How to Plan a Grand Canyon Vacation

Decide how you will reach the Grand Canyon. Most visitors begin their Grand Canyon vacations from one of two metropolitan airports located within half a day’s drive of the park: McCarran International in Las Vegas (LAS) or Sky Harbor International in Phoenix (PHX). (Check out How to Get a Good Seat on an Airplane.) Those wanting to spend more time in the park and less on the road may wish to consider commuter flights from Phoenix to Flagstaff, Arizona (FLG) or Page, Arizona (PGA).^[1] If you will drive to the area, estimated drive times to the South Rim from major Western cities are as follows:

• Phoenix, Arizona: 4.5 hours
• Las Vegas, Nevada: 5 hours
• Albuquerque, New Mexico: 7 hours
• Los Angeles, California: 8 hours
• Salt Lake City, Utah: 8 hours
• Denver, Colorado: 13 hours

Decide which part of the Grand Canyon to visit.^[2]

• If it is your first visit to Grand Canyon National Park and/or you are traveling with children, you’ll most likely want to visit the South Rim for its relative abundance of hotels, services and activities. Grand Canyon South Rim is open year-round, making it the best choice for a wintertime visit. Note that you'll be at a high altitude, so you might want to read How to Prevent Altitude Sickness, just in case.
• Plan to experience sunrise, sunset, or both if possible. They are spectacular. If you plan to spend the night make your room reservations before you leave home. Rooms are limited. Camping is available but also limited.
• Plan to do some hiking down one of the trails into the canyon to fully appreciate the scale of the Canyon. It will take twice the time to hike out of the canyon that it will to hike down. A half hour walk down will take at least an hour back. An hour down can easily become a 4 hour ordeal with time used to enjoy the view. Dehydration is a common problem. Bring water with you even for short hikes. Share your water with those you see are suffering. You will become an instant hero.
• Grand Canyon North Rim, which is only open from mid-May through mid-October, is better suited to couples, hikers and those seeking a quieter, more low-key Grand Canyon experience. Visitor services at the North Rim are fewer in number and smaller in scale.
• If you have limited time for a Grand Canyon experience; if you want to experience going to the bottom of the Grand Canyon; or if your physician has advised you to avoid high altitudes, consider Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai Indian Reservation. Grand Canyon West is open year-round.

Decide when to go to the Grand Canyon. Summer is the warmest, driest and busiest time of year at the Grand Canyon, particularly the South Rim. Late spring and early fall offer the best weather; late fall is slightly less crowded. Winter brings cooler temperatures and the possibility of snow, making it the quietest time of year in the park. Want to save money? Plan your visit for the winter months (November through February), when many Grand Canyon hotels offer sizable discounts.^[3]

Decide where you want to stay and book it (and make a contingency plan in case your first choice is sold out). There are 6 hotels inside the park at the South Rim, and one at the North Rim. Alternate lodging locations for Grand Canyon South Rim are: Tusayan (10 minutes away), Williams (1 hour away), Flagstaff (1.5 hours away) or Page/Lake Powell (2.5 hours away). For the North Rim, alternate lodging is available in Jacob Lake (1 hour away), Kanab, Utah (2 hours away), or Page/Lake Powell (2.5 hours away). There is no lodging within Grand Canyon West at the present time. The nearest lodging to Grand Canyon West is in Peach Springs, Arizona or Kingman, Arizona (1.5 hours away).

Plan some Grand Canyon tours or activities. Activities like Grand Canyon mule rides, Grand Canyon air tours, Colorado River rafting trips, hiking, train tours, 4x4 safari-jeep tours or ranger-guided activities can make your Grand Canyon vacation more memorable. Many tours and activities are not strenuous and appropriate for most ages (exceptions are mule rides, inner canyon hiking and white water rafting).^[4]

• The new Grand Canyon Skywalk is not a part of Grand Canyon National Park. It is located at Grand Canyon West, on Hualapai Indian Tribal Lands. The main access road into the complex is unpaved for a distance of about 15 miles (24 km). Though recently graded, it is still very bumpy and deeply rutted in some areas. Those driving rental cars are strongly discouraged from taking vehicles down this road. Doing so could void your insurance policy. See How to Know Which Insurance to Take on a Rental Car.

Think about other places you might visit if you have the time. If your total vacation is longer than 3 days, you probably won’t want to spend the entire time at the Grand Canyon.^[5] Other areas you might consider visiting include, but are not limited to: Hoover Dam, Sedona, Lake Powell, Monument Valley, Paria Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon.

Make reservations – for everything. Arrange all the elements of your vacation in advance, airline tickets, rental car, hotels, tours, Las Vegas shows, dinner reservations (necessary at some places), all of it. Grand Canyon lodging tends to be booked 6 months to a year in advance during peak travel season (which is essentially from Spring Break through Thanksgiving). Demand is only slightly lower for campgrounds. Booking your hotel or campsite is the most important component of your Grand Canyon vacation planning process and will be the “linchpin” around which the rest of your plans will revolve.

• Booking by phone? Choose one with a "redial" button. Grand Canyon reservations centers tend to experience very high call volume during peak travel months. Don't be taken aback if you get a busy signal; keep trying.
• Cancellations do happen. If unable to reserve a seat on a mule ride or other activity, keep checking back, or ask about waiting lists when you arrive. At the same time, consider alternative activities.
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Create a "vacation dossier". Print your various confirmations and keep them in a notebook, envelope, or whatever works for you. Take this paperwork with you on vacation so you can refer to it quickly if needed. You can later use some of it for trips down memory lane: How to Start a Scrapbook.

Reconfirm your arrangements. About a week before your vacation, call your airline, rental car agency, hotel, tour company and make sure all is in order for your visit.