on again.

Anything new to see/do? Plan is still to spend one full day in Sedona (staying in Flagstaff). And I'm still thinking of lunch at the airport.

 

[Obi Heed Kenobi]

OK - time to resurrect this one:

We never did take that trip - had a funeral we had to organize the day before we were going to leave. Looks like the trip is finally on again.

Anything new to see/do? Plan is still to spend one full day in Sedona (staying in Flagstaff). And I'm still thinking of lunch at the airport.

When are you going? I'm going to be down there from 5/16-5/21.

Anyway, there's a whole bunch of stuff to see. Even just along the road from Flagstaff to Sedona (89A) there are a lot of things.

Unless you like art shops and stuff of that nature, don't waste any time on the main strip in Sedona.

 

[Matthew]

When are you going? I'm going to be down there from 5/16-5/21.

Looks like we'll miss each other, still working out the dates but it won't be that week.

 

[sba55]

We rented some ATVs. Quite cheap and a lot of fun. They're street legal there, so you can get to pretty much anywhere you want to.

Also, you just have to drive to Flagstaff. It's a 30 minute drive or so IIRC, and it's breathtaking. Flagstaff's a neat little city, too, with a great FBO. There's some excellent restaurants there, too. And unlike Sedona, it's not overrun by tourists....

 

[Matthew]

We rented some ATVs. Quite cheap and a lot of fun. They're street legal there, so you can get to pretty much anywhere you want to.

Also, you just have to drive to Flagstaff. It's a 30 minute drive or so IIRC, and it's breathtaking. Flagstaff's a neat little city, too, with a great FBO. There's some excellent restaurants there, too. And unlike Sedona, it's not overrun by tourists....

We will be staying in Flagstaff - I'll have to check out their FBO.

 

[tonycondon]

oh by the way the observatory at flagstaff is a must see. that is where pluto was discovered. leah and i did the tour on a freezing cold night and then went to the start party. leah got to operate a 100+ yr old telescope that they use on the public tours. Very very cool. McDonald Observatory I believe.

 

[Matthew]

Maybe the Lowell Observatory is the name you were trying to remember. I think that was on our list of things to see/do, also. I'm still digging out the information that I collected a couple years ago when we were originally planning this trip.

We are trying to keep plenty of free time, and an open itinerary, so we can just do whatever, whenever, and not be in a real time crunch. It's a vacation, not a business trip.

Looking forward to it.

 

[tonycondon]

yea, that's it.

McDonald Observatory is down by Marfa. I was just there a few weeks ago.

 

[sba55]

oh by the way the observatory at flagstaff is a must see. that is where pluto was discovered. leah and i did the tour on a freezing cold night and then went to the start party. leah got to operate a 100+ yr old telescope that they use on the public tours. Very very cool. McDonald Observatory I believe.

Great ided - isn't that the same telescope that they used to discover Pluto? Either way, definitely worth it!

But party? I didn't know there was a party?!???

 

[tonycondon]

star party. probably not the kind of party you're thinking. they open up several telescopes for viewing various interstellar objects.

 

[Matthew]

Yeah, but now that Pluto isn't a planet anymore (it got demoted a couple years ago), Lowell is "just another observatory". Just kidding - I'll have to check the dates/times of their star parties. The Louisburg, KS observatory has a star party once a month, I think.

Any pireps on the Sedona airport restaurant for lunch, say midweek? Busy/not-busy? ...?

 

[sba55]

Any pireps on the Sedona airport restaurant for lunch, say midweek? Busy/not-busy? ...?

3 years old info - but it's decent. Not busy. But it's not that great since you don't have a view and the food is so-so.

I would go downtown and order some cactus fries and maybe a prickly pear Margarita (maybe not for lunch?)

 

[sba55]

star party. probably not the kind of party you're thinking. they open up several telescopes for viewing various interstellar objects.

Oh yeah. They had that when we were there. Must be a pretty regular thing because we didn't know about it beforehand.

It's somewhat pricey to get in (~$10 or so IIRC), but it's worth it.

Another idea is to go north out of Flagstaff. Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument are amazing. And of course the painted desert all the way to the Grand Canyon one hour north.

 

[Matthew]

Oh yeah. They had that when we were there. Must be a pretty regular thing because we didn't know about it beforehand.

It's somewhat pricey to get in (~$10 or so IIRC), but it's worth it.

Another idea is to go north out of Flagstaff. Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument are amazing. And of course the painted desert all the way to the Grand Canyon one hour north.

We're saving enough time to do all that, too.

Sounds like we'll have the whole week covered.

 

[Obi Heed Kenobi]

We're saving enough time to do all that, too.

Sounds like we'll have the whole week covered.

There's definitely enough to keep you going for a week!

FYI, if you're going to drive up to the Grand Canyon (there's a train that runs out of Williams, but I don't know much about it), I'd recommend driving due north up 89 and then taking 64 to the west. It's a *little* bit longer than taking the more direct route, but I personally think it's a little more interesting. Also, when you're on 64 you can stop by the Little Colorado overlook, which I actually thought was more interesting than the Grand Canyon.

Or do it in reverse - take 64 east back to 89 south (after the GC), and make a big loop out of the drive. It takes you right by Wupatki and Sunset Crater, which you'll reach toward the end of the day when there won't be as many tourists. Makes for something of a long day, but it's probably worth it.

 

[gprellwitz]

There's definitely enough to keep you going for a week!

FYI, if you're going to drive up to the Grand Canyon (there's a train that runs out of Williams, but I don't know much about it), I'd recommend driving due north up 89 and then taking 64 to the west. It's a *little* bit longer than taking the more direct route, but I personally think it's a little more interesting. Also, when you're on 64 you can stop by the Little Colorado overlook, which I actually thought was more interesting than the Grand Canyon.

Or do it in reverse - take 64 east back to 89 south (after the GC), and make a big loop out of the drive. It takes you right by Wupatki and Sunset Crater, which you'll reach toward the end of the day when there won't be as many tourists. Makes for something of a long day, but it's probably worth it.

Or fly into Grand Canyon. Last time we were in Phoenix I got checked out in a turbo 182 in Deer Valley and did that. Took the free shuttle bus from the airport into the park and made a day of it.

 

[Matthew]

There's definitely enough to keep you going for a week!

FYI, if you're going to drive up to the Grand Canyon (there's a train that runs out of Williams, but I don't know much about it), I'd recommend driving due north up 89 and then taking 64 to the west. It's a *little* bit longer than taking the more direct route, but I personally think it's a little more interesting. Also, when you're on 64 you can stop by the Little Colorado overlook, which I actually thought was more interesting than the Grand Canyon.

Or do it in reverse - take 64 east back to 89 south (after the GC), and make a big loop out of the drive. It takes you right by Wupatki and Sunset Crater, which you'll reach toward the end of the day when there won't be as many tourists. Makes for something of a long day, but it's probably worth it.

I'll keep that in mind - I was looking at my info from a couple years ago and it looks like that was part of my original plan. Thanks for pointing it out.

Or fly into Grand Canyon. Last time we were in Phoenix I got checked out in a turbo 182 in Deer Valley and did that. Took the free shuttle bus from the airport into the park and made a day of it.

hmmm.... anybody have any quick info on checkouts/rentals at FLG? I pretty much only have time in a 172, though, nothing like a turbo 182. Might be a little more trouble right now than I want to deal with.

 

[gprellwitz]

hmmm.... anybody have any quick info on checkouts/rentals at FLG? I pretty much only have time in a 172, though, nothing like a turbo 182. Might be a little more trouble right now than I want to deal with.

Well, the FBO at Flagstaff is Wiseman Aviation, so call them at 1-877-947-3326 to find out their fleet availability and policies. Also, it's easy to combine an aircraft checkout with either a BFR or the flight portion of a Wings program. Your checkout instructor there can also familiarize you with the procedure for flying over the Grand Canyon. Not terribly difficult, but you do need to know it. I made a point to put the coordinates of the corridors into my portable GPS so I had them handy for reference.

 

[sba55]

Well, the FBO at Flagstaff is Wiseman Aviation, so call them at 1-877-947-3326 to find out their fleet availability and policies. Also, it's easy to combine an aircraft checkout with either a BFR or the flight portion of a Wings program. Your checkout instructor there can also familiarize you with the procedure for flying over the Grand Canyon. Not terribly difficult, but you do need to know it. I made a point to put the coordinates of the corridors into my portable GPS so I had them handy for reference.

I'm fairly sure that Wiseman doesn't have any rental aircraft (might be wrong, though). They're more the sort of FBO with a nice building. But they have always been extremely friendly (including when they had someone track our flight and stay 3 hours past closing because we were delayed), they have 2 really nice cats, and a huge fireplace

There's lots of rentals in Las Vegas. I don't know where you're coming from, but the flight from LV to and over the GC is very much worth it!

 

[gprellwitz]

I'm fairly sure that Wiseman doesn't have any rental aircraft (might be wrong, though). They're more the sort of FBO with a nice building. But they have always been extremely friendly (including when they had someone track our flight and stay 3 hours past closing because we were delayed), they have 2 really nice cats, and a huge fireplace

There's lots of rentals in Las Vegas. I don't know where you're coming from, but the flight from LV to and over the GC is very much worth it!

I was only going by their info on AirNav, which says "rental aircraft." Their website has no information.

 

[murphey]

drive up to the airport and have breakfast on the plateau.

 

[Matthew]

Well, we did pretty much everything.

Drove in from the east - stopped in Amarillo and checked out the Cadillac Ranch. Stopped in at Petrified Forest, and got blasted by 50mph winds. Then the interstate was closed between Winslow and Flagstaff until about 7:15pm because of winds/dust. Checked out Wupatki, Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon. Sedona - did the Pink Jeeps "Broken Arrow Trail" tour, checked out the airport, walked around town. Grand Canyon. Flagstaff - did check out the observatory, but didn't get to any star parties. Probably did more, but can't remember it all right now.

 

[gprellwitz]

Well, we did pretty much everything.

Drove in from the east - stopped in Amarillo and checked out the Cadillac Ranch. Stopped in at Petrified Forest, and got blasted by 50mph winds. Then the interstate was closed between Winslow and Flagstaff until about 7:15pm because of winds/dust. Checked out Wupatki, Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon. Sedona - did the Pink Jeeps "Broken Arrow Trail" tour, checked out the airport, walked around town. Grand Canyon. Flagstaff - did check out the observatory, but didn't get to any star parties. Probably did more, but can't remember it all right now.

The real question is what you did in all your spare time?



Sounds like fun!

 

[Matthew]

The real question is what you did in all your spare time?



Sounds like fun!

Spare time? Yeah, we did a lot, but made sure to have some down-time. We were there for a week, but it sure was nice to get back home.

Wow - we drove into the GC from the east entrance, then left through the south entrance/exit. That took us right past the GC airport. The helicopter tours were going full throttle. We saw 3 fly past us as we left the park, then saw about 10 more on the pads at the airport. All were spun up. They had some booming business this week.

The line crew at Sedona have Navy-style baseball hats embroidered with "USS Sedona".

--

Every one of the locals we talked to said that the busy season starts Memorial Day weekend. We were there the week before, and everywhere we went was just great - no crowds, no problems.

--

edit - Oh, yeah. Two thumbs up for the Tucumcari, NM airport. We took the back highway home (hooked up to US-54 from I-40). It went right past the airport when we were all looking for a bathroom break. So I said "hold my beer, and watch this", and we dropped on in.