How to Spend One Day at Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most famous places to visit in the United States. The site is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

But, what can you do during a visit to the National Park Site. We’ll let you know how to spend one day at Grand Canyon National Park.

Getting to Grand Canyon National Park

It is a journey to get to the Park. We drove to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas, a drive of a little more than four hours. Our road trip took us to the small town of Williams off of Interstate 40. From Williams, it was about a one-hour drive to the South Rim of the park. South Rim is the most popular and most visited of the Grand Canyon’s entrances.

The North Rim entrance is open seasonally (summer) and is a more out-of-the-way destination.

You also can visit the Western Grand Canyon (run by the Hualapai Tribe). The West Rim is home to the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

Grand Canyon Fees

There is an entrance fee to all entrances. The North Rim and South Rim — administered by the National Park Service — has a $35 entrance fee for non-commercial vehicles. The fee is a seven day pass into the park.

Get your Bearings at the South Rim

The South Rim is the major hub of Grand Canyon National Park. It is open year round. There is a lot to see and do at the South Rim.

There are a number of lodges and places to stay within the South Rim Village. Additionally, there are camping sites throughout the area.

But, that’s not all. The village also has a market plaza. Near the market, you’ll find a bank and post office.

The village also houses a medical clinic and kennel for dogs to run.

And you find coffee shops, bars, lounges, restaurants, food courts, and gift shops throughout the village.

South Rim Overlook Roads

There are two primary roads with a plethora of canyon overlooks.

Private automobiles can use Desert View Drive year round. The road traverses the park’s East Entrance Station to the South Entrance point, which is about two miles from the village.

The second road in South Rim is Hermit’s Rest Road. This road is closed nine months of the year (and only open to private auto during the winter months (December, January and February).

How to Get Around Grand Canyon’s South Rim

You can drive to and from many of the locations throughout the South Rim. However, buses provide transport to a number of locations.

There are three major bus lines throughout the park.

The Blue Line serves the village area, providing access to the visitors centers, market place, and lodges.

The Orange Line serves the eastern side of the village and some of the Desert View Drive. Note that the Yaki Point overlook along Desert View Drive is closed to autos and only accessible by foot or on the Orange Line.

The Red Line provides access to the Hermit’s Rest Road and is the only way to see these overlooks by vehicle most of the year.

Where to Stay in the Grand Canyon

Our family chose to spend the night at the park. We stayed at the Maswik Lodge. We decided to stay within the park in order to best utilize our limited time at the Grand Canyon. Lodging within the park allowed us to see many overlooks. We also had easy access to view sunrise from Mather Point.

Maswik Lodge is near the Hermit’s Rest bus line, so we could easily walk to the bus. It has a food court and a pizzeria for meals. We found the gift shop at the lodge sufficient to get all of our souvenirs too.

How to Spend One Day at Grand Canyon National Park

Everyone will have different ideas of how to best spend time at the park.

And there is so much to do, see, and explore.

However, here are some of the things that we thought were must-dos during our one-day visit to the park.

Check Out a Visitors Center

The Grand Canyon Visitors Center (located about two miles from the South Entrance Station) is by far the largest visitors center in the park. The center has four (Yes! Four!) parking lots. And those lots fill up quickly.

Pro Tip: Parking can be difficult to find at the park and lookouts. We were often reminded to grab the first spot you find. Although traffic was light during our stay, we still think this is sage advice.

Instead of the main visitors center, our family checked out Verkamp’s Visitors Center. It is smaller, but still allowed us opportunity to learn a little about the Grand Canyon including schools and the early days of the Grand Canyon Village.

Yes, I also got my National Parks Passport stamped at Verkamp’s. But there are a few other locations throughout the South Rim to procure that passport stamp.

Explore Hopi House

Hopi House is a National Historic Landmark site. The structure, built by Mary Colter, represents some of the Native American buildings Colter found throughout this area of Arizona. Colter designed many other structures you see throughout the park.

Hopi House has an amazing gift shop filled with artisan crafts made by indigenous peoples in Arizona.

Fill Up Your Water Bottle with Grand Canyon Spring Water

Between the Hopi House and Verkamp’s Visitors Center you’ll find a spot with Grand Canyon spring water.

Our kids swore that the water was some of the best they’ve ever tasted. And that meant we all had to fill our reusable water bottles with the spring water from this spigot before leaving this area of the park.

Spot Wildlife

Grand Canyon is expansive. And that means you can spot a lot of wildlife, or domesticated animals, throughout the park.

First, you can see the mules and burrows used as pack animals for rides into the canyon. These animals are housed near the Grand Canyon Railroad, and you can see them from this site.

You may spot elk, deer, condors, or snakes (unlucky you) while at the park.

One day may limit the amount of animals to see. While visiting we saw a half dozen deer charge in front of our bus.

We also saw the ravens that hang near the rim and make quiet a show as they fly over the canyon. Watch the video at the end of this post to see the ravens yourself.

Pay a Visit to Yavapai Point and Geology Museum

This was my favorite stop during our visit. You can reach the museum by car or on the Orange Line bus route.

The views are stunning. This used to be an open-air building from which visitors could view the breadth of the canyon, as you can spot the North Rim sites from here.

The museum is no longer open air. That’s ok. The views still inspire awe, even if they’re now viewed behind glass.

Here, you also learn about the formation of the canyon.

And, you view a topographical map of the entire Grand Canyon. This impressively shows you where you are in relation to the whole canyon. Also, you can see just how little a portion of the Grand Canyon you have explored during your one-day visit.

That means you’ll leave mentally preparing for your next visit.

See the Milky Way

I took a walk around our lodge after sunset.

There is not much electric light throughout the Grand Canyon Village. That made for a slow, careful walk for me.

But, that also means that the skies are primed for star gazing. It was mostly cloudy during my walk. I did, however, get opportunity to see a few stars radiantly beaming.

The park offers stargazing talks and tours too.

Catch a Sunrise (or a Sunset)

My family now has two teenagers. So, we knew they would not be up for a sunset view from an overlook.

Still, my wife and I got up early, heading to Mather Point. I had read that this overlook offers one of the best sunrise views in the park.

Those clouds from the previous night interrupted the most perfect sunrise. We still witnessed a beautiful sunrise once the sun peaked out of the clouds.

Watch the Train Depart from the Grand Canyon Train Station

The Grand Canyon South Rim is a distance from most towns in Arizona. That meant that soon after the site was designated as a National Park, a need arose to get people to see the natural wonder.

Plans for the Grand Canyon Village included a train stop. The train could get people from Williams (about 60 miles away) to the park.

The Grand Canyon Railway line got people from point A to point B.

The train still runs today. You can book package onboard the train.

That wasn’t in our plans for this visit to the Grand Canyon. But, we still got to see the train as it left the Grand Canyon Depot on its way back to Williams. You can see the train departing the park in the video at the end of this post.

Choose Your Favorite Overlook

Knowing that we had limited time, we planned on picking three to five overlooks we wanted to see.

We chose overlooks that were easy to get to, had views unlike other overlooks, and ones close to a restroom (hey, it’s wise to be prepared).

Our family knew that we wanted to see several overlooks on the Hermit’s Rest Road. It was a close walk from our lodge. And, the road is closed to private autos. So we knew we’d take the bus.

The bus takes 80 minutes out and back along Hermit’s Rest Road. Some bus stops are arrival only stops. Only three stops along the road are both arrival and departure stops.

So, you can take the bus to each of the nine stops along the route. Simply wait for the next bus to transport you to the next stop. You also can walk between most of the stops, although roads are rough around some segments.

We took a round trip bus trip, but only stopped at a couple of overlooks. – Hopi Point, Powell Point and Hermit’s Rest.

Hopi Point

Powell Point

Hermit’s Rest

Grandview Point

Additionally, we took a drive on Desert View Drive just before leaving the park, stopping at Grandview Point.

Dig Deeper with The Shaka App

We discovered the Shaka App as we explored Hawaii.

The app provided guided auto tours of many locations throughout the United States, including many national parks.

Grand Canyon South Rim is one of Shaka’s audio tours.

Shaka uses your GPS coordinates to narrate stories as you pass physical coordinates.

We did not use the app throughout our entire visit.

However, the app was educational during our one-hour drive from Williams into the village. Also, we used the app during our last minute drive along Desert View Drive. While listening to the narration, we learned how the canyon formed, the founding of the Grand Canyon Village, the architecture created by Mary Colter, the story of the railroad, animal species endemic to the Grand Canyon, and a Sasquatch sighting.

We like the audio tours because you can learn a lot and hear fascinating stories you might not hear otherwise.

Conclusion

Is one day enough time to spend at the Grand Canyon? Obviously not. But, there are plenty of things to see and do during a 24-hour stay.

We have just scratched the surface.

Meaning, it’s time to start planning a return trip the Grand Canyon National Park. To see new overlooks. Take hikes we didn’t make this time. Explore more of the village and structures throughout the canyon. Feed a mule, or ride a mule.

Or …

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