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.

The first big road trip our family took was to Arizona and the Grand Canyon, several years ago when G was just eight years old.

We started with four slow-paced days at a resort in Sedona, doing touristy things in the mornings and enjoying the pool in the afternoons. On the morning of our fifth day in Arizona, we packed up our car, made sure we had plenty of drinks and snacks within easy reach, and set out for the Grand Canyon.

The drive from Sedona to the Grand Canyon takes a little over two hours. About halfway there, we stopped at Bearizona Wildlife Park in Williams.

Bearizona has two main sections: a 3-mile, one-way safari drive, followed by a walk-through zoo area known as Fort Bearizona.

The safari drive took us past black bears, wolves, bison, and mountain goats in large outdoor habitats. You can stop and watch the animals as long as you like, but for safety, you must stay inside your car at all times and obey signs to keep your windows closed where indicated.

The drive ends at Fort Bearizona, which features a walk-through zoo, a barnyard petting area, and a snack bar. The stars of the show here were a small group of baby bears that couldn’t have been cuter!

We spent about 45 minutes on the safari drive and another hour exploring the zoo and snack bar. Just like in Sedona, school was already back in session, so while there were a few families with toddlers, it wasn’t crowded at all.

Our overall verdict: If your child enjoys zoos, or if you want to check off the “Yes, I saw a buffalo in the American Southwest” box, this is a great way to spend a couple of hours. G loves animals, and since we didn’t see many in Sedona, this worked out wonderfully for us.

Other families might decide to skip it. Driving the safari route adds time that could otherwise put you almost at the Grand Canyon National Park entrance.

One important heads-up: There are no restrooms along the safari route. If anyone in your car needs to go before starting, ask the attendant at the ticket gate for the nearest restroom before you begin the drive.

Hours at Bearizona vary seasonally. You can check current schedule details at www.bearizona.com. Whether you plan to visit or not, you can check up on the grizzlies 24×7 via the Bearizona Bear Cam!

We left Bearizona after a quick lunch at the snack bar. It took a little over an hour to reach Grand Canyon National Park's South Rim, and we arrived at about 1:30 p.m. At 87 degrees, it felt relatively cool compared with Sedona, thanks to the higher elevation.

We were awestruck by our first view of the Grand Canyon: the size, range, and scope, the bands of color, and the sheer amount of space it took up. It really was inspiring.

Our first stop was the main visitor center, where we could cool off indoors and plan the rest of our visit. We picked up park maps, asked a ranger which activities G might enjoy, and watched a short film about the geological history of the Grand Canyon.

The ranger recommended spending our first afternoon in Grand Canyon Village, then driving to the Desert View area in the morning to explore that portion of the national park.

G probably didn't get as much out of the film as we did, but she didn't complain, so we took that as a win.

We learned that the Grand Canyon stretches 278 miles and reaches up to 18 miles wide in places, making it larger than the state of Rhode Island. The Colorado River carved its way through layers of rock over millions of years.

One of the most interesting things we found out was that, in some places, rocks over a billion years old lie directly beneath rocks about 525 million years old, with hundreds of millions of years missing in between. Geologists call this gap the Great Unconformity.

We only had two days at the Grand Canyon, so we decided not to go looking for those missing rocks.

There’s a relatively flat trail that runs about 13 miles along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We only walked a short section of it. According to the NPS website, the Rim Trail is accessible, mostly paved, and generally about six feet wide. Most of the path has safety railings, but some sections do not.

If you find yourself on a section without railings, the NPS strongly recommends staying at least six feet back from the canyon’s edge. If this sounds scary (especially with children), ask a park ranger which sections of the trail best meet your family’s accessibility and safety needs before you set out.

Grand Canyon Village is at the center of this trail, about 3 miles from the main visitor center. It’s where the hotels, restaurants and shops are located. We were staying at the Maswik Lodge in Grand Canyon Village, so we hopped back in the car and parked at our hotel.

Grand Canyon Village is a great place to take in the panoramic view of the Grand Canyon. On the cliff side you see the striated rocks stretching endlessly for miles. On the interior side, there’s a cluster of historic hotels, a gift shop in a building modeled after a Hopi pueblo, and a smaller visitor center to pick up maps and check in with park rangers.

We felt very safe in this area. Thick, waist-high stone walls along the edge of the canyon create a barrier to keep people from falling. The pavilion between the walls and the buildings ranges from 20 to 200 feet deep, so people who are anxious about heights can stand back and still get a great view. No matter what, don’t climb on the walls to get the ultimate picture. A sudden wind could send you off balance and down into the canyon.

People from all over the world were there to take in the view. The space was large enough that it didn't feel crowded, except in one spot in front of El Tovar Hotel, where the pathway narrows to about 20 feet.

Most people were strolling between overlooks, each offering a slightly different view to the east or west. Everyone seemed to be speaking a different language, but the overall sound was a constant buzz, not the roar of a football stadium.

We spent a couple of hours exploring here, and gave Princess Twilight Sparkle a few photo ops. We didn’t let her sit on the wall either. Safety first.

None of the hotels inside Grand Canyon National Park have pools. We had a fairly early dinner, then watched the sunset over to the west before going back to our hotel for some much needed sleep.

Sunrise at the Grand Canyon is really special. We had set our alarms for 30 minutes before sunrise. We got up quickly, grabbed some water bottles and a snack for G, and found an east-facing overlook at the canyon’s edge.

It was still mostly dark, but we could see a purple and pink glow beginning to form. Over the course of about an hour, we watched the canyon change colors from pink and purple to gold, and finally to the reds, browns, and grays that had amazed us the previous afternoon.

Afterward, we had breakfast at the historic El Tovar hotel. We were curious to see a place that has hosted eight U.S. presidents and where rooms often sell out a year in advance. Eating in a fancy restaurant is right up G’s alley — and from a behavior point of view, breakfast is a much better fit than a formal dinner in a crowded restaurant.

After we finished eating, we drove east to the Desert View area of Grand Canyon National Park, stopping at several scenic overlooks on the way.

At Desert View, we took an easy hike on a flat trail to the Desert View Watchtower, a 70-foot structure and a major landmark in the park. Entry to the tower is free, but only 25 people are allowed inside at a time, so you need a timed ticket. You can get one at the information desk in the park store at the base of the tower.

Any activity involving stairs is a maybe for our family, because G won’t step on any kind of elevated metal grate. We were lucky on this one. The stairs here are made of concrete with solid handrails, and there was no wait when we arrived.

We really enjoyed this part of the park. There weren't many people there at all, so we felt more connected with nature than back at Grand Canyon Village. We spent a few hours here before continuing on to our next destination, Page, Arizona, with a stop for lunch at the Cameron Trading Post.

When we got to Page at about 4 PM, G was eagerly looking forward to some quality time in the hotel pool. When we arrived at our hotel, we found out our room was almost, but not quite, ready. It was too early for dinner, but we were quite certain that G wouldn’t want to leave the pool once she got in, so we took a quick ride to the local Safeway and grabbed some prepared foods from the deli. After we checked in, we dropped our bags in the room, brought our food to a poolside table, and spent the rest of the evening there.

For our family, we spent just the right amount of time at the Grand Canyon South Rim. We would have liked to see it looking up from the river, and found a couple of interesting half day float tours online. Unfortunately, an email from the operator of one confirmed that while these tours float down the river, the boat motors are quite loud on the return.

Instead, we booked a canyon float trip on Lake Powell in Page. You’ll hear more about that in our next post!

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