Grand Canyon National Park

Centre of Attraction	Grand Canyon National Park
City, State, Country	Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
Nearest Airport	Las Vegas McCarran International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor Internaitonal Airport Grand Canyon Airport(domestic flights)

Description The Grand Canyon is more than a great chasm carved over millennia through the rocks of the Colorado Plateau. It is more than an awe-inspiring view. It is more than a pleasuring ground for those that explore the roads, hike the trails, or float the currents ofthe turbulent Colorado River.

The park includes over a million acres of land: 1,218,376 acres / 493,077 hectares, or 1,904 square miles / 4931 square km. Most people measure the canyon in Colorado River miles. By that standard, Grand Canyon is 277 miles / 446 km long. It begins at Lees Ferry and ends at Grand Wash Cliffs.

Width and depth of the canyon vary from place to place. At the South Rim, near Grand Canyon, it's a vertical mile (about 5,000 feet / 1,524 m) from rim to river, or 7 miles / 11.3 km by trail. At its deepest, it is 6,000 vertical feet / 1,829 m from rim to river. The width of the canyon at Grand Canyon Village is 10 miles / 16 km (rim to rim), though in places it is as much as 18 miles / 29 km wide.

How old is the canyon itself? The early history and evolution of the Colorado River (of which Grand Canyon is only a part) is the most complex aspect of Grand Canyon geology. We know that the erosion which has shaped the canyon has occurred only in the past five to six million years.

Grand Canyon continues to grow and change. As long as rain and snow continue to fall in northern Arizona, the forces of erosion will continue to shape Grand Canyon.

Most of the 1,904 square miles of the park are maintained as wilderness. There are three distinct sections of the park; the South Rim, the North Rim and the Inner Canyon. Each section has a different climate as well as different vegetation and different experiences.