Detroit to Grand Canyon and then Sedona.

[Harley_Dude]

Hopefully leaving London, Ontario
to Detroit sometime mid January. Then onwards to the Grand Canyon and eventually ending up in Sedona AZ.

Looking for a leisurely route to see the sites and need Camp Sites, RV Parks along the way for breaks a few days at a time.

Have this recommendation for a place to stay in Sedona. http://lolomai.com

From Arizona, will probably head towards Louisiana and up to The Smokies, then home. Thanks for your help.

[Harley_Dude]

ken56 wrote:
^^^^^best suggestion yet^^^^^ reverse the routing on your trip. Go further south first.

We always stop in Tennessee when heading north or south on I75. Always stay in a camp just on the edge of the park as you leave Townsend. We'll make it our stop this year to dewinterize before heading south. Do you have any favourite RV Camps in the area? Thanks. Don

[2gypsies1]

I don't know how much time you have for the trip but for Sedona it starts getting nice beginning of March. Grand Canyon a little cooler than Sedona. Of course, every year is different. We were at Grand Canyon the end of February one year and it was perfect temperatures. Good luck!

[Harley_Dude]

Golden_HVAC wrote:
If you are used to driving in feet of snow, you will enjoy the Grand Canyon at 6,500' elevation a LOT in the winter. Personally, I do not have a snow plow on my truck, so no thanks.

The first time I went there was Thanksgiving weekend in 1987 - the first year I had my F-350 and camper. It did not have a furnace, but had a oven and 4 burner stovetop. It was COLD! Ice on the roads, ect. I ended up camping in the parking lot of Riverside Hotel in Laughlin AZ.

I had a friend move up to Flagstaff, and worked for the school district, and got to drive the new pickup with a 8' wide snow plow on it. He even got to practice in the school district parking lot, and could drive it home when snow was expected, so he could help clear the school parking lots when he came in early the next morning.

I would prefer camping much further south, say Tucson, Ajo, or Mesa AZ. This is a much lower elevation, and not as subject to snow in January, but you can see snow in Tucson each winter. It usually melts the next day. Mesa it is more rare to see snow, but my sister posted pictures of her snow covered palm trees a few days ago, in nearby Apache Junction. So snow can happen there, just not each winter. I am sure that it melted right away, as it was supposed to be 57 yesterday.

Weather.com can be your friend, look up the cities you plan on traveling to, then look up the 10 day and monthly weather forecast.

Even I 40 through Albuquerque would be really cold in January, at 5,500' elevation, with a couple of other passes to go through, I would not want to be there with a trailer in the deep snow, or icy roads.

I would recommend going far to the south, then take I-10 towards El Paso, and try out Tucson. They have a wonderful air museum full of aircraft and other things to look at. Just west of town is a large campground with plenty of cactus to look at.

Good luck,

Fred.

No Fred, I don't enjoy driving in snow and on ice. That's why we're wanting to escape Ontario in the winter. And I'll be towing a new trailer, so no unnecessary risks for me. We'll head south first and I'll look into your suggestions re Tucson, Mesa, etc. Thanks

[Harley_Dude]

lbrjet wrote:
-14 at the canyon last night and -6 in Flagstaff. This is colder than normal, however, these two areas have a real winter. Could be a high of 50 or a high of 10, luck of the draw. Watch the weather closely.

I know it's a tough call. But about when would you recommend weather wise a visit to the GC and Sedona. Thanks.

[Harley_Dude]

2gypsies wrote:
If you're leaving in January I'd highly suggest you reverse the trip. Head straight south to I-10 and Louisiana and head west to Arizona and then return to Canada. Winter is not the time to travel and sitesee any further north than I-10. The Canyon has already had a lot of snow.

For Grand Canyon definitely stay IN the park at Trailer Village. You'll be within walking distance to the Rim and the free shuttle will pick you up right outside the campground. You can ride and get on and off wherever you want.

For Sedona we love to stay at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in nearby Cottonwood. Very nice sites and lots to do in the area - Jerome, Prescott, the Verde Valley train ride and a short distance into busy Sedona.

If you reverse your plans, after Grand Canyon you can head into Utah and visit the awesome national parks of Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands. You don't want to do those in winter.

Thanks for the detailed info. I'm taking your and other posters suggestion of reversing our trip. We're very flexible in our travels and time allotment. So, we're now thinking about heading directly south to the Ocala Florida area, where I've been several times. My wife has never been there, so it'll be fun showing her the sights I enjoyed before. We can then work our way along the Gulf into Louisiana where we spent some quality time last year. At that point we could work our way west to Sedona which is high on our list of places to visit. Hopefully someone will tell me when spring usually arrives in the Grand Canyon area so we can visit there and I do like your suggestions of where to go after that.

[Harley_Dude]

Matt_Colie wrote:
Harley,

While I do advise the you watch the weather carefully. Going south first may be the good answer. But the real thing to take to heart is the carry at least a day's provisions. I can never get a straight answer as to what I can bring into the US from Canada, so I just don't bring in anything that was not packaged in the US. Nothing fresh. So, plan a grocery stop after the bridge.

Detroit is home of the worse crossing ever. (That is saying a lot from a person that has traveled in about a dozen countries.) If you are actually north of London, consider 402.

That time of year, few northern campgrounds are open. I don't even know of any in Michigan or Ohio. We travel self contained, so that is not a big issue for us.

Matt

Thanks Matt.....Yes we usually cross into the US at Port Huron.....have done it many times with only one bad experience with a US Agent. And it was my fault. Took a $90.00 bag of Canadian made dog food with us... Agent found it and confiscated it. I learned you can't take Canadian dog food into the US. We do as you do now.....basically empty fridge till we're in the States. Found a work around for the dog food issue.

And yes.....now revising our trip agenda and will head directly south to Central Florida and take it from there. Don

[Lauren]

Yup, reverse for sure. Even I-10 can get snow and lousy weather coming across NM and parts of AZ - it is an altitude thing.

Definitely stay at Trailer Village but you should try and make reservations; they can be busy all year round. And they are at 6600 feet and raining / snowing there right now.

We once got caught in a major storm while there.....complete white-out. I got some great photography during the storm but my shots are sunrise the next morning were among some of the best I have ever shot....and I have shot more tens of thousands than you can count!

[Matt_Colie]

Harley,

While I do advise the you watch the weather carefully. Going south first may be the good answer. But the real thing to take to heart is the carry at least a day's provisions. I can never get a straight answer as to what I can bring into the US from Canada, so I just don't bring in anything that was not packaged in the US. Nothing fresh. So, plan a grocery stop after the bridge.

Detroit is home of the worse crossing ever. (That is saying a lot from a person that has traveled in about a dozen countries.) If you are actually north of London, consider 402.

That time of year, few northern campgrounds are open. I don't even know of any in Michigan or Ohio. We travel self contained, so that is not a big issue for us.

Matt

[ken56]

^^^^^best suggestion yet^^^^^ reverse the routing on your trip. Go further south first.

[2gypsies1]

If you're leaving in January I'd highly suggest you reverse the trip. Head straight south to I-10 and Louisiana and head west to Arizona and then return to Canada. Winter is not the time to travel and sitesee any further north than I-10. The Canyon has already had a lot of snow.

For Grand Canyon definitely stay IN the park at Trailer Village. You'll be within walking distance to the Rim and the free shuttle will pick you up right outside the campground. You can ride and get on and off wherever you want.

For Sedona we love to stay at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in nearby Cottonwood. Very nice sites and lots to do in the area - Jerome, Prescott, the Verde Valley train ride and a short distance into busy Sedona.

If you reverse your plans, after Grand Canyon you can head into Utah and visit the awesome national parks of Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands. You don't want to do those in winter.

[Golden_HVAC]

If you are used to driving in feet of snow, you will enjoy the Grand Canyon at 6,500' elevation a LOT in the winter. Personally, I do not have a snow plow on my truck, so no thanks.

The first time I went there was Thanksgiving weekend in 1987 - the first year I had my F-350 and camper. It did not have a furnace, but had a oven and 4 burner stovetop. It was COLD! Ice on the roads, ect. I ended up camping in the parking lot of Riverside Hotel in Laughlin AZ.

I had a friend move up to Flagstaff, and worked for the school district, and got to drive the new pickup with a 8' wide snow plow on it. He even got to practice in the school district parking lot, and could drive it home when snow was expected, so he could help clear the school parking lots when he came in early the next morning.

I would prefer camping much further south, say Tucson, Ajo, or Mesa AZ. This is a much lower elevation, and not as subject to snow in January, but you can see snow in Tucson each winter. It usually melts the next day. Mesa it is more rare to see snow, but my sister posted pictures of her snow covered palm trees a few days ago, in nearby Apache Junction. So snow can happen there, just not each winter. I am sure that it melted right away, as it was supposed to be 57 yesterday.

Weather.com can be your friend, look up the cities you plan on traveling to, then look up the 10 day and monthly weather forecast.

Even I 40 through Albuquerque would be really cold in January, at 5,500' elevation, with a couple of other passes to go through, I would not want to be there with a trailer in the deep snow, or icy roads.

I would recommend going far to the south, then take I-10 towards El Paso, and try out Tucson. They have a wonderful air museum full of aircraft and other things to look at. Just west of town is a large campground with plenty of cactus to look at.

Good luck,

Fred.

[lbrjet]

-14 at the canyon last night and -6 in Flagstaff. This is colder than normal, however, these two areas have a real winter. Could be a high of 50 or a high of 10, luck of the draw. Watch the weather closely.

[sch911]

It will be cold and there will be snow at the South Rim and Flagstaff. And there are area's that chains could be required. You need to plan for that kind of thing. Generally not so bad in Sedona though.

[Two_Hands]

We highly recommend Trailer Village RV Campground in the park on the south rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Make your reservation now and have a great trip.