There are great reasons why this incredible place is well known around the world.
What I (admittedly) did not know prior to visiting the Grand Canyon was that the canyon exists because of the Colorado River that splits the canyon between the North Rim and the South Rim. (Duh.)
View from the South Rim, Bright Angel Trail. You can see the North Rim in the back in this picture.
Where I Stayed
I stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton. The tour picked me up and dropped me off in the same day.
By the way, I wrote a separate article on How I Choose Where I Stay when I Travel.
Getting There
As usual whenever I travel, I either take a United flight or search for the cheapest flight on kayak.com. I wrote an article about how I stick to flying on United as much as possible to cash out big with my miles.
But for this trip, I drove. Haha.
The Grand Canyon is located in Northern Arizona, about 4.5 hours from Las Vegas, 3.5 hours from Phoenix, and 1.5 hours from Flagstaff, Arizona. I stayed in Flagstaff overnight, and I couldn’t recommend it more.
I booked a tour that picked me up from my hotel in Flagstaff at 8am, drove me to the Grand Canyon, and came back and dropped me off at my hotel around 5pm.
I Have One Day. What Can I Expect?
I had one day to do this tour, and the South Rim was highly recommend – we are able to see the pristine green of the north slope from the South Rim.
We entered the park. Because I did a tour, I didn’t have to pay extra, but I believe it’s $30 per car. Once we entered the park, we navigated to the Rim Trail next to El Tovar hotel.
The view from Navajo Point
Then we officially started the tour at the Bright Angel Trail, then we drove east to the following gorgeous viewpoints: Grand Viewpoint, Moran Point, Lipan Point, and Navajo Point.
Do I want to drive from the North Rim to the South Rim? Nbd, it’d take me a whopping 3.5 hours. I had kept avoiding visiting the Grand Canyon. And right now I’m telling my younger-self… y tho?
Here are my 3 reasons to visit the famous the national park.
1. The Hype Is Real
I stood from the start of Bright Angel Trail in the South Rim, and I was mesmerized by the view.
View from the South Rim. You can see the “temples” of individual peaks
The layers of different rocks are unbelievable. From the bottom to many of the tourists areas up top, it’s approximately 8000 feet of limestones, sandstone, and 10+ other types of rocks.
And this is the part where I strongly question why we all paid attention in sex-ed but not geology class in the 7th grade. Oops.
Speaking of which…
2. Appreciation for Geology and Nature
The split between limestone and sandstone were incredible to witness. The broken rocks (erosion) that had fallen over centuries and millenniums to form the shapes of the canyon today.
But not tomorrow.
Because it will continue to change.
This is what I like to call… Science.
3. The Various Options of Things to do
I hiked Bright Angel Trail down to a mid-point and hiked back up. I wouldn’t recommend it to everybody though – not only did we need to account for the steep slope of the hike, we also needed to factor in the heat.
I could have taken a helicopter tour. (My tour guide did it and he told me it was great.) Maybe next lifetime when my occupation is a million-dollar surgeon.
White water rafting down the Colorado River is also a great option.
Lastly, people can hike and camp at the national park.
Closing Remarks
It’s not the most convenient place to travel to, but it was certainly worth the trip for me because I was driving from Los Angeles east. My next trip to Las Vegas will likely have a pit stop at the North Rim to see the other side.
