📍 Arizona Travel Guide: Grand Canyon + Tucson 🏜️🚗

🏞️ Grand Canyon National Park The Grand Canyon is mainly divided into two scenic routes: Hermit Road and Desert View Drive. Hermit Road: Accessible only by shuttle bus, bicycle, or on foot. No private vehicles are allowed. 🚌🚴‍♂️👣 Desert View Drive: Open to private cars. This 23-mile road connects the South and North Rims. We drove through the park the previous day on our way from Antelope Canyon to Tusayan — a huge time-saver! ⏰🦌 Along the way, we even spotted wild deer! To explore Hermit Road, take the Blue Route shuttle from the Visitor Center and transfer to the Red Route shuttle. The Red Route has 9 stops where you can hop off and enjoy the views. Buses come every 10-15 minutes — just enough time to explore each spot briefly. ⏲️🗺️ 🛑 Stops 1-3: Great for panoramic views and rock formations. Stop 3 has the best photo opportunities. 📸 🛑 Stops 4 & 5: Overlook two different rivers deep in the canyon. 🌊 🛑 Stops 6 & 7: The views are narrower — can be skipped if short on time. ⏳ 🛑 Stop 8: Get a close look at the river at the bottom of the canyon. 🔍 🛑 Final Stop: Hermit Rest — has a gift shop 🎁 and snack bar. A trail here leads down into the canyon (permit required for overnight camping). ⛺ ⚠️ Note: There are no supplies or rescue services at the bottom. You must be self-sufficient. 🎒💧 After seeing the Grand Canyon, other canyons like Canyonlands feel like a smaller version 😂. If the Grand Canyon is on your list, you might consider skipping others. 🌵 Tucson We visited Tucson mainly because my husband did his undergrad at the University of Arizona (UA) — this was a nostalgia trip for him 😂. Tucson is extremely hot 🥵. We tried walking around the UA campus in the evening and I got heatstroke within just 5 minutes… ☀️😵 As a border city, Tucson feels remote and rugged, but it offers unique attractions like: One of the world’s only accessible missile silos (Titan Missile Museum) 🚀 Pima Air & Space Museum + the famous “airplane boneyard” ✈️🪂 Perfect for military and aviation enthusiasts! 🔧👨‍✈️ #GraduationTrip #WestUSATravel #RoadTrip #GrandCanyon #Tucson #AviationLovers #TravelUSA #ArizonaAdventure 🌵📸