Itinerary
Day 1: Flagstaff, Arizona
Our high desert adventure begins in Flagstaff, which sits at nearly 7,000 feet in the mountains of northern Arizona. Surrounded by Ponderosa pines in the vast Coconino National Forest, Flagstaff was founded in the 1880s when sheep ranchers moved into the area and the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad began to lay track westward on its way to California. The historic town blends Native American, pioneer and Route 66 heritage and is a popular gateway to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon which lies 80 miles to the north. We’ll spend the next three nights enjoying the Old West ambience of Flagstaff, which is our base for activities in the region.
Guests who arrive before 1 pm will have the option to take a guided trip to Walnut Canyon National Monument just outside of Flagstaff. Offering a captivating glimpse into the history and beauty of Arizona’s high desert, the national monument is home to ancient cliff dwellings built by the Sinagua people over 700 years ago. The canyon’s most popular attraction is a one-mile walk among the ruins. With 25 dwellings carved into the cliffs bordering the trail and captivating views of unique rock formations and desert vegetation, the canyon serves as an ideal primer to our upcoming Arizona desert exploration. This evening, join your Expedition Leaders for a welcome dinner.
Day 2: Petrified Forest National Park
Head out early this morning for a full day in Petrified Forest National Park. While this sun-swept park in northeast Arizona gets its name from its large deposits of petrified wood, it is a nexus for many impressive aspects of nature, geology, paleontology and ancient Puebloan architecture. The park is especially known for its fossilized fallen trees from the Late Triassic Epoch, about 225 million years ago. Other fossils found in the park include Late Triassic ferns, cycads, ginkgoes and many other plants, plus fauna including giant reptiles called phytosaurs, large amphibians, and early dinosaurs. The park’s earliest human inhabitants arrived about 13,000 years ago, and more than 1,000 archaeological sites, including petroglyphs, have been found within its bounds. In the northern sector of the park lies the Painted Desert, with its multicolored bands of sedimentary deposits and rainbow-tinted quartz that are part of the vivid Chinle Formation.
We explore a broad sampler of the park’s highlights, including the Rainbow Forest Museum, the Giant Logs Trail, and the striking Blue Mesa Trail through a portion of the Painted Desert. On our scenic route through the park, we’ll make multiple stops that offer unique insights into the area’s rich geological and cultural history. Eventually, it’s time to make the return drive to Flagstaff where we’ll have dinner together and reflect on the day’s discoveries.
Day 3: Exploring Sedona & the Verde Valley
Sedona is simply spectacular, with its striking red rock cliffs and towers, and its lush green canyons of chaparral and cottonwoods watered by streams from the mountains. Sedona is also celebrated for its vibrant arts culture and reputation as a locus for spiritual energy, drawing travelers in search of its myriad contributions to personal well-being. Our day begins with a drive south on the scenic byway through Oak Creek Canyon to reach Sedona, which sits on the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau. Emerging from the pinyon-juniper forest, we are surrounded by soaring sandstone ramparts that shift color in shades of red, orange and maroon as the sun moves across the sky. Easy hikes take us deep into pine-studded canyons and up to panoramic viewpoints, with every vista more dramatic than the last. In the cobalt sky overhead, we often see hawks gliding on high.
The region is also rich in cultural history. The Sinagua people, who lived in the Verde Valley over 1,000 years ago, left behind complex cliff dwellings and petroglyphs that provide a glimpse into their lives and connection to the land, which we explore on a visit to ancient ruins in a nearby national monument As the day winds down, we’ll enjoy dinner in Sedona amid the stunning beauty of our surroundings before making our way back to Flagstaff to spend the night.
Day 4: Luxury Dome Train to Grand Canyon / South Rim Hike & Sunset Overlook
A highlight of our desert adventure is a ride in a luxury dome car on the Grand Canyon Railway. This historic train route from the town of Williams to the South Rim, established in the early 20th century, offers a nostalgic travel experience through the largest Ponderosa pine forest in the world. We drive from Flagstaff to board the train at the depot in Williams, which still looks much as it did during its mid-20th century heyday as a stop along famous Route 66.
Once we arrive at the Grand Canyon, we are on the edge of one of the world’s most awe-inspiring natural wonders. Searching its shadowy depths for the silver ribbon of the Colorado River thousands of feet below, we have a sense of our own tiny instant in geological history. The canyon's sedimentary layers, stacked more than a mile thick, are a calendar for the millennia, formed by the erosive power of water and wind over eons. While this region is known as Red Rock Country, the canyon walls glow gold, rose, rust and purple, ever-changing as the high desert light works its transformative magic. This afternoon we take a short hike for a close encounter with the canyon’s grandeur, surveying its vast expanse and dramatic formations. At sunset, we marvel even more as the sinking rays cast a warm glow over the chasm. We spend our final night on the rim of the Grand Canyon, soaking in the peace and beauty under a sky full of stars.
Day 5: Sunrise over the Grand Canyon / Flagstaff / Depart
Greet the day with an experience that will surely be among the most aesthetic nature encounters in your life: sunrise over the Grand Canyon. From Yavapai Point, watching the ethereal light of dawn illumine the ancient rock layers, over a mile deep, is a sight to behold. The point offers one of the best vantages for an overview of Grand Canyon geology, which our Expedition Leader explains in fascinating detail. We'll also walk the "Trail of Time" path along the canyon's South Rim, a scenic path with interpretive plaques offering further insight into the canyon's geology. Later this morning, our Arizona adventure moves toward a close as we drive back to Flagstaff, which you can explore further on your own if time permits before your departure.
Our high desert adventure begins in Flagstaff, which sits at nearly 7,000 feet in the mountains of northern Arizona. Surrounded by Ponderosa pines in the vast Coconino National Forest, Flagstaff was founded in the 1880s when sheep ranchers moved into the area and the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad began to lay track westward on its way to California. The historic town blends Native American, pioneer and Route 66 heritage and is a popular gateway to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon which lies 80 miles to the north. We’ll spend the next three nights enjoying the Old West ambience of Flagstaff, which is our base for activities in the region.
Guests who arrive before 1 pm will have the option to take a guided trip to Walnut Canyon National Monument just outside of Flagstaff. Offering a captivating glimpse into the history and beauty of Arizona’s high desert, the national monument is home to ancient cliff dwellings built by the Sinagua people over 700 years ago. The canyon’s most popular attraction is a one-mile walk among the ruins. With 25 dwellings carved into the cliffs bordering the trail and captivating views of unique rock formations and desert vegetation, the canyon serves as an ideal primer to our upcoming Arizona desert exploration. This evening, join your Expedition Leaders for a welcome dinner.
Day 2: Petrified Forest National Park
Head out early this morning for a full day in Petrified Forest National Park. While this sun-swept park in northeast Arizona gets its name from its large deposits of petrified wood, it is a nexus for many impressive aspects of nature, geology, paleontology and ancient Puebloan architecture. The park is especially known for its fossilized fallen trees from the Late Triassic Epoch, about 225 million years ago. Other fossils found in the park include Late Triassic ferns, cycads, ginkgoes and many other plants, plus fauna including giant reptiles called phytosaurs, large amphibians, and early dinosaurs. The park’s earliest human inhabitants arrived about 13,000 years ago, and more than 1,000 archaeological sites, including petroglyphs, have been found within its bounds. In the northern sector of the park lies the Painted Desert, with its multicolored bands of sedimentary deposits and rainbow-tinted quartz that are part of the vivid Chinle Formation.
We explore a broad sampler of the park’s highlights, including the Rainbow Forest Museum, the Giant Logs Trail, and the striking Blue Mesa Trail through a portion of the Painted Desert. On our scenic route through the park, we’ll make multiple stops that offer unique insights into the area’s rich geological and cultural history. Eventually, it’s time to make the return drive to Flagstaff where we’ll have dinner together and reflect on the day’s discoveries.
Day 3: Exploring Sedona & the Verde Valley
Sedona is simply spectacular, with its striking red rock cliffs and towers, and its lush green canyons of chaparral and cottonwoods watered by streams from the mountains. Sedona is also celebrated for its vibrant arts culture and reputation as a locus for spiritual energy, drawing travelers in search of its myriad contributions to personal well-being. Our day begins with a drive south on the scenic byway through Oak Creek Canyon to reach Sedona, which sits on the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau. Emerging from the pinyon-juniper forest, we are surrounded by soaring sandstone ramparts that shift color in shades of red, orange and maroon as the sun moves across the sky. Easy hikes take us deep into pine-studded canyons and up to panoramic viewpoints, with every vista more dramatic than the last. In the cobalt sky overhead, we often see hawks gliding on high.
The region is also rich in cultural history. The Sinagua people, who lived in the Verde Valley over 1,000 years ago, left behind complex cliff dwellings and petroglyphs that provide a glimpse into their lives and connection to the land, which we explore on a visit to ancient ruins in a nearby national monument As the day winds down, we’ll enjoy dinner in Sedona amid the stunning beauty of our surroundings before making our way back to Flagstaff to spend the night.
Day 4: Luxury Dome Train to Grand Canyon / South Rim Hike & Sunset Overlook
A highlight of our desert adventure is a ride in a luxury dome car on the Grand Canyon Railway. This historic train route from the town of Williams to the South Rim, established in the early 20th century, offers a nostalgic travel experience through the largest Ponderosa pine forest in the world. We drive from Flagstaff to board the train at the depot in Williams, which still looks much as it did during its mid-20th century heyday as a stop along famous Route 66. Once we arrive at the Grand Canyon, we are on the edge of one of the world’s most awe-inspiring natural wonders. Searching its shadowy depths for the silver ribbon of the Colorado River thousands of feet below, we have a sense of our own tiny instant in geological history. The canyon's sedimentary layers, stacked more than a mile thick, are a calendar for the millennia, formed by the erosive power of water and wind over eons. While this region is known as Red Rock Country, the canyon walls glow gold, rose, rust and purple, ever-changing as the high desert light works its transformative magic. This afternoon we take a short hike for a close encounter with the canyon’s grandeur, surveying its vast expanse and dramatic formations. At sunset, we marvel even more as the sinking rays cast a warm glow over the chasm. We spend our final night on the rim of the Grand Canyon, soaking in the peace and beauty under a sky full of stars.
Day 5: Sunrise over the Grand Canyon / Flagstaff / Depart
Greet the day with an experience that will surely be among the most aesthetic nature encounters in your life: sunrise over the Grand Canyon. From Yavapai Point, watching the ethereal light of dawn illumine the ancient rock layers, over a mile deep, is a sight to behold. The point offers one of the best vantages for an overview of Grand Canyon geology, which our Expedition Leader explains in fascinating detail. We'll also walk the "Trail of Time" path along the canyon's South Rim, a scenic path with interpretive plaques offering further insight into the canyon's geology. Later this morning, our Arizona adventure moves toward a close as we drive back to Flagstaff, which you can explore further on your own if time permits before your departure.
