South Grand Canyon Family Day Trip!

As a family we really enjoy taking day trip vacations to visit different areas and attractions around our state. I want to take advantage of how really close we are to the different things to do and see around Arizona while we still live here because you just never know when your family might need to move and would have missed out on some of the things you really wanted to see while you were still so close. Plus, since we make a special point to see so many of the areas around Arizona, we have created tons of family memories together on the several day trips we take throughout the year.

In the spirit of visiting and enjoy our local attractions, we decided to take a family day trip up to the South Grand Canyon viewpoints. It’s just a four hour drive from our home which means it’s easy enough to spend just one day for the trip and see all we need to see. We’ve been to the Grand Canyon before but the last time we went our oldest was two year old and our second was a newborn. Since it had been four year and my other boys had yet to visit this really amazing natural wonder we decided it would be a fun trip.

We started our visit at the eastern side of the Grand Canyon at Desert View visitor center. This isn’t our favorite view along the route but they do have a really neat looking Watchtower that you can go up in and see down into the canyon from higher up. There are a lot of steep winding steps to the top, but it’s still a fun adventure to head to the top of the Watchtower.

After our stop at the Watchtower, we stopped at two more locations along the 25-mile stretch that follows the South side of the Grand Canyon. We prefer these views as they are less busy and feel so much more natural really showing off the beauty of the canyon. Having already been to the Grand Canyon previously, it wasn’t as awe inspiring as my first visit but it still is absolutely beautiful and really amazing to see a view of the world stripped away from all the shops, cars, and always moving society we live in. The Grand Canyon is a beautiful place to look out in amazement at God’s creation of the world we live in and regain some perspective about life and our purpose.

We had a really fun time visiting South Grand Canyon with our boys and made some fond memories together. Kids are so funny and we had some really funny kid-isms along our trip. My favorite when my six year old decided to tell us everything was “Not Grand!!” We kept telling our boys – “Look! There’s the Grand Canyon”. Every time we’d prompt our son to look he’d look and then reply, “Not Grand!” He loves to tease, just like his dad. It really made me bust up every time though.

We’ve enjoyed day trips to many other cities around Arizona and always really enjoy our time. Some of the other places we have visited over the eight years we’ve lived here include: Sedona, Lake Havasu (Home of the London Bridge), Scottsdale, Jerome, Prescott, and many other cities.

What are your favorite day trips to visit around your town?