The Grand Canyon: 277 river miles long; average width of 10 miles and up to 18; over a mile deep in places with elevation ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 feet; and an estimated volume of 5.45 trillion cubic yards. The park spans 1,218,375 acres of the state of Arizona and typically welcomes over 5 million visitors per year.

Living in the western United States, it seems everyone you meet has made a pilgrimage to stand on the edge of this great expanse, which on a clear day offers visibility of 90 to 110 miles. Indeed Sarah had already visited when we arrived as the last national park stop on our first national park trip in 2018, but this would be my first time. As the sixth park in six days, we were looking forward to the one stop where we would “rest” for a whopping two night stay.

America’s 13th national park, the Grand Canyon was established on February 26, 1919 under President Woodrow Wilson, having first been declared a national monument by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. It is consistently in the top five most popular national parks based on number of visitors. The south rim of the canyon on the Arizona side is open 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. The busiest time of year is spring break, summer and fall weekends. Most services are offered year round, but some facilities may close during the winter months. The north rim, on the Utah side, is open from May 15th to October 15th and closed in winter. From December 1st to May 14th, all north rim roads are closed to vehicles and no visitor services are available.

The South Rim

The South Rim, which includes Desert View and Phantom Ranch, is located 60 miles north of Williams and 80 miles northwest of Flagstaff, Arizona on Highway 64. Lodging is available year round and reservations are strongly suggested especially in the spring, summer, and fall. All campgrounds can be booked up to 6 months in advance. Lodging options include the following:

South Rim:

Bright Angel Lodge
El Tovar Hotel
Kachina Lodge
Thunderbird Lodge
Maswik Lodge
Yavapai Lodge - Trailer Village RV park with full hookups
Mather Campground - no hookups

Additional options outside the park can be found seven miles south of Grand Canyon Village on Highway 64 in Tusayan and beyond. During the summer season the park offers a free shuttle service, every 20 minutes, between Tusayan hotels and lodges and the South Rim Visitor Center.

Desert View:

Desert View Campground - no hookups, open mid April to mid October

Additional options can be found outside the park, east of Desert View, in Cameron, Arizona or Tuba City, Arizona.

Phantom Ranch:

Dormitories and Cabins - located at the bottom of the canyon, reservations for meals and lodging are required and offered in an on-line lottery 15 months in advance

There are several visitor centers and visitor contact stations located on the South Rim.

At Grand Canyon Village:

Grand Canyon Visitor Center and Conservancy Park Store
Yavapai Geology Museum
Verkamp’s Visitor Center
Kolb Studio
Back Country Visitor Center

At Desert View:

Watchtower Kiva Shop

The South Rim is the most popular destination for most tourists with multiple lodging and meal options and plenty of activities including hiking, river rafting, mule riding and star gazing. A stroll on the Canyon Rim Trail offers one extraordinary view after another. The seven mile road to Hermit’s rest has 9 exceptional overlooks and can be reached by walking or biking. A shuttle operates between March and November and the road is open to private vehicles between December and February. Mule rides can be taken on a three hour rim tour or an overnight ride to Phantom Ranch. Smooth water Colorado River raft trips can be booked for a half or full day from Glen Canyon Dam to Lees Ferry. Whitewater trips through the canyon range from 3 to 21 day tours. The Grand Canyon Railway travels between the South Rim and Williams, Arizona. To get up close and personal, the Bright Angel Trail descends into the canyon with rest houses and turn around points at 1.5 or 3 miles. Popular day hikes range from easy and relatively flat to difficult and steep and include the Rim Trail, Bright Angel Trail, South Kaibab Trail, Hermit Trail, and Grandview Trail.

The North Rim

Looking across the canyon, the North Rim doesn’t appear to be far away, but it is in fact 220 miles by car from the South Rim. The North Rim is 1,000 feet higher than the south and includes the highest point in the park, Point Imperial, at 8,803 feet above sea level. This less congested alpine forest area is preferable to some, but closed in winter so reservations should be made well in advance, and as far ahead as possible. Lodging includes the Grand Canyon Lodge and the North Rim Campground. Additional lodging is available outside the park 18 to 84 miles away. There is one visitor center, the North Rim Visitor Center and Conservancy Park Store. Hiking is popular on this side of the park with many day hikes to choose from:

Bright Angel Point Trail - .5 miles paved walk with views of the canyon
Transept Trail - 3 miles on the canyon rim
Bridle Trail - 1.2 miles
North Kaibab Trail - descends into canyon, distance and time varies, can be strenuous
Ken Patrick Trail - 10 miles
Uncle Jim Trail - 5 miles
Widforss Trail - 10 miles
Arizona Trail - 10 mile section; extends the length of Arizona from the Utah border to Mexico
Cape Royal Trail - .6 miles easy
Cliff Springs Trail - 1 mile
Cape Final Trail - 4 miles
Roosevelt Point Trail - .2 miles
Point Imperial Trail - 4 miles easy

The Story So Far:

In August, 2018 Sarah and I entered the Grand Canyon from the East Entrance at Desert View where we stopped for a much needed break after driving all day from Moab, Utah. From this viewpoint you can see the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon. Also, we intended to stick our heads into a certain window at The Watchtower which Neil Peart had stuck his head into to pose for a picture on one of his visits. Our mission completed, we headed south through the park to the Bright Angel Lodge.

Neil Peart wrote a lot about his visits to Grand Canyon National Park and we were eager to enjoy the park in all the ways he did. In his book “Traveling Music” he wrote about a visit in early December, 2003 when he drove to the park to stay several days and work on said book. On this trip he stayed in one of the Bright Angel Lodge rim cabins. He wrote, “Every day and night, I watched the light change on the multi-colored strata, the sculptured rock walls descending a mile down, and a mile across to the North Rim. Over that ever-changing, monumental vista, the light effects were infinite, and as I had known it would be, it was a wonderful place to work. And while I worked, I seemed to view that canyon in nearly every possible aspect, from bright winter sunshine to lowering clouds, rain, fog, gentle snowfall, and even a couple of full-blown blizzards.” He went on to write “When I think of great hotel room views I have experienced, they are many,…However, none has been more powerful and affecting than looking out at the Grand Canyon through the days and nights of work…”

Over a year before our arrival, as one of the first reservations we had made as we started planning, we secured one of the coveted rim cabins. We wrote about our check-in ordeal in our blog “A Fool’s Paradise: National Park Lodging Part 1.” But after settling in we grew to love our little cabin and could not have been more happy or had more fun. Our visit was in August and there was no air conditioning in our room but all of our windows had screens and when left open a slight breeze and the high elevation kept us comfortable. We took another piece of advice from Neil and left the curtains open all night, on the canyon side, so we could continually enjoy our view, which was the same, but always changing, with the weather and the light.

The first evening we walked along the rim and had dinner at the Bright Angel Lodge Arizona Room, enjoying the food and the friendly service. After dinner we looked around the gift shops at the lodge and Hopi House. In the morning we had the rare treat of sleeping in until 7am. For our first order of business we intended to buy a cup of coffee but couldn’t find any. We walked south on the rim along the trail a little way into the canyon. We laughed to ourselves when we saw a lady Golluming her way down, in the manner I had at Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park (see our blog, Rivendell). As Sarah bolted on ahead I walked for a stretch and talked with her - she was going my speed. We turned around at the first tunnel and headed back up. We had a long way to walk that morning to Grand Canyon Village, still expecting to find coffee along the way, to retrieve our passport stamps at the visitor center. We had a grand morning walking and talking and stopping frequently at the lookouts and viewpoints, the museum and a couple gift shops. Twelve thousand steps later we arrived at Grand Canyon Village and finally found our coffee and bagels which in that moment seemed to be the best coffee and bagels we had ever had.

It wasn’t until we got to the visitor center that I realized I had forgotten my passport book. I didn’t write in my journal that I was completely devastated and distraught, but just thinking about it now causes me anxiety and nausea. Maybe on that first trip I wasn’t as devoted, but at present our passport books have become our prized possessions and I would be overcome with worry and stress if I found myself in such a situation, absent from my book! What I did write was that we, apparently quite calmly, took the shuttle from the village to the post office and market and then back to our cabin where we took a quick break and I found my book in the back of the car. Whew!

We soon set off again taking the shuttle to Hermit’s Rest, another spot Neil wrote about. On the way we saw a mother elk with her baby calf. After a quick visit and some pictures we jumped back on the crowded shuttle and were lucky to get seats. Just as we pulled back up at the Bright Angel Lodge we heard thunder rumbling in the distance. Before we made the quick run back to our cabin the first raindrops were starting to fall. It was breathtaking to sit and watch out the window as the storm moved across the canyon, thunder exploding and lightning flashing followed by a heavy downpour. Eventually we headed back out to finish our shopping at the lodge gift shop. The rain persisted, although not as heavy, and several people were gathered under the eaves of the buildings. We quickly bought our souvenirs then headed next door to the ice cream shop. We then dropped our things off at our room and took my passport book across the path to the Kolb Studio to get my stamp. A nice ranger there gave Sarah lots of tips on hiking to the bottom of the canyon which she intends to do on a future visit. Back at our cabin we rested until dinner. We thoroughly enjoyed the convenience of our rim cabin and being able to run back and forth to our room whenever we wanted.

Taking another tip from Neil Peart, we had made dinner reservations at El Tovar at their upscale restaurant and hotel. It was just a short distance and a pleasant walk on the rim trail to our destination. Walking to and fro on the rim trail never gets old! We had a little time to look around the El Tovar hotel before we were seated. Our waitress was very nice and attentive. She had lived in Seattle for 20 years and had a son who lives in my current hometown, Puyallup. We knew she wasn’t lying because she knew how to correctly pronounce it.

When traveling Sarah and I don’t eat out a lot, but at this special place we wanted to really take our time and enjoy ourselves. For that reason, and because Neil would have, I made a journal note of our meal. We both chose for our entree the rigate pasta primavera with red onions, peas and marinara sauce and ricotta on the side. Our meal was served with cheese biscuits and rolls and our waitress helped us pair a Boers Pinot Grigio wine. For dessert Sarah chose the peach and white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry sauce and I opted for the lemon layer cake with cherry filling. We left the restaurant full and satisfied and walked along the rim to try and burn a few calories. The sun was beginning to set, casting a warm glow on the canyon walls. We could see the flames of the north rim wildfire across the canyon.

Back at our room we got mostly packed and ready to head out early in the morning. We sat on our bed with the light breeze blowing through the open windows, talking and trying to digest all the rich food we had eaten. The national park leg of our trip was complete. Six parks in six days; each one was unique and beautiful and more so because we shared the experience together.

In August, 2019 Sarah and her husband, Jarad, took a day trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon when they were staying at Zion National Park. The North Rim was one of many stops that day so they didn’t spend a lot of time, but they hiked to Bright Angel Point, had a picnic “lunch” of cookies and Clif Bars, drank coffee from the espresso stand in the lodge, and went to the Visitor Center. They found the North Rim to be much less crowded than the South Rim.

In March 2021, we returned to the Grand Canyon South Rim with Jarad and their new baby, Peart, just 2 ½ months old. This time we had spent the night in Flagstaff and we got up early and drove to the park to have breakfast at El Tovar. We arrived before the crowds and easily found parking and were one of the first groups in line for a first come first served table. We were seated in a perfect spot by the window with a view of the canyon. Besides the exceptional service and food, Peart slept quietly or looked around, never fussing the entire time, leaving the other guests in awe. After breakfast we walked down to Bright Angel Lodge and did some shopping then walked back and drove to the village. This was still the height of COVID and the visitor center line was long because only a few guests were being admitted at a time, so we decided to forego our passport stamps. We headed back out of the park as the lines of cars were just starting to form at the entrance station and agreed that this was a perfect way for a quick visit and start to the day.

These quick trips have convinced us of the convenience and ease of accessibility even if the Grand Canyon is one of the most crowded parks. Our overnight stay in the rim cabin is still one of our best national park memories. Combined with all the activities the park has to offer, we are confident we will return again. Even as I write this, an idea is forming and our next Grand Canyon adventure may come sooner rather than later.