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Grand Canyon Loop

Time2,

Thanks for your insight. Here's the route detail:

5182 Arville St, Las Vegas, NV 89118 to Arville St - Google Maps

I imagine we'll make a few side excursions if we have time, but this is the gist of it.

At this point, we're planning to overnight in the following locations, although we're leaving that a little flexible too (i.e. haven't booked ahead). Do you think we should book ahead this time of year?

Seligman, AZ
Flagstaff, AZ
Mexican Hat, UT
Escalante, UT
Vegas

I've got it at 250 - 300 miles a day. Those are not freeway miles, so I figure they'll be a lot of seat time each day. But it feels do-able.
 
Your ride from O to P will be one of the most spectacular, and take some time to see Bryce Canyon if you have it. The ride through Zion is nice too. You won't make it quite to Canyonlands and will be about 2 hours from Arches at your closest point, but that would add a lot onto an already full trip.

Looks like a doable ride, like I said, be ready for any and all types of weather.
 
Having been to all of those places, I would recommend skipping the Laughlin - Oatman -Kingman loop. The scenery isn't anything special, and Oatman is just a one-street tourist attraction (trap). Given the time restraints, I'd suggest you go straight from Vegas to Kingman, and then on to the GC. Even the Rt.66 byway btwn Kingman and GC could be passed up. Not that it isn't a nice ride, but I'd rather spend the time riding around Sedona. That's a beautiful place. BTW, if you were planning to spend the night in Sedona, check out the Airport Motel, or a name similar to that. It's on top of a major mesa, and folks drive up every evening to look at the view that you will see from the motel. As I recall, it was pretty reasonable, too. The "airport" is a small private plane airstrip...not much of an airport at all.

Wherever you end up going, there are some incredible things to see. My wife and I went to Zion twice (from the L.A. area), once in a car and once on the bike, and it's truly Awesome, in the original sense of the word.

Have fun and be careful.
 
ProF,

That sounds like "Been There, Done That" kind of advice. I really appeciate it. We do have limited time, so given the choice, I would rather spend more time on the GREAT parts than trying to fit in a bunch of "nice" parts.

Also thanks for the Sedona hotel tip. Sounds like a great idea. Do you think the hotel you mention could be the Sky Ranch Lodge (http://www.skyranchlodge.com/index.htm) ?

Thanks,
-nosaj
 
nosaj said:
ProF,

That sounds like "Been There, Done That" kind of advice. I really appeciate it. We do have limited time, so given the choice, I would rather spend more time on the GREAT parts than trying to fit in a bunch of "nice" parts.

Also thanks for the Sedona hotel tip. Sounds like a great idea. Do you think the hotel you mention could be the Sky Ranch Lodge (http://www.skyranchlodge.com/index.htm) ?

Thanks,
-nosaj
Click to expand...


Yep, that's the motel. It was a great place to stay. We even stayed an extra night because it was so nice.

The biggest problem you have is the distances between points A and B. Often there's nothing but desert in between. That's why I suggested you take the most direct routes between major sites. Old Route 66 might be fun if you have all the time in the world, but going the straight, fast route to the Grand Canyon will give you more time there.
Some folks might even suggest you skip Sedona completely, but we found it to be some remarkable scenery, including the great road into the town. I don't think you'll regret going there. Oatman and Laughlin I wouldn't give you two nickles for, but some folks like them.
 
nosaj said:
At this point, we're planning to overnight in the following locations, although we're leaving that a little flexible too (i.e. haven't booked ahead). Do you think we should book ahead this time of year?

Seligman, AZ
Flagstaff, AZ
Mexican Hat, UT
Escalante, UT
Vegas

I've got it at 250 - 300 miles a day. Those are not freeway miles, so I figure they'll be a lot of seat time each day. But it feels do-able.
Click to expand...

As for reservations, that's a tough call. It's getting past the tourist season, so you should be okay, at least in the Utah locations. When you get to Escalante just before town, there is a white hotel on your right up on a hill. We stayed there and it was a decent place with a restaurant .
 
Thanks Time2 and everyone,

We simplified our route a bit to take some of the stress of just covering ground out of the last couple days. Also booked hotels ahead to aovid driving around from one hotel to another looking for a room when we could be eating some red meat and sipping a brew.

Leaving a week from tomorrow! If anyone else has suggestions, please do.
 
As of now at least the first part of your ride is going to be in fantastic weather. Almost makes me want to head south for the weekend. Have a ball.
 
Knock on wood. We're hoping for good weather. Looks like it's getting a little chilly in at night, but it should be good riding when the sun's up.

At one point, we were planning a mountain tour starting in Salt Lake. The summer got away from us, so we changed plans to the current route starting from Vegas. Figured the mountain route might be a little if-ey this time of year.
 
It will definitely be warmer further south, but the weather here is as good as can be expected for this time of year. In fact I mentioned to my wife on the way to work this morning that we need to hop on the bike and take a 2 or 3 day trip before it gets colder.

You're right, it will be cold when the sun is not up, but the day temps will be very pleasant.
 
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