At last, THE GRAND CANYON (South Rim)! What can I say? It is, after all, THE GRAND CANYON! You have heard about it your whole life, seen pictures of it on TV, and then…you finally get to experience it in real life! IT IS BOTH GRAND AND AMAZING!

South Rim

We wanted to make a reservation to stay at the very old (and Historic) 1905 El Tovar Hotel located right on the South Rim in the Grand Canyon Village. We could not get a reservation because the hotel was totally booked! So, reluctantly, we booked a stay at another hotel. However, our wonderful Travel Agent kept looking for a cancellation at the El Tovar, and she finally found one and grabbed it for us! We canceled our other reservation we had immediately. We were very lucky to get the reservation at the El Tovar and could not thank her enough for her persistence and determination to get us a room at this historic hotel! (Another great perk when you have an awesome Travel Agent like Kathy Gvildys at Beach Travel!) It is extremely hard to get a reservation at the El Tovar Hotel because it is, after all, the PRIMO place to stay on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. All you have to do is just walk out of the hotel and there you are… right in front of the most fabulous views of the Grand Canyon EVER!

We got up really early one morning to take pictures at the wall of the Canyon at sunrise. We soon found out, however, that we were not alone! There were no other people around us at all, just wolves howling very close by the canyon wall! (The Park Rangers will tell you there are no wolves at the Grand Canyon…but they are wrong! I disagree!! I know the HOWL of a wolf…I used to go visit my Grandma in East Texas every Summer!)

1905 El Tovar Hotel

If you are not as lucky as we were, wherever you do stay, take some time to really visit this magnificent Park. We stayed three days at the El Tovar to take our time and enjoy all of the wonderful views of the Grand Canyon, located just outside of our hotel’s front door.

On September 17, 1901, the First Steam-Powered Train, a spur line of the Santa Fe Railway, arrived to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. With the arrival of the train, the quiet area of the South Rim rapidly expanded into the bustling Grand Canyon Village.

Never mind…I’ll get back to my story now… So, we stood with our cameras ready, hoping the sunrise would happen a little faster than usual that morning. (And, desperately, hoping the howling wolves would not decide to make a surprise appearance at the rim before we could take our pictures of the sunrise at the Canyon!) I can tell you that it seemed like forever before the sun actually rose that morning! Crazy us…we still waited for those first rays of the sun to hit the Canyon so we could take our spectacular sunrise pictures. No siree!! No wolves were going to scare us away, even if they did make eerie howling sounds the whole time we were out there all alone! We were, after all, on vacation at the Grand Canyon, and no wolves (howling or otherwise) were going to make us miss our perfect sunrise pictures! It is something we often laugh about (now), and I am sure we will never forget it! We really were crazy tourists that morning!

The South Rim has a wonderful (free) shuttle/bus system throughout the park area. So, you can hop on and hop off their shuttles all day long. Walking around the Village at the South Rim, stopping at scenic areas, eating at several different restaurants that are conveniently available, and visiting gift shops are all super easy. All of it can be done right there while you take in the most amazing views of the Grand Canyon the entire time! It is what I call a total experience and you really need to see it for yourself.

There are several shuttle stops for you to enjoy while you visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Each stop has something different and wonderful to see, and they all have the most awesome views of the Canyon! Some stops have a great little trail on the edge of the Canyon wall you can hike (if you are not too afraid of heights). I can tell you that the distance to the canyon floor looks scary on a narrow canyon edge trail!

There is also the historic Hopi House, the Kolb Studio, a great Visitor’s Center, incredible scenery that you can get closer to by walking out onto a viewpoint (jutted-out) walled ledge, and much, much more. As far as we are concerned, everyone, if given the chance, should stop and visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon at least once in their lifetime. And do not forget to take your selfie stick with you!! You can sit on the canyon wall and take some great pictures with the Grand Canyon right behind you! We took some fabulous pictures together doing just that!

Personally, we ride the bus/shuttle that takes us to stops where we can hike some amazing trails around the upper edge of the canyon wall. We love to jump on and jump off those buses all day long so we can hike all the amazing scenic trails we want. We also love to drive to all the viewpoints and scenic lookouts when we are leaving the Grand Canyon area (on our way to Monument Valley). We park, get out of our car, take some very impressive pictures of the scenery that seems to go on forever, and then head to our next lookout point. There are quite a few of them on your way out of the Park, so keep that in mind and allow plenty of time to stop and see each one of them.

The South Rim of the Grand Canyon has so many wonderful tours available. There are helicopter tours that fly you over the beautiful Canyon, fun train tours, and a seven (7) day float trip on the Colorado River at the base of the Grand Canyon, where you can really “rough it” out there in the wilderness. (Just ask Amanda and Sam because they have done it!!) There are also mule ride tours into the Canyon where you can stay overnight at the Phantom Ranch and many scenic jeep/ATV tours, etc. So, do some research and figure out what you really want to see and do while visiting the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is all up to you.

As you can probably tell by now, this is another park we have a very hard time just passing by without stopping for at least lunch. In fact, we have detoured in the past from our “written in stone” travel plans just to take another look at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon! As I mentioned in my last BLOG about Monument Valley, on one of our previous trips, we detoured from our original travel plans just so we could stop for lunch at a restaurant located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. After a small hike and lunch at the Canyon, we got back into our car and then drove to Monument Valley. After checking into The View Hotel in Monument Valley, we went to dinner at The View restaurant and enjoyed watching the sunset over the Monuments in Monument Valley! Now, that was a totally amazing day for me…Lunch at the Grand Canyon and dinner at Monument Valley!

If you cannot get a reservation at one of the hotels located in the Grand Canyon Village at the South Rim, then stay in Williams, Arizona (which is around 30 miles away from the Grand Canyon).

ABOUT WILLIAMS:

Williams is a city in northern Arizona. It's known as a gateway to Grand Canyon National Park via the Grand Canyon Railway. Historic Route 66 has Americana-style shops and restaurants dating back to the early 1900s. It's home to the Route 66 Zipline and Pete's Route 66 Gas Station Museum, featuring highway memorabilia. To the east, Bearizona Wildlife Park has bears, mountain goats, bison and birds of prey.

Canyon Coaster Adventure Park

We have stayed in Williams a time or two and found it to be a very nice little town. One benefit of staying in Williams, Arizona, is that the hotel rooms are much cheaper than the hotels located in the Grand Canyon Village. We have eaten at some great restaurants in Williams and wandered around in pretty nice shops to buy those wonderful souvenirs you cannot live without. The Cruisers 66 Café and the Grand Canyon Brewing Company are some great places to eat, and they are both located at 233 W. Route 66 in Williams.

We have stayed at the Best Western Plus Inn of Williams, 2600 W. Route 66 in Williams, AZ, and found it to be a very pleasant hotel in a great location. It also has a pretty good free breakfast every morning you can enjoy.

North Rim

Just a Brief Note about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon: We have also visited the more remote North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was during a separate vacation trip that first took us to some great parks in Las Vegas (Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire), then to Zion National Park, and then, finally, to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. If you try to visit the North Rim from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, it will take you at least 5 hours (drive time). Sounds crazy, I know…but very true! The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is located in a more remote area and is much harder to get to, especially from the South Rim. I am sure that is one of the reasons why so many people decide to only visit the more tourist-y and well-developed South Rim of the Grand Canyon instead of the North Rim. The South Rim is a lot more fun, accessible, convenient, and very easy to visit.

Also, no free buses are available at the North Rim like at the South Rim. There are, however, some very scenic hiking trails at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon that might be worth your trip out there! One is the Bright Angel Point Trail near the North Rim Lodge area. It is a short, easy hike from the Lodge with some amazing views of the Canyon.

So, if you decide to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, please make sure it is not closed because of snow accumulation/bad weather. It gets much colder at the North Rim than at the South Rim.

The Lodge and the surrounding buildings close during some of the late Fall and the Winter months, so try to visit the North Rim in late Spring or the Summertime. Once again, take some time to do some research about the area and the North Rim weather conditions before you plan to go.

One thing you need to know about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is that it does not have (hardly) any internet/cell service available and absolutely no televisions in the lodge guest rooms.(So, bring a pack of playing cards, a good book, or some puzzles with you!) My husband and I went to the gift shop and bought some playing cards and had some great (cut-throat) gin rummy, crazy 8's and poker games in our cabin! LOL!! Now, we pack those playing cards on all our trips just in case we do not have a television or cell service in our hotel room at our next travel destination! (Well, look at that, I believe that may be another "Alma's Travel Suggestion" - Bring a deck of playing cards with you when you travel!)

Also, unlike the South Rim, the Lodge area only has a couple of places available to eat. There is only one nice restaurant overlooking some great scenery in the Lodge at the North Rim (Note: You will have to make a reservation to get a table!) and a deli/pizza place close by the Lodge in the small village area. There is, however, a very nice gift shop and an RV Park close by the Lodge. The RV Park is (actually) the only place at the North Rim with some internet/cell service available. (Go figure!!)

And now, our trip finally comes to an end. We return to our starting point in Las Vegas (around 275 miles from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon/approximately 4 hours 15 minutes driving time)! After at least 12 days of visiting fantastic parks and hiking (our legs off in Utah and Arizona) through some of the most amazing scenery in America, we are ready for a night or two to relax in Las Vegas (HA!) before returning home. For us, we use Las Vegas as a great place to start and end our travels out West to some of the most wonderful National Parks in America! So, if you have about 12 days to spare, go see Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. You will be totally amazed at the incredible scenery just waiting for you to explore out there…

We (personally) rate this trip in our top three (3) trips of all time. It hooked us on visiting America’s National Parks. So, take some time to go see all or some of these amazing parks for yourself.

However (and this comes with a WARNING), do not blame us if you also get hooked on hiking America’s National Parks too! Happy Travels everyone!!