[Zee]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

I've lived (and traveled extensively) in the area.

If you don't like crowds, Sedona/South Rim/Zion are all to be avoided. However, crowds can easily be mitigated at all three -- more or less.

For four days on the ground, I'd recommend Sedona for the entire time. Pricey but beautiful hotels, excellent food across the gamut of price ranges. Oak Creek, the town just south, is less expensive. If you start hiking relatively early, the trails will not be crowded, especially on the longer hikes with more elevation gain. Or hike early, come back into town for a nice lunch, and then head back out in the late afternoon. Lots of options for different kinds of hikes, too -- canyon versus ridgeline versus hilltop.

The South Rim has great backpacking, but the day-hiking is less varied than Sedona. And the main trails basically drop down into the canyon, then climb right back up out of it. My favorite thing to do at the South Rim is to bicycle the Hermit's Rest road, which is limited to shuttle buses and bikes.

Zion has exploded in popularity in the last ten years, with almost all of the visitors in a small section (of a small park). I love it, but it's hard to manage these days. And the best hikes there are problematic if you're afraid of heights.

Super insightful! The Hike House website is something I found to be really useful. Any places to really target/avoid?

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

Yes, we did exactly this trip this past summer. We wanted to do a quickie, inexpensive trip rather than a full blown vacation. Left on Monday morning and were home Friday night. Flew into Vegas on SWA direct ( Vegas is 1/3 the price plus car rentals are super cheap, $11/day). Drove from Vegas through Hoover Dam/ lake Meade to Grand Canyon area. Hotels around the park aren't great, so we stayed in an old route 66 town of Williams. Hotels were ok (not great), but good choices for eating. Stayed there mon/tues nights. Late afternoon Wednesday, drove from Grand Canyon to Sedona ( about 90 mins, last half hour beautiful ride). Wednesday/Thurs nights in Sedona. From there, you can fly home from Phoenix, or drive back to Vegas (about 5 hours). We had a good pace on this trip, but never felt rushed.

Still not out of the realm of possibility. What all did you do with your time at each location?

Originally Posted by choke

Obviously it depends on what you want to do, but for me with no hiking on the agenda one day at the South Rim was enough time.

I'm sure that most won't agree with me, but I found Meteor Crater (37 miles east of Flagstaff) to be more interesting than the Grand Canyon.

Interesting! Any particular reason for the lack of interest in the GC?

Originally Posted by Birddog

Given the amount of snow that has hit the SW that may not be the case this year. The mountains were bare last week and I believe they still are.

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

Rumor has it maybe snowing now or sometime this week. We may see rain tonight in chandler, a special occasion indeed.

I was in flag and near GC this past weekend and it was 60F during the day and no snow anywhere besides man made at Snowbowl.

The North Rim has its appeal, and we are looking at the first week in April.