Grand Canyon in a Day

Why so short?

Alex and I decided to visit my cousin and her husband in Phoenix, so we only wanted a day trip to the Canyon in order to spend as much time with them as possible. Phoenix is 3.5 hours away from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, so we had little time to spare!

But, it’s worth it. As I drove us in and caught my first glance of the sheer majesty of the Grand Canyon, I literally gasped it was so impressive!

How to Decided What To Do

No matter what, you can’t go to the Grand Canyon without going “below the rim”. From Arizona, you will be on the “South Rim” of the Canyon, and from there you have a few options.

We opted for a piece of the South Kaibab Trail. We turned around at “Ooh Aah Point,” which ended up being about two miles round trip. A note: hiking here is tricky because it’s easier to go down than up. If you plan this hike, gauge how much uphill you’re willing to tackle. Luckily for our mile-high lungs, the uphill was pretty easy! BUT, there were a lot of people struggling up the hill.

Here’s some pictures along the way with us at the lowest point:

That reminds me, when visiting the Canyon make sure you always have water! This desert heat was unforgiving (even in early May) and we were grateful for our water pouches. The Visitor’s Center has some available if needed.

Also bring snacks, because obviously snacks make everything better. We bought Subway on our way to the Grand Canyon and ate it at the edge of a cliff! Hard to beat that.

Where To Next?

Okay, you’ve made it below the rim and successfully back up. Now what? Luckily, South Rim Grand Canyon has a series of buses that cart tourists between locations. Some of these locations are also linked by hiking trails, so we did a mixture of both. The bus routes run in one circular direction and the three colors are linked – Orange to Blue, Blue to Red.

So, we took Orange bus from South Kaibab Trailhead to Yaki Point – really worth a quick stop to enjoy another staggering view of the canyon.

• 

• 

Then we took the Orange route to the Visitor’s Center. There we checked out the history and geology of the Canyon and stopped by the really crowded overlook there. I was particularly surprised by the number of foreign languages I heard, this is really one of the main stops for a lot of tourists to America, even if it’s in the middle of nowhere!

After that, it was the Blue bus to the Red bus to catch some different views of the Canyon. The Red bus was super crowded, so we hopped out at Hopi Point and hiked to Mohave Point. Here, we were finally able to see the Colorado River – that winding beast that actually carved the place.

We wish we could’ve stayed until sunset, but we wanted to be back in Phoenix by nightfall and had to hit the road!

Do you have any plans to see the Grand Canyon? What would you recommend if you were there for longer?

Subscribe below and never miss a new trip!