LIFE LIST UPDATE – No. 836: Visit the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon National Park entrance

I scratched another item off my “life list” on Monday and Tuesday of last week when my family and I visited Grand Canyon National Park. The Grand Canyon is something that I’ve wanted to see for as long as I can remember, and I added it to my very first “bucket list” a couple of years ago. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, and I hope to go back to the Grand Canyon again some day.

Considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, the Grand Canyon is located in Arizona, mostly within the confines of Grand Canyon National Park. The canyon itself is almost 300 miles long and is nearly 20 miles wide in some spots and is up to a mile deep in some places. Over the course of about 40 million years, the canyon was primarily carved by the waters of the Colorado River, which runs along the bottom of the canyon.

Theodore Roosevelt once said that the Grand Canyon is the “one great sight which every American should see” and it would be hard to disagree with him. Some people don’t see what the big deal is about the Grand Canyon, but if you ever see if for yourself, you’ll understand. Pictures and video footage of the canyon do not do it justice.

The canyon defies verbal description, and it’s more than just a “big hole in the ground.” The mix of colors, layers of rocks and spiraling depths contrasted against the dome of the blue sky make it something that everyone should see in person at least once. The canyon is also a physical presence that’s hard to describe, almost like a giant mountain in reverse. You know that if you slip off the edge of the thing, you’re a goner.

My family and I visited the South Rim side of the Canyon and took advantage of all the things to do on that side of the park. We checked out the state-of-the-art visitors center and theatre, the Grand Canyon Village, the Rim Trail, Mather Point and the Powell Point Memorial. We also drove the South Rim Drive and visited the Desert View Watchtower.

If you make the trip to the Grand Canyon, you won’t be alone. Grand Canyon National Park receives over five million visitors a year from all over the world. Maybe best of all, admission to the park is just $25 for a seven-day pass. In all, the trip was relatively inexpensive even taking into account that we drove there from Alabama by car. Round trip was a little over 3,700 miles but worth every mile.

In the end, I really enjoyed scratching this item off my “life list” and would like to return to the Grand Canyon again some day. How many of you have been to the Grand Canyon? What did you think about it? Have you been more than once? Let us know in the comments section below.