Grand Canyon National Park General Information

Grand Canyon National Park is located in the remote northwestern corner of Arizona. The isolated location of this natural wonder discouraged all but the most adventuresome visitors until the completion of the southern transcontinental railroad in the 19th century. Even then, the difficult stagecoach rides from railroad stops in Williams and Flagstaff made the trip to the Grand Canyon a rugged adventure.

Many words have been used in reaction to seeing Grand Canyon. President Theodore Roosevelt called Grand Canyon "the one great sight which every American should see." He continued to say, "The Grand Canyon fills me with awe. It is beyond comparison--beyond description; absolutely unparalleled throughout the wide world .... Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see."

Despite Roosevelt's enthusiasm and his strong interest in preserving land for public use, the Grand Canyon was not immediately designated as a national park. The first bill to create Grand Canyon National Park had been introduced in 1882 and again in 1883 and 1886 by Senator Benjamin Harrison. As President, Harrison established the Grand Canyon Forest Reserve in 1893. Theodore Roosevelt created the Grand Canyon Game Preserve by proclamation in 1906 and Grand Canyon National Monument in 1908. Senate bills to establish a national park were introduced and defeated in 1910 and 1911; the Grand Canyon National Park Act was finally signed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. The National Park Service, which had been established in 1916, assumed administration of the park. It has an area of over 1,900 square miles and 277 miles of the Colorado River run through it.

Environmentalist John Muir said, "It seems like a gigantic statement for even Nature to make all in one mighty stone work. Wildness so Godful, cosmic, primeval, bestows a new sense of earth's beauty and size… But the colors, the living, rejoicing colors, chanting morning and evening in chorus to heaven! Whose brush or pencil, however lovingly inspired, can give us these? In the supreme flaming glory of sunset the whole canyon is transfigured, as if the life and light of centuries of sunshine stored up in the rocks was now being poured forth as from one glorious fountain, flooding both earth and sky."

Grand Canyon is probably the world's most spectacular example of the power of erosion - a chasm 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide with an average depth one mile. Scientists estimate it has taken a mere four to six million years to cut Grand Canyon. Nearly half of the earth's 4.6 billion-year history is displayed by the erosion. Exposed rock strata range from the 1.7 billion-year-old Vishnu Schist of the Inner Gorge, to the pale caprock Kaibab limestone deposited 250 million years ago, to the 1 million-year-old black lava flows in the western canyon. Six of the seven life zones recognized throughout the world are represented in the Grand Canyon region. They vary from that of Mexican desert at the canyon bottom to the arctic-alpine type of the San Francisco peaks. The canyon ranges from the lowest elevation at the bottom at less than 2,000 feet at the Grand Wash Cliffs to the highest elevation on the South Rim at 7,498 feet. The North Rim reaches above 9,000 feet.

The Colorado River helped form the awe-inspiring canyon. The Colorado River is one of the great river systems in the United States (over 1,400 miles long), and the area it drains totals nearly 12% of the United States. In Grand Canyon, the river averages 300 feet in width, is up to 100 feet deep, and flows at an average speed of 4 miles an hour.

In 1869 Major John Wesley Powell, a fearless, one-armed Civil War veteran, and his nine companions became the first men to journey 1,000 miles on the Colorado River going through the Grand Canyon. Equipped with four flimsy wooden boats and meager rations, Powell and his party braved dangerous rapids, searing heat, sinking morale, and the desertion of three men to complete their remarkable feat.

Animal life in the Grand Canyon region includes about 89 species of mammals, 17 species of fish, 355 species of birds, 47 species of reptiles and amphibians and 1,500 flowering plants. During the growing season, both rims and canyon slopes are covered with a great variety of wildflowers.

Native American communities surround Grand Canyon and activly maintain their ancient cultures and traditions. Their cultures have long been associated with their exquisite but functional crafts, which reflect their close ties with nature. Fine collectibles created by native artisans began to be marketed to outsiders in the 1880s. Native American tribes surrounding Grand Canyon include the Havasupai, Hualapai, Kaibab-Paiute, Hopi and Navajo.

Nearly 5 million people a year visit the park. In 1919, during its first year as a national park, fewer than 45,000 people visited Grand Canyon. In this majestic place, the integrity of the natural environment is maintained through a delicate balance often challenged by the impact of man. It is increasingly important for each of us to minimize our environmental impact on the park and to protect its natural grandeur.

One such way is by entering the park via the Grand Canyon Railway. Perhaps environmentalist John Muir said it best, "When I first heard of the Santa Fe trains running to the edge of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, I was troubled with thoughts of the disenchantment likely to follow. But last winter, when I saw those trains crawling along through the pines of the Coconino Forest and close up to the brink of the chasm at Bright Angel, I was glad to discover that in the presence of such stupendous scenery they are nothing. The locomotives and trains are mere beetles and caterpillars, and the noise they make is as little disturbing as the hooting of an owl in the lonely woods."

Enjoy Grand Canyon National Park. It's a special place. Should you have questions concerning rules and regulations, please call the National Park Service at Grand Canyon National Park Service Headquarters at (928) 638-7888. Or mail them at PO Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023. The National Park Service cooperates with other agencies and organizations to extend the benefits of resource conservation, preservation and outdoor recreation to all park visitors