Things to Know When Visiting the Grand Canyon

If you have never visited the Grand Canyon National Park you are truly missing out! It is absolutely astonishing! It is something my husband and I have always wanted to see, so even with the pandemic, we decided to go for it. As a teacher, I can only travel on school holidays, and summer seemed to be the best time for us. We kept up with the ever-changing health concerns and sanitizing protocols and were very careful to wear our masks and use lots of hand sanitizer.

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We flew into Las Vegas on Southwest Airlines and were happy to learn that they limited the number of passengers so that no one had to sit in a middle seat. Masks were required on the plane and in the entire state of Nevada, including the airport. The next day we made the 5-hour drive to the Grand Canyon.

We checked in to Maswick Lodge where we stayed in the park and wondered why we were not seeing the awesome views we expected. After checking in we walked less than 1/4 mile down to the closest overlook and BAM! It was like walking into another world! It reminded me of the World of Avatar ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The pictures and video do not do it justice at all, because of the enormous size of the vistas. We walked to the edge, and it seemed like the earth just falls away into this huge expanse of rocky peaks, green plateaus, and deep gorges as far as the eye can see. It felt like you could just step off of the face of the earth into another universe.

As you hike down below the rim the size seems to grow even more. The Grand Canyon is a mile high, 277-mile long mountain range, where you are surrounded by sheer rock face walls stacked up to the sky. Every turn reveals another spectacular view, and seeing the clear blue-green streams gush out of the desert cliffs and surge down through the many pools is breath-taking. The Colorado River, which carved the gorge over time, lies at the bottom anchoring the mountains in place with its persistent force and flow. For me, I think it points us to our Creator who has freely given us this gift of beauty and powerful force of nature.

Located in the northwest part of Arizona, the Grand Canyon covers 277 miles of the Colorado River and the nearby uplands. The Grand Canyon National Park is home to much of these miles. The canyon is an entire mile deep and up to 18 miles wide with vistas at every turn that are incomparable in the world. Years of geological history are right here in our American backyard!

“In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which, so far as I know, is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world.” President Theodore Roosevelt

Last year (2019) the Grand Canyon turned 100 years old. Grand Canyon National Park has millions of visitors every year. It is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, and we heard many different languages spoken while we were there. People were there from all over the world!

The Grand Canyon has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, but it had a long tough road before becoming a national park. There were lots of failed congressional bills in the 1880s until Theodore Roosevelt visited several times and finally declared the Grand Canyon a National Monument in 1908. President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill to grant its park status in 1919.

There are two main public areas of Grand Canyon National Park, the North and the South Rims. The South Rim, at 7,000 feet above sea level, is the most accessible and the most visited. Most of the pictures that you see of the Grand Canyon are taken from the South Rim. While we were there the North Rim was closed due to a forest fire, but as of this writing (July 12, 2020), it is open again. The North Rim is 1,000 feet higher and harder to get to. By car, it is 220 miles from one rim to the other. However, you can hike from rim to rim on foot through the Kaibab Trails, and this route is only 21 miles. Sounds like a very long hike to me though!

The South Rim is open 24 hours a day and is still open now. That is the only side we saw, and we did not feel like we missed out at all. There are numerous places where you can pull over to scenic overlooks and admire the beautiful views. The North Rim is not even open at all in the harsh winter, because the access roads are closed.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Watch the Weather!

The Grand Canyon is open every day of the year, and the best word to describe the weather there is the word “extremes.” We went the weekend of July 4 and expected it to be super hot, but it was actually fairly pleasant at the South Rim. The temperature down below on the canyon floor is much warmer and can easily reach over 100 degrees. We hiked down a little, but we mostly stayed on top. Spring and fall typically have pleasant weather, but unpredictable nonetheless. Each year there are several rescues and sometimes deaths related to the heat, so be careful!

My best advice is to check the national park website before you go and plan accordingly. Dress in layers and wear comfortable walking shoes with good support. I have had some skin cancers cut off of me, so I wore a long-sleeved swim shirt with 50 SPF built-in that I purchased from Land’s End. I was surprised at how cool it kept me, and it protected my arms and chest from the sun. I also wore a wide-brimmed hat. I may have looked dorky, but I did not get sunburned.

If a summer trip is your only option, or you want to get away from the crowds, you could try visiting the North Rim. This area has an elevation of over 8,000 feet, so it stays about 10 degrees cooler than the South Rim. And it also gets only about 1/10th of the visitors. In fact, it is closed November through April because of winter weather. Since we stayed only on the South Rim I cannot tell you which is better. If it had not been during a global pandemic we would have faced much greater crowds July 4 holiday weekend.

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Visiting the Park

To get into the Grand Canyon National Park you must pay an admission fee. This month it is $35 per vehicle and $20 to enter on foot or bicycle. The one-time fee is good for 7 consecutive days. Because of concerns over the coronavirus these fees may now need to be purchased in advance. Please check their website regularly, as it seems to change often.

Camping in the park is normally on a first-come, first-served basis as well as through reservation. However, some sites are closed and some rules have changed due to concerns over COVID-19, so check their website before you go. There are also some commercial campsites available outside of the park.

What to Do in the Park

Don’t be one of those people who just pulls up in your rental car, takes a few photos from the guard rail at one spot, strolls around the gift shop, and leaves. The park estimates that the average visit to Grand Canyon National Park lasts less than four hours. Take advantage of this enormous park, and venture out. The further you get from the Visitor’s Center the smaller the crowds are anywhere.

Biking

Normally, you can rent bikes from Bright Angel Bicycles, but they are currently closed due to coronavirus. The Hermit Road is closed from March through November, making it perfect for cycling. It winds along for seven miles along the rim and has been said to be one of the most scenic cycling paths in the world. Go east from the Visitor’s Center and you can bike to Yaki Point, which is a popular spot to view the beautiful sunsets in the park.

Hiking

Like I mentioned earlier, the park was not as crowded when we were there. Like many newbies, we jumped right on the popular Bright Angel Trail, which goes straight down into the canyon right at Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim. This was the closest to us, and the shuttles were not running. But normally this trail can get really crowded. Another idea is to take the shuttle bus (if it is running) from the village to the South Kaibab Trailhead. You can do the 1.8-mile round-trip hike to the Ooh Aah Point (no really, that is the name of it). If you go all the way to the river it is 7 miles (4,780 feet), and the rangers tell people not to try to do this in one day. The heat and the elevation make it almost impossible even for the most experienced hikers.

On the North Rim you have the Widforss Trail which winds along the rim for five miles then dips into ponderosa pine and aspen groves to Widforss Point. This is where you can see rugged buttes like Wotans Throne, Zoroaster Temple, and the battelements of Transept Canyon.

For backpackers, there is the tough Thunder River Trail. It is a 21-mile, three-day loop from the Bill Hall Trailhead at Monument Point. This trail passes by Thunder River, which is a large creek that pours straight out of a big cave. Other trails include the Deer Creek Narrows or a detour to Deer Creek Falls.

The most ambitious of all Grand Canyon hikes is to walk rim to rim, dropping all the way down the canyon to the river, crossing the bridge at Phantom Ranch, and then climbing up the other side. Many choose to spend the night at Phantom Ranch. If you go for a one-way trip you will need to line up transportation back. There are other blogs that focus on backpacking that can give you more detailed information and tips.

Tours

There are always a variety of tours available. There are Grand Canyon tours from Las Vegas, 2-day mule trips that go to the bottom of the canyon and back, whitewater rapid raft rides down the Colorado River, smooth water float trips, guided hikes, helicopter tours, and hot air balloon tours that give visitors perspectives from the bottom in the river all the way to a panoramic aerial view of the entire canyon.

We wanted to do a smooth water raft trip, but it was several hours by bus each way to get to the launching point. We decided we did not want to spend our only full day in the park at the bottom of the canyon. So we will have to do that next time.

The Visitor’s Center and the museum are currently closed, but you can still get a map from the rangers and plan your visit. A day and a half was plenty for us to see the main attractions. We hiked some of the Bright Angel Trail, drove on Desert View Road and pulled over at all the scenic overlooks (currently parts of this are closed), and got up early in the morning to photograph the sunrise at Mather Point near the Visitor Center.

If you are a true outdoorsman, be prepared for some paperwork, no matter the season. Some adventures like camping in the backcountry, running your own rafting trip down the Colorado River, or spending the night at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon, require permits and there is a lottery system for those. It costs about $25 to apply for a noncommercial river trip permit. If you win the lottery you must immediately pay a $200 – $400 additional deposit.

It is a little easier to obtain overnight backpacking permits, but the reservation system is extremely outdated. Your best chance is to send in a written application over four months in advance during the earliest consideration period, which starts on the 20th of every month and runs through the first of the next month. These applications are entered into a lottery. After that, it is first-come, first-served. For more information on this lottery system check out the park website.

Boating

There are two ways to travel by boat on the Colorado River: by motorized raft or using oars or paddles in a non-motorized raft. There has recently been a phased re-opening of the commercial Colorado River Rafting trips, and I have heard that they are using more rafts now so that people no longer have to sit shoulder to shoulder in the boat. There are trips of different lengths with rapids or smooth water float trips.

Watch out for Wildlife!

Over 500 species of animals live in Grand Canyon National Park. The endangered California Condor is one of the hundreds of different types of bird species found in this park. Mule deer, coyotes, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, elk, and bats all live in the Grand Canyon.

Being from Memphis, I loved that there were no mosquitos and very few flies. However, I have been told that 6 different types of rattlesnakes can be found within the park. Yikes! I’m glad we did not see any of those.

How to Get There

The Grand Canyon is huge, so you will need to plan carefully. It’s a 4 1/2 hour drive from one rim to the other. We flew to Las Vegas and drove to the South Rim (about 5 hours). You could also drive to the North Rim this way. To visit the South Rim you could also drive from Phoenix (about 3 1/2 – 4 hours). Flagstaff, Arizona is only an hour and a half south of Grand Canyon Village, which is where we stayed and is the main hub for exploring the park. However, flights into Flagstaff can be pricey.

No car? There is the Arizona Shuttle (now called Groome Transportation) that runs vans from Flagstaff to the village three times a day from mid-May to mid-October. Check websites though, because concerns over the coronavirus have stopped or altered many shuttle operations.

Where to Stay

Staying on the South Rim

While we were there we went into the lobby of El Tovar, which is just steps away from the canyon rim and has a beautiful log-sided interior lobby and fine dining restaurant. Built in 1905, this landmark is worth going to see, even if you aren’t staying there. Like most National Park Service lodging, the rooms are expensive and hard to come by. You will want to book at least a year in advance.

We were lucky and got a room only a few months in advance, but I think that is because of the pandemic. There are three balcony suites on the canyon side, but you have to call the hotel directly to reserve those. Be prepared to pay double for these rooms with a view though.

There are several other hotels on the South Rim. We stayed in Maswick Lodge, and it was nice. There are also several places to stay in the nearby town of Tusayan, about 6 miles just outside the park. We ate at a few restaurants in the town, and it is super close to Grand Canyon Village.

For camping on the South Rim, try Desert View Campground about 25 miles east of Grand Canyon Village. I have heard that the sunset views there are awesome! Try to catch a site midmorning as campers are leaving, because it is first-come, first-served.

Check with TripAdvisor to compare hotel prices and get reviews.

Staying at the North Rim

Grand Canyon Lodge is a good choice for the North Rim. Try to secure one of the Western Cabins for the best views. I read somewhere that some of the numbers in the 300s have the best views. You can also camp at the North Rim Campground, which is about a mile north of the lodge. Sites #14 and #19 are right on the rim.

Staying on the Floor of the Canyon

As mentioned earlier, there is a lottery system for reservations now. The Phantom Ranch in a grove at the bottom of the canyon requires entries for reservations at least 15 months ahead of time. There is also Bright Angel Campground, which requires a backcountry camping permit. If you stay there, you can still order meals from Phantom Ranch though.

Plan Your Visit!

I hope you get a chance to visit this gorgeous park someday soon. I think you will be glad you made the time to fit this in to your next trip out west.

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Leave me a comment below if you have any other tips or ideas!