Forged by millions of years of erosion by the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon captures the history, scale and beauty of the American West. Overlooks peer into deep gorges layered with the colors of time and geology, dusty trails meander through sagebrush and over coyote tracks, and pictographs etched into canyon walls hint at the lives of past cultures. Overlooks at the South Rim and rim-to-rim treks are the obvious highlights, but the backcountry is where the true adventure begins.
Grand Canyon National Park
Top choice in Grand Canyon Region
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
11.21 MILES
Strategically located on the southernmost tip of the North Rim high above the great westward turn of the Colorado River, Cape Royal takes in almost every…
Grand Canyon National Park North Rim
11.85 MILES
Grand Canyon's remote, wild and forgotten North Rim is far less developed, and sees far fewer visitors that its southern counterpart. In part this is due…
1.81 MILES
In 1905 Ellsworth and Emery Kolb built a small photography studio on the edge of the rim, which has since been expanded and now holds a bookstore and a…
16.58 MILES
The marvelously worn winding staircase of Mary Colter's 70ft stone tower, built in 1932, leads to one of the highest spots on the rim. From here, slats in…
11.68 MILES
Enter the front door of the lodge and see...the Grand Canyon, somehow looking even larger framed by the massive windows of the sunroom. Built in 1937 out…
3.54 MILES
Walk about 1 mile along the mostly level and shaded dirt road to marvelously uncrowded Shoshone Point, a rocky promontory with some of the canyon’s best…
1.97 MILES
This outdoor interpretative display traces the history of the canyon's formation – each meter equals one million years of geologic history, for a total of…
5.26 MILES
Commissioned by the Fred Harvey Company and designed by Mary Colter in 1913, this low-flung stone building is the South Rim's westernmost scenic overlook …
Nearby Grand Canyon Region attractions
1. Grand Canyon Pioneer Cemetery
1.16 MILES
More than 390 people are buried at the Grand Canyon Pioneer Cemetery; the lives of many of them, including the Kolb brothers, John Verkamp, Ralph Cameron…
1.56 MILES
This train depot, designed by Francis Wilson and completed in 1910, was built nine years after the first train arrived in the Village from Williams. A…
1.59 MILES
The arrival of the railroad in 1901 opened up the canyon to more and more tourists, and in 1905 John G Verkamp opened the Mission-style Verkamp’s Curios…
1.61 MILES
Built in 1905 as a railroad hotel, El Tovar was designed by Charles Whittlesey as a blend of Swiss chalet and the more rustic style that would come to…
1.62 MILES
A beautiful Mary Colter–designed stone building, Hopi House has been offering high-quality American Indian jewelry, basketwork, pottery and other crafts…
6. Grand Canyon Village Historic District
1.63 MILES
The South Rim's historic district is comprised of several early-20th-century national historic landmarks clustered along and around the rim between Hermit…
1.71 MILES
Commissioned by the Fred Harvey Company, designed by Mary Colter and completed in 1935, the log-and-stone Bright Angel Lodge offered canyon travelers…
1.71 MILES
Fred Harvey's Harvey Company opened the first Harvey House in 1876 in Topeka, Kansas. In the following decades Harvey, in collaboration with the Atchison,…