Day Trips From Prescott, Compared

Prescott sits in the middle of the more interesting half of Arizona. Here is what is within reach of a day, with the actual numbers.

The options

Distances and times from Prescott. Add 15 minutes each way if you are starting from Groom Creek.

Jerome, and the drive to it

Do this one. It is 34 miles and under an hour, and the drive is the point as much as the destination. Highway 89A climbs Mingus Mountain to about 7,000 feet, where there is a pull-off with the entire Verde Valley laid out below and the red rocks of Sedona visible on a clear day, then drops in tight switchbacks into Jerome itself.

Jerome is a copper boomtown that clung to the side of Cleopatra Hill and mostly refused to fall off. It is now galleries, tasting rooms, a couple of good restaurants and a persistent ghost-story industry. Streets are steep and parking is scarce, so go early. Our Jerome guide has more.

The Verde Valley cluster

Jerome, Cottonwood and Clarkdale sit within a few miles of each other, so treat them as one trip rather than three.

Cottonwood’s Old Town is a short main street of tasting rooms pouring Verde Valley wine, which is a real and improving thing rather than a novelty.

The Verde Canyon Railroad runs from Clarkdale on a 20-mile route through a canyon with no road access. The ride is about four hours, so it eats the entire day and needs booking well ahead. Worth it in winter and spring when bald eagles are nesting along the river.

Montezuma Castle at Camp Verde is a cliff dwelling built into a limestone alcove, and it takes about an hour to see. It is directly on the way to Sedona, so slot it in rather than making a trip of it.

Sedona, with a warning

Fifty-eight miles, about an hour and a half through Jerome and Cottonwood. It is extraordinary and everybody knows it.

Three practical things. Go early, because trailhead parking at Cathedral Rock and Devil’s Bridge is full by mid-morning. Do not go in July expecting relief, because at about 4,300 feet Sedona is warmer than Prescott, not cooler. And come back to Prescott to eat, unless you have booked. Our Prescott vs Sedona comparison covers why most people end up preferring to sleep on this side of Mingus Mountain.

The Grand Canyon question

Guests ask, so: yes, you can, and it is a lot of driving. Two and a half hours each way to the South Rim, so five hours in the car for whatever hours you spend at the rim. Leave at seven, be back for a late dinner.

If the Canyon is a priority rather than a curiosity, do it as an overnight from Williams or Flagstaff instead and give it the time it deserves. From Prescott it is a box-ticking day.

Wickenburg, the underrated one

Sixty miles south on Highway 89, about an hour and a half. A genuine Western town with the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, which is much better than a town that size has any right to have. Do it on a cooler month, since Wickenburg is desert and hot from May onward.

What we would actually do

• One free day: Jerome, with a stop at the Mingus Mountain viewpoint. Back by mid-afternoon.
• Two free days: Jerome and Cottonwood on one, Sedona and Montezuma Castle on the other, starting at seven.
• A rainy day: the Verde Canyon Railroad, booked in advance.
• A hot day: stay put. Prescott is the coolest place on this list except the Mingus pass, and the lakes are 15 minutes away.

Where to stay

Both of our cabins are in Groom Creek, which adds 15 minutes to every drive above and subtracts about five degrees from the afternoon. Check the calendar.