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Total visits
 Hermit Road Desert View Drive North Rim
Grand Canyon National ParkVisits :
   Hermit Road  |  Desert View Drive  |  North Rim  | 
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   2016猶他峽谷之旅 - Grand Canyon North Rim - Scenic Road  |  2016猶他峽谷之旅 - Grand Canyon North Rim  | 
Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonder. People come here for a day (or more) and they can see what takes the Nature millions of years to create. This is the place that makes you feel the earth is big.

The park is divided into South Rim and North Rim. South Rim is more popular (read as "more people") and the "classic" canyon view is just marvelous. By "classic" I mean that the pictures taken here would be recognized immediately by your friends and they won't mistake that as, say, a local state park.

The North Rim, being 1000 feet higher, cooler and more difficult to reach, is less popular (read as "not overly crowded") but equally magnificent.

There is a remote site west of both Rims, Tuweep, is said to be truly unique. Unfortunately, it is too primitive that the unpaved road may take 3 hours (one way) drive to reach. We did not have chance to visit Tuweep but we did visit both South and North Rim.

Location: Arizona, USA South West

   : City   : National Park   : National Monument / Miscellaneous

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Park Summary
Park Rating
Overall
Rating : 3.97  (33 votes)
Convenience
Rating : 3.12  (33 votes)
Physical Demand
Rating : 3.31  (32 votes)
Family Activity
Rating : 3.56  (32 votes)
What does the rating mean ?I want to rate for this park
Park Geography

Nearby City(Definition of Driving Distance and Time)
City, StateDistanceDrive Time
Phoenix, AZ235 miles4:01
Las Vegas, NV276 miles5:13
Albuquerque, NM420 miles6:44
Los Angeles, CA490 miles7:15
Salt Lake City, UT523 miles9:30
Denver, CO682 miles12:03
San Francisco, CA790 miles12:00
Nearby National Park(Definition of Driving Distance and Time)
National ParkDistanceDrive Time
Petrified Forest212 miles3:44
Natural Bridges237 miles4:35
Zion247 miles5:35
Mesa Verde270 miles5:32
Bryce283 miles6:27
Aztec Ruins295 miles6:43
Arches330 miles6:45
Saguaro341 miles5:35
Joshua Tree356 miles6:54
Canyonlands360 miles7:10
Capitol Reef401 miles8:49
Black Canyon Gunnison422 miles9:31
Colorado429 miles8:18
Great Basin429 miles9:33
Death Valley450 miles9:41
Great Sand Dunes467 miles10:05
Dinosaur515 miles10:18
Channel Islands552 miles8:13
Sequoia Kings Canyon572 miles10:55
Florissant Fossil Beds587 miles12:28
Mono Lake602 miles10:00
Yosemite606 miles13:13
Devils Postpile638 miles10:00
Fossil Butte648 miles11:38
White Sands652 miles9:55
Capulin Volcano673 miles10:11
Carlsbad Caverns704 miles11:35
Rocky Mountain744 miles13:25
Guadalupe Mountains754 miles12:35
Grand Teton813 miles15:23
Yellowstone841 miles14:35
Lassen Volcanic963 miles15:10
Big Bend978 miles16:08
Wind Cave1027 miles18:28
Jewel Cave1042 miles18:47
Mt Rushmore1065 miles19:24
Devils Tower1080 miles19:21
Crater Lake1118 miles17:42
Badlands1135 miles20:45
Redwood1144 miles19:01
Glacier1199 miles20:33
Mount Rainier1249 miles19:53
National Park Service Website
http://www.nps.gov/grca
Weather Forecast
Monthly AverageJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Temperature (ºF)293238465463696761503931
High Temperature (ºF)40.744.85160.669.880.984.381.476.264.55243.2
Low Temperature (ºF)182125.2323946.85452.846.93626.719.9
Precipitation (inches)1.51.61.30.90.70.422.31.51.10.91.6
Snowfall (inches)15.912.69.731.600000.85.112.4
Activity Suggestion
You can see the Canyon either in the easy way or the hard way. On the easy side just stop at all (or some) of the named viewpoints. The park road is actually built along the Rim so you can easily have spectacular views almost everywhere without walking too long. The hard way (which we have not tried) is to take some trails (and there are really challenging ones) to the places fewer people can go.

You will spend half day on Hermit Road. The Desert View Drive is another half-day job. Plus the time you wish to spend on hiking would be your minimum stay in South Rim. There are also lots of other tour options such as mule, air and rafting. We haven't tried so we can't comment.

If you have longer stay and plan to visit parks in Utah, you might want to spend extra half to one day for the North Rim. It is not as convenient and accessible as the South but the time is well worth it. There are not many lodging options so get to your next stop (like Zion) before dark unless you plan to stay here.

If you have 4+ days, visit South Rim, North Rim, Zion and Bryce Canyon. If you have 2 extra days, go further north and visit Capitol Reef, Arches (highly recommended) and Canyonlands.
Discussion Area - Grand Canyon
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