Goodyear AZ to the Grand Canyon | FerrariChat

Goodyear AZ to the Grand Canyon

Discussion in 'Arizona & New Mexico' started by PeterS, Oct 10, 2021.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. PeterS

    PeterS Four Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 24, 2003
    48,133
    Goodyear, AZ
    Full Name:
    PeterS
    #1 PeterS, Oct 10, 2021
    I want to take my wife to see the GC. Google says its 240 miles. Will that put me at a great location to see the canyon? I've only been there once and that was 40 years ago. I know it was on the South side but that's about it. Also, other cool things to do when we are there (choppers and a mule ride are out as far as my wife goes), hotels, dining, etc.
     
  2. My AZFerrari

    My AZFerrari Karting

    Sep 16, 2018
    56
    Arizona
    Full Name:
    Sean Thompson
    #2 My AZFerrari, Oct 11, 2021
    I see your in Goodyear, great to see another Ferrari owner on this side of the Valley



    Blessed F430 and 458 owner
     
  3. copterjon

    copterjon Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 11, 2005
    1,536
    Mesa, Az.
    #3 copterjon, Oct 11, 2021
    Peter,
    look into the Grand Canyon Railway for a great trip up to the canyon. It departs from Williams which is cool old town with lotsa history and a killer old steak house called Rod's steak House right on an old stretch of historic route 66 . You can stay up at the Canyon at El Tovar hotel( as seen in National Lampoons Vacation) for a few days, do a hike in or make it a day trip. I'd stay up a few days personally, at least overnight anyways.
     
  4. PeterS

    PeterS Four Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 24, 2003
    48,133
    Goodyear, AZ
    Full Name:
    PeterS
    #4 PeterS, Oct 11, 2021
    Never heard of this train, I watched a couple videos, this looks amazing! WOW!, thank you!
     
  5. Jdubbya

    Jdubbya The $10 Trillion Man
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 28, 2003
    37,398
    PNW
    Full Name:
    John
    #5 Jdubbya, Oct 16, 2021
    The train is fun. It may be a bit cheesy but it's fun. Do take the overnight stay at the canyon otherwise the round trip in one day is too quick. You won;t see much of the canyon. But a night's stay like the other Jon said would do the ticket.

    Otherwise I'd plan on driving up and spending at least one night. There's fun stuff to do on the way up or back too. Check out things like Montezuma's castle or the Meteor crater near Winslow....
     
  6. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
    14,244
    #6 BMW.SauberF1Team, Oct 16, 2021
    I've only been to the north rim and it was a lot of fun. They have bison up there and it looks way different. The park has cabins right near the rim, but they are probably booked far in advance. We actually stayed in UT for that trip and hit up Bryce Canyon and Zion along with north rim.
     
  7. daytonaman

    daytonaman Formula Junior

    May 1, 2007
    959
    Australia
    Full Name:
    howard pigdon
    #7 daytonaman, Sep 22, 2022
    You can easily do Williams to Grand Canyon drive and back in a day.
    dont hesitate.
    done it 3 times
     
  8. Steelton Keith

    Steelton Keith F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 19, 2009
    6,594
    Raleigh NC
    Full Name:
    Keith Hall
    #8 Steelton Keith, Sep 22, 2022
    Hi Pete. Just a word about GC sites and facilities. The El Tovar and Bright Angel Lodge require booking well in advance. When we were there in May 2021, staffing issues and Covid had all of the shuttles shut down except one, and that ran on 25% normal schedule. The Park was jammed b/c people could not get around. There was a 2 hour wait to get a drink. Many of the environmental exhibits were closed. The GC relies heavily on foreign students/workers and that employee pool was empty. The train up and back is about three hours. You can get alcohol and snacks. People are friendly but it's corny as others have noted. If you go to Williams, have a drink in the Canyon Club. There is a large hotel right next to train station...can not remember name but they do packages with meals, train and lodging. We stayed there and it was fine.
     
  9. PeterS

    PeterS Four Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 24, 2003
    48,133
    Goodyear, AZ
    Full Name:
    PeterS
    #9 PeterS, Sep 23, 2022
    Wife and I took a GC drive there two weeks ago, we had a Saturday night hotel booked in Williams. With the pre-paid car pass, the hour line to drive in went in ten minutes. Lots of people there. Funny was this was a day before one or two of the water supply lines broke that caused some havoc for the local food concessions, etc. We had a good hike on the rim and at 5PM, we snagged a dinner table at the El Tovar. The food was fairly good and the prices were reasonable. Driving out of the park sported a ton of Elk grazing on the side of the road where lots of folks stopped to take pictures, beautiful animals. We got into Williams around 7:30PM where I went to check into the Wyndam (which looked decent on the web when I booked it.....not too much 3-star plus in the town!). The lobby smelled like cat pee. Being Saturday on Labor Day, the guy at the front desk was happy to give me a refund. We went to Safeway for a Starbucks coffee to keep me awake, banged around a few stores in downtown Williams and bugged out back to Phoenix. Returning at midnight, it was a full and rich day!
     
    Ak Jim and Steelton Keith like this.

Share This Page