Grand Canyon News

Good morning to all ~ it’s 23 degrees and kinda gray outside as the Grand Canyon makes ready for President’s Day Weekend.  Typically a busy time, we’ll be greeting a lot of folks from Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other Western cities taking advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a long weekend away from the hustle and bustle of urban life.  For those of us who live here, this weekend usually serves as a “dress rehearsal” for what’s ahead: the spring break rush.  

As that sage philosopher Bob Dylan once said, “the times they are a-changin’” and that’s definitely been the case over the years with the Spring Break Holiday.  With Easter occuring on April 8th, and with many schools switching to year-round schedules, spring break rush at the Grand Canyon has been starting earlier and ending later than in years past.  We’ve helped many spring break travelers with their Grand Canyon hotel and tour reservations over the last few weeks, and the dates of their holidays are varying from early March to late April.  More alarmingly, though, we’ve also spoken to a lot of people who were surprised by this. 

So, at the risk of sounding redundant (I think this is the 3rd time we’ve discussed this subject), if you’re planning on visiting the Grand Canyon anytime soon, GET YOUR RESERVATIONS IN NOW!  Many a Grand Canyon vacation has been ruined by people who make the assumption that they don’t need reservations for a hotel room or for seats on a popular Grand Canyon tour. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen, and I don’t want it to happen to you, especially if you’ll be coming over from abroad.  I remember distinctly dealing with a very irate lady back in the late ‘80’s who was flabbergasted that she couldn’t get a room at the El Tovar when she showed up without reservations on a day in early March – her rationale for not booking ahead of time?  “It’s supposed to be the off-season!” 

Truth is, Grand Canyon National Park doesn’t really have much of an off-season any longer.  Gone are the days when the park would only be busy from Memorial Day through Labor Day and eerily quiet in fall and winter.  Nowadays, the park gets busy in March and stays busy until Thanksgiving.  We get a bit of a reprieve during the “dead of winter” months like December, January and February, but then again, holidays like Christmas, Martin Luther King day, and President’s Day are busy.  Once the spring break rush begins, we’re “off to the races” until November. 

A quick note about a popular travel route from Sedona, Arizona: a section of Highway 89A just South of Flagstaff was recently rendered unstable after a winter storm, so one lane of the highway is closed at the moment.  Traffic is “stop and go,” which can be a drag if  you’re in a  hurry to get to the canyon.  There is an alternate route you can take that will save you a bit of hassle and won’t add much to your drive time, and that is to take AZ-179 to Interstate 17, which you’d take to Flagstaff.  From there, you can choose to go up Highway 180 through the San Francisco Peaks, which joins with AZ-64 in Valle, or you can get on Interstate 40 to Williams and catch AZ-64 North from there.  For road conditions all over the state, visit www.az511.com

Related posts:

1. Grand Canyon Weather: MORE SNOW! Good morni
2. Grand Canyon News "Rewound" Good morni
3. Grand Canyon Havasupai Waterfalls Good morni
4. Question of the Week: “What is your best Grand Canyon tour?” Good mor
5. Phoenix Day Trips Examiner: Grand Canyon Skywalk documentary premieres April 2, 2009 on the National Geographic Channel Phoenix Da

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.