The Grand Canyon has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. It was the main reason for this trip – I wanted to finally see the Grand Canyon!
Since we were coming from Page, Az, we entered at the Desert View/East Entrance. I did not realize this wasn’t the main entrance. I had heard there would be lines to get into the park. Alas, we get to the entrance and there were no cars to be seen. The Park Rangers were out cleaning up trying to keep busy! Apparently, this side of the park is not as busy. This was a great find, as this side was my FAVORITE part of the park, and had we gone to the main entrance, I am not sure we would have traveled down to this area to explore!
The Desert View Watchtower gives you spectacular 360-degree views from the observation deck. We were there early, so it wasn’t too crowded, but I can see how this place would be difficult to navigate when it is busy! So I recommend coming EARLY to check this place out!
My favorite view in the entire park was at Desert View – it is the spot where the Colorado river turns north with the Painted Desert extending towards the Navajo and Hopi Indian lands. I am so glad we came in at this entrance and saw this place first – before it got too crowded! (or we were too tired to come down this far into the park!)
We stopped at the Tusayan Museum and Ruins on the way to the main Village. It is a small museum and it is easy to walk around the ruins and see some cool artifacts.
We continued on in the park and we were able to find parking at the Yavapai Point and Geology Museum. The museum was a zoo, so we didn’t stay there very long.
We then took the walk from the museum to the Visitor’s Center. It was a longer walk than we anticipated, but we got to see awesome views of the Grand Canyon as we walked along the rim. I was terrified about having the kids walking on a path without guard rails, but apparently I put enough fear in them, they would not even go near the edge! YAY!
The Visitor’s Center was lame. I thought they would have more things to explore, but they did not. You could completely skip this and not miss anything. We did get our passport stamps there though! We took the bus back to our van, as the kids were tired by the time we were done.
We then went to check into our hotel, just outside the park (Holiday Inn Express) and we took a break and went swimming.
We went back to the Grand Canyon for sunset. I HIGHLY Recommend going at different times of the day, as the colors in the canyon are different depending on the light. It was AWESOME to see the difference. The reds and colors on the mountains were much richer as the sun was setting. The kids were a bit grumpy about going back, but it was worth the whining to see the Amazing colors of the Canyon at Sunset!
Now that I’ve been, I am not certain I HAVE to go back (like I HAVE to go back to Bryce Canyon). We will probably take the little boys again when they are older, but it is not a park I feel I have to go back to often and explore. I am very glad I got to see and experience the Grand Canyon though! Crossed that off the Bucket List!
I have many more pictures on my Instagram page to check out as well!
