An introduction of an awe - inspiring place
I do not even know where to start describing this jaw - dropping place. It has been more than a year since I first saw Grand Canyon and I still cannot understand how can something in this world be so beautiful.
In fact, it impressed me enough that I am going to see it again next year (although I am planning to see it from a different perspective, buecause each rim is different and I would like to see a new part). And I have mentioned before that I generally do not visit the same place twice, unless it really impressed me. In fact, this is only the third place that I will visit for the second time. The other two are Las Vegas and a Caribbean island Barbados.
I am pretty sure you have seen a picture or two of the Grand canyon at least once in your life, and it was full of incredibly vivid colors that seemed totally photoshopped. Before I visited Grand canyon for the first time, I was pretty convinced that those photos were at least a little modified.
The reason for my thoughts was there because it happened to me quite a few times that I saw a picture of something that was not as beautiful in real life as it was on the photo. But Grand canyon is a big exception. And the word ‘grand’ in Grand canyon is there for a reason. The Grand canyon is almost one mile deep (and some viewpoints allow you to stare straight down!) and ten miles wide.
The first time I saw that view, I could not understand how big it actually is. It looks like a huge painting somewhere in the distance. And I can say I am a seasoned traveller, and therefore I am not easily impressed, but I had tears in my eyes when I was admiring that majestic view.
And you will most likely be too busy admiring the view to take a lot of pictures, but I would just like to say that photos of the Grand canyon turn out good even with a low resolution camera. The pictures in this post were all taken with a five year old HTC Desire X with a 5.0 megapixel camera and they were not modified in any way and no filters were used.
Where is Grand Canyon situated and how to get there?
You probably know enough about geography that you are aware of the fact Grand canyon is situated in the state of Arizona. More precisely, in the state’s northern corner. To get to Grand Canyon, you need to pay an entry fee, unless you have an annual national park pass. If you take a tour to the Grand canyon, the entrance fee is already included in the tour price.
There are several different ways that will take you to the Grand canyon, and it depends on which part of the canyon would you like to visit. To make your decision easier, I wrote a little bit about what each rim is famous for.
Which part of Grand Canyon should I go to?
The Grand canyon is divided into three rims, and I admit I had some trouble deciding which rim to visit. If you decide to visit Grand canyon with a tour, there is an overwhelming amount of different agencies to choose from, and their tours vary by duration, sights you will see, and, of course, prices.
The good thing is that all the tour operators have a lot of information about each tour on their web page, with detailed timelines and everything else you need to know. So it took me a while to decide which agency will I use. If you would like to know which one I used, and what specific tour I took, send me a message, as I would not like to advertise it here.
So, what is the difference between the three rims of Grand canyon?
South rim is the most remote rim, and it takes the longest there from Las Vegas, but it is definitely worth the effort. Less people and more majestic views are the reasons I decided to visit the South rim instead of the North rim.
North rim is visited by only a few people, comparing to the other two rims. Not many tours from Las Vegas offer the North rim option, and I decided it is not worth going there for my first visit, since views at South rim are supposedly the best out of three rims. North rim also has 'only' seven viewpoints. If you are planning to visit the North rim, please remember that this rim is closed from the middle of October to the middle of May because of bad weather conditions.
West rim is the most touristy one, but not the most scenic part of the Grand canyon. In fact, what people call West rim of the Grand Canyon, is actually not even inside of the Grand canyon national park! This part of the canyon has the famous Skywalk - a glass bottom bridge that lets you stare directly down at the bottom of the canyon for quite a few hundred feet. Definitely not for the faint hearted. And you are not allowed to take pictures while on the Skywalk. Downsides of choosing the West rim: it is usually flocked with tourists, the Skywalk is known as the tourist trap, and some tours charge extra for doing the Skywalk.
Visiting Grand Canyon by yourself versus taking a tour.
In general, I do not really like going on tours when I travel, because I prefer to explore each place on my own pace and not stress about being back on the tour bus on time or else it will leave without me. But I made an exception for Grand canyon, and I am glad I did because the tour was more than amazing. I will write more about it in the following paragraphs, I would just like to tell you some positive and negative sides about taking a tour to the Grand canyon.
If you decide to take a tour, the total price will most likely be much lower than if you go by yourself (or even if you travel with someone else and share the costs). If you book a tour, you do not have to worry about anything regarding that trip.
Your biggest worry is literally making sure you choose the right date for the trip. Meanwhile, if you decide to go by yourself, you have to take care of everything - figure out how to get there, decide what to do, research about places you want to see and so on.
If you drive by yourself, you also cannot sleep while you are driving (no kidding). If someone else is with you, you can take turns driving, but it was still much more comfortable for me to just sleep the whole way there and back on the bus and save the energy for exploring the wonders of Grand canyon. In my opinion, the biggest negative side of taking a tour is being limited on what you can do.
The bus leaves at the designated time, and if you are not on it… oh well, I guess that means you get to stay at the destination for one more day. But, jokes aside, when I take a tour, I for some reason always panic that I will not know where the bus is parked and it will leave without me. This is a very irrational fear, but it still annoys me because I cannot fully enjoy the destination if I am constantly worrying about missing the bus that will take me back home.
How much does it cost?
If you pay at least a little bit of your attention the the national news, you have probably heard that the government is planning to increase fees to visit national parks in 2018 for, in some places, a whooping fifty percent! That is quite an expense, and I assume they want to decrease the great amount of people that visit national parks every year, because they can ruin the nature.
So, if you decide to go to the Grand canyon (or any other national park) next year, prepare to pay a lot more for the entrance fee. I assume tour prices will increase as well, but I imagine there will be group discounts and it would still be much cheaper to take a tour.
I paid seventy dollars for my tour, which is a bargain, considering the fact that this was an all - day trip with food included, and we got to see three more sights on the was to the Grand canyon itself.
Two busiest periods of time, when most people visit Grand canyon, are spring and summer. While most of the tour operators do not increase tour prices during busy seasons, it is a good idea to book your tour well in advance, or you will risk staying so close to this natural wonder without seeing it.
My tour to the South rim of Grand Canyon
If you are on vacation in Las Vegas, you will sooner or later encounter different offers for day trips to the surroundings of this city in the middle of the Nevada desert. Some of them will take you to the Red rock canyon, Area 51, Hoover dam and other places, but most of them focus on the Grand canyon.
Grand canyon is close enough to Las Vegas to take day trips there, but far enough that you will have to wake up at four in the morning and be back in your hotel around midnight. But trust me, you will forget about the lack of sleep once you see the Grand canyon.
My tour started at five in the morning in front of the Circus Circus hotel in Las Vegas. When you are making your reservation for the tours, the reservation web page will ask you which hotel you are staying at, so they can suggest a pick up point that is the closest to you.
Needless to say, I was at the pick up point at Circus Circus at 4.15 because of my irrational fear of missing the bus. You might think that five in the morning is incredibly early, but this tour company claimed that they do not depart as early as other companies do so you can still go partying or gambling or both and get some decent good night sleep. And it was true, because since I got there early, I was able to witness five other buses depart before ours arrived there.
Circus Circus hotel is a common starting point for Grand canyon trips. And since I was staying at a different hotel, called Palace Station, I had to find a way to get to Circus Circus at four in the morning. Since Las Vegas never sleeps, it is never a problem to find an available taxi there. But I was thinking, since Palace Station is situated only a twenty - minute walk away from Circus Circus, I could just walk there and save a few bucks.
But, at the end I decided to trust my gut and call a taxi, simply because both hotels are situated off the Strip, which means wandering around a potentially unsafe area at night. Areas around both hotels are extremely poorly lit, but I think a female, walking alone at such an early hour with a backpack on her back, would attract unwanted attention even in a complete darkness.
It turned out the I am the only person what was being picked up at Circus Circus with that tour operator. Because the bus driver told me that several tour operators combine tours so we will be picking up more people along the Strip. Circus Circus is apparently the first stop, and it took us about thirty minutes to pick up everybody else. In front of the last hotel, we had to change the bus (do not ask me about a reason for that because I have no idea and I did not ask).
Our bus was almost full, but luckily I got two seats for myself. And I had a hard time deciding on which side of the bus I would like to sit for better views. I picked the right side and I could not have chosen better.
Our first stop on our five hour long journey to the south rim of Grand canyon was the majestic Hoover dam. Hoover dam is situated only a short drive from Las Vegas. It took us about an hour to get there. And since we arrived early and the visits are timed, the driver decided to treat us by driving us to the Lake Mead overlook, which is not normally included in that tour.
It was breathtaking and one of the reasons I decided to be very generous with tipping him at the end of the day. I will not describe Lake Mead and Hoover Dam in great details here, because they deserve a separate post. Both because of their beauty and because this entry is dedicated to Grand canyon.
This was the scenery on our way to the next stop. To me, it looked out of this world. What do you think?
Our next stop after about a ninety minute drive was a nice little village on the historic Route 66, called Seligman. The bus driver/tour guide told us that a few movies were filmed here, and the place indeed looks like a scene from a Western movie. I was half expecting to see a few cowboys on their horses riding through town.
Seligman is also a home to a famous diner, named Lilo’s bistro, and other than food, they also sell souvenirs inside. The kitschy souvenirs are a bit pricey, but I can understand why - because this is apparently a very famous location.
Lilo’s bistro was also the place where we got our lunch (it was included in the tour price), and you could choose between regular, vegetarian, vegan and kosher. After this one - hour stop (we even had time to walk through the whole village and take some pictures with the sign), we departed towards our final stop - the south rim of Grand canyon.
On the last part of the way, the driver played a few videos about the Grand canyon, and they made me even more excited to see it and I was getting really impatient to get there already and see the majestic view. Before we got there, the driver told us that we have two options - either we get off the bus, see the view on the first viewpoint, called Mather point, and then take the bus to the pick - up point, called Bright Angel lodge a few miles away.
Or we could get off the bus, and just walk the rim trail to the pick - up point. I was actually extremely surprised how many people decided to take the bus after seeing the view. It is true that most of them were older people (no offense meant here), but there was plenty of time to walk the length of the rim trail, take a lot of pictures, arrive to the Bright angel lodge and see the inside of it, and then find your bus.
The first viewpoint - Mather point, is situated just a few hundred feet off the parking lot. To be honest with you, I was not prepared for what I saw. Because, even after seeing hundreds of Grand canyon pictures, I could not fully comprehend the enormity of this natural wonder. And even if all the pictures of the Grand canyon that you see, look beautiful, they do not do it justice. It is much much much more beautiful when you see it with your own eyes.
When you walk towards the viewpoint, you walk through a little forest, and suddenly, the view just appears in front of you. The colors, the size and the beauty cannot really be described, so here are a few pictures of what I saw.
The rim opposite you looks hundreds of miles away, and the Colorado river, which made the Grand canyon through millions of years of flowing through it, is barely visible at the bottom of the canyon, and the blue sky makes a perfect contrast with the canyon's vivid colors.
If you want a good picture, this is not a perfect spot for it. Well, it is perfect in terms of breathtaking views, but other than you, there will also be about ten other people on your photos. So, for better pictures, keep walking along the rim trail, which will be situated on your left hand side if you are facing the canyon.
We had two and a half hours to walk the rim trail, and I spend almost half an hour just standing at the first viewpoint with my mouth open. I was too impressed to take a lot of pictures, and normally, I take hundreds.
After getting over the initial (positive) shock, I decided it is time to hit the trail. I was surprised that there was not a lot of people. Well, I was there outside the main season - in October, but still, I expected much bigger crowds. I heard that South rim is not nearly as crowded as North rim, because it takes much longer to get there. Well, good for me.
I still find it hard to believe, but the rest of the trail is much more beautiful that the Mather point. I am aware that I made it sound like Mather point is nothing special. It is, there are just so many more beautiful and scenic spots along the rim trail. At this time, I have an important advice for you.
Bring enough water to drink. It might not seem like an extremely long trail, but you need to stay hydrated, especially if you are visiting Grand canyon in the summer heat. Also, bring a sweater, even if you are visiting in summer. It can get chilly quickly when the wind starts blowing.
Along the trail, you will notice a ton of little scenic spots for photos and overlooks. Some of them are not fenced, so do not go close to the edge. Even if there is a fence, do not try to lean over it just for the sake of trying to get a better photo. I am a big thrill seeker, but I still did not want to wander too close to the edge.
Another thing that surprised me is how everybody was asking me: ‘Do you want me to take a picture of you?’ when they saw I was there by myself. This was honestly the first time during my travels people were offering by themselves to take a picture of me. Whenever I travel, I have to ask people to take a few photos of me and I always feel bad for asking, so this was really a very pleasant surprise.
After about an hour of walking, I reached the final stop - the Bright Angel lodge. I took a quick look inside, checked out the gift shop, although I did not buy anything because the photos will be the best souvenir, and then it was almost time to find the bus that will take me back to Las Vegas. When I was sitting in front of the Bright Angel lodge to catch a final glimpse of Grand canyon, two older ladies sat next to me
. I recognized them from our bus and we started chatting. I will not go into details, but it was really nice to have someone to talk to about what we just saw. And I was also happy because that meant I will most likely make it on the bus since there were three of us and it would be unlikely that we will get lost. And indeed, we made it back on the bus safely, and on time. And then our journey back to Las Vegas started.
On the way back, we saw Hoover dam at night, illuminated so brightly that I almost needed the sunglasses.
I am glad the driver woke us up about thirty minutes before our return to Las Vegas, because he wanted us to show the city lights from the distance. Las Vegas is situated in a valley and we were on the top of a hill when the driver showed us the lights. I do not even have words for what I saw. So many lights in every possible colour. The illumination is visible even on pictures, taken with old phones (my dear HTC from 2012, I am talking about you again).
The drive through Las Vegas at midnight was also an experience on its own. And we passed Mirage just in time of its volcano eruption! The volcano is fake, of course, but the eruption looks quite convincing. Even if my starting point in the morning was at Circus Circus hotel, I asked the driver if he could drop me off at the Stratosphere tower, which was the last stop, because I wanted to do some the rides on the top of the tower at night. Unfortunately, when walking to the front desk, I was notified that the rides are closed because of high winds. But that is a story for another day.
At this point, I would like to mention that our tour bus had restrooms on board, so we did not have to stop every hour for bathroom breaks. That was definitely a big plus and it allowed us to spend more time at the majestic Grand canyon.
What I find interesting about the tours in the United states of America is that the bus driver is also a tour guide. In Europe, a driver focuses on driving and a tour guide does what a tour guide is supposed to do. And I really admire the drivers/tour guides here because I cannot imagine driving a big bus safely while also explaining interesting facts about the place we are going to. It is true that those are professional drivers and they have done that many times before, but I still admire them.
What to do in Grand canyon (other than hiking and taking pictures, of course)?
There is a variety of activities that you can do in Grand canyon. Most of them are expensive, but from what I have seen on my trip there, they are worth every single penny.
The thing I want to do the most, is skydiving. Yes, you can actually skydive into the Grand canyon. The price gives me a headache, but someday… definitely a bucket list item. When I am old and rich, maybe.
There are also various hiking and horse riding tours that take you all the way down to the Colorado river. You do need a few days for that, and prices are fairly high for those activities as well, but looking up at the Grand canyon rims must definitely be an interesting point of view.
If you like water sports, a good thing for you to do would be rafting down the rapids of the Colorado river. I cannot imagine myself doing that, because when you go rafting, you are required to paddle so the boat can move, but I would most likely be too busy admiring the view.
There are several companies that offer flights above Grand canyon. One of my good friends recently did that, but she said she expected more.
You can also spend the night in one of the lodges. I am planning to do that next year, when I revisit Grand canyon. The stay in those lodges is incredibly expensive, but I am determined to do it. I wonder how this place looks like at night, with moonlight shining on it.
And just imagine all the stars you can see since this place is far away from any city lights. If you are lucky enough to visit Grand canyon in winter, you might see it covered in snow. Even the pictures of snowy Grand canyon look breathtaking, I cannot even try to imagine how beautiful that scenery is when you are looking at it with your own eyes.
And a tip for getting around the Grand canyon quicker - the park offers free shuttles to different points in the park. Maps and schedules of these shuttles are of course available online, but taking a shuttle might not be a good idea if you are there with a tour, because even if shuttles run often, you could still miss the last one or get lost somewhere. See. I am telling you, my irrational fear of missing the bus is real. Although, to be honest, I would not mind spending an extra day there.
Each rim of the Grand canyon has a visitor center, where you can ask for more information about either shuttle timetables, directions or recommendations on best places to visit on each rim.
The visitor center at the South rim also had a theatre where they played movies about the Grand canyon history and geology. It is apparently very good, but I decided to skip it, because why would I sit in a theatre and watch a movie when I can see that place with my own eyes?
A few words for the end…
Our bus driver/tour guide told us that Grand canyon is visited by around five million people each year. that is quite an impressive number. To be honest with you, a part of me wanted to go to the Grand canyon just to say I have been there too. I could not possibly imagine the magic of this place.
But once I started researching about it before my trip, I knew it was so selfish to have the mindset of going there just so I could cross that place off my bucket list. If Grand canyon could talk, it would have millions of stories to tell. After all, it is millions of years old.
