Grand Canyon Information

You could spend a lifetime in Grand Canyon National Park and not see it all! The park has over 1.2 million acres, and you would have to explore it throughout the year, exploring on foot and raft (and probably on rope) to gain a full appreciation. So the real answer is that the more time you spend, the more you see. As for the minimum time—anyone who is sensitive and open to the majesty of landscape could gain a deep impression by spending half an hour gazing at it from anywhere along its rims.

Where are the best views? What are the best things to see?

That word "best"! So subjective. It can mean so many different things to so many people, and varies depending on the time of year and weather conditions. But here's a try, from one who believes that you can always see more on foot than from a car.

Any view of the Canyon is a Grand one, so there are numerous places you can park near the rim and walk out for an excellent vista. The most popular, because most accessible, is Mather Point. You'll certainly experience the dramatic juxtaposition of steep cliffs at your feet and sweeping views across the immense "big ditch" which you expect as part of your Grand Canyon experience. There is usually one or more rangers there to answer your questions.

If you are going to spend more than a few hours at the Canyon, I recommend you stop at the new Canyon View Information Plaza (CVIP). You get there by either taking the free shuttlebus from any of the lodges, campgrounds, or major parking lots on The South Rim, or you can park at Mather Point (if not jammed full as it is on many summer days) and walk across the street to get to it; it's a gentle five minute walk. CVIP is full of displays (both indoors and out) giving you the answers to all of the most common questions about the park, including activities and facilities. Friendly rangers will answer any questions you don't see covered in the displays and help you plan your time at the Canyon. (If you are bringing kids with you, CVIP is one place they can sign up for the free junior ranger program.) When the park's transportation plan is fully implemented, CVIP is the first place a bus or light rail system will stop.

Getting back to vista points, while Mather Point offers dramatic views, points which stick out farther into the Canyon are still more dramatic. Hopi, Mohave, Maricopa, and Yaki points are four such outstanding places. The first three are off of Hermit Road (formerly called West Rim Drive); this road is closed to private motor vehicles except December-February, but you can take the free shuttlebus to get there. Better yet, park in the village area and walk the Rim Trail to one or more of these three points and experience extraordinary and changing views as you walk along. If you feel too tired to walk back, you can catch the shuttlebus. (This road can be closed to all vehicles, even shuttlebuses, during adverse weather conditions.)

To get to Yaki Point, you'll need to park in the village and take the free South Kaibab shuttlebus, which you transfer to at CVIP. The image at right is from near Yaki. There are also primitive trails along the rim leading from Yaki Point. The more adventurous can follow one east to Shoshone Point, which is also an excellent vista point.

For those who appreciate historic architecture, there are a number of venerable old buildings at the South Rim dating back to the days when the land was still private and promoted for tourism. These include several buildings designed by the architect Mary Colter, famous for her use of natural materials and designs reminiscent of Native American styles. Colter also designed the Watchtower at Desert View, from which you can get a panoramic view of the east side of the park.

Finally, in this brief sampling of "best" things to see, you can visit a genuine Native American ruin at the Tusayan Ruin and Museum along Desert View Drive. These 800 year old remants of a pueblo will give you a hint of what life was like in bygone days. Note that these ruins are nowhere near the community of Tusayan, but are closer to Desert View. Nor are they as well-preserved or as extensive as those at Wupatki National Monument or Walnut Canyon National Monument closer to Flagstaff.

What is the best place to see the sunset? The sunrise?

Any place you can get to along the rim! There really is no best place. Each view is just different, not better. Many people, though, like to station themselves out at some of the points which extend out into the canyon, such as Mohave, Hopi, Yavapai, and Yaki points. For sunset, try to get to your chosen spot about an hour before sunset. That way you will see the play of shadows and colors on the canyon walls; if you wait 'til sunset to start viewing, the features of the canyon will already be in shadow (as in the view at upper right from Mohave Point).

Do we have to to take a bus everywhere or can we drive?

Many visitors have heard about the Park Service's plans for mass transit, and suppose that it is already in existence and that you can't drive anywhere. At this time, however, only a few roads are off-limits to private vehicles: namely Hermit Road (formerly called West Rim Drive), the road to Yaki Point and the South Kaibab Trailhead, and the roads to the new Canyon View Information Plaza. Hermit Road is open to private vehicles from December 1- February 28, when park visitation is low.

To get to these places and to get around to other areas in Grand Canyon Village, the Park Service provides a free shuttlebus service. No tickets are needed. You just get on and off at any of the well-marked bus stops. The buses run literally all day, and even longer. You can view the sunset at Hopi Point, for instance, then catch the shuttle back to the village.

Long-term plans do call for constructing a large parking lot outside the park's South Entrance near Tusayan, with either bus or light rail service into the park terminating at the Canyon View Information Plaza. Funding for the light rail is in doubt; personally, I think visitors would find it the most exciting way to enter the park of the mass transit alternatives.

At any rate, whether or not a light rail system is built, or whether buses are the only affordable mass transit option, understand that National Park Service plans do not call for the elimination of all private vehicles. Visitors with reservations at the lodges or campgrounds, or who are backpacking, would all be able to drive in. The bulk of the park's traffic problems comes from day users, and this is the kind of congestion the park service hopes to alleviate.

Where can we get the donkey rides? Horseback rides?

There are no donkey rides. But there are mule rides (mules are the infertile progeny of a horse and a donkey). There are no short mule rides; the private company which operates them offers all day rides and overnighters, and these are usually booked up months in advance. This writer does not recommend them, for seeing the stress placed on the mules by the activity, it looks to be nothing more than a form of more or less benevolent slavery. The mule, in other words, would not likely choose to walk down into the canyon with a human on its back if it had a choice.

The horseback rides are probably not so rough on the horses. There are none originating from inside the park, but there are guided all-day tours starting at Apache Stables near Moqui Lodge just outside of the South Entrance, which end up at the rim. There are also shorter rides which take you through the beautiful pine forest but do not take you to any view of the canyon.

Where do we get the helicopter/airplane rides? How much do they cost?

Helicopter and airplane tours of the park originate outside the park, and are all privately operated. Most of the tours start at Grand Canyon Airport in Tusayan just outside of the park's South Entrance, and many also originate from Las Vegas. The helicopter tours from Tusayan cost roughly around $100 per person for about a half an hour; airplane tours are cheaper.

This writer does not recommend any of them. This is because overflights of helicopters and planes spoil the sense of quiet that backpackers and rafters would otherwise have. Fortunately, the National Park Service limits flights to certain corridors, so the impact is not so great. But I would urge you to respect the wilderness experience of others and not use these tours.

On the other hand, I never met a park visitor returning from a helicopter tour who thought it was a waste of money, and most seemed to be exceptionally delighted with the experience.

Where do we get the train ride?

You may have heard about a Grand Canyon train, and have visions of boarding it for magnificent views, or even for a trip down to the river. This does not exist. There is a train which carries you from the town of Williams (about 60 miles south of the South Rim) north to Grand Canyon Village. It is, from what I hear, a fun ride, but there is no point where you can see the Canyon from the train. Even when you arrive in the village, you still have a five-minute walk to the edge.

The train does take you through some beautiful wild scenery, though, since it's route is almost entirely away from roads. For more information on the Grand Canyon Railway, see their website at www.thetrain.com.

Which rim is better—North or South?

Ah, that word "better"! So subjective!

If "better" for you means less people, less traffic, and fewer facilties, then the North Rim is better. If you are trying to see a lot in a short time, the South Rim is better, since it is more accessible to major highways, with fewer curves. If you appreciate cooler temperatures during the heat of summer, the North Rim is better, for it is about 1000 feet higher in elevation. If you are visiting from late fall to spring, the South Rim is better since the North is closed. If you want to be able to see the Colorado River far below from the rim, the South Rim is better, because it is closer to the river and affords more views of it.

But which has the better views? Neither. They are both spectacular. Each of the numerous overlooks (on both rims) has different views, none inherently better.

Isn't there an East Rim and West Rim, too?

Oh, sort of. Geographically the so-called East and West rims are part of the South Rim. The South Rim is properly the edge of the cliff extending all along the southern side of the canyon for a couple of hundred miles. But somewhere along the way, the name became restricted to that part of the edge in the vicinity of Grand Canyon Village. From this narrow use of the term, the name West Rim developed for that part of the edge extending west of the village's "South Rim" as far as Hermit's Rest and the name East Rim, similarly, for that part of the edge extending east to Desert View.

Perhaps to correct this narrow geographical thinking, the National Park Service recently renamed West Rim Drive as Hermit's Rest Road, and East Rim Drive as Desert View Drive.

How long does it take to hike to the river and back?

For most people in reasonably good shape, this is a two day hike from the South Rim, requiring an overnight stay (and reservations) in the canyon. The tricky thing is that it takes twice as long to get back up the trails as it does to go down, and further, you are hiking in the desert, with temperatures along the river ranging from 100-120 degrees from May-September. Experienced desert hikers who do make it in one day are able to survive (and I do mean survive) by starting very early in the morning (well before dawn), hanging out in the shade during the middle of the day and soaking in Bright Angel Creek, drinking lots of water (of course) and also eating lots of salty carbohydrates; and making the trip back up to the rim in the late afternoon and early evening.

This writer did the trip in 13 hours (including long midday rest periods) starting on the South Kaibab Trail, crossing Black Bridge to Phantom Ranch, taking a side trip up to the mouth of Phantom Creek, then returning up the Bright Angel Trail, reaching the top around 8 pm. This hike of ca. 20 miles (including walking back to his accommodations) on a day when it was a few degrees over 100 at the bottom, with about 5000 feet total elevation gain, was much more difficult for him than a 32 mile day hike he made at Henry Coe State Park with similar total elevation gain on a late spring day when the high temperatures were, at most, in the 80s. Heat makes an incredible difference!

What are the best trails?

Folks who ask this question are usually not experienced hikers, for the experienced (even those in less than top physical condition) are likely to specify how long they want to hike and how difficult a trail they can handle. That word "best" is entirely dependent on the hiker's abilities and time frame, and current and anticipated weather.

The park has hundreds of miles of trails, and this section will make recommendations for only a few of the most conveniently accessed ones starting in or near Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim.

For those who want more of an easy stroll, rather than a hike, the Rim Trail is your best choice. You can start at several locations, it is paved for several miles, is mostly level, and offers spectacular views of the canyon. If you haven't seen the canyon yet (which is quite possible, since it is not visible from most parking lots, some of the lodges, Trailer Village, and Mather Campground), I highly recommend starting from the parking lot next to Shrine of the Ages and Park Headquarters. You can usually find parking there, or the shuttle bus will take you from the lodges, campgrounds, or other parking lots and let you off there. The trail starts between Shrine of the Ages and the headquarters building. The neat thing about this as a starting point, is that you walk through woodland to begin with, on a path that has only moderate use, and then suddenly, a few dozen feet before your reach the rim, the canyon comes into view. The effect can be stunning! You can then follow the rim trail either left, toward the lodges, or right, toward Yavapai Observation Station. Either way, your view of the canyon will become more expansive, as you walk along points with more panoramic views. You can pick up the shuttle bus again by Bright Angel Lodge or at Yavapai. Or if you want more than the mile or so you have walked on this itinerary, the paved trails continue in either direction. From Yavapai, you could continue for another mile for a very easy walk east to Mather Point, or a mile beyond that to Pipe Springs Creek Vista Point. Or from Bright Angel, you could walk a narrower paved trail (with some steep sections) westward as far as Maricopa Point.

Want a more rugged hike, but without major hills and with great views? Hike from the Bright Angel bus stop on the Rim Trail out toward Hermit's Rest. As noted above, the first section of about a mile is paved as far as Maricopa Point. From there the trail becomes more and more primitive, and in some short sections you will find it convenient to walk along the road rather than duck under low hanging branches. But you can walk as far as eight miles more or less on the level, until you get to Hermit's Rest. There you'll find a snack bar and restrooms, and you can opt to either walk back the same way or catch the shuttle bus back (March-October). Another advantage of this hike is that if you are unused to hiking at the Rim's 7000-foot elevation and are unsure how soon you or your companions will tire out, you can catch the shuttle bus at several points along the way. The rough condition of parts of the route will give you a sense of adventure, the ever-changing views of the canyon inspire awe, and you need not be so tired out that you cease to appreciate the scenery.

But, you say, you want to go down into the canyon! The trouble with going down into the canyon is that you have to hike back out. No elevator service is available. And it's amazing how much higher than canyon walls seem to be climbing up than when you went down. You'd almost swear that they grew! Because it is much harder hiking up than going down, none of the trails into the canyon are generally considered "easy." If you want a very short hike into the canyon that gives you the "flavor" of being below the rim, then the Bright Angel Trail as far down as the first major switchback is your best bet. This upper section is a moderate grade with few, if any, steps, and gets you about 200 feet in elevation below the rim—low enough to leave behind the sounds of traffic in the village. The round trip would be about a half a mile.

If you are more ambitious, you could continue down Bright Angel Trail as far as mile and a half rest house, or even three mile rest house. The trail is steeper the farther down you go from the trailhead, with numerous rocky steps and ruts from heavy mule traffic. From late spring through early fall, there is usually piped water available at the rest houses, which also have pit toilets. The name of each rest house corresponds to the one-way distance by trail, so the round-trip to three mile rest house is about six miles. Depending on the temperature and your condition, the six mile hike could take three to six hours; allow twice as much time to hike out as it took you going down. Your view down in the canyon is actually much more limited than the view you had on top; what is different is the quite literally deeper appreciation you have for the canyon as you look up at the sheer walls around you.

For a trail with more views and which has somewhat less traffic, the South Kaibab Trail is a good choice. ("Kaibab" is pronounced "KY-bab", where the "KY" rhymes with "my" and the "bab" with "tab".) After the first three quarters of a mile or so, it mostly follows a ridgeline, offering views up and down the canyon as you descend. (The Bright Angel Trail mostly follows side canyons, so your views extend across the canyon, but not very far east and west.) Unlike the Bright Angel, the South Kaibab doesn't start out moderate—it is fairly difficult at the top and in most of its length down to the river. It also offers less shade, and has no water available. A good day hike for an experienced hiker is to descend to the Tipoff, about four and a half miles down, with a 3000 foot elevation drop from the trailhead. Just past the toilet along the trail are some great views of the river below. Round trip is just over nine miles; allow six to nine hours to do it.

If you are used to hiking at high altitudes in a usually dry climate, then a challenging and satisfying all-day hike is to descend the South Kaibab Trail to just before the Tipoff toilet, turn left (west) on the Tonto Trail, then ascend from Indian Gardens on the Bright Angel Trail. The Tonto Trail follows the Tonto Platform, a sort of broad shelf half way down in the canyon. It is narrow, but mostly contours around at the same elevation, and also is much less frequently hiked than the South Kaibab and the Bright Angel. Thus, you gain more of a sense of solitude on a moderate section of trail. Your ascent out of the canyon on the Bright Angel is less steep than the South Kaibab, plus there is usually water available at Indian Gardens and the rest houses when you most need it. Total distance is just over 16 miles; allow eight to eleven hours.

Finally, if you are experienced and want to stay off the more popular "corridor" trails (the Bright Angel and South Kaibab), take the Shuttle Bus to Hermit's Rest and follow the Hermit's Rest Trail. It is infrequently maintained, but is not difficult for experienced hikers to follow. A good destination is the side trip to Dripping Springs, an overhanging cliff aptly named, dripping water into a rock basin. Your views of the canyon are less expansive since you are hiking down into a side canyon. The round trip is about five and a half miles with about 1500 feet total elevation gain. Allow four to six hours for this one.

Where can we ride mountain bikes?

Not very many places, at present. You cannot ride into the canyon at all—and if you saw how rough the trails are and how sheer the cliffs are off the edges of these trails (with no rail to save you), you would understand this prohibition. You are allowed to ride the paved roads, including those closed to private motor vehicles, such as Hermit Road. You can also ride on the dirt roads away from the rim (as in the photo at left) but in those cases, you'll need a compass and an adventurous spirit, for they are not accurately mapped even on the USGS quads. These back roads are plenty rough, though the terrain is fairly level with only small ravines to give you variety.

The Park Service is in the process of contructing what will eventually be about 73 miles of multi-use trails, and when this is done, you'll be able to bike all the way from Tusayan to Grand Canyon Village and east to Desert View.

When does the park close?

It doesn't! The South Entrance and Desert View gates are open 24 hours per day, every day of the year. The North Rim is closed because of snow from about mid-October to mid-May. The park would only be entirely closed in the event of a life-threatening emergency, such as forest fires on both rims.

Is there camping in the park?

Yes. There are three campgrounds on the south side of the Canyon: Mather and Trailer Village near Grand Canyon Village, and Desert View near the east entrance. There is another at the North Rim. There is also backpacking through most of the park, strictly controlled. If you want to camp at the South Rim during the busy summer season, you had better plan on getting reservations weeks in advance—months in advance if you are reserving for one of the busy holiday weekends like Memorial Day, Fourth of July, or Labor Day. The same advice applies for backpacking into the more accessible areas.

Mather Campground, at the South Rim, is the largest in the park with 314 family campsites and seven group sites. These sites can be reserved between April 1 and November 30. After that time, the campground is first-come, first served. Mather Campground has restrooms with flush toilets scattered strategically throughout. There are also drinking water faucets and trash dumpsters here and there. Each family campsite has a picnic table, a paved parking area for up to two vehicles, room for at least a medium-sized tent, and a metal campfire ring with cooking grill. During the reservation season, all sites not reserved by the night before are sold on a first-come, first served basis. On holiday weekends, few, if any, sites are available for those without reservations; those that are, are usually the result of early departure of other campers. Most of the rest of the summer season, the campground fills between mid-morning and early evening.

Rates for family sites during the reservation season are $15.00 per night per site. Each site can hold up to six people, three tents, and two vehicles (trailers count as one vehicle). There is no difference in price between one camper in a compact car with a pack tent and another with six people in a 40-foot motor home. The only discounts available are for those who hold the Golden Age passport (62 or older, permanent US residents only), or Golden Access passport (US residents eligible for federal benefits because of a permanent disability). The discount for Golden Age and Golden Access is 50% off. Golden Eagle or National Park Passes do not qualify you for discounts on camping; nor do memberships in private organizations like AAA.

Call 1-800-365-CAMP to make a reservation by phone. Or you can make a reservation online at this link.

Off-season (December-March) rates are $10.00 per night per family site.

Group sites at Mather hold up to 50 people and three vehicles (extra vehicles can park nearby at Camper Services), and rent for $40.00 per night per site. There are seven group sites, and it is important to reserve them. Commercial tour operators must always camp in the group sites, even if they only have a few people.

During the reservation season (April-November), staff assigns all sites at Mather Campground They are usually pretty good about trying to accomodate your needs. But remember, this campground is frequently populated by 1000 or more people on summer nights, so it is not a place for solititude. Those sites which are relatively remote (i.e. are visible to only three or four other campsites) are also in high demand, so do not expect to get one, even if you request it in your reservation. There are no sites here where you park and can walk in to a screened campsite. All tent sites are within about ten to forty feet of the camp loop roads. The Canyon is not visible from the campground, but it is a fairly easy 3/4-mile walk to the closest point on the rim. Tents, small Recreational Vehicles (RVs), and larger RVs are all mixed in together. RVs with generators are not allowed to run them at night or mid-day; in fact, they can run generators only two hours in the morning and two in the evening.

Mather Campground itself has no showers, but a concessionaire operates a coin-op shower and laundry immediately adjacent to the campground. There is a large market containing a full-size grocery, camping store, and souvenir shop nearby, a five-minute walk from the campground.

If your idea of camping is hooking up your RV to water, electrical, and sewer connections, then your only alternative within the park is the concessionaire run Trailer Village. Just outside the park's South Entrance is the only other campground with full hookups: Camper Village at the edge of the community of Tusayan. Neither of these private campgrounds honor the Golden Age or Golden Access passes, and the rate is $25.00+ per night.

Mather Campground also has an area specifically for hikers and bikers only. These six sites are not reservable, and they may not be used by anyone who has brought a private motor vehicle into the park. They are only for people who are bicycle tourists or who have entered the park via public transportation. Since each of the six sites accommodate up to six people (shared, hostel-style), there is room for up to 36 hiker-bikers. They are also the cheapest way for one to three travellers to stay in the park, since the rate is just $4.00 per person per night.

Can we camp anywhere in the woods?

No. With close to 5 million recreational visits annually, the Park Service has had to place strict controls on where you can camp. If you're camping with a vehicle, you'll need to camp in one of the campgrounds, such as Mather, Desert View, or Trailer Village. Even self-contained RVs are not allowed to park overnight outside of developed campgrounds.

Backpackers are also restricted. The popular developed areas are off limits to backpacking (unless you want to camp in the vehicle campground) and the rest of the park is divided into backpacking zones. Many of these specific sites or zones are reserved months in advance. Further, you will need to register and pay a fee—which latter helps the park to maintain the trails and keep the backcountry from being overly impacted. Contact the Backcountry Information Center for more details.

If you cannot afford to pay for camping, you can usually camp for free in the undeveloped areas of Kaibab National Forest, 1/4 mile or more from the main highway. Be sure to practice minimum impact camping, and do not even think about starting a campfire unless you have the water or tools to put it completely out. During times of extreme fire danger, the National Forest can be closed to camping. If it is closed at all, it is most likely to be closed during the weeks before the onset of the summer monsoons, which usually begin around the first week of July.

Is there a restaurant or snack bar inside the park?

Yes, many! Most of them are in Grand Canyon Village, but there are also places to eat at Desert View and at the North Rim. Considering the long lines at the South Entrance station during the summer months, you will find that you save time using the food services within the park then, rather than those outside.

Is the canyon illuminated at night?

No. Except for the stars and the moon. Grand Canyon is a National Park, not a Broadway Extravaganza. The park is preserved to keep it the way it was before human visitation, not to disturb its plants and wildlife with night-lighting. If you understand the tremendous size of Grand Canyon, you'll understand that it would take an outrageous amount of energy to illuminate anyway!

Can we swim in the river?

No. Swimming in the Colorado River is prohibited because of the extremely swift currents. The river is so cold, that it would be difficult to stay in the water very long even if it did not sweep you away. You are welcome to splash around in the side creeks which feed into the canyon, such as Bright Angel Creek—but again, they are not easily accessible.

Do many people fall over the edge?

A few each year. And occasionally they jump. Considering the foolish behavior of some visitors, there are surprisingly few falls. Most falls are fatal; when you look over the edge, you'll see why. All of the popular viewpoints have secure guard rails, but most of the trails along the rim do not.

FAQs about park fees

How much does it cost to enter the park?

If you're travelling in a private family vehicle, you pay $25.00 for your pass. It covers only one vehicle, plus a trailer or other tow vehicle. Within reasonable limits, it does not matter how many family members there are, you still pay the same fee if you're in one family vehicle. If your family group is large, say over six adults, you may be asked to show identification proving that you are all a part of the same family. Ordinarily, groups of a few adult friends in one vehicle are charged the family vehicle rate.

Organized groups of any kind, commercial or non-commercial, are charged $8.00 per person aged 17 or over ($25.00 per vehicle minimum). This would include church outings, scout groups, hiking clubs, business associates, etc.

In addition, commercial tour groups (it is commercial if anyone is getting paid to lead or sponsor the tour) are required to obtain a special permit in advance. If the commercial tour group is arriving on a bus with a capacity of 26 seats or more, they pay a flat fee of $300—even if the bus has only a few people in it. Smaller buses and vans pay the $8.00 per person rate, but are not charged for the driver or tour guide.

Persons entering the park by foot, bicycle, or motorcycle pay $10.00 per person aged 17 or older.

There are inequities in this fee schedule. A family of eight adults in a motorhome towing an SUV pays $25.00, whereas if that same family bicycled in, they would pay $80.00. While these inequities theoretically could be lessened if NPS put its mind to it, it would be difficult because it might mean longer lines at the entrance station while entrance rangers were counting passengers, axles, length, or whatever other means was used, plus people who ended up paying more might raise a howl. The fee schedule is not so bad when you consider the modest price of an annual pass.

Note that commercial trucks are not allowed into the park, with the exception of those which are delivering goods to businesses inside. If you're a trucker and want to take a swing through the park to see it, you can enter only if you leave your trailer rig outside. You can check with businesses in Valle or Tusayan to see where this may be possible.

How long is the pass good for?

The "single visit" vehicle passes are good for an entire week, and you can go in and out of the park as many times as you like within that seven day period. Just don't lose the receipt or leave it in your lodge or campsite, or else you'll have to buy another one. The passes are non-transferrable, which means it is illegal to give it to anyone else.

How do the annual passes work? What is the difference between the Golden Eagle and the National Park Pass?

This section is now out-of-date, since starting in 2007, the National Park Pass, the Golden Eagle Pass, and the Golden Age Pass have been replaced by the new America the Beautiful recreation pass. Those which are expiring this year will still be honored until their expiration date this year, but no more new ones will be sold. The new pass gives you about the same entry privileges as the Golden Eagle, but the price is $80.00 (except for seniors). No new Golden Age cards will be issued, but the privileges of existing cardholders will continue to be honored. Seniors will be able to purchase an America the Beautiful pass at a discounted rate. The new card clarifies some gray areas of admission details not spelled out in the old pass procedures. The section below will be rewritten once I learn more and have time to write it.

There are three kinds of annual passes: National Park Pass, Golden Eagle, and Grand Canyon Pass. All are valid for twelve full months, plus the rest of the month you first use it in. For example, if you first used a National Park Pass on March 10, 2002, it would be valid through March 30, 2003. If you first used it on March 30, it would be valid until March 30 of the following year, too. First used on March 1, it would also be valid until March 30 of the following year. Note that if you first use one toward the beginning of the month, you'll get more validity for your money.

(Until recently, the expiration date was determined by when you bought the pass, not by when you first used it. This was not much of a problem in the past because most people bought their passes at the park they were also first using them at. But now, there are many retail outlets online and in stores which sell them. NPS made the change in policy so you could buy your pass months in advance of a planned trip without losing its full 12-month value before you actually visited a park.)

The most popular pass and usually your best buy is the National Park Pass. It costs $50.00. This will get one family vehicle in free unlimited times to any of the approximately 146 national parks, monuments, recreation areas, historic sites, etc. nationwide which charge entrance fees. Two persons are allowed to sign the card (cardholder and spouse), and the card must be signed to be valid. One of the two persons who signed the card must be in the vehicle. One of those two persons should be prepared to show identification proving that they are present. The card, in other words, cannot be loaned out to friends or family to use—and those who do risk having the card invalidated for all use.

The National Park Pass is not valid for parking fees, tours, camping, or other recreational fees. It is not valid for units which are not a part of the National Park System. However, most of the well-known parks such as Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Death Valley, Sequoia, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, and Glacier are a part of this system. The first four mentioned all charge $20.00 per family vehicle as does the Grand Canyon, and most of the rest charge $10.00 (or $15.00 for Rocky Mountain) so in a very few visits, it pays for itself. One other popular destination in the southwest, Monument Valley, is a Navajo tribal park and is not covered by any park pass.

What, then, is the Golden Eagle? For $65.00 ($15.00 more than the National Park Pass) the Golden Eagle pass gives you free admission to all of the same parks plus many others operated by other federal agencies—none of which you likely have heard of. Well, that may not be true if you are an avid naturalist, hunter, camper, and connoisseur of wild lands operated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Corps of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife Service (National Wildlife Refuges), Tennessee Valley Authority, or Forest Service. Mind you, most of the lands operated by these agencies do not charge entrance fees—they may charge recreation fees (such as for camping), they may charge parking fees, they may charge no fees at all, and a small number of them charge entrance fees. The Golden Eagle covers only the entrance fees.

The Red Rock Pass for the Sedona area National Forest covers parking in that area, and a Golden Eagle Passport will not be valid.

The Golden Eagle has the same restrictions as the National Park Pass: It is non-transferable; the card signer must be in the vehicle for it to be valid.

Unless you are definitely planning to visit wildlands with entrance fees not operated by the National Park Service, your best bet is to start with the National Park Pass. You can always upgrade it at a later date to a Golden Eagle at the places where you might need the latter. You simply pay $15.00 more for a Golden Eagle hologram stamp which is affixed to your National Park Pass.

Do not confuse the Golden Eagle with the Golden Age. If you're a US citizen or permanent resident alien aged 62 or over, the Golden Age is a better deal for you. See below.

If you plan on visiting only the Grand Canyon during the next 12 months, and no other units of the National Park System, then your best bet is a Grand Canyon Annual Pass for $40.00. This allows the cardholder and accompanying passengers in a private, non-commercial family vehicle free entry into Grand Canyon National Park only.

Considering the abundance of magnificent parks in the region, anyone who is able to visit the Grand Canyon more than twice per twelve month period is probably also able to visit the other parks, too, and will therefore want to pay the extra $10.00 for the National Park Pass. Isn't the free entrance fee for Zion, Bryce Canyon, Glen Canyon, Lake Mead, Sajuaro, Organ Pipe Cactus, Wupatki/Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon, Petrified Forest, or Montezuma Castle (to name a few in Arizona or southern Utah) worth the extra ten bucks for you? Most people say yes, and Grand Canyon entrance rangers sell very few Grand Canyon Annual Passes. (Another disadvantage of this pass is that there is room on it for only one signature, so a couple would each have to get their own if they plan on visiting the park when the card signer is not present.)

The above notes refer to entry via private family vehicle. What if you're walking, bicycling or motorcycling in, and you're with friends or family, and you have an annual pass? Who does it cover? The passes cover the card signer's immediate family, defined as spouses, parents, and children. (Children aged 16 or younger are free anyway.) It does not cover brothers, sisters, cousins, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, or husband's cousin's best friend's wonderful great uncle Murray. Although the pass does not specify this, entrance staff will probably not charge you extra if you have a pass and are bicycling, walking, or motorcycling in with one friend—if that park, like Grand Canyon, has a per vehicle entrance fee rather than a per person entrance fee.

Finally, if you are travelling with an organized group or in a commercial tour, the pass covers your entrance fee and that of your spouse, parents, and children. (If your commercial tour bus has a capacity of 26 or more, the pass won't help—the tour operator will still have to pay the $300.00 flat fee.)

Is there a discount for seniors?

Yes, it is called the Golden Age Passport. This pass is issued only to US citizens or permanent residents aged 62 or older. You can buy it at any National Park Entrance Station for a one-time fee of $10.00, and it is valid for life (provided you don't lose the card). It gains the card signer and accompanying passengers in a private, non-commercial family vehicle free entry into all National Parks and other Federal recreation areas that require entry fees. It is valid nationwide. The senior must be in the vehicle for the card to be valid—you can't leave grandma at home and use her card to get you into the parks! The card covers only the one family vehicle the senior is riding in, not family traveling along on other vehicles.

If the senior is traveling by bicycle, motorcycle, on foot, or in a commercial transit bus, the Golden Age Passport also covers the entrance fee of the card signer's spouse, parents, or children (but not siblings, cousins, friends, or more distant relations.)

In addition to providing free entry, the Golden Age Passport gives a 50% discount on camping and some other recreational fees. The pass is sometimes confused with the Golden Eagle Pass, but the latter can be purchased by anyone, is valid only twelve full months, and does not provide discounts on camping or other fees.

Is there a military discount?

No. Congress decides what kind of discounts the National Park Service can offer, so you would have to write your congressperson if you wanted to try to get this changed. Personally, I think that if you could persuade Congress to authorize the transfer of a portion of the Defense Department's budget to the National Park Service in exchange for allowing US Military Identification cards to be treated as the equivalent of National Park Passes, it would be a good thing. A reasonable allocation would be to multiply the number of US Military Personnel by the $50 cost of the National Park Pass—perhaps reducing that product by an estimate of the percentage of US Military families who would use it.

How come we have to pay to see the canyon—don't I pay enough in taxes?

In recent decades, Congress has been neglecting National Parks, not giving them enough of your tax dollars to do the job of protecting the natural environment and maintaining and improving visitor facilities. The amount of taxes you pay is irrelevant if Congress does not appropriate the funds for a particular need. A few years ago, however, Congress passed legislation which allowed National Parks to raise entrance fees with a large portion of the fee staying in the park to pay for operations and improvements.

Some folks seem to think that it shouldn't cost anything to run a National Park. Nature (or "God") made it, they would argue, so why should we have to pay "just to see it"? Perhaps the Park Service should set aside one part of the park as a free zone to demonstrate exactly what fees provide: First, there would be no roads to such an area, so you would have to hike in. Or, more likely, since there would be no law enforcement to see that the park was protected, you could just drive in with your 4x following the tracks of off-road vehicles. This would be easy enough, since there would be no one to put out fires caused by careless campers, so there wouldn't be much forest standing. With no park maintenance people to pick up the garbage, trash would be strewn over the landscape, including toilet paper from people who didn't have a toilet to use and didn't understand wilderness sanitation. You'd see fewer wildlife, for with no ranger to protect them, they'd be poached. When you got to the rim, you better not fall over, for there would be no rescue personnel to save you—or recover your body.

But wait, the Libertarians might say, unpaid volunteers could do a lot of these services. Okay, in this hypothetical "free area" scenario, you could gather a large group of volunteers to lay out a dirt road, donate the use of a bulldozer to grade it; pick up trash, establish campsites, build outhouses, put out fires, educate visitors about the need to conserve and protect the resources, even conduct volunteer patrols (which would probably have to be armed patrols) to be sure visitors would follow the rules and were safe. But the better the job these volunteers did, the more people there would be visiting the area. As numbers increased, you would either have to start refusing entry to people, or find a way to make money to afford the facilities you would need to put in place. You might get volunteers to stay there to look after the place, but they might like to have a few basic amenities which cost money—a water system, for instance. So you would have to set up some ways of making money without charging the dreaded entrance fees.

You might be able to do all of that with corporate "sponsorship", and many folks wouldn't mind that kind of set-up if they could just "see it" for "free." But would they really be able to "see it" amongst all the distractions of billboards and shops that a business would have to put in place to justify sponsoring services? How many private parks do you know of that are able to stay in business on advertising and gift shops alone?

The trouble is, we are so used to getting free services from our government that we undervalue them. Yes, we pay taxes, but there are not enough taxes collected for all government programs, and in our diverse society we can't consistently agree on our priorities. Often, in fact, interest groups in our nation have diametrically opposed views of how tax money should be used, or whether it should be collected at all!

I find it fascinating that throughout the history of National Parks, the debate on whether parks should fund themselves by user fees—or be funded by taxes to keep them free or inexpensive for all—has gone back and forth over the decades, with neither major political party being consistently on one side or the other. In fact, Stephen Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service, was able to convince a skeptical Congress to create the park system back in 1916 in part by suggesting that parks would be self-supporting by user fees and not funded by taxes!

How come it takes so long to get through the entrance station?

The South Entrance station is the first, and often the only contact visitors have with park rangers. Many have questions (such as the preceding) which take time to explain, and even if they don't ask, the rangers want to be sure visitors understand the basics (such as the importance of safeguarding the receipt to avoid having to pay twice, and of the advantages of buying the various passes). Also, the park accepts credit cards for payment, and these take at least one minute longer to process than cash—more than that if there is a problem with the card.

Though there may be good long term ways to alleviate the congestion at the South Entrance (probably the busiest Park Service Entrance Station in the nation) such as building one or more additional toll lanes, you should in the meantime plan on long waits during the summer—over one half hour on summer holiday weekends. You can minimize the discomfort of waiting by arriving early in the day (before 9 am) or in the evening (after 7 pm), by being sure all members of your group have used the restroom before getting into line (there is none available to the public at the Entrance Station, but there are places in the community of Tusayan just outside the park), and by just relaxing and enjoying the view of the beautiful ponderosa pine forest on both sides of the road as you wait.

Also, if you already have your currently valid National Park Pass, Golden Eagle Pass, Golden Age Pass, Golden Access Pass, or Grand Canyon Annual Pass, you can save time at the South Entrance by using the far left "Prepaid" lane and having your matching identification ready to show the ranger.

Another way to avoid the lines is to use the Desert View Entrance. From Flagstaff, the trip is only a few miles more using highway 89 and then 64 to Desert View than it is to use the more popular 180/64 route via Valle and Tusayan.

What is the money used for?

Most of the funds go back into the park to help it do its job, with a smaller portion going to help finance less-attended parks. A major project funded at Grand Canyon was the Canyon View Information Plaza (opened October 2000), which will be the first place most visitors stop to learn about what the park has to offer once the transit system is fully in place. Another project is the multi-use recreation trails that are being developed above the rims. A new one mile segment between Mather Point and Yavapai Point was just opened in late summer of 2001. Some ot the fees were also used to create a prepaid "Express" lane at the South Entrance, so that persons who have already bought a seven day pass or an annual pass do not need to wait in line as long to enter as previously required.

I'm bringing in a school group. Do we have to pay?

Yes, if you just show up at the entrance station without several weeks prior notice. You will have to pay $8.00/person for everyone who is age 17 or older. But if you write the park several weeks in advance, you can get an educational fee waiver. The reason for your visit must be primarily educational, not recreational or service-oriented. Scout groups, for instance, would usually not qualify for the fee waiver. For more details, see this official National Park Service webpage .

I have a reservation at one of the lodges inside the park. Do I have to pay the entrance fee?

Yes, the concessionaire operating the lodges does not pay your fee for you, nor even provide a share of profits to the park!

I have paid for a backpacking (or campground) reservation. Do I have to pay the entrance fee?

Yes, the entrance fee is separate from the backpacking/camping fees.

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