My family and I are thinking about going to Flagstaff, Arizona for our vacation this summer. Since we live in Omaha, we would probably drive down to Kansas City and then board the westbound Southwest Chief. First question: is it safe to leave our car at the Amtrak station in KC? We’ve been to the Independence, Missouri Amtrak station a few times and have seen cars with their windows smashed out in the parking lot. Does this happen at KC Union Station?
I would like to include a visit to the Grand Canyon as part of this trip. Carl Shaver suggested taking Amtrak to Williams rather than Flagstaff if we wish to see the Grand Canyon. He also said that the Grand Canyon Railway has some lodging deals. Is this a potentially good idea?
I’m also a little concerned about how to get around once we get to Arizona. We obviously can’t take our car on the train, so what do we do to sightsee, etc? Is renting a car a possibility?
Besides the Grand Canyon, what other things are there around Flagstaff? I’ve been using the website below to come up with some ideas. It seems like quite a bit, but does anyone have any additional ideas for things to do?
These are the questions that have come to mind so far. Any input is much appreciated. If anyone has any other tips, ideas, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to post them.
Willy, if you and your family stay in Flagstaff, and if you want to visit the Grand Canyon it may be necessary to rent a car unless sightseeing tours are available. My wife and I stayed in the Holiday Inn in the east end of Flagstaff when we visited Flagstaff in 1993. The back of the Holiday Inn overlooks the BNSF so naturally I asked for a room on the 5th floor of the back side of the motel. Needless to say our room was a good location for photographing the then Santa Fe trains passing through Flagstaff; at times 2 trains an hour passed through Flagstaff in each direction.
The last time I was in Flagstaff was about the same time RudyRockville visited. Great place to visit. The amazing thing to me was how small Flagstaff is in relation to its notoriety.
As far as car rental, check Enterprise or Avis. Both seem to have rental centers away from the normal high tax airport locations. If you rent a car, there are a lot of nice wilderness backroads to explore between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Route 66 nostalgia seems to be a big item now. See if your local Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, etc has the latest copy of “Route 66” magazine or any of the guides for that road. This may give you some options other than the railroad.
Good luck and have fun. Hopefully I will get back there soon.
If you rent a car in Flagstaff, then a trip down to Sedona AZ through Oak Creek canyon and Slide Rock State Park is rewarding. The shopping is good and a little bit farther on, in Clarksdale, there is a late afternoon train ride up Verde River canyon. Also the Tuzigoot ruins left behind by Anasazi people near there. There is the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff.
If you spend a night at Grand Canyon, there is a shuttle bus service all along the south rim that runs every few minutes. There are great photo opportunities, especially morning and late afternoon. Or, you can ride THESE down to the bottom, sleep in a stone cabin and return the next day to the rim.
Al said it is much cooler in Flag and he is right. On Tuesday this week there was fresh snow on the ground coming through Flag. It is probably gone now but it can be much cooler there.
I visited and railfanned around Flagstaff last October and greatly enjoyed it.
A rental car really should be in the plan.
Recognize that “Williams Junction” is just a station platform, while the Flagstaff Amtrak station is right in the heart of town and within walking distance of a number of hotels. Amtrak (both directions) passes through here in the middle of the night, so don’t detrain at Williams unless you have some prior arrangement of how you will be picked up from there. I visited the Grand Canyon RR at morning departure time, but did not ride it. It appeared to be a FIRST RATE operation - very well run. There is a very nice hotel adjacent to the station, and that would make for a nice combination as one could just stroll over to the train without time worries. (Amtrak station stop at Williams Junction is probably at least 2 miles from the station served by the Grand Canyon RR and is out in the “country”.)
Just east of Flagstaff (South side of the Interstate as I recall) is a museum/Native American site that was highly recommended by a couple folks I talked to out there. Apparently there is a walking tour through a canyon with insights into that early history that is fascinating. I focused on trains and did not visit, but you might check for that in your planning.
Overall, I found plenty of good restaurants and friendly staff at the hotel and restaurants in Flagstaff. Should be a great place for a family vacation, and that traffic on the BNSF transcon will please your railfan senses. Between Flagstaff and Williams on the BNSF is Maine, at mile post 362.5. Take exit 178 off of I-40 (the exit is labeled “Parks”) and go just south about a quarter mile to cross the tracks. There is a large gravel pull-off area. Maine is the crest of the grade, with GREAT views of westbound trains climbing toward the crest with wonderful mountain scenery in the background. Eastbo
Flagstaff is a great place to vacation. I have been there on short day or overnight trips from Phoenix several times. You will notice several things about Flagstaff, as noted the high elevation yields much cooler temps. The smell of Ponderosa pines is great. Flagstaff is at 7000 feet elevation and at a lower elevation east the landscape turns pretty quickly.
Here are a few sites and highlights, in no particular order:
First, purchase a DeLorme Arizona Atlas for $20 or so. Very detailed maps will help.
Grand Canyon is a must. We went and it is spectacular. Just remember that it is a tourist destination. Personally, after a couople of hours I was ready to depart, but we stayed overnight in a lodge. The view of the Milky Way at night was spectacular tho.
The drive to Sedona on Rt 89 is great. The portion thru Oak Creek Canyon is spectacular. There are artisian wells along the route. Stop and drink the water. Slide Rock State Park is fun, there is a natural water slide in the river. Warning, the water is cold…snow runoff. My sons did it in March and froze, but laughed the whole way down.
Montezuma Castle National Monument and park is worth the trip (tie it in with the trip to Sedona) if you want to see how canyon dwellers lived. Or go to Walnut Canyon Monument east of Flagstaff about 30 minutes. Quite a trail to the canyon dwellings. I have purposely not listed Sedona, as it doesnt appeal to me, too many shops selling overpriced stuff, but it sure is pretty country.
If you are interested in astronomy, this is a great spot. The Lowell Observatory is in Flagstaff and is well worth a visit. In addition there are a number of “astronomy overnight lodges” which allow you to use provided telescopes. The night skys out there are spectacular with very little light pollution once you are 25 miles
There’s some great info in this thread already. I did the Grand Canyon last year, and everything on the South Rim of the National Park portion is pretty much doable by the shuttle system in the park. Still, if you were to rent a car, it would give you a little more freedom in the park, and give you a chance to see other stuff outside the boundaries of the park as well.
Alas! On my trip, I didn’t get a chance to ride, or even see much of the Grand Canyon Railroad, so I can’t tell you much about them.
One note I will add is this: If you plan to hike into the canyon at all, be sure to bring plenty of water. My cousins and I backpacked to the bottom on the South Kaibab Trail and hiked back up the Bright Angel Trail. Due to the difference in altitude, there was a 20ºF difference between the rim and Phantom Ranch at the bottom. It was around 80ºF on the rim, and it was 99ºF in the shade at the bottom. I drank 3+ gallons of water on the way back up! (BTW, if you’re there on a hot day and do hike to the bottom, be sure to come up Bright Angel instead of South Kaibab. The former has water available while the latter does not.).
Here’s some of my Grand Canyon shots that I really like:
(Cedar Ridge, the first stop on the way down the South Kaibab Trail).
(I’ve always liked this shot because it features the three primary colors of light – red, green and blue).
(Some of the switchbacks on the South Kaibab Trail. I never found out if they had any interesting names, but one set of switchbacks on the Bright Angel Trail is named “The Devil’s Corkscrew.” It seemed appropriate when I was there!).
(We’re getting pretty close to the inner gorge here. The b
I’ll add a couple of canyon pics from 2 years ago.
South Rim, Hermit’s Rest?
Kaibob Trail. Note the mule riders & the hikers at the bottom.
OK This is Bright Angel Trail.
In addition to the other excellent suggestions, I really enjoyed Sunset Crater about 12 miles north of Flag. It is an old volcano and is very out of this world. There are also old ruins and a glimpse of the painted desert. A trip to the Arizona snowbowl and riding the gondola to the top is a fun summer outing.
Also the Verde Valley railroad offers a fun train trip. While there, go to Jerome the old mining town. At one time there was an elaborate rail system to move the ore from Jerome down to the smelters.
I would rent a car, as that is the way to take advantage of all the area has to offer.
I will be in Flag in Sept. and am debating taking the Grand Canyon RR or just driving to the Canyon. Its the old cost/time equation. I do suggest that if you want to spend the night at the Canyon, book your reservations as early as possible. My first trip to the Canyon started at Flag, with a visit to Sunset Crater and on up to the Canyon. We did most of the typical scenic stops and watched the sun go down (spectacular) and headed back to Flag. We felt that was a good visit. This year is a mule trip to Phantom Ranch and two nights at El Tovar.
My family did the Grand Canyon trip several years age and really enjoyed it. We flew to Phoenix, picked up a rental car (Enterprise, I believe) and drove north to Williams.
We had a package deal from The Grand Canyon Train (www.thetrain.com), which included overnight lodging in Williams and the train ride to the canyon rim. We upgraded to a dome car, even thought the view isn’t that exciting until you actually get to the rim. If we do it again, we’ll get the package that includes an overnight stay at the rim of the canyon; otherwise you won’t have much free time for sightseeing before you reboard for the return ride.
For the drive back to Phoenix, we went through Oak Canyon, Sedonya, etc. They are well worth the time. Plenty of places for tourist stops.
Listen to SSW9389 regarding Flagstaff, Ed knows the Flagstaff area quiet well. He helped us out a couple of years ago in finding a couple of great spots.
Thank you all for the great information so far! It sounds like there is a lot of great stuff to do. Thanks for the info on train watching spots as well. We’ll devote at least a few hours to BNSF. My parents, who are getting up there in age, were having some doubts about riding on the train for 20 hours to Flagstaff and 20 hours back. However, I think all the information has convinced them that it will be worth it.
Also, all of the photos that have been posted so far are superb. I can tell why your mom isn’t too big of a fan of that one photo, Chris.
Guilty as charged former East Flagstaff, Winona, and Bellemont resident 1978-1988. Thanks ed. I’ve been all over that land: Arizona has anyone seen it all.
