Broadway Cave

Broadway Cave

Location: Mountain View and Broadway Rd.

(Right where Broadway Rd ends at the Superstitions)

Distance: 4 miles - out and back

Big Kid Friendly: It is pretty steep in sections but most bigger in shape kids could do it. 

Directions:

Parking Fee: No

Hiking hints: Park at the 6 car parking lot. The trail starts there. You are actually starting on the Jacob's Crosscut trail.  You will go ...

Upper Antelope Canyon

Location: Page, AZ

Distance: 1/2 mile

Kid Friendly: Yes!

Family time is hard to get when life is so busy! We decided to get out of town and enjoy the longer weekend.  I am so glad we did because we created so many memories.  One being Upper Antelope Canyon.  What an amazing canyon!  It is amazing what water can do in carving rocks.  This canyon is every bit as beautiful as in the pictures. 

To visit Antelope Canyon you must be with a tour guide as the canyon is on the Navajo Nation. The canyon is divided into two parts Upper and Lower. We visited the Upper but I would love to do the Lower someday.  We booked our tour through Navajo Tours and were very happy with our tour and guide. 

The cost was $40 for adults and $20 for children with an $8 cash fee per person for the Navajo Parks Fee.  This seemed to be mid range price for the tours - some more expensive some cheaper.  I did get my reservations a few months ahead of time but you can show up the day of if they have openings. I would recommend reservations.  You do not have to pay until you take the tour. 

We drove up to Page the night before and stayed in a hotel.  Our tour time was at 10am but they asked us to be there an hour before to check in.  It was a 5 minute drive from our hotel to the tour check-in.  I did learn that the earlier morning tours and off season is less busy.  We happened to be there for both.  Spring and Summer are peak seasons because of the lighting in the canyon. We were the first to check in for our tour time so we got the first truck that left to the 5 minute drive to the canyon. 

I wish I had a picture of the 15 passenger van that was lifted and had huge off road tires.  This was our vehicle and our tour guides name was Jazz.  She was a great tour guide.  Interesting for the younger kids, had great photo tips for us and our older kids, and was very knowledgeable about the Canyon.  She didn't need to entertain though because the Canyon was amazing enough to keep our attention.

With it being off season and we were the first in the canyon we did get to be alone in the canyon a few times.  On our way out it was pretty busy.  The total hike through the canyon is only a 1/2 mile.  It is a very easy hike, no climbing, and would work for most people.  I believe the Lower has a little climbing. 

Lava River Cave in Flagstaff

Lava River Cave

Location: Flagstaff

Distance of Hike: Aproximately 2 miles - 1/4 mile to the cave and about 3/4 mile inside the cave.

Kid Friendly - Yes - Our kids loved this! - the older 5 headed off and our 4 year old strolled along with us. 
Parking Fee: No


I don't usually like to be alone in pitch black darkness in an unfamiliar place however I walked down the middle of this almost 1 mile long cave underground all by myself and felt at total peace. The Lava River Cave in Flagstaff is an underground cave created from lava flow about 675,000 years ago. It's just a long tube, no off shoots where creepy animals or people can jump out at you. Ha ha !Although the sign did say that creatures do live in the cave. 

The Lava River Cave is just outside of Flagstaff. It's a short 1/4 mile walk from the parking lot to the cave.  You aren't looking for a cave in the side of a mountain.  You are looking for a hole in the ground.  There were quite a bit of people in the cave when we arrived but since it was late afternoon most were heading out.  Our five older kids went on ahead while we stayed with our youngest.  Mid way through the cave my husband decided to turn around with our youngest and start heading out since he knew it would take a while.  I went on ahead to look for our other kids.  Like I mentioned above all alone in a pitch black, if you turn your flashlight off you can't see, cave.  Since there was only one way to come and go I knew I would run into them. 

I actually made a little bit of a fool of myself when I thought they were coming.  I started blinking my flashlight just to find out it wasn't them as they passed.  I did catch up with them at the end where they were trying to crawl into a tiny section.  We headed back and had fun taking shadow pictures.  We'd all shine our flashlight on one person to cast a prominent shadow. 

Wave Cave

Wave Cave

Location: US 60 and Peralta Road - Carney Springs Trailhead - parking lot on the left 6 miles down the 7 mile dirt road.

Distance: Around 4 miles
Kid Friendly - Our 7 year old did great. We had to carry our 3 year old most of the time.
Directions: Start on the Carney Springs Trailhead. About a mile in you will walk through the national forest fence. I believe in another 1/4 mile you will come to a fork.  Take the tail to the left. Follow the cairns and keep the cave in view as much as possible.
Parking Fee: No

I had been wanting to do this hike for a long time. Steep! but worth the view. I thought it was a fun hike minus the extra couple miles we did because the trail is hard to follow if you don't have exact directions. :)