Grand Canyon
(South Rim)
NATIONAL PARK
By DIENEKE
Grand Canyon South Rim was our second stop on our Amtrak’s Southwest Chief trip. A spontaneous decision led to the events of this day as the South Rim wasn’t originally in the itinerary but a mother/daughter on the train alerted us to the fact that it was only 1.5 hours from Flagstaff! so we decided to use this day to travel between Petrified Forest & Saguaro and “pop” into this park!
We entered via the East Entrance and arrived at Grandview Point at 8:30am. If you don’t have a guidebook (though I highly recommend Fodor’s!), National Park nomenclature can be your guide. Grandview Point was just that and by arriving just after sunrise (a great tip to beat the crowds), we had the view all to ourselves. We took several moments to sit on the cold rock by the snow and take it all in. We’d visited the North Rim a few years ago but it still took our breath away…a natural wonder for a reason.
We were bracing ourselves as we continued west to the Canyon Visitor Center and what we knew would be hordes of people. This is a pro tip for visiting busy parks: expect to be surrounded by tourists (and recognize that you are one, too) in certain areas. And with this expectation, we were pleasantly surprised to see just a small gathering at Mather Point…March is the month to visit! So we stayed a bit longer and even walked a bit of the Rim Trail to absorb as much as we could.
At this point, we had almost completed all 23 miles of Desert View Drive so we turned around to head back to the East Entrance and took in the views that we weren’t concerned sharing with too many people. My favorite view of the South Rim came next at Lipan Point. It’s the widest viewpoint of the Canyon and even in mid-morning still had it virtually all to ourselves!
We finished our spontaneous detour at Desert View and Watchtower. This area is a small settlement with restrooms, trading post with coffee & ice cream, gas station, market/deli and watchtower itself.
We climbed the stair up the watchtower (even with my terror of heights, this one was doable), and saw over 100 miles across the canyon. I also nerded out learning about architect Mary Colter’s original design that reflects the ancestral Puebloans of the Four Corners region.
Not bad for a completely spontaneous morning to visit one of the most visited National Parks!
