“The Grand Canyon fills me with awe. It is beyond comparison—beyond description; absolutely unparalleled through-out the wide world… Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is to keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.” – Theodore Roosevelt 1903
Since we started our National Park trips my daughter had her sights set on the Grand Canyon. I guess it’s so well known that she had heard enough about it that she was eager to go see it. Two days after Christmas in 2019, while most people were relaxing at home, we headed out to the Grand Canyon by way of Las Vegas. The drive from Vegas itself is rather fun, you can see a good amount of the old west and go right by the Hoover Dam.
We stayed in the Grand Canyon Village – this is a small town just outside the park full of hotels, shopping and restaurants. I will point out this might have been the nicest Best Western we have found anywhere close to a National Park. We also had good luck finding really great food, something that is not always a given around remote parks.
Since it was already winter we spent all our time in the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. All the roads in and out of the North Rim were already closed for the season due to snow and ice. The best part about being here in winter is you avoid the heat of the summer. From what I understand it can be a real challenge hiking and moving about in the summer months. We had the opposite problem.
The Grand Canyon has been an officially designated National Park since February 1919 but was protected in some form or another since the late 1800s. In 1979 it was declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site, and is considered one of the Wonders of the World. The creation of the park was an early success of the conservation movement. Its national park status may have helped thwart proposals to dam the Colorado River within its boundaries.
It really took eons for things to line up to create this one of a kind. 277 mile long canyon. Around 70 million years ago two plates of Earth’s crust began to push up and forum what is now the Rocky Mountains and the Colorado Plateau. About 6 million years ago water rushing down the Rocky Mountains created the Colorado River, that over time with its tributaries carved out the Grand Canyon.
We had good luck again on this trip, our first day there a snow storm came in. It snowed all afternoon and well into the night. The next morning we ventured out well before dawn with the car telling us it was well below zero. We hiked up near Yavapai Point and then down the rim trail. We settled into a great spot and watched the sunrise and the winter storm broke apart. This was maybe the most beautiful sunrise we had ever witnessed. There was a great deal of snow on the rim, close to a foot. Cami was a great trooper playing in the snow, watching the sunrise in the freezing cold.
The snow stuck around for all of our trip along with freezing cold weather. Some early mornings with the wind it was almost unbearable to stay outside for any length of time. We managed to have a lot of fun with the snow, we hiked a ways down the Grandview trail, to watch the sunrise one morning. The snow was so deep that it was often hard to tell where the trail ended and a sheer drop off began.
We hit most of the well known points on the south rim, Moran Point was by the coldest morning. It was hard to stay outside for even a few minutes at a time until the sun came up and the wind died down. We explored most of the popular points and the visitors center area, Yavapai Point and the rim around there. We drove down Hermite Rd and walked around all the big overviews there. Trail View, Hopi , Powell, Mohave, The Abyss and Maricopa Point and so on. Cami had a great time exploring Hermits Rest and the gift shop on the first floor there.
The Grand Canyon Village is maybe the best developed of any National Park. The hotels are very nice, and there are a number of really good restaurants. I think we had the best breakfast inside any park at the Maswik Food Court oddly enough. There are a large number of other restaurants and bars in the area as well as stores for camping supplies and food.
For one the sunsets we took the long drive to Horseshoe Bend and on the way out stopped at the Desert View Watchtower. What a really interesting site, built by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter who is often referred to as the architect of the southwest. It’s free to enter and climb to the top. The building itself is super interesting and the views from the top are stunning.
Horseshoe Bend was a very interesting place, on the one hand it might be one of the most stunning sites on earth. On the other hand, it was a made house of people and tour buses and everyone pushed to get the best view.
Here (somehow) the Colorado River has carved almost a perfect horseshoe shaped cut out of the stone. The river is almost a straight drop 3,200 feet down (and yes people have sadly fallen). Located about 5 miles from Page AZ it’s a very popular location. It’s a short 1.5 miles hike out and back to get to the river so everyone can (and does) do the hike. We stayed for sunset, I’m assuming the most popular time before making the long drive back in the dark.
I would be remiss if I did not bring up my daughter’s (and mine) favorite restaurant near our hotel. After the second night of hiking, it was late and one of the few places open was “We Cook Pizza and Past”. A small little gem of an Italian restaurant. Serving fresh food at a very affordable price
