Grand Canyon Day Trips: Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and More

Northern Arizona is big, and "day trip" often means three hours of driving each way. These are the ones we think earn the time, in rough order.

1. Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon (Page)

About two and a half hours north-east of the village via Desert View, Page has two of the most photographed places in the Southwest. Horseshoe Bend is a curve of the Colorado seen from a cliff 1,000 feet above it, reached by a sandy walk of about 1.5 miles return. It sits in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and the car park is run by the City of Page, which charges its own fee. Go early; midday is hot and crowded. Antelope Canyon, a few miles away, is a set of narrow slot canyons on Navajo Nation land, and you can only enter with a licensed Navajo guide on a booked tour. Upper Antelope is flat and famous for light beams around midday in summer. Lower Antelope has ladders and stairs and tends to be less crowded. Tours sell out, so reserve before you leave home. Arizona doesn't use daylight saving time but the Navajo Nation does, so in summer your tour time may be an hour ahead of Page.

2. Sedona

Two hours south, via Flagstaff and the curves of Oak Creek Canyon. Red sandstone towers, short hikes like the Bell Rock loop, and the Chapel of the Holy Cross built into the rock. Better as an overnight stop on the way to or from Phoenix than as a return trip.

3. Flagstaff

A mountain university town 80 miles away, with good restaurants, Route 66 motels and the Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered in 1930. Wupatki and Sunset Crater, a lava field and Ancestral Puebloan ruins, are just north.

4. Williams and Route 66

An hour south, and the base for the Grand Canyon Railway. Its short main street is full of neon, diners and old gas stations. Seligman, further west, is the most complete stretch of old Route 66 in Arizona.

5. Grand Canyon West and the Skywalk

Run by the Hualapai Tribe, not the Park Service, so park passes don't count and you buy a separate package, with a shuttle between viewpoints. The glass Skywalk juts out over a side canyon at Eagle Point, but personal phones and cameras aren't allowed on it. It's four hours or more from the South Rim and about two and a half from Las Vegas. Do it from Vegas, not from here.

Plan your base with our where to stay guide, and see the getting there guide for drive times.