While we were Las Vegas for a lot of rock climbing, we decided to detour to Grand Canyon National Park for a couple of days. Grand Canyon National Park ~4.5 hours away from Las Vegas.
We visited the park in February 2018 which is considered part of their Winter months (December, January, February). It is definitely low season during that time. We were able to walk-in to a campsite late at night and there were only two other parties we could see. To visit the park, you can access Grand Canyon National Park via the North or South Entrance. To get from the South Rim to the North Rim, it requires ~220 miles of driving!
NORTH RIM
The North Rim or the “other side” of the Grand Canyon is typically less travelled. That area is the park is closed during the winter months due to snow, so we were not able to access that area in the time we went to visit the Grand Canyon. Typical North Rim season runs from May 15 to through October 15. Check the park website for park closure updates if you plan to visit the North Rim around the start and end of the season. If your travel dates fall within the right season and/or you’ve already visited the South Rim (and can easily detour to the North Entrance), I’d highly recommend visiting the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. It offers similar views like Point Imperial with less traffic.
SOUTH RIM
We drove to the South Entrance since the North Entrance was closed (due to snow). The South Rim is opened 365 days a year. There are shuttle busses that run around the park to most destinations if parking is difficult. Since we were visiting during low season, we didn’t need to take any shuttle busses because there was ample parking at all locations. We only visited the park for 1 night, 2 days and we didn’t hike down to the canyon since it was such a short visit.
- Drove to Hermit’s Rest and explored all of the different viewpoints along Hermit Road. Since we were visiting during February, no shuttle buses run along this road during that time, so we were able to drive on this road with the van.
- Sunset at Hopi Point. There were other people that were also there to enjoy the sunset. I’d imagine this location gets really busy during the summer months. We got here early and I prepared dinner in the van in the Instant Pot. We let the Instant Pot get to pressure and cook while we watched the sunset outside. Afterwards, we ate dinner in the van. It was perfect. You can probably go to any viewpoint to relax and watch the sunset/sunrise. You’ll mostly be battling the crowds since all of the viewpoints do not require a hike and let’s face it, it’s a national park.
- Camped at Mather’s Campground. Like I mentioned previously, walk-in reservations are only taken during the winter months so we did not have to make reservations in advance. There were plenty of available campsites to choose from when arrived late at night.
- Sunrise at Mather Point. This location was probably even more busy than watching the sunset at Hopi Point. If you plan to come here over the summer for sunrise, be prepared to battle the crowds. After the sunrise, we returned to the van to have a pancake breakfast before we got back onto the road to go to Las Vegas.
One our way back to Las Vegas, we detoured along Historic Route 66!
