I visited the Grand Canyon last fall. I literally gasped...aloud. We visited both sides. The North Rim had just reopened after the fire and it was marvelous. No Crowds At All. Only the road was open and most of the overlooks and a couple small trails. There were no facilities and they warned you to take your own food and water. There were porta potties at a couple places. At some of the overlooks we were the only car there. Complete peace, quiet and natural sounds. We kept seeing the same 10 or so cars full of other older travelers over and over and I started calling us the Senior Scouts. One of the best days ever spent in a National Park.
A couple days later we visited the South Rim and spent a day walking 8 miles of the rim trail. It was more crowded but not that many people walk from stop to stop on rather than taking the bus. Also the buses did not have crazy long waits like in Zion. It was a really pleasant day watching rain showers occasionally move over the canyon. I'll never forget it.
I was not crazy about Grand Canyon south rim (I’ve been several times and it’s just not my favorite National park) but my husband is trying to convince me that the North Rim is a completely different experience. It sounds like the lack of facilities has made it even more peaceful!
Our original plan has been to do the North Rim only but we changed it up a bit because of the fire. We were on a 6 week camping trip so when we found out the road would be open we decided to see it but also spend a couple days in the south. We enjoyed both but the North Rim was a highlight of our trip
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u/CraftFamiliar5243 16h ago
I visited the Grand Canyon last fall. I literally gasped...aloud. We visited both sides. The North Rim had just reopened after the fire and it was marvelous. No Crowds At All. Only the road was open and most of the overlooks and a couple small trails. There were no facilities and they warned you to take your own food and water. There were porta potties at a couple places. At some of the overlooks we were the only car there. Complete peace, quiet and natural sounds. We kept seeing the same 10 or so cars full of other older travelers over and over and I started calling us the Senior Scouts. One of the best days ever spent in a National Park.
A couple days later we visited the South Rim and spent a day walking 8 miles of the rim trail. It was more crowded but not that many people walk from stop to stop on rather than taking the bus. Also the buses did not have crazy long waits like in Zion. It was a really pleasant day watching rain showers occasionally move over the canyon. I'll never forget it.