7 days by RV: Phoenix → Sedona & the Grand Canyon South Rim, day by day

You pick up the RV among palms and parking lots, where a June afternoon averages 104 °F [S13]. Four hours north, the saguaros are gone, the air smells of ponderosa pine, and the ground simply stops: the South Rim sits at about 7,000 feet, and summer highs there are in the 80s [S8]. Few drives in the West change this much in a single morning.

Below is the day-by-day version of our Phoenix → Grand Canyon route guide: seven days, six nights, one RV or campervan picked up and returned in Phoenix, with a night near Sedona and three on the South Rim. Rules that can stop you, such as campground windows, RV parking and the 2026 water restrictions, come from the National Park Service, Recreation.gov, Arizona State Parks and the Forest Service, with the date we checked them. Anything we estimated is marked [A].

Route map

The 7 days at a glance

swipe sideways to see the whole table →

Distances and drive times are our estimates for an RV at legal speeds without long stops [A], consistent with the route guide. I-17 climbs steadily north of Phoenix; add 20–30% for traffic and stops.

Before you book the RV: checklist

Every opening date for this route, in your time zone: What do I book when? →

Every campground on this route, with booking windows and RV length limits: campsite table for the South Rim.

1. Book Mather Campground for nights 3–5. Reservations are recommended March 1 – November 30 and open up to 6 months ahead; 15 first-come sites go on sale at the campground office at 8 am each day [S1]. The maximum vehicle length is 30 ft, and only five sites take a 30 ft trailer [S6]. $30 a night [S6].
2. Know what "dry camping" means in 2026. Under Stage 4 water restrictions Mather has no water for campers, the showers and laundry are closed, and Trailer Village is closed [S1]. NPS has published tentative dates for restoring water to the South Rim; check the operations update before you go [S1][S14].
3. Book Dead Horse Ranch State Park (Cottonwood) for night 2. More than 100 large RV sites, $50 with electric or $25 without, plus a $3.60 reservation fee; often sold out in spring and fall [S9].
4. Check your length against the South Rim. Vehicles over 22 ft count as oversized: they may only use three RV lots in the village, which fill by about 10 am, noon and 2 pm [S5]. Over 30 ft rules out Mather [S6].
5. Buy a Red Rock Pass, or bring your America the Beautiful pass, if you'll park at a Sedona-area Forest Service trailhead: $5 a day or $15 a week [S10].
6. Book RV parks for Phoenix (night 1) and Williams (night 6) with full hookups, so you leave Phoenix with full water and dump before the airport [A].
7. Read your contract for summer A/C and generator use. June to August, Phoenix averages 104–107 °F in the afternoon [S13]. Test the roof A/C before you drive off [A].

What you do not need to book: park entry (pay at the gate, $35 per vehicle) [S12], the South Rim shuttles (free with your entrance fee) [S4], or parking (the park charges no parking fees) [S5].

Day by day

Day 1 — Land in Phoenix, pick up the RV

Fly into PHX and do the walk-through slowly: photos of every scratch, tank levels, generator and A/C test. Do your big grocery run in Phoenix: prices are lower than near the park, and you'll want plenty of drinking water for three dry nights at Mather [A][S1]. Sleep at an RV park on the north side of the city so day 2 starts on I-17 without traffic [A].

Sleep: Phoenix-area RV park with full hookups [A — suggestion; we have not checked individual parks].

Day 2 — Phoenix → Cottonwood, afternoon in Sedona (~115 mi)

Take I-17 north, past the Camp Verde exits, to Cottonwood [A]. Check in at Dead Horse Ranch from 2 pm [S9]. Sedona's red rocks are 20–30 minutes away [A], but parking an RV there is hard: Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass trailhead lots close whenever the free trailhead shuttle runs (Thursday to Sunday, 7 am–5:30 pm), and RVs are not allowed at the shuttle's Park & Ride lots [S11]. The Dry Creek and Little Horse trailhead lots stay open while the shuttle runs [S11], but they are small; go early, or on Monday to Wednesday, and only if your rig fits a normal space [A]. Display a Red Rock Pass at Forest Service fee sites [S10]. Or simply watch the cliffs light up at sunset from a legal pullout [A].

Sleep: Dead Horse Ranch State Park, by the Verde River (14-night limit, showers free for campers) [S9].

Day 3 — Cottonwood → Flagstaff → South Rim (~140 mi)

In an RV, go back to I-17 north to Flagstaff rather than up the Oak Creek Canyon switchbacks on SR-89A. ADOT bans trucks there and restricts long vehicles, and the hairpins are narrow [S15][A]. From Flagstaff, US-180 runs north-west through pine forest to Valle and AZ-64 into the park [A]. The South Entrance can have waits of up to two hours between 10 am and 4 pm in spring break, summer and on fall weekends, so arriving early or late helps [S7]. Check in at Mather, then walk or shuttle to Mather Point for sunset; it's a short walk from the visitor center [S5].

Sleep: Mather Campground (dry camping; generators allowed only at set hours) [S1][S6].

Day 4 — Hermit Road and the Rim Trail

Hermit Road is closed to private vehicles from March 1 to November 30. The free Red Route shuttle runs the 7 miles to Hermits Rest and stops at nine overlooks; the full round trip takes 80 minutes without getting off [S3]. Ride out, then walk sections of the Rim Trail between stops; it runs 7.8 miles alongside the road, part paved, part dirt [S3]. Hopi Point is one of the most popular places for sunset [S3]. In July, August and early September, afternoon thunderstorms bring lightning; get off exposed points when you hear thunder [S8].

Sleep: Mather Campground.

Day 5 — Desert View Drive

Desert View Drive (AZ-64) is 23 miles each way and open to all vehicles all year, snow permitting [S2]. Stop at the overlooks on the way east [A]; Lipan Point and Grandview are good ones [A]. At the end, the Desert View Watchtower (the photo at the top of this page) has a free ground-floor View Room, and upper floors on a free timed ticket, 25 people at a time, when staffing allows [S2]. Desert View has an RV parking lot and a pay-at-the-pump gas station open 24 hours [S2].

Sleep: Mather Campground. In season (2027: from April 10), Desert View Campground is an alternative for vehicles up to 30 ft, by reservation only, with no hookups [S1][S2].

Day 6 — South Rim → Williams (~60 mi)

Have a slow last morning on the rim, then drive south on AZ-64 to Williams on I-40 [A]. Williams is a small Route 66 town with RV parks, a good place to dump tanks, refill water and sleep within an easy 3-hour run of Phoenix [A].

Sleep: RV park in Williams [A — suggestion; we have not checked individual parks].

Day 7 — Williams → Phoenix, fly home (~170 mi)

I-40 east to Flagstaff, then I-17 south; the road drops about 5,000 feet into the desert [A]. Refuel to the level in your contract, sweep out, and return on time. In summer, plan the drive for the morning so you're not testing the RV's cooling on the long downhill into Phoenix heat [A]. Leave at least 3 hours between the RV return and your flight [A].

Alternatives and the buffer day

• Something different? Our Sedona, Jerome & Meteor Crater loop shares the Cottonwood days with this itinerary and adds the Lost Dutchman legend, Lowell Observatory and Meteor Crater: 5 days on paved highways.
• Space and science instead? Our Very Large Array, White Sands & Roswell loop heads east into New Mexico: 8 days, about 1,500 miles, back via Petrified Forest and Meteor Crater.
• Only 6 days? Drop the Williams night and drive from the South Rim straight back to Phoenix on day 6 (about 230 miles, 3.5–4 hours) [A].
• 8–9 days? Add Page and Horseshoe Bend from Desert View: about 140 miles each way [A]. See the Las Vegas day-by-day for that road in the other direction.
• Mather full? Try the 8 am first-come sites [S1], Ten X Campground in the national forest south of Tusayan in season, or legal dispersed camping in the Kaibab National Forest. Details in our plan-B section.
• Winter (December–February): the rim gets snow and nights fall into the teens °F; Hermit Road opens to private vehicles under 22 ft, with no shuttle [S3][S8]. Check that your RV is winterised for freezing nights [A].
• One-way to Las Vegas? Possible with some fleet operators; expect a one-way fee. See airport pickup & one-way fees.

What it costs

Prices live on one page: What 7 days really cost: Phoenix → Grand Canyon. In short: Mather is $30 a night [S6], Dead Horse Ranch $25–50 plus a $3.60 booking fee [S9], park entry $35 per vehicle [S12]. Visitors from outside the US pay an extra $100 per person at the Grand Canyon unless they hold an annual pass; details on the cost page. Want your own number? Use the trip cost calculator.

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