Grand Canyon, Arizona - North Rim
Just 3 1/2 hours drive from Red Canyon Lodge, Parowan Utah
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The Grand Canyon is a very colorful, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River at the northern end of the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park — one of the first national parks in the United States.
The canyon was created by the Colorado River over a time period of about 6 million years and is 277 miles long. The Grand Canyon ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles and at some spots has a depth of more than a mile. Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock as the land known as the Colorado Plateau was gradually uplifted.
The area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540. The Grand Canyon was largely unknown until after the U.S. Civil War.
In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran with a thirst for science and adventure, made the first recorded journey through the canyon on the Colorado River. He accomplished this trek with nine men in four small wooden boats, though only six men completed the journey. Powell referred to the sedimentary rock units exposed in the canyon as "leaves in a great story book".
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Weather at the north rim of the Grand Canyon (8000 ft. above sea level) changes rapidly with the north rim having an altitude above sea level nearly 1000 ft. higher than the south rim. The height difference results in the north rim receiving significantly greater amounts of snowfall during the winter months and the north rim is closed to visitors beginning with the first heavy snow fall around November or mid-December and lasting through mid-May.
The three developed viewpoints on the North Rim offer a sense of looking across the expanse of the canyon, rather than into its depths. Views of the Colorado River are rare and distant. The north rim of the Grand Canyon is less developed than the south rim where most visitors arrive. The rustic feel of the north rim thrills visitors with a sense that what they are seeing is untouched by man.
Most visitors make a stop at Bright Angel Point, at the southern end of the entrance road. From the parking area it is a short, easy walk to Grand Canyon Lodge and a classic view of the canyon. This facility is wheelchair accessible. A paved, half-mile (round-trip) trail leads from the lodge, out the spine of the ridge, to the point. This trail is steep in places, with drop-offs and stairs, but provides dramatic views into Roaring Springs and Bright Angel Canyons.