Our national parks have developed a reputation for several appealing features. Incredible monuments, gorgeous scenery, and intriguing wildlife are but a few of the many attractions of our parks.
The unspoiled majesty of our national parks is a living treasure and it could be difficult to choose one or two to visit at any given time. Why not start with two of the more popular sites; The General Grant Tree and Kings Canyon.
The General Grant Tree towers over 260 feet above the Grant Grove, the largest remaining natural Sequoia grove in the world. The circumference of its trunk at its widest is over 90 feet alone.
The true size is difficult to imagine but, to put it in perspective, the General Grant Tree is a little shorter than the Statue of Liberty standing on her pedestal and the trunk is bigger than the Oval Office at the White House.
This two thousand year old Sequoia tree also has the designation of being the third largest Sequoia in the world, the second largest of all our national parks (the largest found also found in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park but not nearly as picturesque), and our nation’s Christmas Tree.
The General Grant Tree can be found at the north entrance of the park along Route 180 leading to Grant’s Grove Village.
Despite the impressive size of the General Grant Tree, the true centerpiece of the Kings Canyon National Parks is Kings Canyon. Kings Canyon has the distinction of being the deepest canyon in North America.
At 8000 feet from its highest point to the Kings River cutting through its middle, it is deeper than even the Grand Canyon though it lacks the sheer width that makes the Grand Canyon more impressive.
The only way to fully enjoy most of the attractions at the Kings Canyon National Park is by hiking. It is the only mode of transportation that is allowed. Cars will never get in your way, so plan on thoroughly enjoying the exquisite Zumwalt Meadow and Cedars Grove, two of the most appealing attractions found in the park.
Other notable places to visit in the Kings Canyon National Park include the Roaring River Falls, a section of the Kings River that tumbles down the rocky side of the Kings Canyon.
Big Stump Basin is another location to visit, where remnants of fallen giant Sequoia trees lay dead from timber operations from the early 1900′s as a reminder of mankind’s lasting effects on our environment.
All of our national parks teach us valuable lessons. Both the Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks show us how mighty our forests can be – when humans do not negatively affect them.
It would be a shame to lose these magnificent trees and have our future genteration only read about them in books. Protecting the environment is a must for all of us today, so that we may sustain nature and beauty for as long as we can.
Watch the video related to Grand Canyon National Park
At the next day we visited the world-famous Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. In the morning we had really bad weather. It’s was foggy and teribble cold but in the afternoon it became better and finally we got some awesome views into the canyon.
Help answer the question aboutGrand Canyon National Park
If you are staying at lodging inside of Grand Canyon National Park, do you still have to pay $25 entrance fee?
I am staying at the Maswik Lodge, which is inside the park. So do I still need to pay the $25 entrance fee into the park? Thank you.
I'm not complaining about the fee. I'm just trying to come up with an idea of how much my trip is going to cost.
The easist section of the park to visit for handicapped visitors is the South Rim area north of Flagstaff (which is the most developed). Even here though, there will be some challenges because of the rough and uneven terrain and because many of the historic buildings were not designed for wheelchair access.
Handicap facilities and services are outlined in a document on the Grand Canyon National Park website (see link below). The most important thing to note is that most of the shuttles in the park are not wheelchair accessible, but special shuttle arrangements can be made if you call in advance (this is covered in the link below).
Generally speaking, the area around the lodges has fairly level paved trails running along the rim which would be fairly easy to navigate in a wheelchair and still provide good views. The drive-up overlooks at Yavapai and Mather points also have decent viewing areas that could be reached by wheelchair (although both involve going up some slopes). A particularly nice view could be had from the Yavapai Observation Station – a little geology exhibit and viewing room built right on the edge of the rim with large bay windows.
For lodging, Maswik and Yavapai Lodges are probably the most wheelchair accessible and have the best parking. All of the major eating places are also wheelchair accessible.
Note that one possible challenge is that there are a lot of little ups and downs in the lay of the land around the overlooks and lodges. Most of them are not very steep and all (that I can think of) can be reached by going up a slope, ramp or other incline without requiring steps, but the lodge area is definitely not a perfectly flat plain.
One other little note… the South Rim is at 7000 feet elevation and can have snow and icy patches on the ground well into April which can make it hard for everybody to negoiate the paths and walkways.
The South Rim and North Rim of the canyon are two very different places and because there are no bridges across the Grand Canyon it is a long 5-hour drive around to get from one to the other.
The South Rim of the canyon is more developed (more lodges, stores and overlooks) and is easier to reach because it is nearer to Phoenix and I-40. The North Rim has only one lodge and there are no major cities nearby (even the small towns of Fredonia and Kanab are a good 1.5 hours away). Because the North Rim is a 1000 feet higher in elevation, it is cooler in summer and has more pine trees. However, for the same reasons (colder and less developed), it is closed from mid-October to mid-May. So unless you are planning on going during summer, the South Rim is your only option.
As far as RVs and camping goes. Both the North Rim and the South Rim have large nice car-camping campgrounds with designated spots, picnic tables and bathrooms. If your RV is small enough to fit in a regular spot, than you could go there. However, if it is a large RV that needs a true full-size RV spot and hookups than your only option is going to be the South Rim where they do have a full size trailer park where visitors can rent a space (see links below).
As for which rim is better to visit (aside from RV options), that sort of depends on your interests and when you are visiting. I personally greatly prefer the North Rim during the summer because it is cooler and much more peaceful, while the South Rim can be a zoo between Memorial Day and Labor Day with difficult parking and crowded attractions. However, if you are going outside of summer, need to a full RV hook-up or want more shops and attractions than the South Rim is your best bet.
Note that you can make reservations for both the campground and trailer village and it is a good idea to do so well in advance as getting last minute spots (especially as summer gets closer) is difficult.
Tusayan, AZ is just south of the park enterance. There are a few hotels there. Check out Williams, AZ and Flagstaff, AZ as well. There is lodging for almost every budget in eithe of those 2 towns.
I know it is cold there right now! But, the temperatures can vary quite a bit from the rim to the bottom of the canyon.
From the National Park Service website http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/weather-condition.htm:
With an elevation spanning from around 2000 feet to over 8000 feet (760-2440m), the Grand Canyon area experiences a variety of weather conditions. This weather variety includes cold winters and mild pleasant summers, moderate humidity, and considerable diurnal temperature changes at the higher elevations, with hot and drier summers at the bottom of the Grand Canyon along with cool damp winters. Summer thunderstorms and winter snowfall adds to the weather variety in this region.
Spring
By mid-April, winter weather usually begins to break, and although snow is not uncommon in May, warm spells become more frequent. The winter cold gives way to a warming and pleasant spring period with average high temperatures gradually rising from the 50s and 60s (10-21°C) in April through the 70s to 80s (21-32°C) by June along the Rim, and from the 80s (27-32°C) in April to near 105 (41°C) by June along the river. Low temperatures will typically fall below freezing on the Rim in April and May and warm into the 40s (4-9°C) by June, with low temperatures from the 50s (10-15°C) in April to the 70s (21-26°C) by June along the river. Spring is typically breezy to windy with winds occasionally gusting over 40 mph (18 m/s) and dry with little precipitation occurring in May and early June. Due to the very dry airmass typical of the late spring months, late season frosts and freezes are still a possibility, with sub freezing temperatures being recorded as late as July at the North Rim. Snowfall has been reported as late as the middle of June.
I am unsure of what you mean by sources so I will answer in two different ways.
The natural source of the Grand Canyon is the Colorado River. In the prehistoric past, the Colorado River had become a wide, slow river similar to the Mississippi. It flowed across a flat plain down to the Gulf of California. A geologic uplift occurred and the Colorado's windy course began to cut down into the new plateau creating the deep, winding Grand Canyon.
The historic source of the Grand Canyon National Park dates back to 1848 when the Grand Canyon became a U.S. territory at the end of the Mexican American War. In 1857, the U.S Military traveled up the Colorado from the Gulf of California to the western reaches of the Grand Canyon. In 1869, the Powell Expedition mapped the depths of the Canyon.
Between 1869 and 1906, the Canyon was exploited as a commercial enterprise by the railroads. In 1906, portions were set aside as a game reserve followed by the creation of the Grand Canyon National Monument in 1908. On Feb. 26, 1919, Woodrow Wilson signed the law that created the Grand Canyon National Park.
Phoenix is the best price wise. Flagstaff is the closest but it might be more expensive. Phoenix is about 4 hrs away. Flagstaff is about 1-1/2 hrs away.
Big horn Sheep, condors, and reptiles…go to the link for more info…then you can research their adaptations by googling them
ex: "big horn sheep adaptations" etc.
Good luck!
Great answers so far, I might add-
http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/
Yes, there are roads all over both of those parks. I have driven them.