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Welcome to one of the biggest, deepest, and most interesting showcases of erosion in the world — the Grand Canyon.
You can see thousands of spectacular canyons around the United States — Hell's Canyon in Idaho, Kings Canyon in California, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in Wyoming to name a few. But none is quite as magnificent, colorful, or big as the one near the northern Arizona border. Nothing else exists like the Grand Canyon. When you stand on either the South or North rims, you look out across a mile-deep abyss, 18 miles wide in places. This rocky gorge is stunning, both in its display of the power of erosion and in its intricate, delicately carved layers, ridges, and promontories of rock.
The Grand Canyon is a mesmerizing combination of multihued ridges, cliffs, pinnacles, and side canyons unlike any other. You can sample the park in an afternoon by following one of the many hiking trails, or make a more serious exploration by spending several weeks negotiating the Colorado River as it continues to gnaw at the bedrock on the canyon floor. But this is the one park in the country where it pays to just stand in one place for a while — preferably at Point Sublime or the more accessible Hopi Point — and admire the park's ruggedly beautiful essence. At sunset at Point Sublime, the fiery sky melds with the glowing, red- and gold-colored walls of rock. Witnessing the deep and sprawling canyon aglow from these atmospheric fireworks is a humbling experience.
 | You can see the South Rim's highlights in one day. If you also want to hike and visit the North Rim, plan to spend at least four days in the park — one at the South Rim, one hiking, one driving to the North Rim, and one touring the North Rim. |
The best of the Grand Canyon
When you arrive at Grand Canyon National Park, the biggest attraction — the canyon itself — couldn't be more obvious. But don't overlook what else the park has to offer. The following cheat sheet can save you some time figuring out where to go and what to see:
- Canyon View Information Plaza: Accessed by the park's shuttle bus system, the plaza has exhibits on the park's geology, history, and wildlife, and it has a book store/gift shop with a wide selection of trail guides and maps.
- Desert View Drive: Along this drive, you see great canyon panoramas from such overlooks as Grand View and Moran points. Lipan Point offers the best sunset pictures.
- Tusayan Ruins: To some people, the low lines of foundation stones that remain at this site near the South Rim are nothing more than rocks. But these rocks are the lasting mark of an ancestral Puebloan community that flourished 800 years ago. The ruins, and a nearby museum, offer the park's best cultural display.
- Watchtower: Modern man imitated prehistoric man by building this stone tower, located on the eastern end of Desert View Drive. The tower houses a nice Native American art collection and a great observation deck.
- North Rim: A refuge from the crowds, the "other" rim has stunning vistas and thick conifer forests with great hiking trails. The higher elevation translates into cooler summers.
- Point Imperial: The highest point on the North Rim, reaching 8,803 feet, Point Imperial offers the best view of the canyon's northeastern corner. This is the spot for great sunrise photographs.
Driving to the Grand Canyon
If you like traffic jams, make the South Rim your first stop in Grand Canyon. Every year, an estimated 1.5 million private vehicles and another 30,000 tour buses converge on this side of the park. Smog can blur views, and not enough parking lots are available to handle the traffic, so at the height of summer you often encounter lines of rigs parked along the road. Not only are they ugly, but they're also dangerous for visitors and deadly for roadside vegetation.
The National Park Service isn't ignoring the problem. In 1995, officials agreed that they had to change the way people visit the Grand Canyon's South Rim. The park has free shuttle buses available, but that's just a start. One day you won't be able to drive yourself onto the South Rim. Instead, to see the park's beauty from the south side, you'll have to catch a shuttle bus or a light-rail train.
If a light-rail system is built, you'll be kindly asked to park your car at the South Rim gateway community of Tusayan and ride the train into the park. One spur will run to CVIP, where shuttle buses, powered by electricity or natural gas, very likely will haul you to Hermits Rest, Yaki Point, Desert View, and locations within Grand Canyon Village. A second spur likely will run to the Village Transit Center, a second transportation hub near Maswik Lodge. If the light-rail system is deemed unnecessary, a shuttle-bus system likely will haul the bulk of the South Rim's visitors.
If you choose not to ride the rail or shuttle, you'll be able to rent a bike and pedal your heart out along the slowly expanding Greenway trail that is designed to parallel the transit system from Hermits Rest to Desert View and south to Tusayan. The first section of the Greenway opened in the fall of 2001 and runs 2 miles from CVIP to the train depot. Another section, from CVIP to Tusayan, was expected to be under construction by late 2004 or early 2005.
Photographing the Grand Canyon
The canyon provides countless good areas to take pictures, but naturally, some spots are better than others. If you're striving for that definitive Grand Canyon sunset, try shooting from the Hopi, Mojave, or Pima points located along Hermit Road on the South Rim. Or focus your camera from Lipan Point and Desert View Overlook on Desert View Drive. If you're an early riser and prefer sunrise shots, try Mather, Yaki, Yavapai, and Lipan points on the South Rim. On the North Rim, Bright Angel Point, Point Sublime, and Cape Royal are good for sunsets and sunrises. To find out how early you need to get up for sunrise or how late in the evening the sun will set, check the park's newspaper, The Guide. To get some ideas on specific shots to take, visit the Kolb Studio in Grand Canyon Village. The Kolb brothers, early canyon photographers, used this building as their studio. Inside you find a good bookstore and photography exhibits.
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