Into The Grand Canyon Part III -> Everything Else
Pre-Post Note/ This has nothing at all to do w/ the Grand Canyon, but I know many of my blog followers are anxiously awaiting news on 2016 Pre-Medicare Health Insurance options. The ACA exchange is opening up shortly and I’ll be writing a dedicated blog post on this sometime next week (so hold on), but in meantime Kyle from rverinsurance has released his 2016 guide which I recommend everyone read. It should answer many of your questions. Click HERE.
So phew… now that my photography craziness post is done (who knew I had so much to write about it?) I wanted to cover everything else we got up to during our Grand Canyon sojurn.
One of the great things about the South Rim is that there really IS a lot to do, and it’s all really easily accessible too. For any “newbie” I recommend going to the main Visitor Center first and watching the Grand Canyon movie (20 mins). That’ll get your interest peaked and prime you for the short ~5 min walk to the rim for that very first breath-taking, gob-smaking, speach-sucking view. I think it’s the nicest way to do the “intro” and it’s suitability dramatic too.
The Grand Canyon kind of appears out of nowhere, which is very typical of many of the canyons of the west. One minute you’re walking thro’ trees and brush, and the next the earth just disappears beneath you and you’re standing on the edge of a ~1 mile deep Chasm. The gasp you make when you first see it is the same one millions of people have made before you, including the very first humans that ever saw it. It seems…inconceivable…that this thing could exist out here, with no prior hint or warning and it’s the results of millions of years of very carefully crafted uplift and erosion. Nature at it’s very coolest.
Once you’ve ooh’d and aah’d like a little kid on Christmas Eve you can start the real exploring, and there’s no end of that to do:
Hiking The Rim Trail
Probably one of my favorite things about the South Rim is the extensive development of dog-friendly (people-friendly & wheelchair-friendly) rim trails.
On the South Rim ALL the rim trails (every single one) are dog-friendly which means you can hike over 15 miles of stunning views with pooch in tow. The only thing you can’t do is take doggie below the rim (into the canyon), but considering the limitations of most National Parks that’s really not much of a limitation at all.
Most of the time you’ll be hiking out and back, but there are a few small “loops” around the central village, and if you’re without doggie you can always hike out and then bus it back to your start point.
We walked every single morning from our campsite directly to the rim (less than 1 mile to Mather Point), picked up a Mocha in the lovely little Bike Shop (which is 100% dog-friendly) along the way, and absorbed the beautiful early morning light with pooch in tow. Early AM there were very few people which made the experience even more special. On average we hiked 3-5 miles each day with doggie entirely within the National Park. It…was…AWEome!
Walking ~2 Billion Years
This is kind of a sub-set of #1 but it really deserves it’s very own section.
One of my fav walks on the South Rim was the 1.3 mile (2.1 km) Trail of Time. It’s a flat, easy interpretive walk between Yavapai Point and the Verkamps Visitor Center that takes you through the Geological history of the Canyon from the very oldest rock near the bottom of the canyon (Elves Chasm gneiss (~1,840 million years old)) to the very youngest at the top of the canyon (~Kaibab Limestone (270 million years old)). At regular intervals you’ll see examples of the rock, learn about the geology and (the most fun part) get to take time-travel steps each of which represent a million years in time. Combine it with a visit to the Yavapai Geological Museum and you’ll come away feeling a few million years more intelligent, and likely better looking too (the two things go hand-in-hand, no?). This thing is frikkin’ geeeenius!
The entire hike is 100% dog-friendly (no dogs inside the Museum or Visitor Center, but dogs OK all along the trail) and if you’re staying at the campground you can make it into a semi-loop hike by going through the Market Plaza along the “Greenway” trail.
Day-Tripping To The Watchtower & Tusayan Ruins Museum
The entire East section of the Grand Canyon South Rim hides quite a few gems that are most easily accessed by car. Two of our absolute favorite were the Watchtower and the Tusayan Museum and Ruins, both of which you can hit in a single, easy few hours.
The Watchtower (by Desert View) is a “modern” building (designed by architect Mary Colter & built in 1932), but it’s modeled after ancient ancestral Puebloan watchtowers, and offers views of up to 100 miles on a good day. What’s even better about it, however, are the internal paintings. Although not historic in nature they are deeply meaningful. They were done by Fred Kabotie, a Hopi from second Mesa and they represent the physical and spiritual origins of Hopi life. They are gorgeous and I was way more impressed than I thought I would be. Honestly this building is beautiful and not to be missed.
A few miles back West of this is the Tusayan Museum and Ruins. It’s a super-small museum but it covers the fascinating history of people in the Grand Canyon from Ancestral Puebloans to modern-day Indian tribes. After the museum you can take a short walk (or guided Ranger Tour) around the ruins that include a kiva and several small rooms. You’ll get no Canyon views here, but you’ll get a much deeper appreciation of Canyon tribal history.
Tusayan Ruins Brochure (pdf download) -> Click HERE.
Note/ Doggies are allowed on all the trails around the Watchtower & Museum area, but dogs are NOT allowed inside the buildings.
Biking It To Kaibab Point
Another superb thing about the South Rim are the endless developed bike trails.
You can bike everywhere there is paved road of course (including to areas such as Hermit’s Rest where cars can’t go), but there are also extensive miles of paved rim trail where you can bicycle right on the rim with glorious Canyon views flying past you. When looking at the trail map, these are the “green” trails and my absolute fav is the one to Kaibab Point (with option to extend to Yaki Point via the main road). If you’re staying on-site you can catch the ride directly from the campground, taking the Greenway trail all the way to the rim. It’s around ~7 miles round-trip if you go the whole way to Yaki Point, a nice, easy bike.
Note/ If you arrived at the canyon bike-less and are dying to see it on two wheels the bike-shop near the main visitor center (Bright Angel Bicycles) offers both bike rentals ($12/hour or $30 for 1/2 day) & tours (5-6 miles).
South Rim Biking Trail Map (pdf download) -> Click HERE. ALL bike trails are also dog-friendly.
Busing It To The West Side
There are quite a few areas of the South Rim that are not accessible by car, especially on the West side and if you’re of limited mobility or you just want to hike a “few” sections of the rim rather than the full ~15 miles, the Grand Canyon has an extensive bus system to take you around all the highlights. Buses run directly from the campground around the central Village (blue route), East to Yaki Point (orange route) and all the way West to Hermit’s Rest (red route). Not all buses run everywhere, so you do have to look at the routes and possibly change from one line to another to get where you want, but they’re all FREE and they’re all wheelchair-friendly. This also means they are often crowded, especially in the afternoon.
We decided to try the bus system one afternoon with Paul’s dad & stepmom to visit some of the key viewpoints on the West side. It took us 3 different buses to get to Mohave Point and then we walked back along the spectacular rim trail to Maricopa Point (well worth it) where we took another 2 buses home. The crowds meant that we sometimes had to wait and push thro’ several buses to get on (does no-one know how to queue outside of the UK?) so I wan’t exactly crazy about them, but it was certainly easy and we enjoyed our short hike on the West side.
South Rim Bus Map (pdf download) -> Click HERE. NO dogs allowed on buses, except for service dogs.
And that, my dear friends, is all we managed in our 9 days on the South Rim.We did have a few RV meet-ups including a rather epic pizza-grilling-in-the-hail get-together (an entire story in itself), but what we didn’t do was hike (or mule-ride) below the rim mostly due to doggie (no dogs allowed on trails below the rim). Several of our RV buddies did though, including Jeff & Deb (Rolling Recess) who did some kind of crazy 20-30 miler in one day, so if you want to read about that click here. Post-pets we’ll definitely need to come back and do something like this.
The Final Question -> North Rim Or South?
I promised in my first post I’d answer this one so here we go. Having visited both rims which did we prefer? North or South? There’s definite advantages and (and certain disadvantages) to each, so it just depends on your preferences:
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Folks are better-looking on the South Rim 🙂 Fellow RVer’s Jeff, Deb, Becky & John. Photo Credit: Jeff 
There’s something for everyone here North Rim -> Less visited, less people, less developed. Some boondocking possible by the rim (far west side), but NO dogs allowed on rim trail within the National Park. Sun tends to “face” you most of the time, so photography can be a bit more challenging.
- South Rim -> More visited, more people (=crowds), more developed. No boondocking on the rim, but closeby campgrounds and dogs allowed on ALL the rim trails. Sun is “behind” you most of the time, making photography a tad easier.
Knowing our boondocking (and less crowds) preferences you might think the North Rim would be our #1 choice, but as is typical in our lives it all comes down to the paws. Of the two rims the South is infinitely more dog-friendly IMHO. There is only one trail which allows dogs on the North Rim & it doesn’t really have any views. On the South Rim however you can take doggie everywhere above-rim including ALL the rim hiking trails (~15 miles worth). Plus I did find photography a tad easier on the South Rim given that the sun is behind you most of the time.
Many of you will probably disagree but for us, despite the crowds, the South Rim was the clear winner. If you don’t have paws, North Rim is a huge draw for lesser crowds & a much more “remote” feeling. And if you still can’t decide? Just GO. You won’t regret it!
Useful Links:
- Grand Canyon National Park Main Website -> Click HERE
- Grand Canyon Activities (South & North Rim) -> Click HERE
Perfect information and summary:) Thanks for the informations!
Thanks for the wonderfully written, beautifully illustrated and detailed blog series. Simply amazing! I want to go there NOW.
Thank-you!
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Nina
Love your posts! My husband and I have been full-timing since August and your campground reviews have been invaluable. Thank you! We are Grand Canyon fans, taking two family vacations there with our boys and then hiking rim to rim in 2010. I know you look for hikes you can take with your doggie, but if you could sometime find a sitter for Polly, you would see a whole different view of the canyon below the rim. We did a long day hike down Bright Angel Trail to Indian Garden and couldn’t believe how the canyon changed. Just a thought to keep in your back pocket for your next visit.
One day we’ll do it, but it’ll have to be post-pets or when we’re traveling there with good friends. That’s just the agreement we made when we bought Polly into our lives. We won’t leave her in a kennel or with strangers. It’s a sacrifice, but it’s a small one and well worth the unconditional love we get from our doggie.
Nina
Have so enjoyed your Grand Canyon posts and photographs Nina–stunning–you have given me a new appreciation for the big ditch! No, no one knows how to queue in the US, my pet peeve when trying to get on a bus or train at the airport! Business men are the worst–I’ve been known to run over a few Johnston Murphys while refusing to be pushed out of my spot!! :)))
Yeah that queuing thing was interesting. I guess it’s been a long time since I queued in any “proper” way. My last time was when we lived in Hong Kong, but they are all very good queuers there. When we took the bus in Grand Canyon it was queuing mayhem!
Nina
Beautiful photos! And what great info. If we get that way, I will be better equipped to have a great time.
I hope you make it out here. You’d love the photography!
Nina
Fantastic resource! I can’t wait to go and take full advantage of your “scouting.” Perhaps we will swing by this spring on our way back to Michigan. 🙂
Spring would be a lovely time to be here…no doubt!
Nina
Good points about the South Rim, and I still prefer the North. Great boondocking outside the park. If you’re willing to drive ~20 miles on mostly good dirt roads, you can camp with canyon views, hike or bike the Rainbow Rim Trail, and enjoy true solitude. We camped there earlier this month, and Toby was off-leash the entire time! http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/kaibab/recreation/recarea/?recid=32207&actid=24
Maybe one day we’ll tempt taking “the beast” down that road on the North Rim, although I’ve heard it’s better suited for smaller rigs? Technically the area is outside the National Park (within the National Forest) which is why there’s boondocking and looser pet rules. I do like the solitude aspect!
Nina
Good question. You would want to ask about road conditions at the Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center in Jacob Lake. Some viewpoints may be more big-rig friendly than others. You could definitely get to some of the boondocking sites just outside Grand Canyon South. We’ll talk!
We boondocked 1 mile outside of the South entrance at place described by the frugal shunpikers. The first day we were there – we were the only ones…and hardly anyone else for the other 5 or so days we were there. Handy and peaceful…just us and the birds.
I’d heard of that area, but we opted to stay within the park this time around mostly because of the rain (it rained 7 out of 9 days we were there, so all the forest dirt roads were *very* muddy), but also so that we could be walking distance to the rim. If we come back here during a drier time, I’d certainly try the boondocking area.
Nina
Fantastic! My inner self is aching to go back there again for the third time, this time with a different perspective.
Enjoyed all your take/captures of the many moods of the grandest canyon of them all.
We live in Arizona and have spent many hours trying to catch the character of the the canyon on film. Hats off to you Nina, your photos really captured the feel of this spectacular place!
Thank you much! It’s one of Arizona’s many gems. I’m glad we got to spend some significant time here.
Nina
The information that you share with your readers is so helpful, my husband and I follow you all the time. I know exactly what you mean about the Grand Canyon and trying to capture it in a picture. It can not be done. Your pictures triggered so many memories when we were there. The first time I saw the South Rim it brought tears to my eyes. The grandness and beauty was overwhelming. There are no words that can be expressed to describe the Canyon just like a picture. Some things are just meant to be seen first hand. Alaska is another state that can not be captured in a picture or in words. Just have to go there! Thank you again Nina, you are awesome! Safe travels.
I’m yearning to go back to Alaska. We backpacked there many years ago, and saw the salmon run (and bears feasting on them), but have not been back since. One day….
Nina
I was certain you would choose the North Rim as your favorite, so yes, you did surprise me. But you made the South Rim sound so very appealing — although we don’t have a dog to consider, I like the biking, walking, photography, and the day trip to the Watchtower that you described. I haven’t been in 20 years, so it’s probably time for a revisit.
I was honestly surprised by our decision too. Before we came to the South Rim I was certain we wouldn’t like it as much as the North Rim, just for the crowds alone! But spending 9 days here changed our entire way of thinking. We loved our campsite, had many quiet moments on the rim (especially in the AM or even just a few hundred feet away from the main viewpoints) and really enjoyed how accessible everything was. Plus we could take Polly just about everywhere. It was dog-heaven!
At some point we’ll go back and give the North Rim another go, especially in the boondocking area outside the National Park, but we are definitely South Rim fans now.
Nina
While we were there, we went to dinner in Tusayan, at the Big E Steakhouse. They showed a wonderful hour-long video overview of the Colorado River thru the Grand Canyon while we were eating. The video alone was worth the price of dinner…but the food and service were great, too. Definitely worth a stop!
Sounds like a lovely evening! We totally missed eating at the restaurants on the rim, so that’ll have to be something for next time. Always good to have a reason to return.
Nina
You had me at “doggy-friendly” so I will definitely start at the South, and catch the North another time 🙂 Love the Watchtower building and the little museum is my favorite type. Wonderful pics – the B&Ws are subtly beautiful. Good to see the folks having a great time too!
For dog-crazy people like us I think the South Rim is “da bomb’! It’s so nice that you can take doggie everywhere here. You’ll love it!
Nina
As usual a fabulous post with great pictures and an amazing closing shot. You mentioned two of my very favorites here, the “walk through time” and the Watchtower too. The former took me forever since I had to read every single word and examine everything. Whoever planned that one did a terrific job. I could have stayed inside the latter and outside and all around for hours. Actually I did. What a gorgeous building and what beautiful work by Kabotie. Seems like this should be one of the very best times to go in terms of the crowds. Good on your guys. Well other than in the winter that is. I love boondocking. Doubt anyone who didn’t would invest in solar. BUT I also really don’t want to have to drive once I’m “there” so in the National Parks I prefer staying inside for just what you described, the ability to be so close to trails and hike early or late or in the dark if I want. I’m with you in the toss up about which I like best North or South. They offer different things both of which feed my soul.
The Walk Through Time took us a good few hours too. I was very impressed at the detail that went into creating it, and all the wonderful rock samples they had too.
Nina
Although we have been many times, this series and your breathtaking photos have given me the itch to get back there.
Wonderful to learn that the South Rim is so doggie- and bike-friendly. Two of our favorite things! We visited in 2006 (without doggie or bikes) and hiked from the rim to the river and back in one epic day, but we didn’t stay long enough to learn about all the other things to do there. I can see another trip to the Grand Canyon is in our future! Thanks for ALL the information you’ve provided in this informative series on the GC — and the stunning photographs too. You are truly an amazing human being!
My suggestion for first timers is to hit the South rim if they are on limited time. Those sweeping vistas are just great. My favorite way to experience the canyon though is a full length rafting trip. I like it so much I just did my third motorized trip in 10 years back in early September.
I’d love to do one of those rafting trips one day…or a multi-day backpack trip. Getting down into the canyon is going to be on our future bucket list.
Nina
Thank you so much for your report! We plan on visiting the south rim in mid-November and winding up in Phoenix by December 1st. We also have our doggie – a 13 year old German short haired pointer – who loves traveling very much. We have been full timers since August, 2015.
Should be chilly, but beautiful! Enjoy your stay!
Nina
I really enjoy your photos. They are beautiful. I’ve looked at these several times now, not wanting to delete the email lol. Thanks for the posts!
Terri
Thank you so much for the lovely compliment 🙂
Nina
Given our dog and his love of hiking, it looks like we’ll aim for the south rim in 2016 for our first Grand Canyon visit. Thanks for the great info! Now we just have to figure out when to go. I’m guessing May or October to avoid crowds and still have non-freezing temperatures. Can’t wait! -Mike
You may still have a few overnight freezes those months, but it should definitely be less crowded. You and your doggie will love it!
Nina
We’re getting ready to leave Rocky Point, MX and head to The Grand Canyon! I’m re-reading your entire blog series on this amazing location and can’t wait. I’m also scared and anxious and excited – to see it all and do it all. We’ll hopefully be staying at Trailer Village and so looking forward to taking our girl ‘Amazing Grace’ [Gracie] on all those trails. Thanks again for some terrific post(s).
How exciting!!! I hope you have a wonderful time!
Nina