This June I am going to the Grand Canyon. I have never been west of Chicago before and it seems like something worth seeing. Anyway, I'll be out there for 7-9 days and I need suggestions of other things to see within a few hundred mile radius. I am more interested in cool scenic things than anything touristy. I would like to see mountains, desert, crazy land formations, and other stunning things of great beauty occurring in the natural world. Any suggestions from people who live in this area of the country or who have been there are greatly appreciated.

it's gets really cold at night!

This June I am going to the Grand Canyon. I have never been west of Chicago before and it seems like something worth seeing. Anyway, I'll be out there for 7-9 days and I need suggestions of other things to see within a few hundred mile radius. I am more interested in cool scenic things than anything touristy. I would like to see mountains, desert, crazy land formations, and other stunning things of great beauty occurring in the natural world. Any suggestions from people who live in this area of the country or who have been there are greatly appreciated.
steal some nuclear secrets from los alamos

also redbull

you should go to jerome, az. it's a historic small town in the mountains and it's beautiful. i think it might be a bit of a drive.

LAS VEGAS

get a scoop of blue stuff and a two scoops of yellow

throw yourself off the edge and die

Mushrooms. Tripping at the grand canyon has to be amazing.

ride a donkey

throw yourself off the edge and die

damnit.

don't forget to bring some sunscreen

Oh, and:

Las Vegas
Hoover Dam
The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff
Meteor Crater
Red Rock Canyon
Lake Mead

Are those actual places or are you just reading a summary of Vegas Vacation?

Meteor Crater is cool

Also check out the western tip of the Canyon where the ... shit I forget the name of it, it's a glass bridge that you can walk over the canyon like a horseshoe

Are those actual places or are you just reading a summary of Vegas Vacation?

Most wouldn't consider those a Vegas vacation - two or three hours is too far for people to bother with to see some wicked awesome stuff.

Isn't the Grand Canyon like... flooded right now?

Isn't the Grand Canyon like... flooded right now?
You really have no idea of the vastness of the Canyon I take it

see what happens when you smoke pot.

You really have no idea of the vastness of the Canyon I take it

No, I have not. I've seen it in tons of movies and documentaries, but I really couldn't care less about some valley in the US. I had just heard that 'it' [or probably [small?] parts of it] got flooded recently.

<i>yes, do the donkey tour</i>

find the secret swimming hole. you get there through some caves. but you gotta know the secret password when tom cruise asks.

I just read something that said that whole glass hanging observation deck over the edge is a "NO PHOTOGRAPHY ZONE." That's not even the patronizing part. It's that their reasoning is "We don't want people to drop cameras and hurt the glass and ruin the view for others." Sounds more like they just want to keep a monopoly on the views. I wish they'd just say that. I'd chuckle and respect them.

the grand canyon is really underwhelming. it doesn't feel like a "natural majestic beauty" at all, you're just surrounded by tourists the whole time. loud obnoxious fat people posing for pictures and looking for parking. have fun.

We were supposed to go see one of the Sedona Energy Vortexes, but didn't have time...seems like a pretty cool thing to do, but maybe a waste of time, I don't know. Visitors report an odd force of energy that causes your skin to tingle, etc.

I suggest you drive right past there and straight down to Mexico and sell your passport for what you can and buy a small house and finish out your days there.

zion national park in southern utah is a must.

for classic / archetypal desert southwest scenery, you gotta do monument valley too. (on 163 between northern az/southern utah on the navajo reservation).

arches np, and bryce canyon np (also southern utah) look pretty great as well.

the grand tetons provide some of the best mountain scenery in the west and would be far more worth it than the oft-visited parts of yellowstone.


if you want a slightly less hectic experience, go the less-visited north rim of the grand canyon. depending on which direction you come in from, you can drive through the vermillions and cross the colorado at navajo bridge/marble canyon (maybe what nimrod and peabody are talking about?) which is pretty cool. the road leading south toward the north rim of the grand canyon passes through this beautiful swath of high savanna grassland that blends into a cool evergreen forest.



so some google image and map searching of all that and see what interests you. if you're looking for on the cheap camping, most national forest land allows camping for free with certain restrictions on where you can do it and for how long. check out web sites for the various nat'l forests near the stuff you want to see and look up 'dispersed camping.' of course a lot of the more rustic 'official' campsites in national forests are pretty cheap and often really awesome.

Also check out the western tip of the Canyon where the ... shit I forget the name of it, it's a glass bridge that you can walk over the canyon like a horseshoe


The Skywalk, and it costs around 60 bucks to do so.
It's a rip-off.

Thank you to those who gave real suggestions, I'll check them out.

Bryce Canyon is cool. I lived there for three months. It's a really great place to kinda stroll through and not to stay. There is a lodge there which is somewhat expensive and don't eat at the restaurant there or in the small area just outside of Bryce . . . Ruby something or other. There is a really cool road to drive on near there that goes up to like 14000 feet. I think it's called soldier's summit or some such. But it's a beautiful drive. Also Colorado is full of beautiful areas. Just the drive on I-70 is beautiful, but if you take off and go onto any one of the numerous passes such as Loveland pass you're in for a treat in the summer. In the winter you have to have big balls to drive it. But have fun. You'll meet a lot of internationals in these areas as well.

Meteor Crater is cool

I thought it was pretty cool to see, but also after a while of being there I was just like "okay... now lets go somewhere else"

I'd seriously suggest checking out Flagstaff. I loved that city. It's beautiful, and I thought the Lowell Observatory was pretty great.

If you're going to stay right in the Grand Canyon National Park for any period of time, I would definitely recommend staying at the North Rim; there isn't as much in terms of luxuries (we didn't have a TV in our room and got absolutely no cellphone reception whatsoever), but its a lot less crowded and far less "touristy" than the South Rim. There's a gas station, a small grocery store, a bar, a tourist shop, and a restaurant (which has an amazing view btw), and thats it--no bells and whistles.

A couple other things:

Please don't do any of the stupid fucking donkey tours. They aren't fun. Everyone always looks like they're having a good time and everything on their way down into the canyon, but assuming you don't have an ass made of steel, you're going to be motherfucking the world on the ride back up. Suck it up and hike.

Lots of the people that work the park are foreigners from various western European countries, and many of the women are fairly attractive (or at least they were when I was there). I highly suggest that you try and nail as many as possible.

Start off by visiting Ghost Town U.S.A., but don't get locked in the jail by a crazy prospector! Once you arrive at the Grand Canyon, enjoy, but watch out for a little Native American boy--don't let anyone in your party go chasing after him! If you can, though, make friends with the boy; you'll be inducted as honorary members of his tribe!

</i hate myself for writing out this awful joke, but once i started i had to keep going>