Phoenix Trip Overview
This day tour gives you the chance to venture north from the Phoenix area to see several historical sites that visitors come from around the world to see. This allows you to experience several very old locations that are so important in the history of Arizona. Luckily they have been preserved so visitors can still enjoy them as they have for hundreds of years. This makes a great day tour when the temperatures are rising in the Phoenix area as we climb to the cooler higher altitudes of the state.
– Wupatki National Monument
– Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
– Third Stop Options:
– Museum of Northern Arizona or
– Riordan Mansion State Historical Park or
– Lowell Observatory – The Home of Pluto
– Lunch included
Additional Info
Duration: 9 to 10 hours
Starts: Phoenix, United States
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Phoenix Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Phoenix, Arizona, United States
This day tour gives you the chance to venture north from the Phoenix area to see several historical sites that visitors come from around the world to see. This allows you to experience several very old locations that are so important in the history of Arizona. Luckily they have been preserved so visitors can still enjoy them as they have for hundreds of years. This makes a great day tour when the temperatures are rising in the Phoenix area as we climb to the cooler higher altitudes of the state.
– Wupatki National Monument
– Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
– Third Stop Options:
– Museum of Northern Arizona or
– Riordan Mansion State Historical Park or
– Lowell Observatory – The Home of Pluto
– Lunch included
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Wupatki National Monument, 25137 N. Sunset Crater-Wupatki Loop Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86004-2759
We will visit Wupatki National Monument and view many several sites built by the Ancient Pueblo people dating back to 500AD. Located between the Painted Desert and ponderosa high country of northern Arizona, Wupatki is a landscape of legacies. Ancient pueblos dot red-rock outcroppings across miles of prairie. Wupatki, which means “Tall House” in the Hopi language, is a multistory Sinagua pueblo dwelling comprising over 100 rooms and a community room and the northernmost ballcourt ever discovered in North America. The dwelling’s walls were constructed from thin, flat blocks of the local Moenkopi sandstone, giving the pueblos their distinct red color. Held together with mortar, many of the walls still stand. Each settlement was constructed as a single building, sometimes with scores of rooms.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, U.S 89 to Sunset Crater – Wupatki Loop road, Flagstaff, AZ 86004
While north of Flagstaff we will also visit Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. This is a U.S. National Monument in the north-central portion of Arizona, created to protect Sunset Crater, a cinder cone within the San Francisco Volcanic Field. In 1928, a Hollywood film company, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, planned to detonate large quantities of explosives on the side of Sunset Crater in order to create an avalanche for Zane Grey’s motion picture Avalanche. Public outcry over this plan led in part to the proclamation of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in 1930. A 1-mile, self-guided loop trail is located at the base of Sunset Crater, but hiking to the summit is not permitted. A visitor center is located near the park entrance.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 N Fort Valley Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86001-8348
We have one additional stop in Flagstaff with a few options for you. Museum of Northern Arizona. This historic museum was founded in 1928 by Harold S. Colton and Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton and was originally established to protect and preserve the natural and cultural heritage of northern Arizona through research, collections, conservation and education. It plays a vital role as interpreter of the Colorado Plateau. It has several rotating exhibitions that cover a variety of subjects of interest. Their website has a complete list of the current showings, https://musnaz.org . The Museum of Northern Arizona is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
Duration: 45 minutes
Stop At: Riordan Mansion State Historic Park, 409 W Riordan Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86001-6440
Another option for our clients on this tour is the Riordan Mansion State Historical Park. The park includes two almost identical homes built in 1904 by Michael and Timothy Riordan. The homes are connected by a rendezvous room and altogether contain 13,000 square feet of floor space and sit atop Kinlichi Knoll in Flagstaff. The Riordan brothers were members of a prominent Arizona family who played a significant role in the development of Flagstaff and northern Arizona and were involved in lumber, railroads, cattle, banking, and politics. Guided tours of the East House are included and the personally guided tour features information on the Riordan family and Flagstaff history, architecture, and furniture. The impressive home contains an exceptional collection of original Craftsman furnishings. In addition to the guided tour, visitors are encouraged to explore the grounds with the Self-Guided Tour handout which describes the numbered stations around the house.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Stop At: Lowell Observatory, 1400 W Mars Hill Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86001-4499
This third option for a stop is the observatory that was used to discover Pluto. At one time Apollo astronauts visited as part of their training to fly to the moon. This astronomical research facility is full of tradition. Percival Lowell, scion of a Boston Brahmin family, initially established his observatory in 1894 to study the possibility of intelligent life on Mars. Lowell widely popularized his controversial theories, sparking debate among both the scientific community and lay public. In the following years, the observatory’s astronomers made several discoveries that dramatically altered our understanding of space, including Clyde Tombaugh’s discovery of Pluto in 1930 and V.M. Slipher’s detection of the expanding nature of the universe in 1912. The Mars Hill Guided Tour is included, but availability is limited and we will need to reserve in advance.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
