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.
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