I don’t think the Grand Canyon needs much intro – it’s one of the most well-known and iconic national parks in the US, with millions of visitors each year.
The first time I went was in 2002 with my family when I was just 10 years old. I honestly don’t remember too much, but since it was a whole family trip, with kids and grandparents, we didn’t really do any hiking – we mostly drove and got out and looked at the viewpoints. But I think that’s what makes the Grand Canyon so appealing to so many people: there’s something for everyone. For families and less mobile people, it’s very drive-able (or you can even take a helicopter or mule ride). For people who want a more active experience, there are bike trails and hikes. And for the adventure-seekers, there are rapids on the Colorado River and multi-day hikes and camping in the backcountry. The one constant: the views are amazing.
South Kaibab Trail
The South Kaibab Trail is super underrated, and I think if someone only had time to do one trail in the Grand Canyon, this is definitely the one I would recommend. Because it’s a bit further and only accessible by shuttle, it’s not as crowded as the Bright Angel Trail (its more popular counterpart). The views on South Kaibab are also way better because you get more expansive views of the canyon.
It’s an out and back trail, so you can hike as much of it as you want and turn back. Most people hike out to Ooh Aah Point (~2 miles roundtrip), but we went a little further to Cedar Ridge (~3.5 miles roundtrip), and of course if you had more time you could keep going down to Skeleton Point or all the way down to the Colorado River by backpacking overnight.
Biking Hermit’s Road
Biking has been one of my favorite ways to see the National Parks (we also recently biked in Zion), so for our second day in the Grand Canyon, we rented bikes and did the ~20 mile round trip ride from the Visitor’s Center up Hermit’s Road to Hermit’s Rest and back, stopping at all the viewpoints along the way.
Like Zion, the shuttles in Grand Canyon are very bike-friendly, so you can hop on and off with your bike if you don’t want to bike the whole thing, but we had a great time doing the full shebang. We also saw plenty of people throughout the day hopping on and off the shuttle at the various viewpoints and taking short walks out to see everything.
Bottom: Hopi Point with my bike in Oct 2020
You can turn back at any point, but Hermit Road ends at Hermit’s Rest which is an old rest house from back when travelers would arrive by coach and stop for a cool drink before heading down to the old Hermit Camp.
Bike rentals: the main bike rental company in the park is Bright Angel Bicycles. They’re very friendly and also run tours and their own shuttles and made things very straightforward and easy.
Bright Angel Lodge + El Tovar Hotel
I very rarely take advantage of the opportunity to stay at the lodges inside parks that are run by the park service, but for this trip, we stayed at the Bright Angel Lodge in Grand Canyon Village and it was an amazing experience.
The lodges are built right on the rim of the Grand Canyon and every morning we would wake up, walk out of our lodge, and be able to eat breakfast as the sun was rising on the rim of the canyon. At night, we could go stargazing right outside our room sitting on a ledge.
The El Tovar Hotel next to the lodge also has a restaurant and bar that overlooks the rim of the canyon. We had dinner and drinks here both nights (reservations fill up quickly, and the food is only decent, but definitely worth the experience).