My road trip Phoenix to Page, Arizona
*All work including photos, videos and writing on this page is my own.
We thoroughly enjoyed this road trip. This takes you through unique desert landscapes, forests, lakes and mountains. Although the road trip is basically one road most of the way, it isn't a boring road, there is spectacular scenery to see and the liberating sense of freedom you get driving through the open spaces of Arizona is very relaxing and delightful. I would recommend going in the spring or autumn though as winter can get as low as 5c and summer into the high 40's!! It would be great to continue this road trip into Utah if you have time to see the National Parks there too.
It is a dry heat , so good for people like myself with asthma and allergies, compared to more humid places. I recommend buying a neck fan if you are there in the summer (See my photo below.) Also of course hats, factor 50 sun cream and UV hiking clothes. Rehydration drinks such as coconut water and gatorade as well as water should be in your rucksack at all times. I wouldn't recommend hiking in the summer though, we just did short walks around the Grand Canyon, using the bus between most viewpoint stops. People do die here trying to hike in the summer heat.
Below is Phoenix from a local mountain.
Below is Phoenix's main resort town of Scottsdale. Scottsdale is a lively resort town just north of Phoenix and not too far from Phoenix airport. There are lots of hotels, shops and restaurants, so a great place to relax before or after a road trip and stock up on supplies. It is popular with all age groups, but very popular with youngsters in their twenties. I would recommend you avoid the American university and school holiday of Spring break if travelling with children or elderly relatives as it will become a party town then. We stayed at the Hilton, which was ok , but there are better hotels if you wish to spend more. It was in a nice area.
You really shouldn't visit Phoenix, Arizona without spending 3 nights in Page! It has some of the best attractions in the whole state! When we attempted the road trip we had planned to stop in Flagstaff, but there was a wildfire there and a two hour detour to the East or West of Flagstaff. We took the western detour through the Grand Canyon, which was spectacular! Page also has a slightly cooler climate, being at a higher elevation than Phoenix, so a great place to visit when it's too hot in Phoenix.
Below is Flagstaff with wildfires burning in the mountains.
Below is Arizona's most famous attraction, The Grand Canyon. We really enjoyed it here, see my blog on this National park.
We then headed north to Page which took 1 1/2 hours, through desert landscape and large red rock natural sculptures. Different to anywhere we have driven before. You get a real feeling of how vast and open this state is, with Page being so far from any other town. Most of the land here is still in Navajo control, which was good to see! They tend to live in small homes on the outskirts of Page selling jewellery etc. It was good to see so many Native Americans in good jobs in the hotels and tour companies etc though, with the real highlight for me "Antelope Canyon" only accessible with a Navajo tour guide.
Page is an expanding tourist town with two very famous attractions: Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. It also has the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado river/ Lake Powell. I do recommend you try to find time to visit Page. There are only small hotels there at the moment. We stayed in Hilton Home2Suites which was nice, but I think larger resort style hotels will be opening here soon as the road trip holiday gains in popularity every year since covid. There was a lot of land for sale in Page.
Below is Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and Glen Canyon Dam in Page.
On our way back to Phoenix we stopped at Sedona and were really blown away by the spectacular scenery, hikes, forests and rock formations in that area. A great place to spend a few days exploring!
Below are views in Sedona
You could include Flagstaff in this road trip too, but we were unable to see it , so I can't comment on what there is to see there, but it did look very hilly and full of forests, so I am sure there are great hikes there. Also I would add this road trip is so easy, basically just one straight roadmost of the way from Phoenix to Page in around 5 hours. Do take food and drink with you though as there isn't much on the way other than Flagstaff.
Finally just be aware of how hot it can get in the summer. Below is a photo we took outside at a restaurant in Scottsdale in June 2022. Look at the time of day.