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Arizona

On the Road: Sedona's Red Rock Country and the Grand Canyon

Program No. 1088RJ
Set out on a larger-than-life learning adventure to experience Sedona’s Red Rocks and the Grand Canyon, joining experts for an insider’s view on these two monumental sites!

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Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone? 800-454-5768
Select your type of room
Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Nov 5 - Nov 11, 2023
Starting at
1,749
Mar 10 - Mar 16, 2024
Starting at
1,999
Apr 7 - Apr 13, 2024
Starting at
1,999
Apr 21 - Apr 27, 2024
Starting at
1,999
May 5 - May 11, 2024
Starting at
1,999
Sep 8 - Sep 14, 2024
Starting at
1,999
Sep 29 - Oct 5, 2024
Starting at
1,999
Nov 3 - Nov 9, 2024
Starting at
1,999
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Nov 5 - Nov 11, 2023
Starting at
2,099
Mar 10 - Mar 16, 2024
Starting at
2,499
Apr 7 - Apr 13, 2024
Starting at
2,499
Apr 21 - Apr 27, 2024
Starting at
2,499
May 5 - May 11, 2024
Starting at
2,499
Sep 8 - Sep 14, 2024
Starting at
2,499
Sep 29 - Oct 5, 2024
Starting at
2,499
Nov 3 - Nov 9, 2024
Starting at
2,499

At a Glance

The Colorado Plateau in Arizona claims two of North America’s most beautiful canyons. Explore the geology, ecology and human heritage of these spectacular canyon landscapes: Sedona’s Oak Creek Canyon and the incomparable Grand Canyon. In Sedona, enjoy a spectacular “Pink” Jeep trip into its stunning red-rock back country, exploring vistas seldom seen by visitors. Overnight in Grand Canyon National Park while soaking in the breathtaking panorama of this world heritage site. Travel an epic road to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, through its multiplicity of layered rock and time, with the reward of a picnic on the banks of the mighty Colorado River.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to one mile on varied terrain. Some time for personal hiking at Grand Canyon. Bumpy jeep and van rides on slick rock, dirt and gravel roads. Elevations up to 7,000 feet.
Small Group
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Visit Montezuma Castle National Monument, a five-story cliff dwelling of the prehistoric Sinagua people.
  • Go off the beaten path on the Hualapai Indian Reservation on old Route 66 and in Sedona on a Pink Jeep adventure.
  • Explore Grand Canyon South Rim’s dramatic viewpoints and trails with regional experts.
Featured Expert
All Experts
Profile Image
Richard Stephens
Rich has been director of Northern Arizona University’s highly popular Road Scholar programs since 2001. He previously spent many years in the field as a program coordinator and group leader, where he honed his skills and learned the importance of detailed, pre-trip planning. Before making his home in Arizona’s spectacular red-rock country, Rich spent 10 years in Yosemite National Park and the Santa Cruz mountains as an environmental educator.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Richard Stephens
Richard Stephens View biography
Rich has been director of Northern Arizona University’s highly popular Road Scholar programs since 2001. He previously spent many years in the field as a program coordinator and group leader, where he honed his skills and learned the importance of detailed, pre-trip planning. Before making his home in Arizona’s spectacular red-rock country, Rich spent 10 years in Yosemite National Park and the Santa Cruz mountains as an environmental educator.
Profile Image of Margaret (Maggie) Mitchell
Margaret (Maggie) Mitchell View biography
Maggie Mitchell has spent years leading educational excursions throughout the Sedona area. Her passion lies with the study of Arizona's wild creatures, and she loves sharing her love of reptiles and spiders with students of all ages.
Profile Image of Carrie Calisay Cannon
Carrie Calisay Cannon View biography
Carrie Calisay Cannon is a member of the Kiowa tribe of Oklahoma and also is of Oglala Lakota descent. She has a B.S. in Wildlife Biology and an M.S. in Resource Management. She is currently employed as an Ethnobotanist for the Hualapai Department of Cultural Resources. She administers a number of department projects and programs which promote the intergenerational teaching of Hualapai ethnobotanical knowledge. She works towards ensuring tribal ethnobotanical knowledge persists as a living practice and tradition.
Profile Image of Slim Woodruff
Slim Woodruff View biography
Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff is a graduate of Northern Arizona University. She has worked in outdoor recreation and education for most of her adult life. Slim is a board member and outings chair for the Grand Canyon Historical Society. She is a senior instructor with the Grand Canyon Conservancy Field Institute. Living on the South Rim, her usual hangouts are inside the canyon. Her writings can be found in High Country News Writers on the Range and The Outdoor Journal.
Profile Image of Rocky Sullivan
Rocky Sullivan View biography
Rocky Sullivan, a Kansas native, has been living in the southwest working on ranches among other things for the better part of three decades. During the last few years, he has brought his poetry into the limelight, gaining respect and praise from peers and audiences. Rocky won in his division of the 2015 National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo in Abilene, Kansas, and again in 2017. He has been asked to perform at numerous venues since.
Profile Image of Rob Estrada
Rob Estrada View biography
Rob Estrada received his bachelor's degree in broadcasting production from California State University, Northridge. He has a master's degree in public history from Northern Arizona University, with an emphasis in Southwestern borderlands and a minor in Southwestern archaeology. Rob worked six seasons for the National Park Service in the Natural Resources and Interpretations departments, and is currently the staff ethnobotanist with Verde Valley Archaeology Center. He enjoys spending time with his two children, his five grandchildren, and his cat Eva, in Rimrock, Arizona.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Carving Grand Canyon: Evidence, Theories, and Mystery
by Ranney, Wayne
Ranney explains how rivers in general can physically carve canyons, looks chronologically at the numerous theories that have been presented by successive generations of geologists regarding the Grand Canyon's formation, and describes a plausible sequence of geologic events that could create such a landscape. Numerous color photographs, detailed illustrations, and maps are provided. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR 160pp; 2nd edition 2012.
Grand Canyon Geology
by Beus, Stanley
This second edition of the leading book on Grand Canyon geology contains the most recent discoveries and interpretations of the origin and history of the canyon. It includes two entirely new chapters: one on debris flow in the Canyon and one on the impact of water flow releases from the Glen Canyon Dam. All chapters have been updated where necessary and all photographs have been replaced or re-screened for better resolution. Written by acknowledged experts in stratigraphy, paleontology, structural geology, geomorphology, volcanism and seismology, this book offers a wealth of information for geologists and general readers interested in acquiring an understanding of the geological history of this great natural wonder. 423pp
Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest
by Steve Plog
The American Southwest is home to some of the most remarkable monuments of America's prehistoric past, such as Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Stephen Plog, who has spent decades working in the region, provides the most readable and up-to-date account of the predecessors of the modern Hopi and Pueblo Indian cultures in this well-received account. Chaco Canyon became the center of a thriving Anasazi cultural tradition. It was the hub of a trading network extending over hundreds of miles, whose arteries were a series of extraordinary roads that are still being discovered and mapped. Interweaving the latest archaeological evidence with early first-person accounts, Professor Plog explains the rise and mysterious fall of Southwestern cultures. 224pp.
We are an Indian Nation: A History of the Hualapai People (First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies)
by Shepherd, Jeffrey P.
This book focuses on the historical construction of the Hualapai Nation in the face of modern American colonialism. Shepherd shows that Hualapai nation-building was a complex process shaped by band identities, competing visions of the past, creative reactions to modernity, and resistance to state power. He analyzes how the Hualapais transformed an externally imposed tribal identity through nationalist discourses of protecting aboriginal territory; and he examines how that discourse strengthened the Hualapais’ claim to land and water while simultaneously reifying a politicized version of their own history. Drawing on recent work in American Indian history and Native American studies, Shepherd shows how the Hualapai have strived to reclaim a distinct identity and culture in the face of ongoing colonialism.
An Introduction to Grand Canyon Prehistory
by Coder, Christopher M.
People have inhabited Grand Canyon for the past twelve thousand years. Evidence of their lives exists throughout the canyon; but it is up to their ancestors and archaeologists to interpret those remains for us. This book provides a popular look at the architecture, art, and tools of prehistoric Puebloan peoples, as well as information about modern-day Native American tribes. With illustrations and color photographs.
Sedona through time: Geology of the Red Rocks
by Ranney, Wayne
Visitors to the towering red rock cliffs near Sedona seldom realize that the area was once a broad river floodplain that lay beyond the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Or that this same place was later buried in a vast, Sahara-like desert, still later to lie beneath the waters of a warm tropical sea filled with ancient life forms. Sedona Through Time is an eminently readable story of the evolution of this fantastic landscape through the eons of geologic time.
The Archaeology of Ancient Arizona
by Jefferson Reid and Stephanie Whittlesey
General overview of the archaeology of Arizona written by archaeologists with combined experience of over half a century of a combination of laboratory and fieldwork.
Secret Sedona: Sacred Moments in the Landscape
by Larry Lindahl
This book provides an overview of the terrain, ancestral Indian ruins and petroglyphs found in Sedona's wilderness areas. Extraordinary photography from one of the nations most photogenic areas. 80 pages.
Field Guide to the Grand Canyon
by Whitney, Stephen R
This book describes and illustrates the area's plants and animals, and offers fascinating in-depth information on the natural history and geology of this dramatic region. 272pp
Living at the Edge: Explorers, Exploiters, and Settlers of the Grand Canyon Region
by Anderson, Michael F
A comprehensive look at the pioneer history of the Grand Canyon Region, from its earliest residents to the creation of the national park at the end of the pioneer era (circa 1920). Included are close to two hundred historic photographs, many never published before, and 12 custom maps of the region. 184pp





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