Grand Canyon News

Good morning, friends, and a warm one it is at that – it’s not even 9.30 AM and already it’s a balmy 81 degrees!  Here in Arizona, we were blessed with the most unseasonably cool June weather since 1913.  Now we’re back to seasonal norms, which fortunately will pass quickly and soon enough we’ll be trotting out our sweaters for those sunset strolls. 

Anyway, sorry for the lag between posts – we’ve been busier than one-armed paperhangers here at GrandCanyon.com.  We’ve been helping a ton of you plan a Grand Canyon vacation for this weekend to take advantage of the 2nd of 3 weekends in which the National Park Service will waive the entry fees to over 100 National Parks in the country!  Not only will it be free to enter the Grand Canyon, but you can also visit Lake Powell (Glen Canyon), and Utah’s Zion and Bryce Canyon too.  Those of you who weren’t able to jump on this weekend shouldn’t fret – there’s one more “freebie weekend” planned for August 15th and 16th.  Better get on those Grand Canyon hotel reservations pronto! 

In addition to visitors planning a last minute summer getaway to Arizona’s crown jewel, we’ve also been busy helping folks who are planning their visits for the absolute best time of the year: autumn.  Here at GrandCanyon.com, we’ve always said that if you’re able to pick and choose when to take your Grand Canyon vacation, choose the timeframe between late September and early October.  After all, we live here and we love it too!   Early fall in Arizona is marked by cooling temperatures and thinning crowds.  What with most of the schoolkids getting “back to the grind,” it’s a wonderful time of year for couples, solo travelers or groups of adults to enjoy a quiet and relaxing visit to the parks.  In our experience, we’ve found that folks with the freedom to choose the best time of year to visit the Grand Canyon generally want the best all the way around, which leads to our Question of the Week:

Q.  “What is the absolute best Grand Canyon tour?”

A.  “The Canyon River Adventure”

Now GrandCanyon.com offers a ton of excellent Grand Canyon tours, but when you consider factors like value, comprehensiveness, and accessibility to people of most ages and physical fitness levels, the Canyon River Adventure comes out the winner every single time. 

Let’s talk comprehensiveness: the Canyon River Adventure isn’t just one single 12-hour tour, it’s four tours in one!  Check it out: you start off at 6.30 AM with a 50-minute airplane flight from Grand Canyon National Park Airport to Page Lake Powell Municipal Airport.  Not only are you flying at the best time of day (cooler temperatures equal smoother flights), but this is one of the most scenic Grand Canyon flights available,  over the Eastern rim of the Grand Canyon, the confluence of the Little Colorado, Marble Canyon, Glen Canyon and Horseshoe Bend before swinging over the Glen Canyon Dam and Padre Bay of Lake Powell.  Upon landing at the Page Municipal Airport – the airport with the most beautiful view in the country – you’ll take a break and eat a light breakfast (included in the price of your tour). 

After your breakfast comes Phase 2 of the tour: a safari-jeep tour to Upper Antelope Canyon (photo on left).  Antelope Canyon is a formation known locally as a “slot canyon.”  As the name suggests, it’s a very narrow canyon formed by the pounding of flash floods and sandstorms over millions of years.  It’s a place where the boundaries  of light, color and form don’t seem to apply.  Resembling a cave without a roof, words do not do justice to this canyon – descriptions like surreal, ethereal, dreamlike, otherworldly, bizarre, have all been applied to Antelope Canyon.  And just as it defies description in words, it often defies capture on film.  But in a mere hour, you’ll grasp an appreciation for the natural forces at work upon this area of the Southwest and how they continue to mold and sculpt this canyon to this very day. 

Phase 3: kick back and relax and a calm, gentle float trip down the Colorado River.  Surprise!  The “wild” Colorado River has a “mild” side, too.  From the base of the Glen Canyon Dam to Lees Ferry, you’ll feast your eyes on red sandstone walls that rise 1,000’, lush hanging gardens, Native American writings, maybe even wildlife such as herons, egrets and hawks.  Along the way, you’ll stop to enjoy a delicious bistro lunch (and you get to keep the tote as a souvenir of your trip) and take a splash in the very Colorado River (as long as you can stand 47 degree water, that is!).  And remember flying over Horseshoe Bend?  You’ll cruise through it on this tour as well.  Finally, you exit the river at Lees Ferry, a pioneer outpost that served as the only crossable point of the Colorado River for decades. 

After approximately 5 hours on the Colorado River, you then begin phase 4 of your journey: a motorcoach tour through Marble Canyon, the Navajo Indian Reservation, and the beautiful East Rim Drive of the Grand Canyon.  Along the way, you’ll stop at the Cameron Trading Post, a real Old West commerce center dating back to the early 20th century.  You get back to the airport at around 6.30, having seen and experienced not on the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River, but a huge part of Northern Arizona in so many cool ways. 

So it’s no wonder that the Canyon River Adventure truly is the most comprehensive day tour package in Northern Arizona.  It would take you 2, possibly 3 days (and a lot of driving) to see and do all of that on your own.  

Another great thing about the Canyon River Adventure is that it’s not the least bit strenuous.  The only  walking involved is in Antelope Canyon, which is 100 yards (no really! 100 yards) in length, and Petroglyph Beach, which is less than 1/4 mile round-trip.  Both trails are flat, and slightly sandy in some areas.  There are a few stairs and ramps here and there, going up into the plane, for instance, and getting on and off the boat, but that’s it.  That’s why this tour is great for everyone from pre-schoolers to great-grandparents and just about everyone in between.  Even people with limited mobility have taken part in this tour.  Due to safety regulations, children have to be at least 4 to participate, and visitors traveling in the summertime must be aware that it’s very hot on the river.  But the ease of accessibility on the Canyon River Adventure is yet another thing that makes it such a wonderful tour for most families. 

Last but definitely not least, let’s talk value: at $299 per person inclusive, this tour is one heckuva buy (remember in my last post how a relative of mine didn’t hesitate to offer $500 a person to take this tour?).  And right now for a limited time, it’s an even better deal as GrandCanyon.com has inked an exclusive deal with Grand Canyon Airlines offering complimentary tickets to the IMAX movie “Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets” to all Canyon River Adventure passengers!  This movie is only 40 minutes long, but it’s really fun, shown on a super-large screen with full Dolby surround sound.  It includes footage taken from a helicopter yanking and banking through the Little Colorado River gorge (back in the day when they could do that sort of thing), a re-enactment of John Wesley Powell’s first voyage down the theretofore uncharted Colorado, and some educational vignettes as well.  Tickets to this excellent presentation normally retail for $11-13 per person, so there again, the Canyon River Adventure is a great value in and of itself, and with the complimentary IMAX tickets thrown in, it is hands down the clear winner of the “Best Grand Canyon Tour Award.” 

So if you want the best, we’ve got the best… but it’s definitely best if you book the Canyon River Adventure now! 

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