Trip Details
Type: Lodge-Based Sightseeing/Light Hiking
Days: 3 Days
Distance: 10-12 mi/16-19 km
Difficulty: Beginner +
Origin: Flagstaff, AZ
Cost: $1350
Single Supplement: +$325
Trip Description
This excellent sightseeing and light-hiking tour offers a great way to see some of the most beautiful and unique landscapes of Northern Arizona and discover the region’s rich natural and cultural history. This tour is designed for guests who enjoy the great outdoors and exploring beautiful places but prefer shorter, less-strenuous hiking than you will find on most of other tours. Join our team of professional guides and spend three days touring through some of Arizona’s most well-known destinations. We start with a great day of adventuring in Sedona and its famous Red Rock Country. Short hikes get us up close and personal with the beautiful red rocks and an afternoon jeep tour offers some off-road excitement. After a night in a local hotel, we will head north for a day of cultural exploration and learning as we tour a number of fascinating archaeological sites. We will pass through a landscape of extinct volcanoes and lava flows and discover the ancient culture that called these lands home as much as one thousand years ago. After a final night in Flagstaff, we cap things off with a full day exploring the Grand Canyon. Learn about the incredible geologic history of this iconic National Park as you venture into its depths and discover endless awe-inspiring views. We will travel along the rim, visiting remarkable vista points and experiencing the endless beauty of this Natural Wonder.
This Sedona and Grand Canyon tour offers the best of both worlds: fun sightseeing and light hiking to incredible places each day and nights spent in great local hotels, including dining at restaurants showcasing the Southwest’s signature flavors. You’ll never have to worry about a thing as our guides lead you every step of the way and take care of every detail. Join us for a Grand Canyon and Sedona vacation to remember.
Four Season Guides, LLC is a licensed permitee of the USFS, Red Rock Ranger District.
Trip Itinerary
Day 1:
Depart Flagstaff early for a scenic drive through northern Arizona. Our destination will be the the Red Rock Country of Sedona for some sightseeing and a short hike. Our first trail ascends 450 feet to a flat-top mesa offering 360 degree panoramas of the surrounding red rock country. We’ll hike around the mesa-top and soak up the incredible views before heading back the way we came. Then we travel a few minutes by car to the next trailhead and enjoy a peaceful stroll through a quintessential red rock canyon. This easy 2.4 mile walk offers maximum scenic reward without too much effort. You’ll marvel at the grandeur of towering canyon walls and the quiet serenity in this idyllic landscape. After our hikes and a delicious picnic lunch, we will trade hiking shoes for four-wheel drive and enjoy the adventure of a red rock jeep tour. Head out into the backcountry for some off-road excitement. The jeep guides are pros at negotiating the dirt roads and slickrock and you’ll have a blast holding on and taking in the nights. After a big day of Sedona adventuring, we’ll check into our hotel for showers and then hit the town for dinner together.
Drive Time: 1.5 hours + 2-hour jeep tour
Distance & Elevation: ~5 miles, 450 foot ascent/descent
Lunch, Dinner
Day 2:
Today’s travels will focus on the unique natural and cultural history of northern Arizona. We’ll check out of our hotel and drive north, passing through the gorgeous Oak Creek Canyon on one of the most scenic roads in Arizona. Our first destination is Walnut Canyon National Monument, known for its incredible concentration of Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. We’ll enjoy a short hike down into the canyon to see these ancient structures and learn about the fascinating culture that built them a thousand years ago. We then continue north to Sunset Crater, the site of the region’s most recent volcanic eruption. We’ll take a short walk through this beautiful landscape of ancient lava flows, cinder cones and pine forest. Then it’s just a short drive down into the Painted Desert to visit the ancient ruins of Wupatki. This stunning archaeological site features remarkable remnants of a once-flourishing community that inhabited this area. After another fantastic day of exploration, we’ll check into our Flagstaff hotel, clean up and head out for another delightful dinner at a local restaurant.
Drive Time: ~2.5 hours
Distance & Elevation: 3 miles, 200 foot descent/ascent
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3:
For our final day, we head to Grand Canyon National Park for a great day of sightseeing. Upon arrival at the South Rim, we will head to Yavapai Observation Point for our first views into the nearly mile-deep chasm. We will then spend the day heading east along the rim, stopping at select viewpoints to gain a comprehensive perspective of the world’s most famous canyon. At one point we will embark on a short hike to experience one of the canyon’s trails below the rim. You’ll marvel at the colorful rock layers and rapidly changing vegetation as you descend to the spectacular views at Ooh Ah Point, 600 vertical feet below the rim. Back on the rim, our eastward journey will eventually bring us to Desert View and the historic Watchtower. Enjoy unparalleled views of a geologically unique part of Grand Canyon, across the Painted Desert and out the distant Vermilion Cliffs. After a full and rewarding day, we will travel back to Flagstaff to wrap up a great journey and say our goodbyes.
Drive Time: ~3.5 hours total
Distance & Elevation: ~3 miles, 600 foot descent /ascent
Breakfast, Lunch
*Final itineraries are occasionally subject to change due to park restrictions/closures, participant abilities, weather conditions and/or road closures.
What’s Included
- A professional, licensed and medically trained guide
- All necessary gear: day pack, trekking poles, traction devices (for icy conditions)
- Two nights lodge accommodations
- All meals from a light breakfast on Day 1 through lunch on the last day + trail snacks
- Roundtrip transportation from your hotel in Flagstaff, AZ
- Park Entrance Fees
What’s Not Included:
- Transportation to/from Flagstaff, AZ
- Lodging the night before/after the trip
- Clothing, raingear, and footwear
- Personal toiletries, sunscreen
- Water bottles/hydration bladder
- Headlamp or flashlight
- Guide gratuity (suggested 10-20% of trip cost)
*Upon Booking you will receive a detailed trip information packet
How many people are in the group?
This tour will accommodate 6 people plus one guide
Are there age restrictions?
Children under the age of 12 are generally not permitted on regularly scheduled trips. This restriction may be negotiable on private tours. Please contact us with any questions regarding this policy.
How do i sign up?
In order to confirm a reservation, we require an initial non-refundable deposit of $250 per person, with the final balance due 90 days prior to the trip’s departure. If you book a trip within 90 days of the trip’s scheduled departure, then full payment is due at the time of booking.
Your deposit is payable over the phone by Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, or Discover. You can also pay by personal check or PayPal (PayPal incurs a 1.5% surcharge). Call our office Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm Arizona time. 1-877-272-5032
Where does the trip begin/end?
This trip will begin/end in Flagstaff, AZ and you will need to spend the night prior to your trip’s scheduled departure in Flagstaff. You will want to fly into either Phoenix (2 hour drive) or Flagstaff. Please visit our Travel Resources page for information on airports, shuttles/rental cars and recommended hotels.
Where do meet our guides?
We will hold a pre-trip orientation at 4:30pm the evening prior to your trip’s departure at the Embassy Suites hotel in Flagstaff. Departure times and logistics for the following morning will be discussed at the orientation.
Most trips will depart between 4:30am and 6:30am. *This meeting is not mandatory, but highly recommended, as we will depart early the next morning. If you are unable to attend, please let us know in advance so that we can make alternate arrangements.
What do we do with our car and extra stuff?
We will provide all transportation to/from trailheads for the duration of the trip. We will pick you up at your hotel in Flagstaff and return you there at the trip’s conclusion. Guests staying at the Embassy Suites (recommended) or Hampton Inn & Suites can leave their cars at the hotel. These hotels will often store your luggage for you, as well. If not, we are happy to store extra luggage at our warehouse for the duration of the trip. If you are staying at a different hotel, you will need to check with them as to whether you can leave your car there.
What time will we get back on the last day?
Expect to be back in Flagstaff by 5pm at the latest on the last day of the trip. Many trips will return earlier but we cannot make any guarantees. In general, it is recommended that you do not plan to fly home on the same day your trip finishes. Since each trip has slightly different logistics, feel free to contact us with specific questions related to the expected return time for your trip.
2020 Dates
All lodge-based tours are currently postponed for the remainder of 2020, except for private groups of 4 or more people.
2021 Dates
March: 12-14, 26-28
April: 9-11, 23-25
May: 7-9, 14-16
More dates to come soon…
Don’t see your dates? Custom dates may be available!
Call 1-877-272-5032 or email us for details.
When booking your Grand Canyon hiking trip, make sure that you book out at least 4+ months in advance due to Grand Canyon National Park’s permit system. The deadline to apply for backpacking permits is on the first of the month, 4 months prior to the month you intend to hike (i.e. January 1 deadline for all May trips, February 1 for June, March 1 for July…etc.).