Besides the Aurora Borealis, the only one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World you can see in North America is the Grand Canyon. Stretching an impressive 227 miles long and an average of 10 miles wide, it’s hard to grasp the size of the Grand Canyon, as it’s bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island!
Is the Grand Canyon something you NEED to see?
There are so many things in the world we are excited to see and the Grand Canyon wasn’t necessarily at the top of our list. When we overlooked the colorful Dead Horse State Park canyon (where Thelma and Louise’s Grand Canyon plunge was actually filmed), we remarked that this was probably close enough and we could skip the real thing. I’d flown over the Grand Canyon dozens of times on the way to LAX. We’d also been to Horsehoe Bend, which isn’t within the national park, but is a part of the Grand Canyon geographical area. So, visiting the Grand Canyon National Park wasn’t a huge priority on our bucket list. Yet, we were intrigued by people visiting there in the winter and the idea of hiking down into the canyon when the temperatures weren’t scorching.
After our long weekend visit to the Grand Canyon National Park South Rim, I now realize I had underestimated the power of this amazing place and rank our hike down into the canyon as THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HIKE I have ever been on (Kevin's not sure he agrees). Now, we’ve hiked in some pretty amazing places, Italy’s Cinque Terre, Ireland’s Connemara National Park, County Donegal, Utah's Canyonlands, Lake Superior Hiking Trail, etc. - but the Grand Canyon South Kaibab trail features amazingly beautiful views at every single footstep, not just at the top of a mountain or at key viewpoints. And because hikes usually go up to a mountain or plateau or to a viewpoint, the Grand Canyon is different in that was all about descending as far as we could go, then having to turn around and go back up ---which was psychologically much different from anything I had done before. More on the hike specifics later—but I’ll summarize it by saying a visit to the Grand Canyon SHOULD be on everyone’s list and descending into the canyon is a MUST to maximize your experience.
Late Trip Planning
Our winter trip to the Grand Canyon came about rather impulsively and last minute. My Delta Gold status was in danger of a downgrade to Silver, so I started thinking about where I could fly before the end of the year. With Cormac’s birthday on December 1, we gave him a few options. He was most enthusiastic about the Grand Canyon, so we booked flights into Phoenix for a Thursday evening. We were lucky to find lodging within the Grand Canyon Village at Maswik Lodge’s new south buildings, not the closest to the rim by any means, but a 10-minute walk away and our room was nearly brand new.
Is a weekend (2 full days) enough?
Yes! I was a bit worried that we just didn’t have enough time to do the Grand Canyon justice, but with only visiting the South Rim (the only part that is open in December), it was actually just the right amount of time for us. If we had another full day, we’d likely go on another big hike and we might have had some protests from the 16-year-old.
Flying into Phoenix
The drive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon’s south rim is over 3.5 hours. When I was scoping out the trail and webcams at the GCNP to better understand the weather and trail conditions, I came across the webcam that showed the lineup of cars at the south entrance.
Shocked at these long lines, I read some more about this and found that lines can sometimes be up to 1 hour long, at this entrance. Granted, this was a view of the south entrance from Thanksgiving weekend, but still - the last thing I wanted was to drive for 4 hours and then be stuck in an entrance line for a long period. Our weekend in the park was limited to the remainder of Friday and all day Saturday, so time was precious. I then researched driving to the east entrance and found that drive time is actually a little less and this would allow us to take the 23-mile Desert View drive without having to backtrack. The east entrance was the ticket.
Weekend Itinerary
Thursday evening
Fly into Phoenix and stay in a hotel on the north edge
Friday
Started to drive toward Flagstaff as early as possible
Breakfast/brunch in Flagstaff
East Entrance of Grand Canyon
Desert View Road stops including Watchtower, Navajo Point, Lipan Point, and Grandview Point
Stop at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center
Walk out to Mather Point Viewpoint
Walk Rim Trail to Yavpai Point and Geology Museum, continuing to Verkamp’s visitor Center, shuttle bus back to the main visitor center
Check into Maswik Lodge
Drive Hermit Road to Pima Point-- for the sunset
Dinner at Arizona Steakhouse
Saturday
Breakfast at Maswik Lodge food court
Drive to Grand Canyon Visitor Center and get the orange shuttle bus to South Kaibab Trailhead
4.5 hours of hiking South Kaibab Trail
Back to the room to rest
Dinner in Tusayan
Sunday
Sunrise along the South Rim trail
Breakfast/brunch in Flagstaff
Get stuck in traffic on way back to Phoenix and panic about missing the flight (luckily we made it!)
We arrived extra late on Thursday night in Phoenix because of flight delays and had to drive to the northern part of Phoenix for our hotel. We woke up and were on the road heading north by about 9:00 am. We stopped along the way at a Flagstaff diner on Route 66 for a hearty brunch, knowing our food options would be limited once we entered the park. We also listened to a few podcasts about the Grand Canyon and the types of geological formations (rock) we would be seeing.
Right before the main entrance, we stopped to get our photo taken at the entrance sign. The entrance fees for a private vehicle are $35 for 7-day pass. Keep the receipt in case you leave the park and return. We did leave one evening in search of better evening food options in the nearby town of Tusayan.
Desert View Drive is 23 miles from the East Entrance to Grand Canyon Village/ Visitor Center. There are 6 different stopping viewpoints and we stopped at 4 of them.
The first stop after the entrance is the Desert View Watchtower. The lower part contains view windows and a gift shop. The upper part of the tower wasn’t open---but it was still worth a stop inside. This is one of many structures at the Grand Canyon designed by Mary Elizabeth Colter, one of the few female architects in the early 1900s. Intrigued to learn more about this woman. I learned she grew up in St. Paul and taught at one of the public schools here! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that this trail-blazing architect doesn’t get much press unless you dig deep. Here's a MinnPost article on Mary Colter.
We stopped along 3 other views - amazed at the sheer size of the canyon and the beautiful colors set against the blue Arizona sky. Cormac conceded that the canyon was actually bigger than he was thinking. He was impressed, which is not an easy feat for this newly 16-year-old.
The Desert View road was fairly quiet, with a handful of visitors at each stop. When we got to the main Visitor Center, the scale of the park changed with huge parking lots sized to accommodate the throngs of visitors. The handy information outside the visitor center gave valuable information on the various hikes, what to expect, and how many sandwiches and bottles of water to bring with you on your hike. We did our research on the 2-3 sandwich and 2-3 water bottle hikes, comparing the Bright Angel trail with the South Kaibab. We also spoke with a ranger inside, asking if crampons were really needed, as there didn’t seem to be much ice or snow - but knowing the conditions down into the canyon could be quite different. Although they had gotten snow earlier in the week, the temperatures were in the 40s and 50s and there would be no need for crampons, Yax Trax, or other special footwear.
We headed out to Mather’s Point, a quick stroll from the Visitor Center. If entering from the South Entrance, this would be a visitor’s first real view of the Grand Canyon. We then followed the South Rim trail to the west, heading towards the Yavapai Geology Museum. The exhibits contain good information on the geology, fossils, and history of this natural wonder.
We continued on the South Rim Trail to the west, which is called the Trail of Time,
as it features a geologic timeline. Each meter signifies first 1,000's then 10,000's , 100,000's, and eventually 1 million years of the Grand Canyon’s geologic history, and there are exhibits and rock examples along the way. If the sheer size of the Grand Canyon is not enough to make your own presence insignificant, this timeline will certainly solidify the concept.
The Hermit Road is normally closed to private vehicle traffic and you need to take a shuttle to get to the sites - but in early December, this road is open to driving. We headed to Pima Point to watch the sun disappear.
While Friday was a good overview of the South Rim looking down and across the canyon, Saturday was going to be dedicated to a longer hike. Reading all the cautionary tales about hikers who aren’t adequately prepared, we made sure we had everything we needed before setting out. Because the first half of your hike will be going downhill, the general rule is to allow 2x the time to return up the canyon. We were able to hike on the low end of the recommended time range. The South Kaibab Trail to Skeleton Point took us about 2 hours, with stops for photos, lunch, water, a toilet break, and the return back up took about the same amount of time, for a total of 4 hours. The NPS information says the hike will take 4-6 hours. We were prepared for the hike back to take 2x the 2 hours, so we were surprised the return didn’t take longer than our descent. This is the tricky thing about planning an out-and-back hike down into a canyon. We wanted to be conservative thinking the hike back might just take us 4 hours. If we had known it only took 2, we might have gone a bit further. BUT I will say that the hike back up is no joke. It was strenuous and we were glad to be done at the end of the hike.
Before we even started the hike, we could see the Big Horn sheep on the trail below us. There were 2 females and a male in the brush. We were thrilled to get so close to these sheep, who were too busy grazing to mind us.
The South Kaibab trail is a very popular trail that is also a path for the mules bringing supplies to and from the Phantom Ranch at the base of the canyon. The path is about 3-4 feet wide at its narrowest, plenty to be able to pass people and not feel like you are in danger of falling over the edge. The footing going down is a bit tricky, as there is loose gravel on harder-packed soil or rocks, which makes slipping common. I took it quite slow in some areas because I really didn’t want to fall or jar my knee by slipping. This is where hiking poles would have come in handy! I’d highly recommend them. We had briefly talked about taking our poles and then decided against it, as TSA doesn’t allow them in carry-ons. I have taken them on a plane before, but I think I got lucky, as I have read a lot of information on how they aren’t allowed. We didn’t want them confiscated and didn’t want to check our luggage. We checked the price of hiking poles in the gift store at GCNP, but they were crazy expensive.
The switchbacks at the beginning of the trail reminded me of Zion's Walter's Wiggles.
Ooh-Aah Point.
I took plenty of photos on the hike down, knowing the photos weren’t ever going to be able to fully capture the incredible views, the beautiful colors, the varied rocks and plants, and the vastness of the environment we were descending into. The first official viewpoint is called Ooh - Point and is about 30 minutes down into the canyon. The 2nd stop is at the 1.5-mile mark and is called Cedar Ridge, a large plateau with plenty of room to spread out and have a snack, enjoy the view, and there is a composting toilet for your convenience. Make sure to use it, as there absolutely no place to discreetly take a pee along the rest of the trail.
Mule train taking a rest at Cedar Ridge
I wore a short sleeve tee shirt under a long sleeve layer and a lightweight down jacket, and it was perfect for the temps in the upper 40’s at the rim and it got a bit warmer as we descended the canyon. We all removed a shirt layer at one point and we did need gloves after our lunch rest.
After Cedar Ridge, we were trying to gauge just how far to keep going. The neuroma in my foot was starting to remind me it was still a thing - but I stopped to put in an extra pad and the rest helped to keep the flare down. We were glad we went all the way to Skeleton Point, which is 3 miles in. From there, you can get a beautiful view of the Colorado River below, along with Phantom Ranch below. (bottom middle photo above)
One strange phenomenon happened at places along the hike, people’s skin and hair and all their clothes appeared to be greenish. I first noticed a woman who appeared to be clad in all green and her hair was (I thought) dyed the same green. Then Kevin and Cormac told me that my hair looked green too. We realized that the greenish plants set against the reddish rocks might have been causing white, gray, or blonde hair to look green. At one point, Kevin’s hands looked like they were turning gray, so it was a bit freaky - but we survived without any lasting color effects!
We were very glad we decided to take the time to hike into the canyon. Every step, every turned corner, and every new vista revealed incredible and awesome beauty. The end of the hike treated us to the family of big Horn sheep hanging out on a precarious ledge of rock, investigating the mule train coming up the trail. It was a perfect hike on a perfect day in the Grand Canyon.
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Food Options
The pandemic has made the limited food options in national parks even more extreme. I had made an evening reservation for the Arizona Steak House (within the park), but we would need provisions for lunch. Not wanting to waste the time stopping at a grocery store, I knew I’d have plenty of extra room in my carry-on backpack, so I packed granola bars, nut mix, crackers, salami, and cheese sticks. I took enough supplies for lunches for both Friday and Saturday which turned out to be a great idea.
For dinner, the best options were the El Tovar Dining Room or Arizona Steakhouse. Since the El Tovar was listed as "upscale" and better dress is encouraged, we decided on the Steakhouse. We packed very minimal clothes for the weekend and focused on hiking attire and not dress-up clothing for dinner.
We were pretty disappointed in the Arizona Steakhouse. The earliest reservation we could get was for 7:45, yet when we arrived, there was hardly anyone in the dining room and they didn’t even want to know about our reservation time. I know they are short of staff, but I wish we had skipped the reservation and just showed up earlier - or had reserved a spot at El Tovar and dared them to kick us out for not being fancy enough. The food at Arizona was pretty "meh" and showed up 5 minutes after ordering it, which makes you think that nothing is made to order. The tacos I got were swimming in juice, so the shells immediately fell apart.
The next night we went into Plaza Bonita in the nearby town of Tusayan. The chicken mole was really great and the rest of the food was pretty good also.
The Maswik Lodge has a “food court” that includes grab-and-go options, quick meals, and pizza. We did eat breakfast there one morning and it was pretty good - breakfast burrito, scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, and bacon or sausage. You can also pick up some limited snacks, beer (must be consumed within the building), and other beverages.
Final tips:
1. Hike down into the canyon if you are able!
2. Experience at least one sunrise and sunset at the canyon rim.
3. Bring your own lunch snacks
4. Book your lodging early for the most options.
5. Even if you aren't staying at the El Tovar Hotel, pop in and check out the lobby.