The Grand Canyon: South Rim

Everything about the Grand Canyon is BIG.  Not just the canyon but the infrastructure and the number of tourists.  And of course not to forget the BIG accommodation prices 😉.  However don't misunderstand what I'm saying.  It's an amazing place to visit.  An absolute must see if you are travelling in the US Midwest.

The Canyon has been formed by the Colorado river as it cut its way through layer after layer of rock over millions of years.  Each year it erodes a little more rock (the thickness of a newspaper page per annum) and continues to deepen with the lowest layer of exposed rock dating back over 1 billion years.

To handle the millions of annual tourists to the South Rim of the Canyon the park has instituted an excellent free bus system.  Four different routes run from before dawn to long after dark with a bus every few minutes taking visitors from Tusayan village outside the park to the Park Visitors Centre and then from the Visitors Centre to points along the rim heading east and west.  Private cars are prohibited from most of the roads to reduce congestion and environmental impact.  It's a great system.

We spent three days and nights on the South Rim.  The first night we stayed in a hotel at Tusayan but for the second and third nights we camped which was slightly cold and uncomfortable but worth the minor inconvenience.  Being located close to the Rim has advantages at dusk to enjoy the nice sunsets and at dawn (if you can be motivated to get up!) as it's a good idea to make an early start if you want to walk down into the canyon and back up in a day.

With a trail running for many miles along the rim it's infeasible and would be ugly to put protective fences up everywhere.  The National Parks Service seem to get the balance right with fencing at key lookouts and relying on common sense everywhere else.  Nevertheless some of the rim trail and certainly points on the trails going down into the canyon can be a bit hairy and dangerous if you aren't comfortable with heights or a bit careless.

The Grand Canyon Express runs daily from the town of Williams to the South Rim

The reduced number of cars around the canyon rim seems to benefit the wildlife which was easy to spot once you got out of the area of the South Rim Village and Visitors Centre.

Dusk is a special time at the Grand Canyon and lots of people take the chance to find a nice quite place on the rim to take photos and/or just admire the changing light.  The colours at dusk are amazing - the light really brings out the colours in the rock.