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Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon Village, United States

Grand Canyon National Park

Park
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Park  ·  Grand Canyon Village, United States 36.0553°N   112.1220°W

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Grand Canyon National Park

Time needed
8 hours
Best time
Sunrise, sunsetHike before 10am
Cost
Entry feeSeven days, shuttles free
Effort
Rim walk is easyTrails below are steep
Season
Quiet Nov to FebInner canyon hot May-Sep
Access
Ramped shuttlesRim Trail partly paved

Best at the two ends of the day: watch sunrise from the rim walk east of Mather Point, take the shuttle out to Hopi Point for sunset, and keep any hike below the rim to the cool hours.

Visiting

Park once at the visitor centre and let the free buses do the driving. The orange route runs east to Yaki Point and the South Kaibab trailhead, and the red route works Hermit Road, which is closed to private cars from March to November. Hopi Point packs out at sunset, so walk on to Mohave Point, just west, if the rail is full.

Below the rim, the Bright Angel Trail drops to Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse, three miles there and back, with an emergency phone. For a short sunrise walk, take the early Hikers' Express from Bright Angel Lodge to the South Kaibab trailhead; Ooh Aah Point is less than a mile down.

Do not try for the river and back in a day, and stay off the trails between 10am and 4pm in summer. Desert View, twenty-five miles east, has a stone watchtower at the far end of the South Rim.

Know before you goAs of late September 2026, flash flooding has closed the South Kaibab Trail below the Tip-Off, all of Phantom Ranch, both river bridges and the whole North Kaibab Trail, with no reopening estimate. The Bright Angel Trail stays open to the River Resthouse, but the water is off at both of its rest houses and at Havasupai Gardens, so fill up at the trailhead tank and carry all you need. The North Rim is open for day visits through 30 November or the first major snowstorm, but Cape Royal Road and Point Imperial Road close from 15 October to 3 November for repairs. There are no rooms there in 2026, though the campground is open until 15 October, and with the park's pumps closed for the season, fuel is at the North Rim Country Store or Jacob Lake. Visitors aged 16 and over who live outside the United States pay a separate nonresident fee on top of the entrance pass, unless they hold an annual or America the Beautiful pass.

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