The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon, which is located in Arizona, is known all around the world for it's size and landscape. Over one million visitors come every year to witness the beauty of the Grand Canyon. With the Canyon being as large as it is, many tourists come and wonder what is inside of the canyon. People water raft, hike trails, camp, etc. Overall, the Grand Canyon is a massive tourist attraction and one of the most beautiful National Parks.
Location Details
The Grand Canyon is located in Northern Arizona. The Canyon is about 227 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. The depth of the Canyon is just over one mile. In the Canyon, different height zones vary which causes each zone to have different climates. For example, the North Rim is closed during the winter because of snow. Different types of plants and life grow in each area. The Colorado River runs right through the Grand Canyon, which carved the Grand Canyon. In the summertime, the Grand Canyon gets extremely hot down at the bottom and rarely gets frost in the winter, unlike the North Rim. The Colorado River starts in one area, flows for miles, right through the Canyon, and empties into Lake Mead in Las Vegas.
Historical Information
The first people to discover the Grand Canyon were Europeans that were members of a group. These people were heading to New Spain, which is Mexico today, in February of 1540. But, the Grand Canyon was not fully explored until three centuries later because of the immense size. Starting in about 1850, expeditions commanded by the US Army surveyed the Canyon. These expeditions were the ones that fully looked around it and discovered all the different passages about the Canyon. The walls of the Canyon and the passages contain caves that form mammillaries, which are lumps that are formed from mineral pools. Some data that was collected shows that the Colorado River began carving the chasm at the Western End about 17 million years ago. The oldest parts of the Grand Canyon are claimed to be about 17.6 million years old.
Cultural information
The culture of the Grand Canyon mainly consisted of tribes. The tribes were the Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Navajo, Paiute, White Mountain Apache, Tusayan, Yavapai, and Zuni. Miners, entrepreneurs, and explorers also visited. The first group to ever see the Grand Canyon were Europeans headed by the Spanish Explorer Francisco Vasquez DE Coronado. The Grand Canyon was deeply explored by many native tribes and who often lived at the bottom. Lots of American geologists made weeks worth of expeditions on rowboats down the Colorado River to study it. The Grand Canyon is recognized by several groups as a world heritage site.
Recent news and HAPPENINGS
Recent studies were conducted and the studies shown that the Colorado River began carving the chasm at it's western end. In the past few months, drones were recently prohibited from viewing the canyon or anywhere inside it. During the winter, The North Rim is closed until May 15, 2017 due to many inches of snow. On January 11th, 2016, the Grand Canyon proposed framework for the Glen Canyon Dam and will be open to the public. As of December 23rd, the National Park will be celebrating the accomplishment and looks forward to 2019 to it's park centennial.
grand canyon activities
At the Grand Canyon, there is a village with camping, schools, shopping, etc. Tourists who stay the night in the Grand Canyon in the middle of long trails stay in hotels and campgrounds there are along the way. Also during your visit to the Grand Canyon, you can get tour guides for the day for a price of $17-$20. You can hike many trails such as the Clear Creek Trail, which takes you past a gushing waterfall and at the end with rustic hotels and camping. Usually the trails are around seven miles long. The Tuckup Trail of the Grand Canyon is the most remote trail, which is 60-90 miles of dirt road. The views are stunning and the temperatures are moderate. At the Grand Canyon, there is always plenty to do and you will never get bored.
Credits:
Created with images by ahisgett - "Grand Canyon 9"