DefinitelyDressage.com

DH, myself and another couple are going to Arizona (just south of Phoenix) in April. One of our plans is to head up to the Grand Canyon.

I had wanted to stop in Sonoma but DH heard that it's a tourist trap and we should stay in Flagstaff.

So what do you think? We want to have a fun and a bit of pampering. After we visit the Grand Canyon we're going to be staying in house in the San Tan Valley.

I also would love to know if there are tack shops/horse events to take in and I REALLY want to go for a ride in the dessert.

Right now the vacation is pretty unplanned other than it being 10 days.

That is exactly the trip my SO and I took a few years ago! He has friends in San Tan Valley, so we flew into Phoenix, took 2 days to drive up to the Canyon and then back to the Valley!

We stayed just south of the Canyon and both agreed that when we go back, we will stay at the El Tovar http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/lodging/el-tovar/ We did go in while we were there to visit the gift shop. If you are into historic places, this is a good place to be.

We did not have many days there; two days to go north and three south, so we didn't have much opportunity to explore. Our hosts drove us up to the Superstitions, we hiked the San Tan Mountain Regional Park and had a fun night at San Tan Flats (if you are into country music or dancing). I would recommend them all.

I believe you mean Sedona; Sonoma's a bit out of your way! If you like the desert scenery, Sedona is worth a stop. But yes, it is quite touristy.

I very much prefer Jerome over Sedona. It's nearby. It's a little old copper mining town that was built into the side of the mountain in which they were mining. Once they had pretty much hollowed it out, they realized that the town is slowly sliding down the hill. It was abandoned in the 50s and remained a ghost town until the 70s when the hippie artists found it. Now it's full of cool little shops and some most excellent wineries. On a good day, there's a spectacular view of the Sedona valley and red rocks.

In terms of horse stuff, there's not much that's special about any of the tack shops, and by April most of the show season has passed as it's already quite warm in Phx. There are tons of places that do desert trail rides though I have no personal experience with any of them.

Oh, and if you like beer, hit the San Tan brewery while you're there. They have some lovely brews.

Jerome is far nicer than Sedona. El Tovar is Ok, but very touristy. We like the North Rim, but that might be a bit of a trek from the south.

Greenway Saddlery is in Phoenix, about 30 miles away from San Tan Valley. (Which is my 'hood.)
There is a wonderful little mom and pop lunch place called The Deli http://www.thedeliqc.com that is fabulous. It is about 5 mins from San Tan Valley.
There is another tack store called Desert Saddlery that is about 10 miles from San Tan Valley.

In San Tan Valley I recommend the Queen Creek Olive MIll for tourist-y type stuff. They have an excellent
restaurant and sell wonderful olive oils, balsamic vinegars, wine, etc.

This time of year the Queen Creek Rodeo park is very active with all sorts of horse activities. There are events pretty much every night.
The ADA Spring Fling dressage show is in April as well but that is held at WestWorld.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want more info.

Another Az resident here with some ideas. Everyone has different interests. The best Native American museum in the country is the Heard Musem in downtown Phx. The gift shop is wonderful if you like authentic jewelry, rugs etc. The musical instrument museum in the northern valley is unique and their cafeteria is all farmers market foods. There are wonderful archeological sites to tour all over Az from downtown Phx (Pueblo Grande Musem...Phx is one of the only city's to have a City Archeologist on the City payrole) to Casa Grande in Florence, and Montezuma's castle on the route north to the Grand Canyon. There are others as well. The Grand Canyon is wonderful. If you can take a mule ride you can really see the canyon from the edge. The overnight rides tend to be booked way in advance, but the half days are usually available. When I've had visitors I've sometimes booked a local tour to go to the Canyon since they always have rooms etc booked. The Hubble Trading Post is touristy, but historical with authentic old "pawn". The Desert Botanical Gardens are nice as is the next door zoo. Down south is Karshner Caverns (fascinating) along with touristy but fun Tombstone. Then there is Bisbee and the mine tours plus more. I think it is also Spring training season if you are into baseball. You mentioned a trail ride in the desert...many years ago I did a trail ride in South Mt Park over to the Steak House for dinner. They still have these. Both South Mt Park and Cave Creek Park have trail ride stables..no guarantee as to the quality of the horses, but both parks can be pretty desert. Feel free to pm me if you have questions.

I second the Monument Valley Horse rides and add Canyon de Chelle rides ( both jeep and horse), but that would mean planning for more than an overnite trip...at least a full day each place plus travel time. BTW Sedona IS touristy, but every guest I've taken there has raved about the scenery, and loved the pink jeep ride!

thanks guys for the idea. The monument valley looks fabulous but probably won't make it on this trek. The guys want to get some golfing in while we ride so I was thinking within the San Tan Valley-Phoenix area.

I have been to the botanical garden in Phoenix and loved it. I definitely want to go back. Last time we did the Apache Trail too. Not quite brave enough to do that again but will probably do part of it.

I haven't been yet but it's on my list and in your neck of the woods...

Boyce Thompson Arboretum... http://ag.arizona.edu/bta/index.html

East of San Tan right off the 60.

Sounds like a cool place