Cycling around the Grand Canyon; through Arizona and Utah in the USA

Maps; getting around

Free maps of Arizona and Utah are available at almost any gas-station or motel. These maps do not offer a lot of detail nut if you want to follow the paved roads these will be sufficient. Rand McNally also has the unsponsored version of these maps.

We also bought locally “the Recreational map of Arizona” (scale 1 inch = 12.5 miles) by GTR Mapping. This map offers much more detail than the previous ones also has a colour shaded topography with elevations. Another excellent map is the “Guide to Indian Country” by the Automobile Club of Southern California, which covers Indian territory in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

These last two maps can be purchased at souvenir shops, bookshops and tourist information centers.

Books

We did not use any specific travel guide. About most of the features along our route abundant information is available from tourist information and national park visitors centers.

As a preparation we used two older books by Dennis Coello, titled ‘Bicycle touring in Utah’ and ‘Bicycle touring in Arizona’. These publications describe several tours in these states and were published around 1988. As long as you don’t rely on information about shops etc. a lot of the info is still applicable today. Both titles are available from Northland Press, Flagstaff AZ.