Grand Canyon National Park pretty much speaks for itself; anyone who has been there will know this. For those yet to go, the Grand Canyon will consistently make your jaw drop even for seasoned veterans of the park. It is no wonder it is one of the country's most popular National Parks.
With limited time, you can drive along the rim (Most people visit the South Rim, as it is more accessible from many other destinations and has more of the park's highlights). If you are feeling the need to get some exercise, walk along the Rim Trail as long as you want before turning around or taking one of the man free shuttles back to the lodge or the restaurant overlooking the vast canyon.
The best way to appreciate the canyon is from the bottom, usually with a trip to the Bright Angel campground along the South Kaibab Trail and the Bright Angel trail. DO NOT attempt a trip to the bottom and back in 1 day. Temperatures at the bottom can reach 110 degrees in the middle of the day, many people suffer from dehydration and heat stroke due to the dry climate. If attempting this (at least 2-day) hike, start very early in the morning to avoid the heat (do not hike between 10 and 2); By starting very early, you also get the added bonus of seeing the sunrise over the canyon walls, which will bring out some of the reddest rock you have ever seen.With more time to spare, there are several Native American reservations with tourist information, as well as several museums and ranger talks about the formation of this immense canyon, the history of its first inhabitants, and how the area is still changing today.
With limited time, you can drive along the rim (Most people visit the South Rim, as it is more accessible from many other destinations and has more of the park's highlights). If you are feeling the need to get some exercise, walk along the Rim Trail as long as you want before turning around or taking one of the man free shuttles back to the lodge or the restaurant overlooking the vast canyon.
The best way to appreciate the canyon is from the bottom, usually with a trip to the Bright Angel campground along the South Kaibab Trail and the Bright Angel trail. DO NOT attempt a trip to the bottom and back in 1 day. Temperatures at the bottom can reach 110 degrees in the middle of the day, many people suffer from dehydration and heat stroke due to the dry climate. If attempting this (at least 2-day) hike, start very early in the morning to avoid the heat (do not hike between 10 and 2); By starting very early, you also get the added bonus of seeing the sunrise over the canyon walls, which will bring out some of the reddest rock you have ever seen.With more time to spare, there are several Native American reservations with tourist information, as well as several museums and ranger talks about the formation of this immense canyon, the history of its first inhabitants, and how the area is still changing today.
Trails
Summary
Difficulty
Distance
The Grand Canyon Rim Trail
A flat walk with stunning views of the canyon. Up to 12 miles, mostly paved.
A flat walk with stunning views of the canyon. Up to 12 miles, mostly paved.
Easy
12.0 mi/
19.3 km
19.3 km
The Grand Canyon: Kaibab to Bright Angel Trail
Experience the Grand Canyon like few others with this unforgettable 2-3 day trip down into the canyon.
Experience the Grand Canyon like few others with this unforgettable 2-3 day trip down into the canyon.
Difficult
16.0 mi/
26 km
26 km
Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, NaturePods
NaturePods shares the history and natural world of the Grand Canyon in this video guide. More at www.NaturePods.com
NaturePods shares the history and natural world of the Grand Canyon in this video guide. More at www.NaturePods.com
Difficult
18.0 mi/
29 km
29 km
Hiking the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim
Four days across the Grand Canyon you will never forget!
Four days across the Grand Canyon you will never forget!
Difficult
23 mi/
37 km
37 km
Havasu Falls & Mooney Falls
3 day backpacking trip to Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls on the Supai Indian Reservation near Grand Canyon National Park
3 day backpacking trip to Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls on the Supai Indian Reservation near Grand Canyon National Park
Difficult
24 mi/
38 km
38 km
Guides
A flat walk with stunning views of the canyon. Up to 12 miles, mostly paved.
Four days across the Grand Canyon you will never forget!
Experience the Grand Canyon like never before along some of the top hiking trails the park has to offer
3 day backpacking trip to Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls on the Supai Indian Reservation near Grand Canyon National Park
11.9 mile trail on North Rim of Grand Canyon
Experience the Grand Canyon like few others with this unforgettable 2-3 day trip down into the canyon.
NaturePods shares the history and natural world of the Grand Canyon in this video guide. More at www.NaturePods.com
Community Trips
Loren and I caught the 4:30 shuttle to start out hike down Kaibab trail to the Bright Angel Campground at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. A park ranger told us it would stay so hot down in the canyon that we wouldn't even use sleeping bags, and that there weren't any bugs, so we decided to pack VERY light (water, some cliff bars, jerkey and dried fruit, and our sleeping pads)....
Photos and GPS data from my hike to Havasupai, 6/10/10 to 6/12/10.
A nice winter stroll along the Rim Train at the Grand Canyon.A bit of backstory: Before February of 2010 (that's next month), the Grand Canyon Backcountry Info office would hand out permits four months in advance of the month of departure; which is to say, if you wanted a permit for (say) May of 2010, the first day you could apply for it would be January 1st, 2010. They take applications via...
Two day trip in the winter down the Kaibab South trail, overnight at Phantom Ranch and then back up Bright Angel Trail.Started out around 11:00 am from the trailhead. The upper sections of the trail has several inches of snow and ice. Used the over shoes traction devices, which worked great. Made great progess, getting to Phantom Ranch around 3:30. Had a great dinner at the ranch and the three of us...
There is a secret to a Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike: Take four days to do it, even if you can do it in one. I have friends who go South to North in one day, then North to South the next. But how much of the Canyon do they really get to see?
How much time can they spend at Ribbon Falls? It's a destination unto itself. Can they spend a couple of...
Took more than 7 hrs drive from Death Valley to the Grand Canyon. Stayed overnight at the Maswik Lodge inside the park. Resort facility was not bad except we chose not to pick the rooms with air conditioning to save a few dollars. In late April, we don’t really need it since the temperature at night in the rim was pretty cool. It was indeed cool when we arrived there at 10:30pm.
It...
God’s creation of natural wonders are truly amazing. Before this trip, the most memorable trips I have ever made was walking on the ocean floor after a few billion tones of seawater flow in and out of the Bay of Fundy during the tide cycle, taking a boat heading towards the fall to feel the downpouring of the vast amount of water from Niagara Falls, viewing of many different colours of Yellowstone...
Before our trip, we knew the Grand Canyon would be kind of cool at the end of April but had never expected snow. To my surprise, when I looked out of the window the 3rd morning in Grand Canyon, it was snowing.
The temperature was 0C, strong wind, with tiny hails of snow. The forecasted snow storm we heard last night during dinner was now here. At times, snow was heavy and...
Loren and I got to the Grand Canyon pretty late after a full day of driving from Hermosa Beach. We didn't get there in time for a walk-in campsite, so we decided to take a short walk around the rim to see the canyon at sunset. We ended near the lodge where we got some dinner (energy) to prepare us for the next day's hike down to the bottom of the canyon....
We gave up on finding warm weather by going south as we were already a stones throw from the Mexican border in Tucson. We decided to head north to southern Utah, CJ's favorite place on earth (if there is a god, then he's a Mormon because he gave them Utah). But on the way, on a whim, we decided to call and see if we could get a last minute reservation at...
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