Table of Content
Grand Canyon national park | Introduction
Grand Canyon National Park (Grand Canyon National Park) is located in Arizona, USA, and is one of the most famous national parks in the United States. The main feature of the Grand Canyon is its huge rift, a magnificent canyon that is about 446 kilometers long, up to 29 kilometers wide and 1.6 kilometers deep. This magnificent rift valley was formed by the erosion of the Colorado River a thousand times over millions of years, and is therefore listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Grand Canyon National Park is divided into two parts, the South Rim and the North Rim. The roads on the South Rim and the North Rim are not connected, so usually only one side can be chosen during a visit. The main attractions are concentrated in the South Rim, with more tourists in the South Rim and fewer in the North Rim. Summer is the peak season of the Grand Canyon, so if your schedule permits, it is more convenient to take the park bus to visit the South Rim.
This is our second time to visit Grand Canyon National Park. The first time we went to Grand Canyon was in winter, the whole canyon was covered with silver snow. This time, we took advantage of the fact that Grand Canyon is not far from Grand Circle on the way back to LA, and came back to experience the Grand Canyon in summer. This time, I was passing through the Grand Canyon from Utah direction, so I entered from the east entrance of the south rim. Because there is only half a day, it was still raining when I arrived, I thought that since it was the second time I came back to the Grand Canyon, I would not rush to go through all the scenic spots, and the main itinerary would be focused on Desert view and Bright Angel Trail, which I had not been to before.
Viewpoints | Desert View
By the east entrance into the Grand Canyon, the first encountered the first viewpoint is Desert view, this viewpoint from other attractions are relatively remote, to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center is still 40 minutes drive, many people if it is from the west entrance into the skipped it, but I think this observation deck is well worth a look.
It was drizzling in the morning, so we had to get out of the car and take pictures quickly. Although the weather is not very good, but still can see the Grand Canyon's spectacular. desert view of the watch tower can be climbed up to see the scenery, but in fact, climb up the scenery seems to be no better than below the observation deck, but can not enjoy the panoramic view of the Grand Canyon.
After Desert view, you will pass by a few other viewpoints along the way to the west, each one is spectacular, and if you have a good angle, you can see the Colorado River in the depths.
After the rain cleared up a bit, the deer started to be active, grazing and resting in the trees along the roadside.
Trails | Bright Angel Trail
The Bright Angel Trail is one of the most well known trails in the Grand Canyon. The good thing about this trail is that you can take a long walk or a short walk. If you want to spend two to three hours, you can walk to the mile-and-half resthouse, which is moderately difficult and allows you to go a little deeper into the canyon. If you are a little more adventurous, you can go to the three mile resthouse, which will take about half a day to a day to go back and forth, and is also more difficult. The longest trail goes all the way to the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon, but this requires an overnight stay and is very difficult, so only experienced hikers will take on this challenge. In addition to walking, there are also mule rides on the trail, but they start early in the morning and take about three hours to get to and from Indian Garden.
The Bright angel trail is downhill and relaxing, but when you are actually walking along the rock face, you can see the texture of the rock very clearly, and we kept stopping to take photos.
In addition to enjoying the beautiful scenery, we also saw many wild animals along the way. Not only were there many types of birds, but I was lucky enough to meet a herd of goats.
When I saw the sheep, they were coming out to eat in groups, and I wondered if they were gathering, standing in the middle of the road and looking around.
When the sheep saw the people, they ran towards the bottom of the valley in a hurry, and we turned back around here. The return route was uphill, which was much harder to walk. When we got back to the trailhead and looked down, we had actually climbed a long vertical distance in a short period of time.
Further reading
- More Grand Circle posts
- More Arizona posts
- More U.S. National Parks posts
Thank you for visiting our website.
All the content on this site is original and shared with the purpose of providing valuable information. We sustain the operation of this site through a small amount of advertising and sponsored links. If you click on links to third-party merchants on our site and make purchases, we may receive a portion of the sales as a commission. If you click on links to third-party merchants on our site and make purchases, we may receive a portion of the sales as a commission.
Find more posts on a map Here.
My recommended resources for hotel bookings.
Recommended travel credit card for US-based travelers
Travel with just a backpack!
Buy me a coffee and support my contents!
If you are interested in quoting this article or using any part of its content and images on your website or publication, please contact us via email to request permission.
English 
繁體中文