The 1.1-mile walk from Mojave Point skirts the rim with more dazzling views of the cliffs and canyon. The Abyss overlook provides a near-vertical view through a narrow side-canyon to the river. The red-rock Mojave Wall plunges 3,000 feet to the Tonto Platform, the table-top plateau that runs through the canyon above the Inner Gorge. The trail continues along the...

When you can’t drive any farther, get out and walk 1/2 mile to the tip of the cliff. Behold, the Grand Canyon in all its glory. Hundreds of multi-hued peaks, ridges, and spires fill the gorge. Across the abyss, the South Rim glows on the horizon and San Francisco Peaks dots the horizon. Listen and you can hear Roaring Springs...

Stand at the tip of the Walhalla Plateau and you’re surrounded by 270 degrees of spectacular canyon formations. The 15-mile drive to get there winds through pine forest past Vista Encantada, Roosevelt Point (10-minute walk), and Wahalla Ruins (rock foundations of two Anasazi houses) to reach the majestic scene. A paved, .3-mile path leads to the view of the river...

With mountains, forests, lakes, and scenic drives, the Coconino NF makes Flagstaff a Mecca for all-season outdoor activities. The Bonito Campground at the entrance to Sunset Crater Nat. Mon. has 44 improved sites with flush toilets, drinking water. Seven other USFS campgrounds with similar facilities (Canyon Vista, Lakeview, Pinegrove, Ashurst Lake–Forked Pine, and Dairy Springs–Double Springs) are located from 6...

The Watchtower vista encompasses the canyon with clear views of the river and distant desert. At the nearby campground, sleep under the stars and escape the crowds 26 miles from South Rim Village traffic. The campground has 50 sites sized for tents and small RVs (30-foot max), no utilities, water faucets nearby, flush bathrooms, no reservations. Get basic supplies from...

Don’t even think of buzzing in and out the east entrance without stopping. The 25-mile road connects six viewpoints and five unmarked pullouts, four picnic areas, Tusayan Ruin and Museum, and the Desert View service area with the Watchtower, Trading Post, snack bar, book store, service station, and campgrounds. Grandview, Moran, Lipan, and Navajopoints offer some of the most panoramic...

The fun starts on the GCRW with an outlaw shootout every morning at 9 a.m. Then relax and ride the rails in style for 2 hours, 15 minutes with onboard cowboy entertainment and snacks. The train departs at 9:30 a.m. and arrives at the GC at 11:45 a.m. Rates vary from Pullman to Observation Dome and Luxury Parlor. Diesel engines...

The first viewpoint east of Yaki Point must have been first in the naming line for viewpoints. With panoramic views east to west and an endless progression of buttes and ridges stretching to the North Rim, this vista earns its name. The multi-colored strata from the rim to the Inner Gorge are visible that reveal the results of 2 billion...

Explore the spectacular viewpoints along the western South Rim Trail by foot (8 miles) or by shuttle bus and you’ll end up at Hermits Rest, probably hungry and thirsty. If you didn’t pack a lunch (advised), you’re in luck. Fortify at the snack bar, enjoy a cold drink and ice cream, then browse the gift shop for yet another souvenir....

At sunset you’ll be shooting over someone’s shoulder if you don’t arrive early, which is a good idea. Watch the shadows rise from the canyon floor like an inky flood and slowly inch up the ridges and buttes. Jutting into the canyon, the point captures views looking west as the red-rock formation blaze in the setting sun. The heavenly spectacle...

Most viewpoints along Desert View Drive look across the canyon toward the North Rim but from Lipan Point you look west up the length of the canyon with the formations fanning out like a hand of cards. Powerful Hance Rapids is visible in the foreground. To the east the s-curve of the river cradles the Unkar Delta where Ancestral Puebloans...

Few souvenir shops have the history or scenic view of this cliffside store. After checking the canyon-themed knickknacks, step out on the terrace for stunning views of Bright Angel Canyon and trail. The famous Southwest architect Mary Colter designed the Anasazi-inspired building in 1914 as a sales shop and observation point to compete with the nearby Kolb Studio. With three...

Looking towards the North Rim and eastward up the Canyon, the splendor of the eroded buttes and peaks of the formations is almost too much for the human mind to grasp. The scalloped Redwall cliffs and sculpted ridge below the viewpoint attest to the creative force of erosion over millions of years. The arid plateau and harsh winters stunt tree...

With just a few minutes walk from the Visitor Center Plaza and shuttle station, you’ll enter a different world. The mesmerizing grandeur of the canyon beckons. Brilliant sunrises and sunsets attract the hoards, but if it gets too crowded, stroll down the Rim Tail either way and find the solitude you need. The 180 degree views from the promontory open...

This expansive view of the canyon spreads from a sheer red-rock ridge that curves across the canyon below the point, great for blazing sunset colors, to the cross-canyon buttes and spires, and then to the sinuous ribbon of water flowing west. At sunset, the sheer cliff of the upper viewpoint morphs from yellowish limestone to fiery hues of red. Hikers...

Look down from this roadside viewpoint deep into the canyon and glimpse of the river. Monument Creek carves the rock strata from the rim through the Tonto Platform and slices into the 2-billion basaltic rock of the Inner Gorge. A knife-like ridge stands in the foreground and sweeping red-rock buttes march toward the North Rim. From this shuttle stop to...

The Canyon is a clock–running backwards with the spinning hands marking eras, not minutes. Gaze into the canyon and count the eons before the North America continent existed as such. From the 270-million-year old Kaibab Formation on the rim, the 10-mile wide, 1-mile deep canyon exposes 2 billion years of the Earth’s geological history. The Vishnu Basement rocks in the...

Take it sitting down. Saddle up and see the canyon on the back of a mule. For city slickers, the 3-hour Canyon Vistas ride along the South Rim east of Yaki Point ($143/person) passes through pine-juniper forest on level ground. The ride, with 6 interpretive stops but no dismounting, replaces the discontinued Abyss ride. Almost the entire ride parallels the...

Perched on the highest viewpoint on the South Rim at 7,461 feet, you’ll see the sinuous bends in the upsteam river to the north and the Watchtower on the opposite ridge at Desert View. The sheer walls of the Palisades of the Desert blaze in the setting sun and frame the south rim of the canyon as it stretches into...

River rafters look like dots on the water as they plunge through Mineral Rapids. No, you can’t hear their screams, but imagine their thrills. Across the river a pair of twin red rock buttes glows in the sun and upstream views follow the black scar of the Inner Gorge. The sheer Redwall formation wraps around the buttes like a colorful...