Grand Canyon Railway RV Park

We stayed at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park in Williams, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)

The main reason for staying here was to take a train trip to the Grand Canyon. This RV park is part of a complex that includes a full hotel, restaurants, the train station, pet boarding, and more. Stay tuned for a forthcoming post about our train adventure.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-03-30
Check out: 2022-04-10
11 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 55 and 71°F, lows around 31-38°F
Occasionally windy

Noise:

Negligible road noise
Nearby train noise; freight train tracks next to park
Mostly quiet neighbors, other than a bunch of kids

Site:

#402, pull-through, asphalt, didn’t need to disconnect toad
Parked truck behind coach
Medium site: about 70 feet long by 25 feet wide
Not entirely level
Full hookups:

50 amp power conveniently located
Low water pressure, 32 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located

Picnic table on gravel

Internet:

Campground Wi-Fi: available, but not used
T-Mobile: 6-41 Mbps down, 5-33 Mbps up, 40-60 ms ping
AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 47 ms ping
Verizon: 54-85 Mbps down, 25-46 Mbps up, 50-160 ms ping
Some impressive numbers for T-Mobile and Verizon there!

Amenities:

Garbage and recycling dumpsters
Indoor heated pool and hot tub (didn’t use)
The usual other stuff we didn’t use

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Convenient to Grand Canyon and Route 66

We stayed here in order to take the train up to the Grand Canyon and it was very convenient for that. Check-in was fast and easy before we headed over to our site. Sites are narrow, with a strip of volcanic rock and a picnic table between them. Had a difficult time getting the motorhome level front to back and had to manually adjust, as the automatical levelers could not handle it. Our neighbor’s site was so bad that their front wheels were off the ground. Lots of folks complain about the BNSF freight trains that roll through at all hours. I didn’t notice them most of the time, but there were one or two instances in the early morning (5 am-ish) where the drivers would get a little heavy-handed on the horn. If you’re a light sleeper, be sure to bring earplugs and your white noise machine. We camped at Grand Canyon Railway RV Park in a Motorhome.

The weather forecast for our stay:

Weather

Here’s the forecast after that; we were super glad that we left on Sunday, before the snow and really cold weather on Tuesday:

Weather

The park map, with our site indicated:

Park map

Satellite view of the RV park and hotel, and part of downtown Williams:

Grand Canyon Railway park

A closer view of the RV park:

Grand Canyon Railway RV park

Sign for Grand Canyon Railway:

Grand Canyon Railway sign

RV check in; several lanes for RVs:

RV check in

RV park check in and office:

RV park check in and office

Our site:

Our site

As mentioned, there is a freight train track next to the park; here’s a view out our window of a train going by:

Train

Our site and others:

Our site and others

Other RVs

A similar angle pic from just before we left, it had emptied out quite a bit:

Campground

Back to the campground tour:

Other RVs

Amenities:

Amenities

Laundry:

Laundry

Grill and tables:

Grill and tables

Fire pit:

Fire pit

Playground:

Playground

Games:

Games

There was also a full hotel; here’s the lobby:

Hotel lobby

We picked up our train tickets for the Grand Canyon railway from the on-site station:

Picking up train tickets

A train model outside the station:

Train model

Photo op:

Photo op

Stands for the pre-train cowboy show (see a forthcoming post):

Stands for cowboy show

The Williams train station:

Williams train station

A steam train outside the station:

Steam train

Video

Video: timelapse of coach driving from Cottonwood, AZ to Williams, AZ

A timelapse of driving the coach 95 miles from Cottonwood / Verde Valley, Arizona to Williams, Arizona.

Travel from Verde Valley to Williams, AZ

We drove our coach 95 miles, a bit less than two hours, from Verde Valley to Williams, Arizona.

Here’s the route map, going from bottom to top:

Map route

Instead of the Thousand Trails park, we originally were going to stay at Verde Ranch RV Resort. But we were glad we changed it, not only because the TT was much cheaper, and with a great view, it was also much more quiet, instead of being right next to the freeway:

Verde Ranch RV Resort

A cliff by I-17:

Cliff

A sign warning of elk:

Sign

Hey look, trees! Real pine trees! We’ve been in deserts for months, so haven’t seen real trees for ages:

Trees

Snowy mountains:

Snowy mountains

Arizona divide:

Arizona divide

Paladin was comfy in his safe space next to my chair:

Paladin

Snow by the side of the road:

Snow

Approaching Williams:

Williams sign

A sign for the Grand Canyon Railway depot:

Grand Canyon Railway depot sign

Williams arch, “gateway to the Grand Canyon”:

Williams arch

Our destination, the Grand Canyon Railway RV park:

Grand Canyon Railway sign

The timelapse video for this trip will be coming later today.

Baseball: Mariners Spring Training

We attended a Mariners Spring Training game in Peoria, Arizona.

Spring training for the Mariners is held at Peoria Sports Complex. Here’s a satellite view, showing where our seats were located, right behind home plate:

Peoria Sports Complex

The view from our seats:

View from our seats

A wide-angle view:

Wide-angle view from our seats

The starting lineup:

Starting lineup

As is traditional, the game was kicked off with a singing of the national anthem:

National anthem

Ichiro watched the game:

Ichiro

Play ball!

Baseball

Hit:

Hit

A confused bee thought Jenn’s new Mariners cap looked like a flower (which, fair enough, it does):

Bee

The stands:

Stands

Some more baseball:

Baseball

KC scored a run:

Score

Conference on the mound:

Conference on the mound

Mariners run:

Run

Pitcher warming up:

Pitching

The hydro challenge is a fun tradition:

Hydro challenge

Seventh inning stretch:

Seventh inning stretch

There were some baseball scouts sitting behind us:

Baseball scouts

Run:

Run

2,730 attendance:

2,730 attendance

Baseball

Another run:

Run

Hit:

Hit

Baseball

More hits:

Hit

But not enough; the final score was Royals 11, Mariners 4:

Final score, Royals 11, Mariners 4

The victors:

Victors

Outside the Peoria Sports Complex:

Peoria Sports Complex

Despite our team losing, we enjoyed the game. We may look into attending a Mariners game when we’re in the Seattle region later this year; it’s been ages since we’ve attended a game.

Dash cover

While at the FMCA convention, one of the things we bought for our coach was a carpeted cover for our dash, from Shade Pro.

We just told the vendor our coach model and the color, and they had it ready for us the next day.

It has a grippy back, cutouts for the vents, and a separate piece for the pull-out passenger tray:

Dash cover

Grippy back

ShurGrip

Dash cover

Jerome, AZ

On the way home from Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments, we had a quick drive through Jerome, Arizona, an interesting cliff-side “ghost” town.

Jerome

Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments

We visited the Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments in Arizona.

The Montezuma Castle National Monument consists of two parts, separated by a few miles: Montezuma Castle, and Montezuma Well.

Montezuma Castle is a 20-room Indian pueblo ruin, built into a cliff:

Montezuma Castle

Info:

Info

Montezuma Castle

Info

Beaver Creek

Model:

Model

View from a distance:

Montezuma Castle

Info:

Info

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Montezuma Well is part of the same National Monument, but physically separated:

Montezuma Well

Well Come:

Montezuma Well

Info:

Info

A park ranger had a snake (rattlesnake, I think?) in a bucket, that he had caught near a path (snake warning, Mom!):

Ranger with a snake

The snake wasn’t having a good day:

Snake

A structure built into the cliff above the well:

Structure

The well:

Montezuma Well

Info

A ranger and Jenn talking about the info:

Ranger and Jenn

Montezuma Well

Ducks:

Ducks

Steps leading down to the well:

Steps

Ruins:

Ruins

Water is flowing into the well, so of course it has to have an outlet:

Outlet

Outlet stream:

Outlet stream

Steps:

Steps

We then went to the Tuzigoot National Monument, ruins of a hilltop pueblo village:

Tuzigoot

Tuzigoot museum:

Tuzigoot museum

Info:

Info

Walls:

Walls

Going inside

Inside

Top

Walls

Jenn and David

Thousand Trails Verde Valley RV & Camping Resort

We stayed at the Thousand Trails Verde Valley RV & Camping Resort in Cottonwood, Arizona. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Normally with Thousand Trails you choose your own site, but in this park the 50 amp sites are all separately reserved, with assigned sites. Totally worth the upgrade, though; they are also much larger sites, with great views.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-03-27
Check out: 2022-03-30
3 nights

Weather:

Sunny, rain one day
High temps ranging between 58 and 86°F, lows around 41-47°F
Fairly windy

Noise:

No road or train noise
Quiet neighbors

Site:

#K10, back in, gravel, had to disconnect toad
Plenty of room to park truck
Very large site (I normally measure using Google Maps, but the site is too new, and doesn’t appear on the satellite map)
Full hookups:

50 amp power conveniently located, locked with padlock
60 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located

Park bench
Great view over the valley

Internet:

Campground Wi-Fi: none (maybe some by clubhouses, not used)
T-Mobile: 6 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
AT&T: 6-8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 41-64 ms ping
Verizon: 3-8 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 175 ms ping
I gather that the older sites down the hill have pretty much no signal

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Heated pool (closed); hot tub
Rec rooms, laundry, playground, and other stuff we didn’t use
Various outdoor games

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Great Base Camp for Central Arizona

We paid for the 50A premium site and it was well worth it. If all Thousand Trails had reservable upgraded sites, I would happily pay the $10/night every time. Our site was huge and had a beautiful view of the valley. I kind of wish it was a pull-in instead of a back-in so we could soak up the view through our window, though. The facilities were all kind of far from our site so we didn’t get to check them out. I do think this would be an excellent use case for e-bikes as there are a lot of hills and distances involved within the park. All the staff we interacted with were friendly and helpful. This was a great base camp for exploring the surrounding area, including several national monuments and historic towns. I only wish we had been able to stay longer so we could see more of the area and explore the local wineries. We will definitely be back! We camped at Verde Valley RV & Camping Resort in a Motorhome.

Info cover:

Info cover

Map; we were in section K:

Map

Weather:

Weather

The entrance:

Welcome center

We went down the hill to unhook our truck, and I drove it up to our site; here it is before the coach arrived:

Our site

Backing in:

Backing in

Conveniently placed utilities:

Utilities

60 PSI water:

60 PSI water

50 amp electrical, with a combination padlock to prevent non-authorized people from taking the site:

50 amp electrical

Our site:

Our site

Us working outside in our chairs, with sun shades:

David and Jenn

Not a bad view from our site:

Laptop and view

View

Down the hill, some more RVs:

RVs

Section M on the hill behind us:

RVs

Looking downhill towards our site:

RVs

This place was so spread out, and we were only there for a short time, so I didn’t explore as much as usual. We really liked it, though, and wished we could’ve stayed longer. We’ll likely be back in the future.

Video

Video: timelapse of coach driving from Tucson, AZ to Cottonwood, AZ

A timelapse of driving the coach 237 miles from Tucson, Arizona to Cottonwood / Verde Valley, Arizona.

Travel from Tucson to Cottonwood, AZ

After the FMCA convention, we drove 237 miles, over four hours, from Pima County fairgrounds just south of Tucson, Arizona to Verde Valley, Cottonwood, Arizona.

A longer drive than we prefer, but not too bad. We try to keep drives to about 200 miles or three hours where feasible. We like to follow the 2/2/2 rule: drive no more than 200 miles in a day, arrive by 2 PM, stop every 2 hours, and stay for at least 2 nights (so the rule really should be 2/2/2/2, but some people omit one of the middle clauses). There’s also the 3/3/3 rule, with the obvious variations, but that seems a bit much to us.

Here’s the route map, going from bottom to top:

Map route

On departure day from the convention, there was a pretty constant stream of RVs leaving the fairgrounds. Here are two Tiffins departing:

Tiffins departing

We noticed once on the road that I had neglected to remove the Magne Shade from the small side window, so we pulled off on the side of a freeway onramp to remove it:

Magne Shade