June 2019

The Grand Canyon, a mile deep and 18 miles wide, should be a must see on anyone’s bucket list. It is truly amazing and there is a lot to see if you don’t mind doing a little walking/hiking.

We met up with my sister Linda, and her son Tyler with his wife and two children, Owen (8) and Morgan (5), at the Trailer Village campground inside the national park. We chose the campground for the full hook-ups but we were pleasantly surprised by the proximity to the South Rim and the many elks that wander throughout the park night and day.

After setting up camp and having lunch we walked a 1/2 mile trail to the Visitor Center and finally got our first look at the Grand Canyon on the Rim Trail. So immense and beautiful!!!

The next morning we got up early and headed to Bright Angel Trail on the park shuttle bus. This iconic trail zig-zags 8 miles and 4,460′ down to the Colorado River at the base of the canyon. It has an average grade of 10% along its entire length. We hiked about 1.5 miles down into the canyon but then decided we better turn back because we knew the trip back up was going to be much more strenuous. The kids were amazing, and even 5-year old Morgan walked the entire time on her own, about 2.5 hours! We saw stunning views at every turn. I highly recommend taking this trail.

After our hike we returned to the campground for lunch and then later in the afternoon took the shuttle bus tour along the South Rim out to the final stop at Hermits Rest where we got ice cream treats. We got off at several stops along the way and took in the spectacular views.

We caught the shuttle bus back to the campground exhausted but happy after our full day exploring the Grand Canyon National Park. There is a lot more to see and do but with only 1 1/2 days I think we hit a lot of the highlights. This is a wonderful park to visit for sure!