GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK: 9 Things to Know Before You Go
everything you need to know to go to the Grand Canyon in this video I'm going to tell you how to get in how to get around where to stay what to eat and of course what to do all right let's go and the first thing to know is just a little bit more about the Grand Canyon the Grand Canyon National Park is a 1200 square mile natural wonder in fact it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World this Canyon a mile deep and up to 18 mil wide at some point offers breathtaking views into millions of years of geological history as the Colorado River has carved this Canyon down into the floor whether you're here for views or whether you're here for hiking there is a lot to do with the Grand Canyon almost 300 Mi of hiking trails but there's actually so much more to do than just views and Hiking which I'm going to talk about when we get to things to do oh and every part of this video I'm going to record on a different spot in the national park right now I am on the South kbob Trail right below UA point which we'll talk about later too all right let's go on to number two the second thing to know is some information to help you get oriented to the Grand Grand Canyon so when you hear of the Grand Canyon you'll often hear of the south rim the north rim and Grand Canyon west and so let me unpack those three places the Grand Canyon south rim it's where I am right now it is the most visited part of the Grand Canyon National Park uh it's where the village is the fancy El toar hotel is it's where Ma point is which is the main Viewpoint it's also home to the main Grand Canyon Visitor Center and inside the visitor center they've got friendly Park staff to answer all your questions gives you Maps gives you recommendations on what to do they also have an interpretive film that's like a 20-minute film that you can see every 30 minutes about the Grand Canyon it's also worthwhile to note this is not the only Visitor Center there are five more throughout the south rim um do pay attention to the open and closing time this one closes pretty early at about 400 p.m. the north rim which is on the other side of this Rim uh is only open seasonally in uh summer parts of spring and fall it's closed entirely during the winter cuz it's just too cold and icy uh there is a lodge over there there is a restaurant there are some campgrounds but not many people venture over to the north rim there is also Grand Canyon west which is not part of the National Park Grand Canyon west is operated by the walapai Native American tribe that's the home of the Skywalk if you want to know more about the Skywalk then you can watch my video All About Grand Canyon west but in this video I'll be covering the national park the south rim here where most people go and what better way to get you oriented than with a really big map that's out in front of the visitor center right here Grand Canyon Visitor Center ma Point Overlook most famous Overlook spot right over here now if we go out to the East Desert View Drive this will bring us to the east entrance of the national park the less used entrance the main entrance is down Highway 64 right this way in the town of Tusan a going over this way from the The Visitor Center this is the main village part of uh the Grand Canyon there's the market Plaza right here has a supermarket a post office we'll take a look at that later and then the village is where the major hotels are um so we'll take a look at a lot of that cuz we're going to talk about the hotels and the restaurants and then finally over this way is hermit's Road this is kind of a lesser visited part of the park this will bring you over to hermit's Trail and hermit's rest that is one of the trails down into the canyon the second major Trail down into the canyon is the bright angel Trail by the village and the third major Trail is the South kbob Trail that's over here the third thing to know is about getting into the Grand Canyon and where am I shooting this this is ma point the like number one Viewpoint into the Grand Canyon but uh the main way people come into the Grand Canyon is driving the closest big city is Phoenix if you're driving from Phoenix it is about 4 hours to drive into the Grand Canyon if you are coming from last Vegas it's about 4 and 1/2 hours and if you're coming from Los Angeles it's about 8 hours the closest airport is actually Flag Staff uh which is 90 minutes away but there are only three flights uh from American Airlines that go in there uh either from Phoenix or from Texas the closest real town is Williams Arizona uh and that's where you can take the train the single trip in takes about 2 hours takes about 2 hours to get back not the Amtrak it's not a public train it's a private Railway it makes one to two round trips daily from Williams Arizona they give you a few hours to spend here at the Grand Canyon exploring hiking admiring The View before you head back to Williams now if you are driving your car in and it's peak season do plan for like a 30- minute backup at the entry gate as you come in cuz it's busy there's a lot of people just paying and they can only get so many people through so add about 30 minutes to those travel times in peak season all right let's talk about getting around the Grand Canyon and first thing you'll probably be doing a lot of is walking after all this is a big hiking destination uh Around The Visitor Center a lot of attractions are walkable also around the village a lot of attractions are walkable but this place is really big so beyond that you will need more than your feet to help you get around bicycling is also a great way to get around the Grand Canyon there's lots of good bike trails there's often plac to lock up your bike and you can rent bikes at the Grab and go bike rental and coffee shop right by The Visitor Center they have regular bikes and they have ebikes too now if you drove your car here you might think driving around is a good way to get around and if you're here in the summer you would be wrong uh because everybody comes here in the summer and they bring their cars and then all the parking lots get full and then there's no place to park so if you move your car you just won't have any place to park it again um now if you're here in the winter which is when I'm here then using your car is a great way to get around because there's not that many people here and some of the road that sometimes are shuttle only are indeed open to cars during the winter so take a look at how many people are here and decide whether you're going to take your car around or whether you're going to take the shuttle around that we'll talk about in just a moment but if you are driving you will find the park is signed very well Great Signs to tell you everywhere to go um you can use Google Maps to navigate if you're going to do that you should know that there's not much cell phone service in the park yes around the village and The Visitor Center you'll have cell phone service but in other areas you probably won't so make sure you download offline maps or have a paper map to help you navigate also do beware when you're driving because there's a lot of international visitors here that may or may not be that familiar with driving in the USA I've seen some pretty weird stuff on the road here so do keep your wits about you so if you're here in the High season when it's really busy then the way you're going to be getting around is on these shuttles these shuttles are free they're included with your admission price into the national park which by the way I didn't talk about about that yet did I $35 will get your car full of people into the national park for 7 days if you're going to more than two other national parks so three total on your trip then you'll want to buy an annual pass annual passes are $80 and get you into all of the national parks but so back on these shuttles there are four shuttle routes that the Park Service operates here along the south rim uh two that run all year and two that run seasonally what two run all year 2 3 1 what is it the two that run all year uh the first one is the Village Loop uh and that is a loop that'll take you from the visitor center around the village to the hotels over there uh to the different lodges to the General Store and it'll bring you back here the second one that runs all year round is the yellow line which will bring you over to the uh South kbob Trail if you want to hike that trail that's like the only way to do it because there is no parking at that trail the ones that run seasonally is the hermit Road that's the red line that goes over to hermit's rest uh that runs from March to November from December to February you can drive your car down that road uh and then in the summer there is a seasonal route that'll take you to the neighboring town by the entrance Plaza so if you're staying at the hotels in that town then you can just take the shuttle in from those hotels into town and the central hub for all the shuttles is right here in this Plaza at The Visitor Center which is what makes this Visitor Center a great place to park if you're coming here because you can get on any shuttle from The Visitor Center and they run about every 15 minutes um pretty efficient way to get around there's also one more shuttle that you should be aware of which is the express hiker shuttle if you want to hike the South kbob Trail uh then they run like three shuttles per hour from the back country information center and the Bright Angel Lodge um different times throughout the different seasons so do check that if you're your plan is to hike the South Kai Bob Trail early in the morning you can take one of those uh hiker Express shuttles oh and by the way that route that I called yellow turns out it's orange but I don't know doesn't that sign look yellow to you looks yellow to me but the bus says orange that's the one you'll take to the kib Bob Trail now it is worth pointing out that the shuttles are Transportation only they don't really like tell you about where you're going they just get you from here to there if you just have a limited amount of time and you want to be on some wheels that tell you about where you're going there are number of Scenic tours that you can take uh through the Grand Canyon that'll tell you about what you're seeing as you do it like give you a little time to stop here and there uh if you want to do those you can certainly look at them online but if you're here and you want to inquire about those when you get here the maswick lodge has a tour and activities desk and so does the Bright Angel Lodge another Transportation option and definitely one of the most unique within the National Park is the famous mule rides and there are two sets of them there's one that'll take you all the way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon uh and the second one is a mule ride that'll take you along the rim if you want to do the ones that take you all the way to the bottom you got to book them out like 15 months in advance it's a lottery to do that uh if you want to do the ones that take you along the rim trail uh you can just book those online just find an available date and if you are interested in doing them you should know like even if they're sold out for the date that you were looking people do cancel them uh so you can take a look for cancellations as well well all right so now that we've decided it's good to spend at least a couple nights in the Grand Canyon where are you going to stay and my number one recommendation for you is to stay in the Grand Canyon Village along the rim it is truly amazing to stay in a hotel like this and then just walk right over here and see the sunrise or the sunset over the Grand Canyon so what hotels are there along the rim of the Grand Canyon the grandest of the hotels is the eltar bar Hotel this is the highest end hotel I think it's also the best situated cuz it has the best sunrise and sunset view it's also going to be the most expensive it's also where the dining room is uh that is the great dining room here at the Grand Canyon if you want to see more about the El toovar I will have a whole review coming up of this hotel soon so stay tuned for that the second Hotel I would recommend after the El toar is the Bright Angel Lodge the Bright Angel Lodge is a set of 90 Charming rustic cabins uh they're like these little individual buildings that there's a three or four cabins each um they start at about $229 compare that to the eltar a queen room for me was $400 and some on dollars here so bright angel uh is just it's just down the way from the elar it's like a 5minute walk and uh you if you want to even save some more money they have some rooms that have shared bathrooms to so consider checking that one out and then in between the El toar and the bright angel there are two 1970s style two-story motels the Thunderbird Lodge and the kacina lodge they're pretty similar they're right next to each other they don't have any food or restaurant inside and actually if you stay at those you check in at either the El hovar or the bright angel but I'd recommend those because their location is quite good another lodging option to consider particularly if you've got big family is the yaffa pie Lodge this one is located at the market Plaza so it's a little bit ways off the rim this is similar to the Bright Angel Lodge in that you check in at the lobby and then you go to various buildings where your rooms are but what's unique about the Yavapai Lodge is they have these family rooms that have bunk beds that are twin over Queen so if you've got a large family you can get like two queens and two twins all in the same room lots of places for people to sleep the maswick lodge is another Hotel option this one's pushed back from the rim a little bit uh so no views here the rooms do have balconies but they basically just look out at other buildings so you'll find the rates here to be cheaper convenient for families because it's just right next to that maswick food court to find dinner you don't have to make a reservation and the price for food are reasonably cheap and there's one more Hotel like accommodation this one is at the bottom of the canyon it's called Phantom Ranch and it's for people who are doing the hike down to the bottom it's dormatory style accommodations to stay there you do have to join a lottery similar to the mules 15 months ahead of time for the privilege of staying at the bottom note at the time of making this video they're actually closed so stay tuned for when that reopens so you can get in on the lottery if that's something you're interested in but what about if you don't want to stay in a building what if you want to camp well there are four main campgrounds along the top of the south rim that you don't need any special permits to stay at just a reservation the ma Campground is open all year uh there's a RV campground that has RV hookups and then there's two more that are only open seasonally do make a reservation ahead of time now what if you want to camp in one of the campgrounds that's a little more rustic well if you want to do Backcountry camping either uh along the rim where you can't drive your car to that you have to hike to the campground or below the rim where you want to camp along the bottom then you need to get a special Backcountry permit for it um there's a special process for that so do go ahead and check that out if you're so inclined to do some rustic camping and if none of those options are good for you and you want to stay in some more name brand hotels you have a few options outside of the national park in the neighboring town of tan there's a few hotels right out there that's about a 10-minute drive into the national park uh or you can stay about an hour away in the town of Williams or you can stay about 90 minutes away in the town of Flagstaff those are the town lodging options outside the park the next thing to know is about when to go to the Grand Canyon and definitely the busiest season is the summer season but but the summer season is also going to be the hottest season where you'll be able to do the least amount of hiking and outdoor stuff because the heat is just going to be so oppressive so the best times to come are really spring and fall the weather is going to be a lot better it's still going to be busy uh but the heat won't be quite as oppressive if you want to get away from the crowds come here in the winter I'm here in December and um it's me in the Grand Canyon right here uh actually I'm here during like uh Christmas to New Year's which uh this week or two is actually pretty busy but the first couple weeks December January and February are really quite un busy that's where you'll find the lowest room rates that's where you'll find the park to yourself that's where you'll find you can drive the most around but you may run into snow you may find it icy um you may even find the roads are closed if it's snowing if you run into that case and you need to get in the park and it's snowing then the only way to get here if the roads are closed is to take the train from Williams Arizona that thing runs rain shine or snow all right so now that you know when to go how long should you spend at Grand Canyon National Park well really depends on the things that you want to do but most visitors just come in for a day trip uh maybe even just for a couple hours they come in they come to ma point they look at the view they admire the Grand Canyon and then they drive on I'd recommend that you spend 2 or 3 days minimum at the Grand Canyon if if you like nature that is if you just want to view it come in do your 2-hour trip but there is so much to do I feel like if you do the 2-hour trip you'll be like oh my gosh I didn't get to see all of these things uh on this trip I'm here for three nights and I felt like there was still more to see that I didn't get to do out of these nights and so I I definitely want to come back but I guess that's good uh if you're doing the north rim too you know and I've seen a lot of people that do that they do the south rim and the north rim you know spend a couple nights here it is a 4-Hour drive if you want to go over to the north rim but then spend a couple nights over there uh if you are doing the hike up and down you know that's like three full days right there and then maybe you want to spend some time exploring the top two so uh basically what I'm trying to say if you didn't get my message here is uh really consider more than a day trip to the Grand Canyon you'll find it worth it and the next thing to know is about food and while many national parks leave you pretty hungry at Joshua Tree National Park I'm talking about you where there's like no food in the Park Grand Canyon couldn't be the opposite there's a lot of food a lot of restaurants a lot of places to eat it's a pretty good places to eat in particular first one I'll start with is the El toovar dining room here this is at the most historic and Grand Hotel this is the most grand dining room uh they do breakfast just walk right on in I've had really good breakfast here uh pancake Trio eggs benedict they have a great window that looks out on the Grand Canyon lunch and dinner is by reservation so you have to make a reservation beforehand uh I had Christmas dinner here which was really fantastic a prime rib mashed potatoes super good good so definitely put this one on your list the Bright Angel Lodge has a lot of different eateries there's the Fred Harvey Cafe which serves breakfast lunch and dinner uh American Diner style food the cocktail lounge is next door you can get a similar but smaller menu they come from the same kitchen uh you can also get beer uh and liquor in there out front they've got the fountainette which the fountainette is like quick serve food um that's actually what I'm eating right now Nathan's all beef hot dogs with a view outside of the Grand Canyon and then there's also one another table service restaurant the Arizona Steakhouse open for lunch and dinner when I went there they said the wait was 40 minutes uh and Fred Harvey Cafe said the wait was an hour and the cocktail lounge said the kitchen was really backed up so that's why I came to the Fountain net because there was no weight Fountain net open for breakfast and lunch 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. uh so you'll have to get those early the yava Pai Lodge offers three dining opportunities one here is the dining hall and the way this works is you line up and tell them what you want well the main thing is kind of this like Chuck Wagon dinner where you get a protein and a couple of different sides 20 or 30 bucks depending upon how many proteins and how many sides standard proteins like turkey fish Beef Pork uh standard sides like mac and cheese and those sorts of things next door is the tavern where you can get fresh cooked Burgers uh I had a burger there it was fine uh Burger potato salad they don't have any fries and a Pepsi was 20 $3 and there's also a coffee shop and just across the parking lot from Yavapai Lodge you'll find the General Store this is like the Walmart of the Grand Canyon where you'll find all of the daily Necessities big Supermarket produce firewood ice you know anything you would need you'll find it here and they're open pretty late till 8:00 p.m. there's
also a deli closes earlier but you can get like fresh made sandwiches over there the supermarket has lots of grabb and go Goods or should take a banana for your hike oh and if you forgot any of your camping supplies or you need some more you'll find a whole camping section here they will rent or you can buy uh including sleeping bags and backpacks and water bottles and things to cook from and more for one of the cheaper quick serve food options in the park check out the food court at the maswick lodge in the food court you'll find a build your own salad stand you'll find a barbecue stall you'll find a pizza stall and you'll find a Southwest stall for tacos what did I get I got the try tip uh that comes with two sides from the barbecue stall you can uh get cornbread as one of the side or if you don't want cornbread you can get another one so I got the mac and cheese and the beans the fountain soda $20 all together pretty beable for try tip good protein all right and last but not least if you're hiking your way down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon you can eat at Phantom Ranch but if you want to eat at Phantom Ranch all meals are by reservation so make sure you reserve your food ahead of time all right now let's talk about some of the best things to do in the Grand Canyon and there's a lot more to do than just looking out into the Grand Canyon although it is quite Grand and the views are spectacular hiking is probably the second most popular thing to do because some of the best views into the Grand Canyon aren't up at the top of the rim but you've got to hike down to find them uh so now I just want to share with you some of the best Trails for beginners coming to the Grand Canyon the one I'm on right now the bright angel Trail it is one that will take you from the top all the way down to the bottom which might not be for you uh but you can just hike halfway down uh actually right now if you're doing this uh between now and 2025 the trail only goes a half mile down cuz it's under construction uh but this is one where when you're hiking in the Grand Canyon beware they're all reverse hikes you start at the top and you walk your way down which is really easy and then you have to walk up so you do want to make sure you save enough energy to get back up again the um Park Service really recommends the first time visitors unless they feel super fit not to try to make it all the way down and up in one day if you're going to go down then you'll want to make a reservation to Camp down there or at the Phantom Ranch to stay in the little uh kind of rustic lodge down there really make it a two-day trip if you're trying to make it all the way to the Bottom now if you're coming in summer you'll want to bring a lot of water on your hike because it can get really hot here in the Grand Canyon and maybe even consider doing the hikes like try to get up early in the morning or or do one towards sunset time when it's not as hot obviously if you're here in the winter like when I am not as big of a deal what is a big deal in the winter is the trails can get icy so uh you will want to bring if you're here in the middle of the winter after snowstorms or things like that some crampons for your shoes to give yourself some more traction and you might also consider bringing yourself some uh hiking sticks to help you so now you have like four points uh of contact with the ground particularly useful on your knees for these Trail trail that are big up and downs cuz they help take some weight off of your knees and if you're on one of these trails that mules go on like this one uh the mules pass then you want to stay on the inside the mules go on the outside okay that's enough of my safety warnings let's go on to some more of the great hiking paths now if you're looking for something a little easier that doesn't have all that much in the way of elevation gain consider this Trail this is the rim trail the rim trail is a 14m trail most of it is paved relatively at it goes from the south kbob trail head to hermit's rest and this is where you'll see some of the most scenic views of the Grand Canyon because it's along the rim and so the whole time you're walking you're going to see the Grand Canyon down below something cool on this Trail is the shuttle system for the national park kind of like follows the rim and so they've got signs to tell you where the next shuttle stop is so if you're walking along and then you get tired you can just go ahead and take the shuttle no biggie uh speaking of shuttles that'll bring us to our next hike the hermit's trail here at hermit's rest now if you can only hike one part of the rim trail I'd suggest you hike the part of the rim trail from the Yavapai geological Museum to the elar hotel they call this section of it the trail of time and they've got like some interpretive signage to tell you about the Grand Canyon how it was formed they've got some rocks you can touch and they've got some really neat Lookouts like this one right here that I'm standing on that have way less people than ma point and from here right over here you can see the bright angel Trail too and of course there's nobody on it since it's closed right now all right so here we are at the beginning of the hermit Trail this Trail is if you want something completely different than the bright angel Trail or the rim trail which those have a lot of people on them this one doesn't this hermit Trail is a kind of a remote end of the park because for most of the year you have to take a shuttle to get here uh the National Park service on their entry sign describes this as a steep unmaintained trail that is washed out in some areas it'll take you all the way down to the Colorado River 9 miles once again they don't recommend that you do that in one day um Any Trail that you go to here in the Grand Canyon will have little signs right by the front that give you like a map and tell you suggested like roundtrip times and as you can tell as I'm walking along here there is nobody I mean I I feel kind of like a Hermit too cuz I'm walking this Trail looking the grand Cy and I've got this place all to myself super super peaceful The Hermit Trail also has good amenities right at the trail head you will find pit toilets no running water to wash your hands you will also find the hermit's rest gift shop this building from 1914 that this area is named after that's why it's called hermit's rest because of this rest building uh it's a gift shop today and it also sells some food no hot food just kind of cold sandwiches chips drinks and ice cream another Trail you might want to consider if you're heading down into the canyon is the South KYB Trail this Trail you do have to take one of the shuttle buses too there's no parking lot here uh but when you do get here on the shuttle there are some pit toilets and water bottle filling stations this Trail will take you all the way down into the canyon there's a suspension bridge you can cross and you can go up the other side on the North kyub Trail that's uh not what I recommend you do if you're just a beginner kind of like me on these things uh where where I'd recommend you go is down to UA point where there's great views of the Canyon from there or if you're even more adventur some go down another hour or so to Cedar Ridge uh there's some toilets at that part and that makes a good turning around point for a Day hike down this Trail now if you are going to do the South kbob Trail once again I do recommend some hiking sticks many of the people on the trail that look like they're know what they're doing have them it can be steep at times and slippery at times I've seen a few people go like but I'll tell you I see most people they do stop at U point and don't keep coming down uh I didn't make it all the way to the Cedar Ridge Cedar Point View section but if you make it just a little further down then you can get some amazing views down in the canyon so you know make it at least another 10 minutes down further than UA point if you can for really the actual Ooa views turn out to be down here one of the classic things to do is to see the sunrise or the sunset and one of the best place to do that are at the various points here at Ma point this is a classic sunrise and sunset spot you can see right there the sun is just going to be gone there in the canyon and it starts to light up different colors but oh do plan to be here with a lot of people because this is the spot that most people come just to see the Grand Canyon once take their selfie and keep going you know but if you're staying in the village I mean a great place to see the sunrise is just along the rim trail right out in front of your hotel but staying at the El toar and I just walked right out 30 ft from my hotel to watch the sunrise magic happen right here another great place to check out the view is the lookout Studio this is in front of the Bright Angel Lodge right along the rim trail it was built in 1914 a classic building you can get all the way kind of like down there to check out the views uh and buy some gifts while you're inside of the gift shop of course clever whoever designed to the spot the way to the lookout is actually through the gift shop there's a balcony on top or that rock area down below that you saw from my earlier shop and just down the hill from the lookout studio is another interesting Studio the C Studio this one is another gift shop that also has cool views from the inside but down in the lower levels it's an art gallery so you can admire the art or pick up some to bring home another neat Lookout SL museum is the Yavapai geology Museum this is about a half mile from the main Visitor Center the building was built in 1928 and in addition to having some really great views into the Grand Canyon from inside you can also learn all about the erosion and the rocks and things like that that make the Grand Canyon what it is and if you want to do some shopping outside of the usual gift shops check out the hopy house this is located right next to the eltar hotel the building was built in 1905 in addition to just being a really cool structure houses a bunch of Native American arts and craft most of them native made now if you're tired of walking hiking and shuttling around there's a great Scenic drop D you can do in the park it's down Desert View Road to the east entrance of the park and this road is about 20 M from the Village Center it'll take about 45 minutes to get to the end but as you drive down it you'll really feel the like Forest likee atmosphere that's here at the south rim of the Grand Canyon Big Tall Pine trees and lots of uncrowded viewpoints into the canyon and when you get to the end of the road you'll get here to this sstory Stone Watchtower this is the Desert View Watchtower and you can actually go all the way up to the top to check out the views from up there you do need a ticket the tickets are free they're time tickets you do have to stand in line to get the tickets inside at the base of it there's a gift shop also an information center you'll also find really great views of the Grand Canyon from here in fact the Viewpoint right in front has some of the best views I've seen of the Colorado River from the national park there's also Native American gift shop here and you'll find a market in Deli it's kind of a small version of the general store that we saw before but great to uh stock up on supplies if you need it while you're out here there's also a campground and the only gas station in the National Park is here in the Desert View area oh and in that market in addition to snack foods you can also get fresh made sandwiches at the deli too and the last thing to know is I've got more videos if you're going to Zion National Park which is the third most visited national park right after the Grand Canyon at number two you might enjoy checking out this video or you might enjoy my video of Death Valley National Park a much overlooked National Park but they shot a whole bunch of seen some Star Wars there and it's pretty cool too all right I'll see you there
2024-03-13 09:56
