Our last few days of our RV road trip had us exploring different places in northern Arizona. To read about our complete 9-day RV trip itinerary, click here.

Drive through Monument Valley

When driving from Utah south to Arizona, make sure you plan some time to stop in Monument Valley, which lies on the border of Utah and Arizona. The landscape is famous from the movie “Forrest Gump” when Tom Hanks’ character decides it’s time to finally stop running and go home after running across America. The road is not busy at all, so you are able to go out into the middle of the road and get pictures. Our kids may have been confused but also pretty excited about standing (…jumping) in the middle of the road!

What to do in Page, Arizona

Antelope Canyon Tour

About an hour away from Monument Valley is Page, Arizona, and this place is worth staying and exploring a few days! Page is home to Antelope Canyon, where thousands of people explore the canyon to see its beautiful sandstone walls and light beams. The only way to explore Antelope Canyon is by booking a tour. There are many companies and options, but we chose the company that allowed young children to be carried in a hiking carrier.

Dixie Ellis’ Antelope Canyon Tours were easy to get to, and our guide was very informative and helpful with our kids. You should not attempt this tour if you have difficulties navigating down narrow ladders, or a fear of heights or small spaces. But the views in the canyon are so beautiful you may just be motivated to give it a try!

The guide explained the history of the native lands, how the sandstone canyon was formed, and was also great at posing photos of our family throughout the tour! In total, the experience was about 1.5 hours in length.

The prices are $40/adult (ages 13+), $28/child (ages 8-12), $20/toddler (ages 4-7), and FREE for ages 0-3. These were the best prices I found on the internet! We chose not to book in advance due to our road trip schedule, but showed up to the office and were scheduled for the next group time slot! To make a reservation online, click here. 

Horseshoe Bend

After our canyon tour we hopped over to Horseshoe Bend, which was only 15 minutes away. Our kids were VERY tired from a long day of driving and hiking, so this stop stretched us. The entrance fee to Horseshoe Bend is $10, and there are spaces designated for RV’s in the back of the parking lot. The trek out to the viewpoint is a little bit of a hike, the entire loop trail is 1.25 miles (a mostly flat, paved trail). We recommend packing water and a snack to stay and enjoy the views for awhile.

Where to stay in Page, Arizona

I’m not even going to list another option, you MUST stay at Lone Rock Beach Campground. It was our FAVORITE camping spot of the entire trip, and honestly wish we had more time here. Of course, we arrived to the campground well after dark and we couldn’t see anything. We parked our RV right on the sandy beach near the water, and woke up to the most amazing views! It was early March when we visited, and the temperatures with the wind were FRIGID! We barely were able to get a campfire going  long enough to roast s’mores! The next morning Chris and the kids braved the cold and completed a polar bear plunge!

Lone Rock Beach Campground

This campground is open year round, and is only $14 per night! There are showers and restrooms near the beach, but you must plan for dry camping. But what could be better than camping ON the beach? Lone Rock Beach is located just 15 minutes north of Page, Arizona off Hwy 89. For more information, click here.

Visit the Grand Canyon

Would this even be an RV road trip without a stop at the Grand Canyon? It’s long been a bucketlist destination for me, and am so happy that my kids were able to see it too! I’m sure we’ll come back again so we can do some more challenging hikes. Since we were traveling in early March, only the South Rim was open. This was a great time to visit, since there were few crowds and plenty of parking. However, it was surprisingly COLD!

We arrived to the Grand Canyon just in time to catch a sunset and watch the canyon change colors, it was simply stunning! After the sunset, we had our one and only meal dining out on our entire trip. We chose the Canyon Lodge since it was the closest and we didn’t want to venture out of the park. The bar area was pretty crowded and with 3 kids in tow we quickly realized we wouldn’t be able to get a table in that section, so we opted for the BBQ buffet. There was something for everyone- I had chicken and mashed potatoes, the boys had burgers, and the girls gobbled up mac and cheese! It was late and we were full and tired, so we headed to our campsite (in the dark, as we tended to do on this trip).

Where to camp in the park

Mather Campground in Canyon Village

This is located in the south Rim of the Grand Canyon and is open year round. This campground offers tent sites and allows RV camping up to 30’ in length, although there are no hookups available. There are restrooms, showers and laundry facilities (for a fee) as well as a store in the camper services building. From December through February, rates are $15/night and are first come, first served. From March to November, rates are $18/night and reservations can be made online on a 6 month rolling basis here. 

Trailer Village

This campground is located in Grand Canyon Village, has full hook ups and cable tv, and can accommodate RVs up to 50’ in length. Rates vary depending on dates, but range from $40 (off season) to $60 (in season).

Dispersed camping outside of the park

Long Jim Loop

This dispersed camping in located in the Kaibab National Forest. It’s right down the road from the south entrance to Grand Canyon National Park, and also close to shops and dining located in Tusayan. There weren’t beautiful views at this boondocking site like our previous spots, but it was free! Each site has a primitive fire ring and there are lots of trees for shade.

Hiking in Grand Canyon

We visited in early March and there were still some icy spots on the trails. We believe our kids were “hiked out” at this point so we kept it easy. Most trails in Grand Canyon are considered “hard” or even just really long in length, and weren’t great options for our young children to handle at this point in our trip.

Grand Canyon Rim Trail

This is a paved 5.4 mile out and back trail, so if you want to make a shorter hike with the kids, just turn around when you need to! We parked at the visitor center, spent some time at Mather Point overlook, and then “hiked” about a mile of the trail.

Other things to do in Grand Canyon

Become a Jr. Ranger

This is such a great program for the kids! We stopped at the visitor center early in the morning and picked up our Jr. Ranger books. The kids spent the morning completing their required activities which included drawing something they observed in nature, going on a hike, and watching a film at the visitor center. In the afternoon, we went back to the visitor center to be sworn in as Jr. Rangers! The kids were very proud of receiving their badges.

Visit Desert View Watch Tower

Located near the east entrance of the park, Desert View watch tower is a beautiful stone structure built in the style of Ancestral Puebloan towers. Climb up 85 steps to the top of the tower to reach the observation deck, where you can enjoy amazing views of the canyon. On a clear day, you can see 100 miles! 3 miles west of the Watch Tower is the Tusayan Ruins and Museum- where you can see ruins of a small village, and the museum has artifacts and handicrafts. The museum is free!

Take a picture at the entrance sign

We love taking pictures with National Park signs to keep for our memories!

Get your kicks on Route 66

On our way from the Grand Canyon back to Las Vegas, we took the long route to drive through historic Route 66 from Williams to Kingman, Arizona. Williams is a darling town (we only drove through it) that has Americana-style shops and restaurants dating back to the 1900s! Somewhere along the route, we stopped to take our favorite jumping picture with the Route 66 mark on the ground.

We hope you enjoyed this family-friendly guide to exploring northern Arizona and the Grand Canyon. There are affiliate links in this post, and if you shop the links and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our adventure fund!