The Grand Canyon National Park

We approached the Grand Canyon from the east so headed for the Desert View parking lot to start. This is a great starting point, offering stunning views of the canyon, it has ample car parking, a petrol station, gift shop, toilets and the Desert View Watchtower, a tower built in the 1930 filled with Native American inspired artwork. The viewing platform gives you a stunning view of the canyon but is limited to the viewing area.

After having a look around Desert View we moved along the south rim to the Grandview Point parking lot, a small parking area again with public toilets, and viewpoint. This is also the starting point for the Grandview Trailhead, a trail that takes you down to old copper mine working within the canyon itself.

Moving on from the Grandview parking lot we went down to the main Grand Canyon Visitors Center. This is a very busy area with a few cafes and shops. It has shuttle busses that run from the camping and SUV areas bringing campers to the rim trail and shops and has several large parking areas.

From the Visitors Center we took the Rim Trail west and walked along past Mather Point until we arrived at the Grand Canyon Village, another large commercial area with toilets, a good selection of places to eat or a selection of lodges if you want to stay the night, and plenty of shops, it does however only have limited parking. From the village we continued on Following the Rim Trail along to Mohave Point, passing spectacular views from Maricopa Point, Powell Point, Hopi Point, the Inferno and the Alligator.

From Mohave Point we retraced our steps back to the car taking plenty of photos along the route. We walked a total of about 12 miles which was more than enough in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees celsius. It was busy around the the visitors centre and village but further out on the trail you got some peace. when we got back to the car we headed off towards Las Vegas to see the Hoover Dam.