Flagstaff, Az question

[Billy]

Flagstaff, Arizona for a week in April/May. Two or three day escape to Grand Canyon already locked in. So in reality that leaves about 4 days in Flagstaff area. Regarding hiking and/or photography, what are the "can't miss" spots in that area? Thanks.

 

[Snowflea]

Walnut Canyon (cliff dwellings!), Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon, Sunset Crater, & Humphrey's Peak. There may still be a lot of snow on Humphrey's, but I did it in early May. (If you do a search here, you will find some info.)

Also, if you have time, the Bill Williams Trail in Williams, about 35 miles west on I-40, is a nice little half-day hike leading to a firetower.

 

[halfmoon]

Billy,

I have been researching the exact same area for an upcoming one week trip in Arizona. I have settled on 3 days in the Superstition Wilderness, 3 days in Sedona, and 2 days in the Grand Canyon.

I found an absolutely wonderful resource for hiking in Arizona, and I am including a link below. All of my research for dayhiking has pointed me to the Superstitions and Sedona, and the Grand Canyon goes without saying.

Take a look at the website, it has proven very valuable for me.

http://hikearizona.com/

 

[audrey]

Brins Mesa and Bear Mt, Sedona.
I don't know winter conditions on these trails, but Brins Mesa takes you gently up to a table land that has stupendous views. When you get on the edge of the mesa, there's an intersecting path (go right) that has more can't miss views.

Bear Mt. is about 2K of vertical hiking, with some very steep spots that people there kept telling us we had made an excellent choice. You can see the San Francisco Peaks area from the summit.

There are other hikes we enjoyed, but these 2 were hard to beat for WOW factor. West Fork of Oak Creek was beautiful in foliage season, and I can imagine that the red rock is beautifully enhanced by the snow, but I think I would pick the others first.

Edit - sorry I didn't notice your April/May time frame. I stand by what I said, though.

 

[Billy]

Sue, Steve, Audrey: Thank you for the excellent information.

 

[Peakbagr]

If you hike Humphrey's, don't discount the wind. Known as a very windy mountain and you're above the treeline for a long time. On a mid summer climb, we were bent over and running between gusts the last 20 min to the top.
Tank Meadows on Humphrey's flank is a wonderful destination and acclimatizing hike with view up the slopes to the peak.

 

[Bob]

Walnut Canyon (cliff dwellings!)

+1
Also Flagstaff is a fun, cheap town to stay in, with lots of brewpubs within walking distance.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

One thing to consider when staying in Flagstaff - it's a BIG railroad town, so use some of the mapping pages to view where your lodging is in relationship to the railroad (runs east/west). Some hotels/motels even make reference to the fact that you can't hear the rr from their buildings, so ... a word to the wise.

Also, I don't consider it a cheap place to stay, but I guess that's relative. It's a big college town, so lots to do, places to eat.

 

[Hikes4fun]

A bit of a drive...Monument Valley...We drove up and back in a relaxed day from Flagstaff

 

[Bob]

I found 2 places with private rooms for <$50/night, and the Hostel is <$20 in Flagstaff.
There also were a bunch of free primitive campsites South of town...towards Mormon Lake??? ask at the NF Ranger station.
Monument Valley is one of my all time favorites, with a fee CG there. I love seeing movies that were filmed there and recognizing some of the landmarks.