Grand Canyon National Park

The American Southwest is one of the best road trips in the USA. We arrived at Las Vegas airport around 11:00 am. After picking up our rental car and some snacks and water, we started our Southwest road trip. On the route to the Grand Canyon, we stopped at Hoover Dam. We park the car in the parking lot for $10. You can also stop at the visitor center and take the power plant tour for an additional cost.

We strolled to the opposite end while taking in the scenery.

Lake Mead

After that, we continued on our road trip toward Grand Canyon. You can skip Hoover Dam to spend more time in Grand Canyon if you are short on time. It took us around 4 – 5 hours to get to the Grand Canyon Village, where we stayed for two nights. I managed to get a room in Bright Angel Lodge for one night, so we stayed in Yavapai Lodge the other night. The hotels had dining options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is recommended to book the hotels well in advance. Another option is to stay in the nearby town of Tusayan, AZ.

You can book your lodging at https://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/lodging/

We entered from the south entrance. The entrance fee is $35, which was covered in our annual national park.

Here is the official website to get more information about Grand Canyon.

After we checked into the hotel, we left our car in the parking lot and enjoy the views. Pictures cannot capture the grandeur of the Grand Canyon. You must see it in person to enjoy it.

The views in front of our hotel Bright Angel Lodge on Rim Trail

We walked on Rim Trail for some distance to enjoy more views

In the evening, we took the Red Shuttle for West Rim Drive and went to Hopi point for sunset views.

Hopi point is one of the most popular viewpoints for watching the sunset and sunrise.

Here are a couple of other lookout points we visited on West Rim Drive(Hermit Rd) the following day. Hermit road is closed to private vehicles between March 1 and November 30 and can only be accesses by shuttle(Red). The shuttle is every 10 minutes and stops at all the viewpoints.

Trail View Overlook This viewpoint offers good views of the Bright Angel Trail

Maricopa Point offers stunning vistas

Mohave Point Another spectacular point for watching sunset and sunrise

Great Mohave Wall viewpoint

The Abyss This viewpoint provides an almost vertical view down into the canyon

Monument Creek Vista

Pima Point is one of the best places on the rim to see the river.

Hermit’s Rest is the last stop on this drive. It has a gift shop and small snack bar. Restrooms are available here. 

Some other popular lookout points near the visitor center. You can park the car at the visitor center and walk or take the orange shuttle.

Mather Point is the most popular viewpoint for sunset and sunrise and is a short walk from the visitor center. The day we visited was cloudy so we couldn’t see the sun. Expect big crowds here.

Yavapai Point

Yavapai Geology Museum is fantastic to learn about the geology and history of the Grand Canyon.

Yaki Point

South Kaibab trailhead We started our afternoon hike at the South Kaibab trailhead. We traveled 1.8 miles round trip to Ooh Aah Point before turning around because the weather had become gloomy and there were little sights.

The trail begins with switchbacks and continues a steep and narrow descent.

It was foggy and had poor visibility as we descended.

Another popular hike is Bright Angel Trail, and you can hike as far as you like and return the same way.

On our final day, we continued on Dessert View Drive ( East of Grand Canyon Village), stopping at the various viewpoints on the way.

Tusayan Museum

Lipan Point You can see the rapids from this viewpoint.

Navajo point offers a view north up the Colorado River.

You can also see the watchtower from here

Desert View Watchtower A short 1/4 mile from the parking lot to the tower.

You can climb up the tower and enjoy the views.

It has multiple viewing areas to enjoy the views.

After the Desert View Watchtower, we exit the park from east entrance and continued our drive towards Page, AZ where we’ll be staying next.

We stayed in Grand Canyon for two nights which was good enough to enjoy the views from all the lookout points on Hermit Road, near visitor center and desert view drive. We also hiked the South Kaibab trailhead till Ooh Aah Point. If you want to do more extensive hikes, add more days to your trip.