If you want to visit the Grand Canyon National Park, you have to travel to the US state of Arizona. This is what an impressive 4.3 million visitors do every year! See a2zdirectory for tourist attractions in Arizona. The crowd puller and arguably America’s most famous national park covers an area of 4,779 km² and was founded on February 26, 1919.
Location of the Grand Canyon National Park
A Grand Canyon is a very steep, 450-kilometer-long gorge. It extends in northern Arizona and is a result of the Colorado River. Over millions of years he dug the canyon in stone.
To protect this natural event, the Grand Canyon National Park was established. Since then it has been attracting visitors.
The Grand Canyon is one of the great natural wonders and therefore very popular. Anyone who has ever been there will share the euphoria of every visitor.
There are three parts of the entire area. The first is the South Rim, this is the most famous part of the Grand Canyon National Park. Most visitors also travel here. The part of the south rim is about 300 meters higher than the second part of the Grand Canyon, the north rim, in English North Rim. The third part is the gorge itself, more precisely, the inner part of the gorge, in English Inner Canyon.
History of the Grand Canyon National Park
Archaeologists have studied the Grand Canyon and its area intensively and found that the first humans must have lived here over 3,000 years ago. These peoples were Indians. It is called the Desert Culture. They were hunters and gatherers and ate the flora and fauna found here. These were not primitive beings, on the contrary. The Desert Culture people were more progressive. They made sandals, stored their collective goods in self-made baskets and made spearheads from stones so that they could hunt more successfully.
Their successors lived here about 2,000 years ago. The colonists at that time are called Anasazi. These peoples already lived in mud huts and built their villages into the walls of the gorge. They lived their lives as farmers and left some drawings on rock faces. Scientists have found that the anasazi suddenly disappeared 700 years ago. However, the cause of this is not known. They were followed by the Hopi Indians. Even today you can find Indian tribes in the Grand Canyon National Park, the Hayasupi Indians.
Later the Spaniards arrived in the Grand Canyon area. The Spaniard Garcia Lopez de Cardenas was the first European in the Grand Canyon area. He works on behalf of the conqueror Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. This in turn, according to the legend, was to look for the Seven Cities of Cibola. In 1540 Garcia Lopez de Cardenas reached the southern edge of the gorge in September with some Spanish soldiers and leaders of the Hopi Indians. After a failed attempt to climb down the gorge, the Grand Canyon was ruled worthless. For over 200 years no European has come near him.
The expedition of John Wesley Powell is particularly well known. The one-armed Powell left Wyoming with his squad on May 24, 1869.
The Grand Canyon was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site around 30 years ago.
Touring the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is accessible at Bright Angel Point. Even on the way there, a breathtaking landscape stretches over 29 kilometers. Just looking at it is extremely worthwhile. At the North Rim you can see the famous stone arch called the Angels Window. The unique Grand Canyon Skywalk has existed since 2007. Here you can walk a little over the Grand Canyon at dizzying heights. This is possible thanks to a special construction and is undoubtedly the most spectacular point in the entire national park.
