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I want to take someone to see Jerome, Arizona; where do you recommend we stay and what else is there to see? |
I've been to Jerome, Arizona and now want to take my mother. She just had her knee replaced and can walk but I'd like to find places we can drive to and not hiking opportunities. Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, there's so much natural beauty in Arizona but I also don't want to miss a great museum or art gallery if you know of any. There are a lot of great places in Northern Arizona - famous or otherwise. If you go back to Jerome, be sure to visit the Douglas Mansion museum (great history about the town). Probably the best place to stay there is the Jerome Grand Hotel (the old hospital at the top of town). There is also the touristy, but fun, Gold King Mine a few miles to the west. As for other northern Arizona attractions: There are interesting prehistoric ruins in the Verde Valley near Jerome at Tuzigoot National Monument and Montezuma's Castle National Monument (both involve a little bit of walking). Sedona is a popular tourist and arts towns with lots of galleries and food/lodging options surrounded by the famous red rock cliffs. Tlaquepaque (ta-lah-key-pah-key) is a collection of upscale shops that looks like a little spanish village. From Sedona you can take the winding, but scenic, drive up Oak Creek Canyon along 89A to Flagstaff. Flagstaff is an old lumber and railroad town with many interesting attractions. The old downtown has many historic buildings that now house nice little shops and cafes. You can visit Lowell Astronomical Observatory where Pluto was discovered in 1930 (overlooking downtown - nice museum). The Museum of Northern Arizona (north of town toward Grand Canyon) is probably the best museum in the northern part of the state (particulary for Native American information). The nearby Pioneer Museum is interesting as well and so is the Riordan Mansion State Park (near NAU) - a log mansion built by lumber barons. Many eating and lodging options. For historic flavor try the old Monte Vista Hotel downtown (where some scenes from Casablanca were filmed). If you want to see Monument Valley and the best of the Navajo/Hopi country, I would recommend the following itinerary (would take several days): From Flagstaff, go east on I-40 to Winslow (east of Flagstaff on I-40) and visit the famous La Posada Hotel - built in 1930 as the last of the grand Santa Fe railroad hotels. It has been recently restored and is a fanatistic place to stay with one of the best resturants in the southwest. From Winslow, continue along I-40 to see Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park. The Petrified Forest in particular is amazing - rows of giant fossilized logs (and prehistoric ruins). Continue east along I-40 to US191 at Chambers and go north to Ganado on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Ganado is home to Hubbel Trading Post National Historic Site - it is a real operating indian trading post ran by the park service (a great place to see the famous Navajo blankets). From there continue north along US191 to Chinle and Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de-shay) National Monument - a beautiful sandstone canyon filled with Anasazi ruins. Can either view them from the overlooks or take jeep tours. Stay at the historic Thunderbird Lodge at the mouth of the canyon (or nearby modern hotels in Chinle). From Chinle, continue on up to Monument Valley on the Utah border. They have a good driving tour-road route through the Valley that takes you to the main overlooks (have to pay a small permit fee). Best place to stay (by far) is the great Goulding Trading Post and Lodge. Drive back down to Flagstaff along US160 and 89 with a stop at the Tuba City Trading Post and enjoy a tasty Navajo taco at Cameron Trading Post (near the Little Colorado River). As for the Grand Canyon - definitely worth the visit. While it is famous for its hiking trails, it can still be enjoyed from the rim with minimal walking (there is a shuttle running along the rim to the west of the main lodges). Besure to visit Yavapai Point, Mather Point and Hermits Rest overlooks. Although there are chain hotels just outside the park boundary at Tusyan, the best place to stay by far is in one of the park lodges (ran by Xanterra). Maswick and Bright Angel Lodges are the most affordable, Thunderbird and Kachina the most modern (and ugly) and the famous El Tovar (built in 1905) the most grand and historic. Besure to visit the Hopi House - a gift shop built in 1905 and shaped like a Hopi pueblo (near El Tovar) and the Kolb's photo studio (pioneer photographers). Desert View Watch Tower (east of the main lodges toward Cameron) is interesting and often overlooked - it was built in 1930 to look like a prehistoric indian watch tower. Warning: reservations at the lodges should be made well in advance. Lastly, if you are in the Phoenix area, a nice driving tour can be had by taking the Apache Trail (AZ88) east from Apache Junction to Lake Roosevelt. This road (gravel in places) has dramatic scenery (and winding curves) as it navigates between the Salt River Lakes (Canyon and Apache) and the Superstition Mtns. Lunch and pricky-pair cactus ice cream can be had at the funky Tortilla Flats near Canyon Lake or check out the fake-but-fun 'ghost town' of Goldfield along the road near Apache Junction. From Roosevelt Dam (impressive in itself) and Lake Roosevelt, drive south to the old mining towns of Globe and Miami which have many interesting buildings now home to art galleries and antique shops. Many great family Mexican food places - El Rey and Irenes are two favorites. Follow US60 along a pretty drive over the Pinal Mtns to Superior and visit the Boyce Thompson Desert Arboretum (requires some minimal walking to enjoy) before heading back to Phoenix. Have fun! Source(s): Life-long Arizona resident, writer, explorer and hiker. Grew up in Flagstaff. The best Arizona guidebook in my opinion is Moon Publication's Arizona Handbook by Bill Wier. Useful URLs: Lowell Observatory: http://www.lowell.edu/ Riordan Mansion: http://www.azparks.gov/parks/parkhtml/ri... Museum of Northern Arizona: http://www.musnaz.org/ Monte Vista Hotel: http://www.hotelmontevista.com/... La Posada: http://www.laposada.org/ Petrified Forest National Park: http://www.nps.gov/pefo/ Hubbell Trading Post: http://www.nps.gov/hutr/ Canyon de Chelly: http://www.nps.gov/cach/ Thunderbird Lodge: http://www.tbirdlodge.com/ Grand Canyon Lodge Reservations: http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/... Boyce Thompson Arboretum: http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu/... Go to this site and it should help ya out! http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-47... Jerome is tiny. You can spend a few hours visiting the ghost town and shops, then drive on to Sedona to see the beautiful red rocks and stay overnight there. If she likes art galleries you should visit Tlaquepaque, an arts and crafts village in Sedona. http://www.tlaq.com/ |
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