Exploring Grand Canyon National Park with GoTravelDaily

With the launch of Lonely Planet’s Ultimate United States Travel List, we wanted to explore some of our favorite American destinations and zoom in a little closer.

35,000 Feet: The Global View

Peering down into the Grand Canyon in Arizona from an overlook, one begins to comprehend the sheer scale of time present in the multihued bands of rock lining the canyon walls. The first layers were formed about two billion years ago.

Over many millennia, starting in what geologists now call the “basement,” layers of sand, rock, and soil expanded upward to create a vast plateau, hiding the colorful striations below.

Then, six million years ago, erosion from a series of rivers, including what is now known as the Colorado River, began their downward push, slowly eating through the beds of sedimentary rock, splitting the plateau in two and carving a one-mile-deep chasm that continues to evolve.

Today, erosion still shapes the canyon, abetted in recent years by climate change. It has not only intensified wildfire season on the rim but also caused significant fluctuations in water levels in the rivers and streams on the canyon floor. The Colorado River, which flows 277 miles through the Grand Canyon National Park, can be unpredictable. Flash floods can force rapid evacuations of hikers, boaters, and native residents who have lived within the canyon since prehistoric times.

5000 Feet: Humans in the Frame

A single spear point carved from rock and unearthed by archaeologists is evidence that ancient people hunted in the canyon roughly 12,000 years ago. The deer they may have feasted on are seen in pictographs painted with red ochre, still visible on canyon walls, which are as much as 4,000 years old.

The first inhabitants of the canyon relied on the river for drinking water, building houses and hearths along its banks. Granaries were carved into the canyon’s rock walls, and shards of pottery continue to be discovered, some dating back to around 1500 BCE. The varied interpretations of pottery, wooden stick figures, hunting weapons, and other relics are presented in various museums within the park.

Eleven native tribes are traditionally associated with the Grand Canyon. “This is [still] their home,” says park spokesperson Joelle Baird. “It’s not a place where they used to live.”

Tribal peoples first encountered white Americans in the mid-19th century, with members of an Army-led expedition viewing the Grand Canyon as a “valueless” hole in the ground.

“It looks like the Gates of Hell,” wrote Lt. Joseph Christmas Ives, who led the expedition. “Ours has been the first, and will undoubtedly be the last, party of whites to visit the locality.”

President Theodore Roosevelt turned that notion upside down. In 1908, following several visits to the area, he declared the Grand Canyon a national monument. In 1919, it became a national park. During its centennial in 2019, the park welcomed nearly 6 million visitors, a record.

On the Ground: The Lived Experience

Staring down into the vast canyon, it is understandable why Ives viewed it as intimidating and why Roosevelt was in awe. At a mile deep and up to 18 miles wide, the canyon is a formidable barrier amid the region’s otherwise flat landscape. Only about five percent of park visitors ever descend below the rim into the Inner Canyon, whether for a short hike or an expansive adventure. By foot or astride steady-hoofed mules, intrepid guests can make the 21-mile journey from the South Rim to the North Rim; otherwise, it’s a 137-mile drive.

Ninety percent of tourists see only the South Rim, which is easily accessible from Interstate 40, about one hour away. Some visit for as little as an hour or two, while others experience the grandeur for longer, choosing to stay overnight at hotels or campgrounds within the park and in nearby towns.

Visitors inevitably pass through Grand Canyon Village, an actual community featuring its own grocery store and school system. Its 2,500 residents include park employees and their families, as well as members of the Havasupai Tribe who have opted for the comforts of the South Rim instead of residing in Supai, the tribe’s traditional home, which often endures harsh conditions deep within the canyon. Approximately 200 natives continue to reside in Supai, home to tribal headquarters and a modest lodge for tourists. Nearby is spectacular Havasu Falls, where the water drops about 100 feet into a turquoise-colored pool.

The varying vistas of the North Rim, which is more remote and approximately 1000 feet higher than the South Rim, attract roughly 500,000 visitors a year—just one-tenth of the park’s total visitation. At an altitude of 8,000 feet, it supports a sub-alpine climate featuring balsam fir, Douglas fir, and aspen. The weather here shifts significantly, with summertime often bringing big temperature swings, morning fog, and, on occasion, dangerous lightning. During the long winters, heavy snow forces the park’s roads and facilities to close between October 15 and May 15.

The National Park Service and the 11 local tribes are actively collaborating to further interpret both ancient and modern cultures. An Intertribal Cultural Heritage Center has been in development since 2013, with the construction of a facility near the East Entrance to the South Rim anticipated to begin in 2022.

“We don’t want to contain it in a building. It really is about a landscape, a people, and a voice,” says Jan Balsom, the park’s chief of communications, partnerships, and external affairs.

Balsom, who began working at the Grand Canyon in 1984 as an archaeologist, encourages people to engage their senses beyond mere sight when they visit this magnificent natural wonder.

“Natural sound is one of the protected resources here at the Grand Canyon,” explains Balsom. “Natural quiet isn’t silence; it’s the natural sounds of the place.”

“The Southern Paiute refer to it as a ‘songscape,’” Balsom continues. “It is where their elders would come to learn the songs of their cultures by listening to the sounds of the wind through the trees and the songs of the birds. In certain places in the canyon, you can hear the river.”

To minimize disturbances, buses that shuttle guests to various scenic spots along the South Rim are no longer permitted to idle at their stops, and parking has been moved farther away from the overlooks.

“Most people don’t think about it because they’re so caught up in urban life that they don’t know what natural quiet is,” Balsom adds.

Beyond noise pollution, the trampling of plants and illegal feeding of wildlife highlight the impact of millions of annual visitors on the land.

“There is this balance that we all walk in terms of stewardship, preservation, education, and visitor access,” Balsom articulates. “It’s always an interesting dilemma for us.”