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| There is nothing that can prepare you for your first view of the Grand Canyon |
I'm taking short diversion from our West Coast Adventures to provide some information on visiting the Grand Canyon as a dear friend of mine and her family will be making their way there for the first time next week.
Ah.....the Grand Canyon. The grandaddy of all natural attractions in my opinion! Once you have seen the Grand Canyon it seems as though you compare everything else to it. I am not sure how many times since our first visit to the Canyon that we have been at another place and someone has made the comment, "It's really great...it's just not quite the Grand Canyon!" Since our first visit in August of 2003, we have been back twice...."just to make sure it's still there!". It just never gets old and there is something so reassuring about it being the same yet different each time you see it. There is a reason that it is one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World.
Our first visit to the canyon was part of a pretty crazy endeavor. If you have read my first blogs on how we roll you know that we usually choose a part of the country that we want to see, fly to the nearest airport and then travel to everything in that vicinity! We get to see a lot that way but sometimes it is more of a highlights tour than an in depth study of one attraction! If you have not read my initial blogs, a. you need to do that and b. now you know that every trip can very easily turn into an adventure! This was back when we were still refining our style! To top things off we were taking: my Dad who was 75. My mom who was 67. My son who was 13 and my husband and I. Your next question.....What were we thinking????
Well we planned our trip for 10 days. We flew into Las Vegas because the airfare was lower than Phoenix at the time. We rented a van and after staying in Vegas for the evening we were off......here are a list of places that we fit into that trip....I laugh every time I think of it!
From Vegas we drove to Hoover Dam and onto the Grand Canyon, We spent most of a day and a half at the Grand Canyon making sure to see Sunrise and Sunset and then headed out to the East around the Canyon and up to Utah, making stops at Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon and continuing north to Salt Lake City to visit family. From there we drove through Kemmerer, Wyoming since my dad grew up here and headed up to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone. Drove from Yellowstone back to Las Vegas via Idaho. Now you're saying that this would be enough right? Wrong...we got to the Las Vegas Airport just in time to catch our flight to Anaheim where we spent 2 days at Disneyland and then flew back to Vegas and took our flight home the next morning! Insanity at it's best! We were wondering why the parents were dragging by the end of the trip!
So let me focus on the Grand Canyon here:
1. The Grand Canyon is BIG!
Ok I know....."Thanks Captain Obvious" as my son would say. However....when you are planning a driving trip to the Canyon...make sure you take into account that there is no way to cross the canyon....you have to drive AROUND the Canyon when you are going anywhere! Therefore when you are thinking that you can get to the South Rim as well as the North Rim...remember that you need to drive half a day to get to the other side!! When you want to drive to Hoover Dam or from Hoover Dam to the Grand Canyon there are only certain roads that will take you there and it's not a real direct route!! Plan extra time for drive time than you would if you were on a regular roadway. Make sure you double check the miles between points and calculate your time and then add on some extra time. The roadways are not always straight! Speed limits may be greatly reduced in some cases and you may see something along the way that may cause you to stop and look! Add to that traffic if you are traveling in the summer. Crowds are up and roads are often just double lanes with one each direction.2. Plan your lodging early especially if you are going during the busy summer months.
There are several lodges at the Grand Canyon: El Tovar, Yavapai Lodge, Thunderbird Lodge, Kachina Lodge and Maswik Lodge and Bright Angel Lodge. All provide great views of the canyon and allow you to stay within the park boundaries. The big thing to remember here is that these lodges were built many years ago, have small rooms and few amenities. There are also very few rooms in comparison to the hoards of people that visit the Grand Canyon during peak months. If you want to spend a night or two at one of the lodges, plan ahead...rooms fill up quickly.
If you are like me and prefer a little comfort even at the Grand Canyon then I have some other options for you! When I see the words, "private bath" in the listing for the lodge as an amenity....I am looking for another option! While this is great for some people to get close to nature by staying at the Lodge, I don't need to forgo a "private bath" for the experience to become one with nature! As you know my motto is "Camping is a hotel without room service!"
We ruled out the lodge option pretty quickly in our case and started to check out local hotels. There aren't a lot of cities close to the Canyon that offer lodging so prices are fairly high depending on seasonal demand. Williams offered several choices as did Flagstaff but those are both a significant drive from the park. We wanted to be sure to see both sunset and sunrise at the canyon so we wanted to be close enough to get there in the early morning. This is when we fell upon a little town called Tusayan, AZ. There are about 5 hotels there and it is about 1.5 miles from the entrance to the park on South Rim Drive. It's a bit further to the rim but really only a 15-20 minutes to drive and park there. The two times that we have stayed in Tusayan we have stayed at the Best Western Premier. The first time we had a very spacious room that was very comfortable. My parents had a comfortable room and got a good nights rest before heading back out on our adventure. Our second time staying there, we somehow ended up with a suite. It was just my husband, son and myself on this trip and this room was huge!!! It had two separate bedrooms, two baths(much better than worrying if I was going to have a private bath included!), a sitting area and kitchen area. The price was reasonable as we were in the off season during this particular trip. There is another hotel that looks very nice that is directly across the street from the Best Western. We went over there for dinner, very nice gift shop and lobby area. Dinner was decent. The rooms do not rate as high on sites such as Tripadvisor.com so I would most likely book a room at the Best Western again if I was going to stay in Tusayan. The third trip to the Canyon we did a little differently. We booked a hotel in Sedona and took one of the luxury bus tours of the Canyon offered by Pink Jeep Tours. So there are different options but if you want to stay close to the Canyon and don't want to compromise on comfort, I would highly recommend the Best Western in Tusayan.3. Try to See both Sunrise and Sunset at the Canyon rim
Sometimes this is hard to do if you are on a tight schedule but it is something that you will never regret doing. We were able to work this in by seeing sunset on our night of arrival and then getting up early and catching sunrise the following morning...continuing through the Canyon area and off on our way north to our next adventure.
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4. Make sure you dress in layers and take a jacket!
It doesn't matter what time of the year it is at the Grand Canyon, it gets COLD in the evenings and early mornings. August Temperatures were close to 100 degrees at Hoover Dam when we were there and we were freezing by the end of the day at the Canyon. Sunrise was also cold but it does warm up as the day progresses. Remember you are in a dessert climate. It gets very hot during the day but there is nothing to hold the heat in once the sun sets so make sure you dress appropriately.
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5. Make time to stop and look at the Canyon from various points.
Drive along the roadway or take the shuttle bus if you are there in the summer months and take time to stop and look at the views. They are amazing and constantly shifting as the angle of the sun changes. Different overlooks provide very different views and each one is amazing and awe-inspiring so don't miss out! You can also walk along the pathway near the rim in certain areas. When we had my parents with us, my dad (always a risk taker) was determined to get as close to the rim as he could! My mom, the worrier of course stayed as far away from the rim as she could! She spent the entire time worrying that my father was going to fall over the side. Luckily nothing like that happened but do be aware of where you are walking. Falling into the canyon does happen and the chance of surviving a fall into the canyon
is very low. There are railings and bars along the more populated areas but as you get away from those spots, just be sure to watch your footing.
6. Plan your route.
If you are traveling to the Grand Canyon during the summer months you need to know that you can only drive so far into the park. The rest of the park is accessible by shuttle bus. The reason for this is that the crowds are so large during this peak season that the cars have to be limited. The shuttle bus service is free and runs on a schedule. If you know this ahead of time and know where the stops are you can plan your time more wisely and not feel so overwhelmed by it. Here is a link to the National Park Services website which shows the routes and the schedule and provides information for visitors with mobility issues.
If you are thinking of making the trek to the North Rim, you will really need to plan ahead. As I noted above it takes about half a day to drive around the Grand Canyon and down the roadway to the North Rim. There are only certain months it is accessible due to snowy road conditions and lodging is not nearly as plentiful. The crowds are less than on the South Rim but it isn't as easy as it might sound to get to the North Rim.
7. Know about alternative methods of going to the Canyon.
There is a train that runs from Williams to the Grand Canyon and drops visitors off and takes them home. There are various tours and price options available. The website for this is:
There are also luxury bus tours such as the one that we did out of Sedona. There are several vendors who offer tours. We were very satisfied with ours with Pink Jeep. We were picked up at our hotel in the morning and dropped off at the hotel in the evening. It included a stop for lunch at one of the lodges (there are options) and a stop at a Native American gift shop on the way back. Here is the website for Pink Jeep Tours:
I would however not advise one of these tours if this is your first trip to the Grand Canyon. They are nice but very limited in what you can see. They are only at the rim for a few hours. The rest is travel time. You are also limited to a schedule. It is also fairly expensive depending on what price option you choose. It was a great way for us to do the canyon for our third trip..like I said to check and make sure it was still there without having to drive it ourselves. If it's your first time there, I would say to do it yourself. You will be happy that you took the extra time to do it.
8. Other adventures at the Canyon
There are other things to do while at the Grand Canyon. We did not personally experience these things but I think they are certainly worth a mention in case you happen to be a bit more adventurous than we were!
Mule Rides: What review of the Grand Canyon would be complete without at least mentioning the famed Mule Rides. There are rides from the South Rim which run all year long and rides on the North Rim which run from mid-May through mid-October. Lengths of rides vary as do weight limits and locations visited. Make sure that you check National Park Services Website for more information:
Helicopter Rides: Ok...personally I of the belief that all helicopters crash! My husband is trying to talk me out of the belief but so far he hasn't succeeded. You will be the first to know if he does! However, I know that there are people out there that enjoy this type of adventure so I will include it here. Helicopter tours run out of various locations. There are many Helicopter Tour companies and rates vary in price. Here are links to a few of the companies:
Hiking and Camping: Now you know if I hesitate to stay in a lodge...hiking and camping are not my thing either....but again it maybe a favorite for some out there. Please check out the National Parks Website for tips and warnings before starting out on any kind of adventure like this. There are guided hiking tours that are available. If you are planning any hiking or camping activity please be sure to apply for the proper permits. There are also developed campgrounds within the park that allow camping.http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/overnight-hiking.htm
White Water Rafting: There are several companies that offer white water rafting opportunities in the Canyon. Some trips are 1 day and others run several days. Some are self-guided and some are commercial guided tours. Please check out the National Park Services website for information on vendors and offerings.
http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/whitewater-rafting.htm
Grand Canyon Skyway: "The Glass Bridge". This is a relatively new addition to the attractions available near the Grand Canyon. First thing to remember is that this is NOT located in Grand Canyon National Park. It is located in a smaller part of the same canyon system and is suspended more than 4,000 feet in the air. It is located at the Grand Canyon Hualapai West Entrance. It will cost $25.00 per person in addition to an entry fee. There is a limit of how many people can be on the bridge at one time so it's first come first serve. This attraction is operated by the Hualapai Tribe.
9. The Grand Canyon provides fun for all ages.
Remember we had various generations with us on our first trip to the Grand Canyon. Our ages ranged from 13-75 and not one of us wasn't totally enthralled by the beauty and awesomeness of the Canyon, Access to the rim is easy in areas where there are overlooks. If you want a bit more of a challenge, that is possible also. Don't let age affect your decision to visit.
10. Go and Enjoy!
The Grand Canyon is a one of a kind experience. It is so immense...so amazing that it's hard to take it all in. It's almost more than our eyes can process. Everywhere you turn there is something different to see. The colors change before your eyes with the changing of the sunlight. You feel so small when you are standing surrounded by the vastness of this wonder. It is a great place to visit whether for a few hours or many days. It is just something that I feel that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime!
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