Phoenix area moms--help please

Hi! I will be visiting your area soon (early March) for a prospective students weekend at ASU, and dd, my mom, and my sis are coming along. Since my flight and the hotel are paid for, we thought we'd make a mini-vacation of it. So, what are the must-see places? Good kid friendly places?
Also, I've seen conflicting information on travel time to the south rim of the grand canyon. Is it possible to get there, spend enough time to make it worth it, and get back in one day? Is the weather a problem up there this time of year? Anything else I should know about visiting it? I'm just so torn right now b/c we have limited time there, but if I don't wind up going to ASU who knows if we'll ever have the chance to get back, you know?
Anyway, any insight you have is much appreciated!

[justlearning]

I haven't lived in Phoenix with kids, so I'll let others comment on that. I did want to say that I have done the Grand Canyon in a one-day trip from Phx but you don't have much time to spend at the Grand Canyon if you do it that way. Still, you're able to see enough to realize just how magnificent it is, so it may be worth it to you to do it that way if you only have one day. As I recall, I think it took us about 4 1/2-5 hours each way (may be shorter now depending on changes in the speed limit).

You really don't have to hike much into the Grand Canyon to get a good feel for it--you can ride around it and get out at certain points on a tour bus they have (may be good if you have a child with you) or just walk around the top part of the Canyon. If your daughter's into trains, you might also consider taking the train from Williams to the Grand Canyon. I've done this (actually, we did that the time we made the trip in one day) and it's OK although the staged gunfights might scare young children. Also, I think I'd prefer to have my own car with a stroller, diaper stash, etc. instead of leaving the car in Williams. A shorter day trip would be Sedona, which is beautiful although certainly not as magnificent as the Grand Canyon, of course. Regarding weather in March, I can't answer that--we went to the Canyon usually in summers and once in May (nice weather then).


There's a large town lake right down the street from ASU off of Mill Avenue, so I think that would be a nice place to hang out with a child. There are also lots of lakes with ducks, etc. along the Green Belt that runs into Scottsdale (e.g., Chapparral Park off of Hayden) with miles of sidewalk for strollers or bikes.

You can also search on this board for more suggestions because I know that I've seen past threads on the subject of toddler activities in Phoenix.

Have fun--March should be nice weather for you (although it rained the few days I was visiting in Phoenix last March!). Good luck in choosing the right college for you as well.

[MarisaSF]

I've done a drive between Phx and the Grand Canyon in one day before -- but it's like 4 hours (maybe 3-3.5?) each way. I did it with a school trip before we had kids. All we got to do was look around and go to the souvenir shop. It was still amazing to see.

Sedona or Tucson are do-able day trips (~2 hours). Sedona is stunning.

Kid friendly things: Train park in Scottsdale, Desert "Museum" (more like a zoo) in Tucson. There's a zoo and botanical park in Phoenix too.

There were some other Phx threads here that I got really good info from.

Have a fun trip!