By air
Phoenix (PHX) or Las Vegas (LAS), ~3.5–4.5 h by road
North America · United States
Grand Canyon, United States
A mile-deep canyon of layered rock
Getting there
Best time to visit
March to May and September to November — mild
Don't miss
Mather Point
The Desert View Watchtower
The Bright Angel Trail
Hopi Point
Things to do
Sunrise at Mather Point
Hiking the Bright Angel Trail
A rafting trip
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Lennart Sikkema · CC BY 3.0
What to pack
Layers (the rim nights are cold), water, sun protection
A quieter corner
The North Rim, quieter and open mid-May to mid-October
Questions travellers ask
What time of year is best for the Grand Canyon?
March to May and September to November, when it's mild. Pack layers — the rim nights are cold — plus water and sun protection.
Where do I fly in for the Grand Canyon?
Phoenix (PHX) or Las Vegas (LAS), then about 3.5–4.5 h by road.
What should I do at the Grand Canyon?
Catch sunrise at Mather Point, hike the Bright Angel Trail, and take in Hopi Point and the Desert View Watchtower. You can also join a rafting trip, and the cafés in the South Rim village keep you fed.
Is there a quieter part of the Grand Canyon?
The North Rim is quieter, and open mid-May to mid-October.
About Grand Canyon
- Desert
- Riverside
Where it is
The Grand Canyon is in northern Arizona in the south-western United States, a gorge cut by the Colorado River through the Colorado Plateau, some 446 km long and up to 29 km wide, with the South Rim and the higher, quieter North Rim facing each other across it.
History
People have lived in and around the canyon for thousands of years, from the Ancestral Puebloans to the Havasupai, who still live in a side canyon. Soldiers of Coronado's Spanish expedition reached the South Rim in 1540, John Wesley Powell's boats ran the river through it in 1869, and it became a national park in 1919 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
People
The canyon is the ancestral land of Native American nations including the Havasupai, Hualapai, Hopi, Navajo (Diné), Southern Paiute and Zuni. The Havasupai, whose name means people of the blue-green water, live in the village of Supai in Havasu Canyon, and the Hualapai run the Grand Canyon West area on their reservation.
Known for
- Sunrise and sunset over the South Rim
- The Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails
- Rafting the Colorado River
- Rock layers nearly two billion years old
- The Desert View Watchtower
Did you know?
Supai can be reached only on foot, by mule or by helicopter, and it is the only place in the United States where the mail is still carried in by mule.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.