Another tip- make sure to download and locally store "offline maps" of the area on the Google Maps app to your phone prior to starting the drive. A lot of the stretches of highway along Arizona get spotty or no cell signal and although the drive from Phoenix is pretty much a straight shoot, getting lost in the remote desert landscape sounds like a not great way to kick off your time in the Grand Canyon. Be sure to bring along a phone mount for your rental car so you can easily use Google Maps and a music player hands-free (check out my post for the Southwest road trip packing essentials here).

DOING IT RIGHT: SUNRISE AT THE GRAND CANYON

Despite having rolled into our hotel room a little after midnight, Justin and I still got up at about 3:30 am to make the rest of the drive and catch the sunrise over the Grand Canyon. Along the route, there was an enormous sixteen mile detour that had us 1. get completely lost for about half an hour, that eventually left us on someone’s private property on off-roading terrain with our very non-off-roading-equipped sedan (mega protip- DO NOT DO THIS!!!) and 2. miss the actual sunrise. If seeing the sun traverse the horizon is super important to you, build in PLENTY of time for stuff like this to come up.

I had long heard that the best place along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon was Yaki’s Point, but to get there, you basically need to take a 25 minute shuttle from the visitor’s center (which pre-6 am only departs every 30 minutes). To save on time, we instead decided to check out Yavapai Point, which you can drive right up to (with plentiful parking in the morning)- I’m sure Yaki’s Point is gorgeous, but I will never, ever forget the sunrise views at Yavapai Point. While there were a few people there, it wasn’t the zoo that I’ve heard Mather Point (the viewpoint near the Visitor’s Center) can be.