Daytrip to the grand canyon

Travel

Jul 4

Traveling seems impossible right now, but you might be overlooking a special day trip.

With COVID-19 concerns, travel seems off the table for some. For others, special day trips or road trips seem like the perfect getaway.

I’ll admit, we took our trip to the Grand Canyon National Park in January, just a few short months before COVID shut down the country. Even then, the visitors center was under minimal staff and due to snow coverage, a few of the walking paths were shut down.

We made the day trip from Buckeye, AZ (a Phoenix suburb) and tacked on an extra day just to explore Sedona as well. All of our time at the National Park was spent on the South Rim, which I am told has the better views although you are looking at the same canyon in the ground. We didn’t have any troubles getting around in our large truck in January, but many cautions driving the South Rim during the busy season. To combat this, you may consider riding one of the four free shuttles offered by the Park.

For us, a day trip was plenty of time to visit the park. Visiting in January meant there wasn’t too much of a crowd, and as photographers, we hoped for a little more snow cover to add dynamic to our photos.

We started our trip at the Visitors Center at Canyon Village to get my National Park Passport stamped. From there, we walked the short distance to Maher Point for our first selfie photo-op. This was one of the more congested areas in the Park.

From there we made the quick loop to the Yavapai Point and Geology Museum. I am a sign reader, and I thrive on learning small things about every place we visit. The Geology museum was also busy, this time with rude guests. I did get to learn a few things about the formation of the canyon before we were overwhelmed with people and decided to move on.

Our next stop was Grandview Point where we took in some scenery and had a bite to eat. We pack a cooler of drinks, snacks, and lunch when necessary. This is our preferred way to take day trips, but a suggested method by many if you are touring the South Rim. Here, we also found a Native woman selling her handmade jewelry. The Canyon is home to Hualapai and Havasupai people, in fact, any voyage to the West Rim is on their land.

We ended our day at the Desert View and Watchtower on the easternmost end of the canyon. This was planned, as it was the perfect spot to watch the sunset and snap some photos. We were able to use the watch tower and the Colorado River below as anchors in our photos.

There is a visitor center at the Desert View and Watchtower point, as well as some opportunity to buy souvenirs. There is also a gas station, however, it was closed when we visited in the wintertime.

There are many trails to travel at the Grand Canyon, however we didn’t partake in any due to the snowcover and the day-trip nature of our visit. Many friends and family members have told me about their visit to the park, and the mule ride they took to the bottom of the canyon. This would be an amazing experience! Trips such as those require more time, further planning ahead, and at least one night spent in the canyon.
Because we tacked on a day-trip to Sedona after the grand canyon, we left the Desert View and Watchtower, heading east on Highway 64 until we hit U.S. 89 and headed south to Flagstaff. From Flagstaff we took the very scenic Highway 89A to Sedona.

Again, the day-trip to The Grand Canyon was plenty of time for us. We prefer to visit with as few crowds as possible (who doesn’t?!) and January was perfect for that. Honestly, I don’t think we would have enjoyed our time as much if we had visited during the busy season. I would like to visit again and maybe spend a night in the El Tovar and catch sunrise at the canyon.

If you have visited the Grand Canyon, I would love to hear your favorite stops below!

I’m Brenna - and I can’t wait to chat with you about all things business and rural life. Thanks for reading!

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