The Grand Canyon is a steep, 1-mile-deep, and up to 18-mile-wide gash in the fabric of the world, an immense gorge carved by the Colorado River over the last 5,000 years. Its sheer size is breathtaking and although you can see only a small portion of it even from the best vantage point, its geology and its age fire the imagination. The layers of colorful rock show the passage of time and some of the rocks at the bottom are 1,8 billion years old.
There is a lot of life growing on the canyon’s steep sides – you can see more of it hiking the trails of the northern rim, where it is also less crowded. Most people limit their visit to the breathtaking views from the southern rim. Some of the most popular viewpoints are Yavapai Observation Station, Mary Colter’s Lookout Studio, and Mather Point.