My husband and I are older parents of a teen girl with autism. We love to travel as a family, planning trips that are sensory-friendly for our daughter G and fun for all of us.
Our posts are useful for any family traveling with children, especially if someone in your family doesn't like waiting in line or being around loud noises. We share extra details about sensory and safety considerations at popular destinations so you know what to expect and can prepare in advance.
Back when G was only 8 years old, we did our first family road trip through Arizona. Every time we discussed our plans, the subject of fitting in a visit to Four Corners kept coming up. We could never quite decide if the detour would be worth it.
We ultimately made hotel reservations at Monument Valley one night, and Holbrook, just outside Petrified Forest National Park the next. We figured that gave us the option of doing the Petrified Forest the day we left Monument Valley, or doing it the next day if we added in the Four Corners. From Holbrook, we would continue to Scottsdale, where we planned to spend our last few days exploring the general Phoenix area in the morning and lounging by the pool in the afternoon.
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The Empty Road to the Four Corners
We started the day with breakfast and the scenic 17-mile drive through Monument Valley. By the time we finished the loop, we had decided to take the detour to Four Corners after all.
What made us do it? First, we would never be this close again, and if we were ever going to do it, this was the time. Second, we’re the kind of people who get a little kick out of doing something not many people get to do.
We thought we would drive straight to Holbrook from the Four Corners, then tour Petrified Forest the next morning before continuing on to Scottsdale as planned.
The drive from Monument Valley to Four Corners was about two hours. The road was empty. At one point, we drove for more than 30 minutes without seeing anyone come the other way—no one ahead of us, no one behind us.
We got a little excited when we saw signs for the town of Mexican Hat, Utah. It turns out the town is tiny by any standard. There’s a trading post, a gas station with a 7-Eleven market, and a post office. The main landmark is a unique rock formation that really does look like a Mexican hat.
G did well on this drive. She had lots of games loaded up on her devices, plenty of snacks and drinks, and nothing was expected of her.
Standing in Four States at Once
Although Four Corners marks the meeting point of four U.S. states, it is located on Navajo land, and you need to pay an access fee to enter.
Admission Tip: Admission is $10 per person, and children 6 and under are free. Credit card only, no cash accepted.
After we parked, we walked into a large circular pavilion with the state lines laid out in brick and a brass medallion marking the exact spot where they meet.
Around the edges of the circle, Navajo vendors were selling souvenirs and craft items. You would think that one of the most famous geographical markers in the US would attract a massive crowd, but that wasn’t the case at all. There were fewer than 100 people at the site, with only a few lined up for their turn at a photo op at a time. Most were strolling through the market area, looking to fill some time before getting back in the car.
The small business vendors at the market sold handcrafted silver jewelry, turquoise, woven rugs, and typical tourist items like postcards and glassware. We bought a Christmas ornament for our collection and enjoyed some delicious Navajo tacos before hitting the road again.
Sensory Considerations: As of 2026, new restrooms with flush toilets have been installed at Four Corners—we’d have really appreciated that when we were there! There were no issues with crowds, loud noise, or long waiting times. Because the site is fully outdoors with very little shade, be sure to bring a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen, and plenty of water.
A Smart Stop in Petrified Forest National Park
From Four Corners, it was a three-hour drive to the north entrance of Petrified Forest National Park. This drive was hard on all of us. It was simple highway driving, but there wasn’t anything really interesting to see along the road. We did take a bathroom break about 2 hours into the drive, and purchased a bag of gummi bears to reward G for being so patient with the long drive.
As we drove down I-40, about 30 minutes from our hotel in Holbrook, we were ready for another bathroom stop. Restrooms with flush toilets are few and far between in this area, but the Painted Desert Visitor Center was at the next highway exit—so we pulled off the highway to make use of the National Park Service facilities.
It was 4 PM, and the visitor center was empty. We looked around a bit and spoke with the ranger on duty, who suggested that since we were already there, we may as well see the park now. He said we could drive south through the park, with lots of stops along the way. The park road is 28 miles long, and our hotel would be 15 minutes from the end. Lots of stops were the magic words, so off we went!
The Petrified Forest is amazingly remote, with most visitors coming on day-trip tours from Phoenix. Those groups had already left, giving us the colorful landscape all to ourselves. The first portion of the road took us through the Painted Desert hills, which are striped in shades of red, orange, purple, and gray. It made me wonder how anyone made it through this land in a covered wagon.
About halfway through, the park road crosses the old Route 66, where the rusted frame of a 1932 Studebaker sits right where the highway used to run.
A little bit further along, we stopped to walk on the Puerco Pueblo trail. This 0.3-mile flat trail brings you up close and personal to a rock formation engraved with ancient petroglyphs carved by ancestral Puebloan people.
Next, we came to the area where petrified trees lie scattered across the desert floor, their wood long ago replaced by quartz and other minerals. The trails bring you close to massive fossilized tree trunks that you’re allowed to reach out and actually touch. You are NOT allowed to put any rocks in your pockets to bring home.
Our favorite stop was the last one: the Rainbow Forest Museum and Visitor Center at the south entrance. G loved the fossils, especially the dinosaurs, which made the whole day worthwhile for her. We were also glad for the indoor break and the restrooms.
In the end, the marathon day on the road had caught up with us. The next morning, we were glad we’d already seen the Petrified Forest. We thought about swimming before we hit the road, but decided against it. A much better one was just a few hours away in Scottsdale, so we loaded up the car and hit the road.
Scottsdale, Where the Plan Was “Survive the Heat”
We arrived in Scottsdale to a temperature of 115 degrees, which is hot even by Scottsdale standards. We had a big list of potentially great things to do here, but anything that meant being outdoors in that heat got taken off the list.
We stuck with our plan of morning outings, followed by lunch at a family-friendly restaurant. We saved swimming for late afternoon and evening, once the sun was lower, to avoid heatstroke. (More on this in our next post.) After lunch, we watched movies and played games in our hotel room, luxuriating in the joy of modern air-conditioning, and glad that we wouldn’t be driving anywhere more than 15 minutes away for the rest of our trip.
We spent one morning in Old Town Scottsdale, where the downtown storefronts look like a movie set for an old Western. We enjoyed browsing through the shops and art galleries. G especially enjoyed hanging out by a fountain adorned with statues of wild horses. The sound of the fountain dimmed background noise, and the horses reminded G of her favorite pony, Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Our favorite outing was the Desert Botanical Garden. We went early in the morning, and enjoyed seeing the saguaro cacti and desert flowers up close, not just from a car window.
Right at the entrance, you’ll notice a large glass sculpture by American artist Dale Chihuly. Smaller pieces of his work are interspersed with cacti as you walk through. The brightly colored glass catches the sunlight and contrasts magnificently with the somber shades of desert green in the cacti.
On the Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert trail, G was excited to go inside a Pima home and see how Native peoples lived in the Sonoran Desert hundreds of years ago.
There are plenty of services here for visitors: restrooms in various areas of the gardens, hydration stations for refilling water bottles, a formal sit-down restaurant, and a casual outdoor café. The environment overall was quiet and relaxed, with wide, smooth paths for walking and benches for resting. In spring or fall when temperatures are more moderate, this would be an great sensory-friendly activity.
Wrap-Up: What We Learned About Road Trip Pacing for Our Family
Looking back, taking that detour was absolutely worth it. Ironically, of everything we did on our Arizona road trip, the Four Corners Monument was the single thing people back home were most eager to hear about!
We learned a good lesson about planning road trips for our family. We drove two hours to the Four Corners, three hours to Petrified Forest, and about an hour to drive through it. For our family, three hours of driving in a day is comfortable, four is tolerable, six really too much. Next time we’re thinking about a big detour, we’ll make sure our hotel plans fit the mileage!
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