I havent been since I went to a conference in Flagstaff in 04 and I have been dying to go since. We flew into Phoenix, and drove up to Flagstaff. During down time we bounced back and forth mostly in the area between Sedona and Flagstaff. Now myself and my girlfriend are trying to plan a trip there, possibly getting a hotel in Sedona, and going to various places from there. I remember some main portions of my trip in '04, Grand Canyon obviously, various shops along the highway, chapel of the holy cross. And a few others. But I can't remember most of them sadly, so I'm hoping to see if any residents know of any good places to go to during our stay. We are hoping to stay for about a week, possibly around February when the weather here sucks balls. Also there was a great leather shop in Sedona that I'm dying to go back to, IIRC it was across the street, or on the same street as the Krispy Kreme which I believe no longer exists because they don't list it on their website.

Anyways before I ramble on if anyone has any good suggestions feel free to chime in. Thanks!

That is a great time to come out. If you have any firearms you can bring one along and shoot most anywhere but the Ben Avery Shoting Range in the Phoenix Area is very nice. I believe you can also rent a Beretta and shoot Sporting Clays or Trap/Skeet. If we get some more rain soon the desert should be in full bloom with wildflowers but snakes will start to come out so watch your step.
Montezumas Castle (Indian Ruin/Cliff Dwelling) is not too far from Sedona as is Arcosanti. You can go to the Town of Williams and take the Steam Locomotive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. You should see Elk, Deer, Javelina, Prarie Dogs and who knows what else along the way as you go from Ponderosa Pine Forest to prarie and back to forest.

Casa Grande South of Phoenix, Tucson and the Mission del Bac, Painted Desert-Petrified Forest- La Posada in Winslow. Tombstone of course. Jerome is a great place.

Oak Creek area of Sedona and Prescott.

The stretch of Rt 66 from Seligman to Kingman and the quirky things along there(Hackberry, Peach Springs(only USPO with Frozen storage and mule borne mail service), Seligman), The wild burros of Oatman. I-40 back. Williams is nice.

Montezuma's castle! Thats what it was called... I had gone there last time but couldn't remember what it was called.

If you're flying into Phoenix, take the back way up to Sedona. The back way is US 60 from Phoenix to Wickenburg, US 89 after Wickenburg to Prescott, US 89A after Prescott to Sedona. A little ways outside of Wickenburg the road changes to a windey 2 laner that goes up over the Mogollon Rim and then through the Bradshaw Mountains to Prescott. From Prescott up to Jerome it's a tight 2 laner of the Mingus Mountain Highway they claim is 53 turns in 12 miles.

Just keep in mind if you're tying to get away from the "sucks balls" weather in Boston in February, it does snow in northern Arizona...

Didn't you read Forbes' travel guide? We're a bunch of gun-toting nuts out here! Avoid Arizona! Oh the humanity!!!

BTW, if you end up coming 'down south', check out Kartchner Caverns. It is still a living cave. Pretty neat.

In Sedona a hike on West Fork is a must. It is about a 5 mile tril that criss crosses the creek and it beautilful.Follow it up with a meal at the Hideaway restaurant.

No trip to Flagstaff would be complete without a visit to Ruff's - the only place in town that sells guins, beer and porn at the same place...that's right, you can intoxicate, olbliterate and masterbate at one place!

Another vote for taking the back way to Sedona if you have the time. One of my favorite drives in the state. Just check road conditions before you set off.

Jerome and Prescott are worth the trip. My favorite is Prescott's courtyard square on Saturday mornings. Dozens of shops/art galleries surrounding the courthouse and several dozen vendors set up booths in the square. You might want to call the Chamber of Commerce. I've only been in the spring/summer and don't know if it continues through the winter.

How far do you plan to venture? Day trips and back to the same hotel every night? Bebopping around the state with a couple days here and there?

Dan

Not sure how far we are going to go but we are going to base ourselves in Sedona and just go from there each day.

Hows the weather in that area around January?

Sunny with a chance of snow.

Kind of a hard question to answer. Elevation has an extreme effect down here. Phoenix could be sunny and 85, Flagstaff 2 hours up I-17 and 5,000' higher in elevation could be 20 and under snow on the same day. It all depends on where you're going to be and at what elevation. Throw that in with the unpredicatability of weather and it's kind of a crap shoot.

Sedona in January should have highs 50-60 degrees and lows of 20-30. It doesn't snow much up there but it is a possibility.