Grand Canyon is located in the northwest corner of Arizona and it is close to the borders of Nevada and Utah. You might have seen the river that flows through the canyon, the Colorado River. It drains water from seven states but as we all know the Grand Canyon is entirely located in Arizona.
Most of the Grand Canyon lies within the Grand Canyon National Park and it is managed by the National Park Service. And a small portion of the Canyon lies in the North Kaibab District of the Kaibab National Forest. The Havasupai waterfalls and the Grand Canyon Skywalk lie on the tribal lands located outside of the national park.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are some restrictions like temporary closures, crowd limits, etc. Check out this page to know the updates about the Grand Canyon National Park.
Entrances to Grand Canyon
There are two entrances in Grand Canyon. You will get a better idea to choose the entrance which is close to you.
- South Rim
- North Rim
Grand Canyon separates the park into South Rim and North Rim if you move 277 miles long. The Colorado River is a mile deep which is about 1.6 km and it makes a barrier that bisects the park. The distance to the canyon is about 16 km/10 miles and if you take a drive it will take 5 hours for about 354 km/ 220 miles between the national park’s North Rim Village and the South Rim Village. The weather, scenery, and vegetation are different between both rims because of differences in the elevation. And it seems to be like having two parks in one. If you wish to visit both the rims, it might take time and you will have to put some effort to go to both the rims.
South Rim of the park
The South Rim of the national park is located on the Arizona side of the canyon and it is open all year round. Almost 90% of visitors come to the South Rim of the park, especially during spring and summer. Airport and rail services are accessible in South Rim which takes almost 60 minutes to drive from Interstate 40 and the town of Williams, Arizona and it takes 90 minutes from Flagship, Arizona. Phoenix is the largest city in Arizona and it is in the south of Grand Canyon which takes four hours drive.
Airlines
- Commercial airlines serve Flagship, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.
- There is limited air service to the Grand Canyon Airport which is about 7 miles/ 11 km south of the park from Las Vegas and other places.
Bus/Van
- Greyhound Bus Lines– which offers service from Williams and Flagship to points nationwide.
- Groom Transportation– which offers daily scheduled service from Phoenix and Flagship to Williams and the South Rim.
- One Day Tours– which offers demand shuttle service between Nevada, Las Vegas, and the South Rim.
- Trans- Canyon Shuttle– which offers service once each day, each direction between the North Rim and South Rim of the park. And it is between May 15 and October 15 and also between October 16 and October 31 in a limited schedule. The traveling time is about 4 and a half hours each day.
Train
- Amtrak– offers rail service to Flagship along with connecting bus service to the canyon.
- Grand Canyon Railway– offers daily train service from Williams.
North Rim of the park
If you look at the North Rim of the park, it is remote and is a bit hard to get in. And it has a short season. The number of visitors to the North Rim of the park is only 10%. The restaurants, lodging, and shops are opened from May 15 through October 15 every year.
The North Rim lies on the Utah side of the Grand Canyon. The entrance station of North Rim is 30 miles south of Jacob Lake on Highway 67. And there is no rail service or airport to the park.
Public Transportation to the North Rim
- Trans- Canyon Shuttle– which offers service once each day, each direction between the North Rim and South Rim of the park. And it is between May 15 and October 15 and also between October 16 and October 31 in a limited schedule. The traveling time is about 4 and a half hours each day.