Location : Arizona
Country : Arizona
This location is very beautiful and stunning highly inappropriate for a family vacation who want to travel. This location is ideal and will never regret after the visit.
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.
The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,000 feet / 1,800 metres)[1] Nearly two billion years of the Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted.[2] While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists,[3] recent evidence suggests the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago.[4][5] Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration.[6]
Before European immigration, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon ("Ongtupqa" in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it.[7] The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.[8]
A Quick Look at Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, a designated World Heritage Site, and one of the Crown Jewels of the National Park System. Declared a national park in 1919, the mile-deep, 277-mile long gorge draws nearly five million visitors annually to the lofty rims and world-class whitewater that await the active traveler.The 1.2 million acre park is home to numerous animals (from the endangered California condor above, to cougars, rattlesnakes and Gila monsters below), over 1,500 species of plants, archaeological sites dating back thousands of years, and one of the most complete geologic cross sections visible anywhere on the planet. Sustaining these plant and animal communities, as well as carving the Canyon ever-deeper, is the powerful Colorado River, the lifeblood of the desert Southwest.
Grand Canyon Native
The train was the lifeline to Grand Canyon National Park in the early 20th century. It was the railroad, along with the Fred Harvey Company, that commissioned and built most of the historic structures that still exist along the South Rim. The historic train almost faded into history itself when passenger service to Grand Canyon National Park stopped in 1968 as train travel gave way to the popularity of automobile travel. But like any legend it refused to die. As fate would have it, Grand Canyon Railway was reborn in 1989 when entrepreneurs brought the Grand Canyon's train back to life. Today, the Railway carries well over 200,000 people by rail to the canyon each year. The Railway also offers vacation packages that include train travel, stays at Williams and Grand Canyon hotels, RV park stays and much more. Plan a complete Grand Canyon vacation with one phone call to 1-800-THE-TRAIN.
Grand Canyon Visitor Info
Most visitors come to the Canyon during the mild spring, summer and fall; the Grand Canyon's mild weather is a refuge from the summer heat of central & southern Arizona areas like Phoenix. While fewer visitors come to see the winter snows that frequently blanket the lofty South and North Rims (7,000 and 8,000 feet above sea level respectively), most locals agree that winter is a great time to visit the Grand Canyon because parking is readily available, crowds are minimal and the views are spectacular. The South Rim is open all year, whereas the more remote North Rim visitor area is open from mid-May to mid-October. Learn more about when to visit and other Grand Canyon information and facts in our Frequenty Asked Questions (FAQs).
The average visit to Grand Canyon is a scant two hours. Most agree that it can be an overwhelming spectacle to absorb during such a short time frame. Luckily there are a number of organized activities available to park visitors. A partial list must include National Park Service ranger talks (free to the public, and advertised in The Guide newspaper available at the entrance stations), backpacking, day hiking, Grand Canyon whitewater rafting, Grand Canyon helicopter tours and fixed-wing air tours, and the historic mule rides to Phantom Ranch on the Canyon floor.
All of these activities (ranger talks aside) are offered as guided, commercial experiences. Day hiking and backpacking can be done on your own, though you need a National Park Service permit to engage in the latter. The remote nature of the park, lack of public transportation to and from, and the fickle Grand Canyon weather and harsh terrain can make Grand Canyon a challenging place to visit. But it’s the rare visitor that wouldn’t agree with the park’s patriarch, President Theodore Roosevelt, who declared that the Grand Canyon is the one great place that every American should see
reference:www.thetrain.com,www.thecanyon.com,en.wikipedia.org
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