DAY FIVE – MONTICELLO, UTAH TO WILLIAMS, AZ

HIGHLIGHTS – The Grand Canyon and Horseshoe Bend

DRIVE TIME – Monticello to Horseshoe Bend (near Page, Arizona) about 3.5 hours, Horseshoe Bend to Grand Canyon National Park about 1.5 hours, Grand Canyon National Park to Williams, AZ about 1 hour

 

This is the fifth post in a series of posts about our week-long western road trip. Each post will break down what we did, where we went and what we saw each day. Most excitingly (that’s totally a word, guys) I’m posting my favorite pictures from the trip. Start from the beginning and check out Day One.

 

On day five of our cross-country road trip, we awoke in our cute little B&B in Utah. We had some pretty grand plans for the day and headed south toward Arizona. This was the part of the trip I was most excited about and most worried about. As I may have mentioned before, I like to plan. And in planning this trip I had come up with a pretty good idea of what attractions we would see and where we would end up at the end of each day. The days were pretty loose and lots of exploring was done, however, I found comfort in having one or two destinations in mind as far as where we’d be sleeping. From this point on, however, my planning became looser and more “go with the flow”.

I was mostly nervous about driving through the Arizona desert at night. I had read so many stories warning not to drive at night because of “open range” (animals roaming freely). I was terrified we’d wreck my sister’s car and be stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no cell reception, in the middle of the night. And based on this, I pictured Arizona highways to be long stretches of wide open road with nothing but desert surrounding. And, it kind of is.

On day five we had an aggressive itinerary and some “must see” attractions we would have been very disappointed had we missed.

Our first stop was at Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona. About 3.5 hours driving from our little B&B in Utah. This drive was pretty spectacular for us Wisconsin girls. We are used to flat, green farmlands so the deeper we got into the desert the more “oohs” and “ahhs” and “I cannot believe this exists” were whispered at varying volumnes.

We reached Horseshoe Bend around mid-day. Poor planning on our part. It was HOT. Hello, desert!

If you read any travel guides, people will mention the “hike” you take from the parking lot to the actual canyon. In my opinion it’s less of a “hike” and more of a long walk up a sandy hill. The incline and the sand do make it challenging. And water was necessary as we made this “trek” at about noon. We definitely saw some people struggle, but we also definitely saw some elderly people at the canyon who would have had to traverse the the sandy slope to get there. If you have some level of fitness and don’t mind the sand, you can handle this.

We spent less than an hour peering over the sides of the canyon. This place was beautiful, but crawling with tourists at the time we were there. One thing to mention, because for some reason I didn’t quite expect this, but you’re literally looking over the edge of some very steep canyon walls. There are no railings or walls to hold you back, no magical net to catch you. Railings would take away from the natural beauty of the place, although a magical net would be neat. It was really surprising to me how daredevil some people got with their photo ops. I crawled near the edge a few times to take in the scenery. But I made sure to keep low and flat on the ground and I held on to my phone for dear life. My sister, who does not enjoy heights, was convinced that I was going to trip and fall over the edge. I could have definitely spent more time here and I’d love to go back when it’s less crowded. The heat and sweaty tourists made for just a short visit.

From Horseshoe Bend we journeyed on to what I thought would be the pinnicle of our trip – GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK! About an hour and a half drive from Horseshoe Bend.

The Grand Canyon has been on my bucket list for years. I’ve taken several trips to Las Vegas and Phoenix over the last 5 years or so, and I’ve never been able to fit the Grand Canyon into these trips. This was my “must see” for the whole road trip. In fact, my sister had wanted to take a northern route to California, through Montana, Idaho, and Oregon, however I convinced her a southern route was best considering the time of year (and my life dream of seeing the Grand Canyon).

We got to the park in the late afternoon. Unexpectedly, you have to drive through a FOREST to get to the actual canyon. How come no one ever mentions this?? It was kind of surreal. After driving all day with the rolling dusty desert, we were surrounded in a thick, green, beautiful forest. We parked in the first lot we found and made our way to the first viewing area.

 

It was incredible.

Indescribable.

Pictures don’t do it justice.

You just have to go.

 

We drove through the Southern Rim of the park, stopping at various overlooks to take in the view and snap photos. We could have spent sooo much more time here. I wanted to go into the Canyon. I really wanted to ride a donkey. At this time, there was a haze over the canyon due to smoke coming from the California wildfires. I can’t imagine what it would look like on a clear day. We wandered into the village were a lot of the lodges are and encountered some moose just hanging out. Or maybe they were elk? Caribou? Is it bad that I don’t know? They were just chilling in the village, walking down the streets and stopping traffic. Amazing.

Unfortunately, it was late in the day at this point and we were getting hungry for real food. We did stop for a quick cheese sandwich picnic in the car, however it just didn’t cut it. We tired due to the heat, and a little cranky. We left the park as the sun was starting to set and headed toward Williams, AZ to find a hotel. The next town on the map.

The Grand Canyon is still on my bucket list. It was so majestic and incredibly beautiful. You can’t appreciate it fully in just a few hours. I definitely intend to go back and spend more time there. I’d love to stay in one of the adorable lodges near the park. Someday…

We left the park at dusk and again drove in mostly darkness to Williams, AZ where we found a Motel 8 for the night. Luckily, we didn’t have to drive too far in the dark! However, I was still white-knuckling the steering wheel and high on the lookout for animals running into the road.

By the time we reached the hotel, we were exhausted yet starving so we ventured to the downtown area and discovered we were on Route 66! Williams had the most adorable, kitchy, classic Route 66 shops, restaurants, and gas stations. If you’re heading through the area, I definitely recommend stopping here. We found a wood fire pizza place for supper and splurged on a flight of beers between the three of us. #luxury 😉

 

Stay tuned for the next post when we explore sunny California!

Catch up with days one, two, three, and four…

 

Have you been to the Grand Canyon? Was it everything you wanted it to be?

Comment below!