Travel Guide Grand Canyon National Park

This incredible site of immensity flirts with the borders of the unreal; it alone justifies a visit to Arizona. With a surface area of some 500,000 ha, the Grand Canyon stretches for about 450 km long and 5.5 to 30 km wide between Lakes Powell and Mead, while its average depth is 1,300 m - with a maximum of over 2,000 m. It has been sculpted by the power of the Colorado River, rolling with violence a greenish and muddy water, as if to tear off the 700 m of rock that still separate the ground from the sea level. A force of nature that originates in the Rockies and flows into the Gulf of California after having traveled more than 2,300 km. Although its average flow is 650m3/s, it can increase significantly during periods of high water. For example, before the dams were built, it could reach 2,300m3/s. In total, there are about 100 rapids at the bottom of the canyon.This grandiose fault is bordered by two roughly parallel plateaus: North Rim and South Rim. Only 16 kilometers apart as the crow flies from Grand Canyon Village, they are separated by almost 345 km by road. They are as distinctly different in climate and vegetation as they are in wildlife. The north rim, 300 meters higher, is also wilder. Thus, the millions of visitors that Grand Canyon National Park receives each year are more attracted to the South Rim, which is more developed for tourism.