Travel | Grand Canyon

Good Afternoon babes! I’m back from my road trip through America. I started good with blogging on my holiday, but 14 may was my last post. Shame on me! But at the last campgrounds the wifi was really bad and after that we went to the Grand Canyon & Vegas. I landed in a wild rollercoaster with hours to short haha. I decided to leave my blog for a while and enjoy my holiday to the fullest.

I planned this post for Friday 15 May, but above you can read why I didn’t post it. Of course I want to finish with what I started, so here we go!

Grand Canyon a place that you don’t want to skip when you travel to West USA. Grand Canyon is situated in Arizona and It is considered one of the seven wonders of nature. Unique combinations of geologic color and erosional forms decorate a canyon that is 277 river miles (446km) long, up to 18 miles (29km) wide, and a mile (1.6km) deep. Grand Canyon overwhelms our senses through its immense size.

The National Park is divided into two halves, the South Rim and the North Rim. (315 kilometers). You can enter the park on three ways (South, East and North). From the South and from the East you can (all year round) reach the South Rim. The North Entrance provides access to the North Rim. To enter the Park you have to pay 25 dollar if you are with more persons in the vehicle of 12 dollar if you are alone. Underneath you can see the options how you can discover the beautiful Grand Canyon.

Shuttle Busses
From the South Rim you can use the free shuttle buses. There are three different routes, which are indicated with colours. The buses ride frequently, especially during the busiest times. There is also a Hikers Shuttle.

• Hermits Rest Route (red)
  This route is 8 miles long (ankle), and goes from the West of Grand Canyon Village to the westerly Hermits Rest. The total ride (round trip) takes 90 minutes (if you step out of nowhere). On the way there, the bus stops in eight different viewpoints on the way back the bus only stops at Mohave Point and at Hopi Point. The bus runs from 1 March to 30 november.
• Village Route (blue)
  This bus operates between Canyon View Information Plaza, Yavapai Point, hotels, restaurants, campsites, car parks and other amenities at Grand Canyon Village. The total journey takes 60 minutes. The bus runs all year.
• Kaibab Trail Route (green)
  This bus operates between Canyon View Information Plaza, South Kaibab Trailhead and Yaki Point. This is the shortest bus route (20 minutes). The bus runs all year.

Apart from the above described shuttle routes, there is also a Rim-to-Rim bus, which daily transport between the South Rim and the North Rim offers (from May to november). There is also a bus for early walkers, the Hikers Shuttle. This bus picks up you-in the early morning-on at Bright Angel Lodge or at the Backcountry Information Center (or the Maswik Lodge), and brings you to the South Kaibab Trailhead.

Mule Trip
A trip from the South Rim to the Colorado River, and back, takes two days. You will be staying in the Phantom Ranch. You can also book a trip of one day, you’re going than to the Bright Angel Trail to Plateau Point. You can book in advance 23 months and most trips are soon fully booked. Also to the North Rim Mule trips are offered. There are one-hour tours (only along the rim) or a half day (along the rim or down). Tours of the canyon in an entire day, there is then a lunch included. Click here to find out more about Mule trips.

Helicopter
There are many sightseeing flights over the Grand Canyon organized, both with small aircraft and helicopters. Just south of Tusayan is Grand Canyon Airport, from where the following airlines flights: Air Grand Canyon Tours, Maverick Airlines, Grand Canyon Airlines, Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters. Also from other places in the States of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and California, are offered sightseeing flights over the Grand Canyon.

River Tours
These trips are often very fully booked in advance. A river trip often begins near Lee’s Ferry (6 miles north of Marble Canyon, in the extreme northeast of the park). The length of these trips range from three days to three weeks. Some trips start or end at Phantom Ranch, or at other points along the river. There are provided for food and for portable sanitation facilities. Some companies also take care of camping supplies. On the website Grand Canyon River Outfitters Association  you can find a lot of information, and also links to the companies operating these tours.

Imax Theater
1 miles off the southern entrance is the Imax theater, where on a giant screen (at the height of seven floors) a 34-minute film is displayed.

Historic steam train
from the town of Williams runs daily a historic steam train to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The train leaves in the morning from Williams, and arrives early in the afternoon in Grand Canyon Village. The return trip starts at 3: 30 pm. For entertainment there will played a train robbery. The first trip through the Grand Canyon Railway was made on 17 september 1901. Click here for more information and for booking.

Grand Canyon Skywalk
The Grand Canyon Skywalk is a floating glass platform, above the Grand Canyon at Grand Canyon West. The cost are 75 dollar included a busrit, lunch and a visit to Guanopoint.

Tips

• The Grand Canyon is the most beautiful during sunrise and sunset. Times are in the guide that you get when you enter the National Park. It is usually very busy on most popular places, many people are already present one hour in advance.
• Just outside the Grand Canyon National Park is the Havasupai Indian Reservation. In the heart of this reserve is a very beautiful ravine of the Grand Canyon which called Havasu Canyon. Here lives for centuries a small group of Indians, for whom tourism is an important source of income.
• Near Supai are a number of magnificent waterfalls. Especially the turquoise-coloured Havasu Falls are very beautiful. The visitor can not expect in this area sweeping panoramas of the Grand Canyon itself,  But the desert landscapes and the OASIS around the falls are stunningly beautiful, so a trip to this remote area is definitely worth.

For more informatie go to the Grand Canyon Nation Park website. For my Dutch followers go to where I found al this information.

Soon I will show you my pictures from the Grand Canyon!

Bron: Ontdekt-Amerika.nl