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Looking for tour ideas ? |
Are you coming to tour the Southwest and looking for some tour ideas as well as places to visit? If so, we've got lots of them. About the only problem is the choices can be mindboggling when it comes to making a decision what you want to see and do when you get here.
Each of the choices also depends on these two factors:
We're sensitive
to both ideas just as we are sensitive about the environment and the people
who live here. Thus, the following suggestions are choices we'd love to share
with you. Feel free to add these ideas to the ones you may have already thought
about. Also, take a look at our huge tour menu on our web site and see what
our MD
(multiple day) and AT (special
adventure) tours have to offer.
A) TWO (or more) DAY EXCURSION IDEAS:
If you have more time to spare, then you'll be able to do and see more of the
great sights we have in this unparalleled part of the country. Deserts, canyons,
and mountains - we've got it all here and it's waiting for you to explore and
find your dreams. Consider operating out of one central location or else two
primary locations, one after the other. That way you can see a lot within a
region and, if you have time and the inclination to do so, you can change to
another region and plug into those sights.
For example, from Sedona or Flagstaff, or even the South Rim of the Grand Canyon,
you'll find such exciting regional places like these: Monument Valley; Page
(Lake Powell); the Petrified Forest; Peach Springs and Grand Canyon West country;
Havasu Canyon (for horseback and helicopter tours to the lodge vs. backpacking
and staying at the campground); Canyon de Chelly; the Hopi Mesas; Lake Mead
(outside Las Vegas); and many others.
By
looking at a map of the Southwest you can draw a circle from some given destination,
say, Flagstaff, and determine the places within an easy day's drive (most of
these places can be reached and explored within, say, a ten or twelve hour day;
or even shorter, depending on how much time you want to explore when you get
there). Or you can use Page, Arizona as your destination and include Lake Powell,
Monument Valley, and Canyon de Chelly (in different day tours, of course).
Another idea is to make Kayenta, Arizona, which is just outside of Monument
Valley, as your destination. That way you are within an easy reach of Canyon
de Chelly, even the Hope Mesas. Some folks even take a longer drive up north
and visit Canyonlands and Arches National Parks (both outside Moab, Utah).
We really can't suggest or tell you just what you have to see, at least not
on just one tour to the Southwest. But you can see and experience a great part
of the Southwest by focusing on these scenic icons without having to take excessively
long days of road travel. And what about using Las Vegas as your destination,
which means the Grand Canyon West country is accessible, including the frontier-historic
towns of Oatmen and Chloride (both fairly near Kingman, Arizona); even the South
Rim of the Grand Canyon (about a 4.5 hour drive) ?
B) FOUR, FIVE, OR SIX (PLUS) DAY EXCURSION IDEAS:
If you have a week, or perhaps a day or two less, you can really experience
the Southwest.
For example, three or four days at the Grand Canyon combined with Monument Valley
and Canyon de Chelly. Or Lake Powell country combined with Bryce and Zion Canyons
(in Utah). How about Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and over to Gallup, New Mexico,
where other options, such as Acoma Pueblo and Albuquerque and Santa Fe can be
visited?
These ideas, we think, are some of what our MD (all inclusive) tour menu offers.
All of our MD tours covers the
best of what the Four Corners region inspires and it's possible to make changes
(if you're touring on your own) within each of these MD tour listings but with
this exception: you need to be aware of the vast amount of distance between
some of these points of interest.
We, of ECOSOUTHWEST.COM, have taken great care to
provide our guests with stimulating and relaxing "soft adventure"
tours that limit the road mileage on any given day. At best, we feel a four
hour ride is the maximum comfort level when riding in a car, van, or bus, and
many of our tours use far less time than this.
Again, we urge you to look over the mileage page on our web site to ensure your
visual appetite does not exceed your comfort levels as far as driving is concerned.
Whatever you end up doing in the Southwest, we hope you'll consider touring
with us.
Professional educators, and not just guides, our people friendly staff provides
an educational tour de force on all of our tours. And of course, our theme and
focus centers on the ecology, the cultures and people who live here, and on
the historical aspects of the land. We hope some of these ideas will spawn your
own ideas and travel plans.
Of course, we're still hoping you'll contact us about running these tours for
you, because we not only know the land and the people; we also know the best
places to stay and eat, just as we know how to avoid the larger crowds. Come
see why our treks are beyond the ordinary.
Please note: "Soft adventure" means general sightseeing tours,
some of which involve a minimum amount of walking or hiking. Of course you are
free to do as much or as little as your physical and personal needs warrants.
"Hard adventure," on the other hand refers to such activities like
hiking or backpacking; whitewater rafting; or mountain biking. For these tours,
please see our AT tour page;
also, our MD2 (to Havasu Canyon).
Some of our tours, such as the MD1
and MD3 tours also combine soft
and hard adventure aspects (in this case, the whitewater rafting portion of
the week's tour).
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