Great Western Road Trip: The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is located in northwest Arizona. There's really not a better way to describe it than that because it takes up so much of the northwest portion of Arizona. It's huge! It's the canyon by which all others in the world are measured.

Nonetheless, the primary visitor access is on the western side along the Southern Rim. The Northern Rim can be accessed during the summer, but only through a series of backcountry roads where a 4x4 would be almost necessary. Also, the Northern Rim doesn't have the series of visitor services that the Southern Rim offers.

The two main access routes to the Grand Canyon's Southern Rim are State Highway 64 from Route 89 to the east (you take 64-West at the Cameron intersection) or U.S. Highway 180 from Flagstaff to the south. Either direction will take you through a loop that comes out the other direction if you want to continue through without backtracking.

The Grand Canyon was made primarily by the Colorado River, though several other major rivers (the Kanab and the Little Colorado) empty into it and the canyons those rivers make are similarly impressive though on a smaller scale. Though we didn't get the chance to experience it, rafting expeditions can be taken on the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. Some of the rapids are supposed to be rough enough that a person needs to be quite experienced before attempting to raft the Colorado River here and reservations need to be made well in advance.

Grand Canyon National Park has plenty of places for lodging and camping but it all depends on what you want. The hotel-style lodging, which is in the "Grand Canyon Village" (the northwestern-most stretch of 64) is very expensive and crowded. Reservations need to be made very well in advance, sometimes years. Parking is limited and you'll be limited to the Grand Canyon Shuttle, a free but fairly slow and crowded public transportation system.