The first look over the edge is a moment no one can explain to you in advance. Your eye searches for a sense of scale and finds none. Over the years I have seen many corners of the USA, but that first step to the rim stays unforgettable.
A look into two billion years
When you gaze into the gorge, up to 5,250 ft (1,600 m) deep, you are also looking back through the history of the Earth. Layer by layer the canyon reveals what the Colorado has been carving for millions of years. In 1919 the area became a national park, today around four million people come each year, and almost all of them fall silent at the rim for a moment.
The three parts
The park has three areas. The South Rim is open year-round, easiest to reach and accordingly well visited. The North Rim sits higher, is cooler, greener and far quieter, but closed from late October to mid-May because of snow. Between them lies the Inner Canyon, the floor of the gorge, reached only by those who hike down.
Getting there and the quiet spots
You reach the south side through two gates, the South Entrance near Tusayan and the East Entrance from the direction of Cameron. In the high season free shuttle buses run along the West Rim, which takes a lot of traffic off the viewpoints. A tip that has held true over all the years: the big viewpoints are crowded, but the small pull-outs in between, where no tour bus can stop, are often almost yours alone.
The visitor center
In Grand Canyon Village stands the year-round visitor center, hard to miss. Most people rush past it because they finally want to see the canyon. A short stop is still worth it, and don't worry, the canyon is millions of years old and won't disappear in those ten minutes.
Sleeping right at the rim
From a simple room to the venerable El Tovar Hotel, it is all here. The El Tovar has stood since 1905 and sits just about fifteen meters from the edge, surely the most elegant way to spend the night here. Anyone who wants to go all the way down to the Colorado, to the campground in the Inner Canyon, needs a permit you have to apply for months in advance. You can't do it on a whim, so planning early pays off.
The moment that stays
If you take away one thing: stay until after sunset. Then the walls turn deep red, the tour buses are gone, and for a few minutes this incredible vastness is almost yours alone.
