A Grand Tour

A view of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River.

Arizona Getaways

From the Old West to the lap of luxury

By Fred J. Eckert

Hopi point is widely considered to be one of the best spots from which to view the Grand Canyon. Even those who have different favorite overlook sites generally agree that there’s no other place along the far-reaching rim of the Grand Canyon that they would rather be during sunset.

Our up-front panoramic view of the setting sun’s glow splashing upon the layers of rocks of the canyon was more than merely spectacular.

Looking down and across the gigantic chasm at any point along the rim of the Grand Canyon is the sort of experience that’s truly breathtaking and nearly impossible to suitably describe. What you see before you is, in the view of many, the planet’s most dazzling landscape—a geological masterpiece many millennia in the making, a mind-bogglingly wondrous demonstration of the power of erosion.

You stand at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, unless you’re over along the much less visited North Rim, in which case you would be anywhere from 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet higher up. You look out over a chasm that averages about 10 miles across, about four miles at its narrowest gap, and 18 miles at its widest.

Seeing the Grand Canyon is, in and of itself, more than sufficient reason to visit “The Grand Canyon State,” but we decided to take in a wider view of Arizona while we were in the neighborhood.

We flew into the state capital city of Phoenix. From there, it isn’t much more than a two-hour drive north to Sedona (with a population of 12,000 people) situated at an elevation of 4,500 feet in a transition area between the mountains to the north and the desert to the south.

What gives Sedona its very special look is the remarkable assortment of red sandstone formations in and around it, strikingly beautiful backdrop scenes of magnificent rocks that often seem to emit an orange or red glow at sunset and sunrise.

Like the Grand Canyon, it’s a place to visit to be awed by nature’s beauty. But it also offers

Grand Canyon National Park

Monument Valley

Sedona

Phoenix

ARIZONA

From the Grand

Canyon’s South Rim, Sedona is two hours away, and Monument Valley, four hours.

great shopping, outstanding resorts, splendid hiking and biking trails, art galleries, art festivals, and a wide range of accommodations.

Our favorite Sedona view is the quintessential one that’s just about everyone’s favorite— Cathedral Rock, viewed from across nearby Oak Creek, with the red rock reflecting in the stream. As the sun goes down and the moon rises, the rock seems to glow.

The drive from Sedona to the south entrance of the Grand Canyon is only about two hours, but it can take considerably longer if, for the first leg of the journey, you take the route that runs through Oak Creek Canyon, because it’s too difficult to resist pulling over every now and then for a more relaxed view of the spectacular scenery. It’s one of the most scenic routes in the United States.

We couldn’t say the same of the nearly fourhour drive onward from the Grand Canyon through the barren country to our next destination—until right near the end. Then abruptly we found ourselves once again on one of America’s most scenic routes.

It was quite a sensation. We felt like we were driving into a wide-screen movie about the Old West.

Monument Valley, largely in Arizona but spilling over into Utah, spreads more than 30,000 acres in a Navajo Tribal Park within the Navajo Nation Reservation, which covers 27,000 square miles in northeast Arizona, southeast Utah, and northwest New Mexico.

The image of its stark buttes rising from the great plains of a dusty desert is the image that best evokes the “American West” to Americans and to the world. It’s an image etched indelibly in our minds because since before World War II, it has served as a backdrop in so many favorite movies.

Among them are “Stagecoach,” “Forrest Gump,” “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” “Thelma and Louise,” “Easy Rider,” “Fort Apache,” “My Darling Clementine,” “Back to the Future III,” “How the West Was Won,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Searchers,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” and “Mission: Impossible II.”

We couldn’t think of a better way to cap off our week than to just relax for a couple of days at one of the great resorts for which Arizona is renowned. And when it comes to luxurious relaxation in Arizona—or anywhere—it’s extremely difficult to surpass The Phoenician, located at the base of Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale.

This 250-acre resort property is the very definition of extraordinary. Its 585-room main hotel, long ranked as world class, is complemented by a 60-room even more exclusive “boutique resort within a resort” called The Canyon Suites.

This is a good-as-it-gets resort in every area: accommodations, service, amenities, and cuisine. Even the little things there are big treats.

So is Arizona. In just over a week of visiting the Grand Canyon State, we felt we had journeyed through the Old West and to the lap of luxury and experienced some truly great wonders along the trail. 

Fred J. Eckert is a retired U.S. ambassador and former member of Congress.

The Grand Canyon averages 10

miles

across.

If You Go

Where to Stay:

The very best place to stay in Arizona is The Phoenician. In Sedona, check out El Portal, a superb small inn with the feel of a 200-yearold hacienda with each beautiful room differently configured and decorated, and featuring 18-inch thick adobe walls, located next to the delightful Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village. For a range of accommodations within Grand Canyon National Park, check out Grand Canyon Lodges. In Monument Valley, the place to stay is Goulding’s.

You can experience impressive sightings of wildlife such as this big buck while visiting the Grand Canyon. A Navajo woman gives a demonstration of traditional weaving for tourists in Monument Valley.

Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Ariz.