Grand Canyon News

“Gas prices jump 15% last week” – and so it begins (MSNBC). 

Gas prices have begun their uphill climb in anticipation of summer travel season.  Statistically, a perfectly normal occurrence.  With gas prices at record highs to begin with, though, it certainly makes a bigger impact psychologically, and with your Grand Canyon summer vacation just around the corner, you may be wondering what you can do to get the most out of your travel budget.  

Here at the Grand Canyon, we have a saying: “before you get somewhere, you have to get through a whole lot of nowhere.”  Probably the thing that’s most shocking about this part of the country to folks from, say the East Coast or Midwest is how big and open and spread out everything is.  For example, it’s a 5 hour drive to the Grand Canyon from the two nearest major metropolitan areas, which would be Phoenix, or Las Vegas.  Yeah.  5 hours – one way.  Which means you’re going to spend a lot of time behind the wheel just to get here, but you’re on vacation, that’s part of the fun! 

If you’re saying “do I have to do all that driving?,” well, no, but there’s some ”trade-offs.”  I’ll explain:

You could opt to fly into one of a few smaller regional/municipal airports located within closer driving distance of the park.  These would be:

1. Flagstaff, Arizona (FLG), which is served through Phoenix by America West Express (dba Mesa Airlines).  Flagstaff is about 1.5 hours away from Grand Canyon South Rim.  
2. Page/Lake Powell, Arizona (PGA), served by Great Lakes Airlines through Phoenix and Denver.  They codeshare with United and Frontier.  Page is located 2.5 hours from both the South Rim AND Grand Canyon North Rim. 
3. St. George, UT (SGU), served through Salt Lake City by Skywest Airlines, a Delta codeshare.  St. George is 3 hours from Grand Canyon North Rim.

All these airports have car rental outlets on-site. 

PROS: Don’t have to do so much driving; these airports are also situated in close proximity to other scenic attractions, so you might get to do even more than you planned; smaller airport means more personalized service, easier to find your way around

CONS: It does cost more to fly directly into these airports, anywhere from $200-$300 more per person than if you flew into Las Vegas or Phoenix; smaller airports mean smaller planes: these “puddle jumpers” only have anywhere from 9-32 passenger capacity, which could mean a bumpy ride on windy afternoons (which we have a LOT of); smaller airports mean smaller budgets, which mean less in the way of niceties (coffee shops, wi-fi, ATM’s can be hard to find). 

Can one fly directly into Grand Canyon National Park Airport?  Yes, from Las Vegas, but, it’s expensive, and you’ll have to be prepared to do without a car during your stay.  There are no car rental outlets in the immediate vicinity of Grand Canyon at all.  That means you’ll have to rely on taxis and shuttles to get around, which isn’t so bad in principle, but if you’re staying inside the park, you’ll have to pay $5/person each way just to go in, then the same amount to go back out in case you want to see IMAX or go bowling at the Squire, then you’ll have to fork over another $5/person to get back into the park.  Inside the park, it’s a bit easier, you can take the shuttles out to Hermit’s Rest, and then get on a tour to the East Rim.  But, folks who have opted for this in the past have said it was a bit of a pain, so…

Where can you find the best gas prices in the area?  Well, here’s a little “insider tip:” not necessarily where you would expect to find them.  For information on where you can find gas prices listed by city for both Arizona and Utah, order your copy of GrandCanyon.com’s First Annual Summer Travel Guide. 

Got a tip for saving money on gas while on vacation?  Share it with us! 

In an article printed in the Arizona Republic, Grand Canyon Park officials said,

“There were 4.3 million recreational visitors to the canyon in 2004 and 4.4 million last year. In the peak visitor days of summer, tourists sometimes sweat in their cars for up to an hour just to reach the entrance station.”

Statements like these certainly don’t paint a pretty picture of life at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim during peak travel season (between April and October), and yet a long-term solution to the problem is not immediately forthcoming. 

Here’s how you can help avoid these problems during YOUR visit:

Get there early.  Lines tend to be at their longest and parking spaces hardest to find during mid-day hours.

Prepay your park entrance fee before you get to the park.  By pre-paying your park entrance fee, you are allowed to pass through the “Express Lane” at the park gates.  You can purchase your Grand Canyon Park Entrance ticket at one of two National Park Service “Pay Stations” located outside the park’s South entrance:

1. The Valle Travel Stop, next to the Grand Canyon Inn in Valle, Arizona, between Williams and Grand Canyon South Rim at the junction of Highway 180 & 64, or
2. The National Geographic IMAX Theatre in Tusayan, 1 mile South of the Park Entrance

Visiting more than one National Park on your vacation?   Get a National Park Pass – for $50, this valuable card grants you and your vehicle’s passengers access to all National Parks, Monuments and Federal Fee Areas in the United States for one full year.  You can even pre-order it before you hit the road! 

Use the in-park shuttle service whenever possible.  There are 3 shuttle lines operating inside Grand Canyon South Rim, with busses circulating approximately every 10 minutes from sunrise to sunset:
1.      The Village Loop Line, which runs to all the in-park hotels, restaurants, campgrounds, visitor centers, and gift shops. 
2.      The Hermit’s Rest/West Rim Line, which runs to all the major viewpoints on the West Rim Drive of the South Rim, and
3.      The Yaki Point Shuttle, which runs less frequently, primarily serving hikers going down the Kaibab Trail (consult your park newspaper for more information).

Take the road less traveled.  Consider routing yourself through the Eastern entrance of the park.  It will add about an hour and a half to your normal drive time when coming from the South (i.e., Phoenix, Las Vegas, Flagstaff, Albuquerque), but on the way, you’d get to see other beautiful attractions nearby such as Wupatki/Sunset Crater National Monuments, the Navajo Indian Reservation, and the beautiful East Rim drive of the Grand Canyon. 

Take a tour to get the most out of your sightseeing time.  If you’re already signed up for a guided tour of some sort, skip this part.  For the rest of you: a Grand Canyon tour doesn’t have to be some rushed, impersonal experience that evokes images of being herded like cattle, nor does it have to fracture your vacation budget.   Besides, won’t it be worse on you and your family searching in vain for hours trying to find a parking space, jostling with dozens of other people for a photo op at the canyon rim, and enduring the frustration of trying to find your way around unfamiliar territory?  Give us a call and we can suggest a number of guided tours that will help you maximize your sightseeing time and let you come away from your vacation having learned more and experienced more than you ever thought possible.  Every tour on our website is family-oriented and appropriate for everyone from toddlers to great-grandparents and everyone in between (with a few exceptions).

Or if all else fails……

Go to the North Rim.   Between mid-May and mid-October, you have the option of seeing the Grand Canyon from the cooler, more scenic and less crowded North Rim.  At 8,000’ above sea level, the North Rim is more lushly forested, supporting plant and animal life not found at the South Rim.  In addition to pine trees, you’ll see maples, aspens, oaks and birches.  Keep your eyes cast upward and you might catch a glimpse of the tufted-eared Kaibab Squirrel, a life form only found at the North Rim.  The North Rim also has fewer and smaller visitor facilities, offering a more natural, relaxed way to experience the Grand Canyon.  Cabins there do book up in advance, but the gateway communities of St. George, Utah, Kanab, Utah and Page/Lake Powell, Arizona offer excellent lodging choices within easy driving distances of Grand Canyon’s North Rim. 

We hope these tips are useful in helping you get the most out of your Grand Canyon vacation.  For more tips that can save you time, money and hassle (and sometimes all three at once!), order your copy of Grand Canyon.com’s Summer Travel Guide.