Central Florida to Grand Canyon

Canyon De Chelley. Cliff dwellings. There is a campground there. Jerome is an old mining town.Enjoyed the mansion of an early mine owner. Also enjoyed the Gold King Mine., Tuzigoot is Indian ruins from 1300., Ft Verde is an old cavalry post. Dead Horse Ranch State park is close to the first 2,about 20 miles from Ft Verde.The campground at Dead Horse Ranch has water and electric hookups.

the grand canyon is something to see, as its so large, but on a scale of 1 to 10, its rates about a 5... almost any of the national parks of western utah will out shine it many times over, as will the area around sedona arizona... and yellowstone nat'l park.
if you only have 1 day to spend, see the grand canyon.
if you have more time, spend it seeing other areas that have more to offer than simply "a view"...

If you're going in the summer, visit the North Rim rather than the South. The latter is absolutely overrun in the summer, and the weather is actually pretty lousy (hot to very hot, especially if you're going to hike into the canyon, and a regularly scheduled violent afternoon thunderstorm that seems to have as its sole goal to rearrange campsites). The North Rim is at over 8000 feet elevation in a lovely pine forest. IMHO, the views are better from there.

The only problem is that there are fewer than 100 campsites on the North Rim, so you'd have to reserve early. But there are several Forest Service campgrounds on the access highway between Jacob Lake and the park.

Another bonus is that you're well positioned to see Bryce Canyon, which is another beautiful high-elevation park. In general, if you're in that part of the country in summer, stay high. And it's easy to do that since marijuana is legal in Colorado.

The Grand Canyon is the bottom of what's known as the Grand Circle, starting out at the North Rim (we much prefer the NR) it includes Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP and Capital Reef with many smaller parks in the area including Petroglyph SP (State Park), Pink Coral Sand Dunes SP, Vermilion Cliffs NM, Dead Horse SP, Monument Valley, Natural Bridges and many others.

Depending on altitude some of these will be hot and others cooler. Arches for one is hotter than Hades and you need to do your hiking in the morning. Carry lots of water with you at all times (at least a liter bottle each). I know you're from FL and think that you are ready for the heat but 95 deg at 10 percent humidity is something we never see in FL.

5 Weeks will mean you have a bit over three weeks in the area. As a driving route I suggest I-10 to MS, up to I-20, across to west of Dallas and US 287. Follow that with I-40 west to AZ and then US 191 north to AZ 264 which will run you thru the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Then follow US 89/alt 89 to Jacob lake and the NRGC. Camping either in the park if you get reservations or at Jacob Lake which has some private CG. If you boondock you can do that in the National Forest just outside the GC gate. You may want to pick 3 or 4 parks to concentrate on so you won't spend your time driving.

If you search the forum for Grand Circle you will find many posts

Agree with Jim@HiTek and Janss about crowds, temps, and places to visit when you get there. Summer is tourist season and it's busy, spring or fall would be better, but you don't have that option. If you just want to see the Grand Canyon SR itself, you could leave the rig at the campground in Williams AZ along I-40, and take the GC train up to the canyon and back. As a day trip. The GC rim trail is a few miles long and goes through all the popular lookouts along the way, and if you get tired you can take a shuttle back to the GC Village. North Rim GC and Bryce Canyon NP would be near top of my list. Lake Powell near Page AZ good for recreation. Durango and the 4 Corners would give you multiple options for places of interest, too. If you have the time, why not do a coastal trip along the Gulf through Mobile AL, New Orleans/Baton Rouge LA, and maybe plan stops or short side trips along the route through Texas? Lots of options along your route for interesting and historical places, assuming you'll use I-10 west. Make it a long loop tour, with stops along the way.

Janss wrote:
Northern AZ and Southern UT is a popular itinerary. Include any or all...Sedona, Grand Canyon NP, Monument Valley, Page/Lake Powell, Zion NP, Bryce NP, Capitol Reef NP, Moab (Arches NP and Canyonlands NP). More to see in between all these too, but you won't have time. Most of these place will be hot, Grand Canyon and Bryce more comfortable due to higher elevation.

The whole southwest quadrant of Colorado makes a great summer trip too. Mostly higher elevation so more comfortable temps.

X2

Northern AZ and Southern UT is a popular itinerary. Include any or all...Sedona, Grand Canyon NP, Monument Valley, Page/Lake Powell, Zion NP, Bryce NP, Capitol Reef NP, Moab (Arches NP and Canyonlands NP). More to see in between all these too, but you won't have time. Most of these place will be hot, Grand Canyon and Bryce more comfortable due to higher elevation.

The whole southwest quadrant of Colorado makes a great summer trip too. Mostly higher elevation so more comfortable temps.

You generally need to apply for forest service permission 6 months to a year in advance to hike down and spend the night in the Canyon. And you can not sneak down there. Day hikes are always permitted except when there's lots of snow on the trails. Summer is not the best time to visit, might be 80F on the rims, but 95F in the canyon. I wouldn't bother with a canyon trip from mid-June to mid-Sept. Too hot, way too crowded. They get 6 million or so visitor per year, most in the summer.

Since you didn't give dates, but just say 'summer', I'd recommend you just drift north and save the desert southwest and the GC for some other year when you can make the trip in the spring or fall. This trip just try to visit mountain areas. There's lots of those too. Like most of Montana. But the most comfortable areas in summer tend to be up north.

Give us some dates for better advice.

Having visited the Grand Canyon recently, you'd be surprised at how much there is to see, since there are two very distinct areas...the North Rim and the South Rim.

We started with the North Rim, staying inside the park at the CG there. It's far less crowded than the South Rim, and since it's at a higher elevation, the weather is cooler. Somewhat like a USFS CG, there's all sorts of opportunities there. A short hike from the CG to the Lodge provides all sorts of vistas of the canyon, and once you get to the Lodge, the views are even more spectacular. There's several hikes in the immediate area of the Lodge, and drives to several other points of interest on the North Rim also provide a unique perspective of the canyon.

Family members did the hike from the North Rim to the South Rim. 27.3 miles IIRC. Somewhat strenuous hike down (the longer part), and stay at the Phantom Ranch on the Colorado River, and then a hike out on the Bright Angel Trail on the South Rim. For those family members, that was a solid 2 days; with the right reservations, one can make it a long longer in the base of the canyon.

As they were hiking, I was moving the trailer around to the South Rim. Stayed at Trailer Village with FHU, quite different from the North Rim. And the South Rim is busy. Even in October, it was still heavy with tourists, many from other countries. There's 3 very distinct areas to explore at the South Rim, and each can take a goodly part of a day. There's also an excellent transportation system there, to get from point-to-point. If you decide to do both rims, a week would be a good amount of time for both sides.

Beyond The Grand Canyon, there's the "Big 5" in southern Utah. I'll defer to others who have been there (since I have not) to give you info on them, but I will say that, with the choices of the Big 5, you will be able to fill 5 weeks (4 weeks actually, given your travels back/forth). One site that was interesting in getting to the North Rim is the Najavo Bridge on US 89A. Great place for a break from travelling, and some fascinating information on the area surrounding the Bridge.

Whatever you decide, hope you have a safe and memory filled trip!