Planning a trip to Grand Canyon

[drvol]

During spring break of 2011...April 15th to the 30th... I am plannig a trip to the Grand Canyon from Sevierville, TN. I will be taking my two daughters...11 and 8 yrs old...and the wife. We have a Shamrock 233S TT but I am considering renting a Class C for the trip because once there we will be staying with friends. Probably won't really camp much...just a night on the way and one or two on the way back. What I would like to know from those familiar with the trip is what to see on the way in and where to possibly camp...and what to see on the way back...alternate route??

[Willis]

I suppose for you it's I-40 all the way...not a whole lot to see between TN and the Grand Canyon. I can't count how many times I've made that trip.

Maybe consider Graceland in Memphis if you're into that sort of thing? In Arizona there's Petrified Forest Nat'l Monument and the Meteor Crater near Winslow that are both worth seeing. Not a whole lot but open sky in between!

[KyDan]

North Rim, South Rim, both???

[Hatchet58]

dont go straight there, make a side trip up throu Yellow stone, Not really all that far out of the way, and IF Possable, stay off the Main Freeway as much as possable... You would be suprized by what you see

[jackhartjr]

Plan to go through Amarillo, TX and go to the 'Big Texan' steak house, you will thank me later. Just west of town there you will see the 'Cadillac Ranch' on the left.
There are tons of Route 66 sites to see.
As mentioned above, The Petrified Forest/Painted Desert was wonderfull! We wished we had started when the gates opened! We could have spent the day there.
Meteor Crater is a must too!
My brother took the train trip from Williams, AZ to the South Rim, paid $81.00 and would have been glad to pay more! (You get about 3 hours at the rim.
Make sure to walk down the 'Bright Angel' trail until just past the first tunnel. We had a Bighorn Sheep so close I could have petted its nose.
Since you are so close to Tucson, please go to the Pima Air Museum just east of town. My wife who is not big on planes LOVED it.
There are a couple of Air Force One planes there including the small on President Kennedy had done so he could get to Hyannis Port. I will leave the rest of that story to the docents!
Then on the way out of Tucson there is Texas Canyon. Imagine a rock the size of your house perched on a rock the size of your car!
Lots of stuff to see!

[southernmtngirl]

My husband and I took the same trip from Tennessee last summer, and we had a great time! We stayed at some great campgrounds, and there's TONS to see and do along I-40; there's a lot of Route 66 detours. In particular, we loved Oklahoma City (cheap, easy to use trolley to tourist attactions and the Cowboy/Western Museum...I could move in! Little Rock has the school which integrated in 1955 - moving and educational! Amarillo is nice and a short ride to Palo Duro - complete with jeep tours (with steer horns). We stayed in Williams and took the train, too. It was fantastic, and Williams is a cute little town with a lot of Route 66 stuff to explore. We spent the night and took the train back the next day. Morning walk, elk grazing on the rim and great breakfast! We also visited Sedona and took a hot air balloon ride. There's a zoo outside Sedona, too, and there are camel rides and you can feed the giraffe. Worth it? I don't know, but it was fun! It's a great trip! Enjoy!