The route from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon is done by thousands of tourists a year, but if you have time, there is more to see and drive in Arizona.
Leaving Las Vegas, the first stop is the world famous Hoover Dam, which once was a great work of architecture, but today … is a dam.
The way continues honoring its name Arizona. At some point you wonder, if this is a highway, where is the median strip? And where are the guardrails?
Then you’ll answer yourself when you see that there is no median strip because the other cars are more than 30 meters away on your left and there is no guardrail because there is nothing to crash to, except electricity poles, which are also far. Do not miss to stop at a roadside restaurant for lunch or dinner.
From Ash Fork, Highway 40 coincides with the famous historic Route 66, till Williams, where we turn north.
The next destination is the Grand Canyon, one of the most famous places in the world where you may take hundreds of photos or the same photo hundreds of times, but worths exploring with time and not just take the picture.
From here, east direction, the canyon continues for 40 kilometers, yielding slightly different points of view. Then you have to go north and northeast. Along the way are often Navajo reserves, which often are little more than sets of caravans and small houses; sobering, personally I was a little sorry to see these people live in the middle of nowhere although the goverment argues that it is their land and they have chosen to live there.
150 miles northeast from the Grand Canyon, we arrive at Monument Valley, as well-known as the former.
Time to drive back a part of the road and turn onto the 98 to Page, where you will find the famous Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon. If we have more time, it is an excellent place to explore Lake Powell and the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, whose stars are the Stone Bridge Rainbow and Desert Wave, respectively.
From here we head straight south to Flagstaff. This stretch of road is probably the most scenic.
I recommend divert eastward to a 1200 meters in diameter crater, the result of a 50 meters meteorite impact 55,000 years ago. It is on private grounds of the Barringer family, who administers the entrance. Open from 8 am to 5 pm in winter and 7 am to 7 pm in summer. Adult admission $ 18.
I also recommend visiting Sedona, a fascinating and beautiful place that we missed.
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