Visiting the Grand Canyon South Rim? Our Grand Canyon itinerary includes everything you need to know before you go, where to stay, how to get around, and the best things to do at the Grand Canyon!

Despite living in Arizona for 8 years growing up, I (Kathryn) never went to the Grand Canyon! Which is so crazy to me, but at the same time we lived in Texas for 16 years (Kathryn) and 28 years (Adam) and finally made it to Big Bend in December.

I am almost glad I didn’t go to the Grand Canyon until now because I feel like I was able to appreciate it sooo much more than I would have as a kid. There are truly no words to describe the Grand Canyon and photos don’t do it justice. It is such a breathtaking, awe inspiring, and well….GRAND sight!

We visited the Grand Canyon during a 5 day Arizona road trip with some of our good friends and had such a fun day checking out different viewpoints, doing hikes, and admiring the canyon from every angle.

We only had one day to spend in the park, but unless you want to go all the way down into the canyon, we felt that one day was a good amount of time to fully experience it and soak up all of the views!

We’re excited to share this one day Grand Canyon itinerary, full of our favorite hikes and sights from our day at the park. We unfortunately were only able to make it to the South Rim this trip, so our Grand Canyon itinerary is solely catered to that area, but we hope to make it to the North Rim next time!

PS: Want to have an epic Arizona road trip? Check out our Scottsdale, Sedona, and Page guides!

Before embarking on your adventure, please review the Leave No Trace principles to ensure you leave every place better than you found it, so that others can enjoy these beautiful places for many years to come!

These seven principles include planning ahead and preparing, hiking and camping on durable surfaces, disposing of waste properly (pack out what you pack in!), understanding campfire rules and always fully extinguishing your fires, respecting wildlife, and being considerate of other visitors. 

Note: this blog contains affiliate links. Full disclosure– if you click on these links and make a purchase, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. We will only ever recommend products we truly love, actually use during our adventures, and think you can benefit from too!

When to visit the Grand Canyon

We visited the Grand Canyon in April and it was perfect! The mornings were a tad cold, but once the sun came out, the temperature was amazing! We’d definitely recommend a trip to the Grand Canyon during April or May, when the daytime temperatures are mild and the crowds are a bit lighter.

In the summer, the temperatures can get very hot, especially when you go down into the canyon. One very important thing to know about the Grand Canyon is that it’s much cooler on the rim than in the canyon. So if it’s hot on the rim, it’s going to be REALLY hot in the canyon!

Despite the heat, this is actually one of the busiest times of the year to visit, so not only will you battle the heat, but you’ll also battle more crowds. We’d suggest not visiting the Grand Canyon during the summer.

Similar to the spring, the fall is a great time to visit the Grand Canyon! The temperatures both on the rim and in the canyon are bearable and the crowds will be lighter.

While winter may seem like a good time to visit the Grand Canyon to escape the heat in the US, the Grand Canyon actually does get snow (between 50-100 inches!). Because of this, there can be road closures and trails will not be accessible or safe. We’d suggest skipping the Grand Canyon in the winter since you run the risk of not being able to truly enjoy the park.

Getting to the Grand Canyon

To get to the Grand Canyon, there are two major airports you can fly into: Phoenix (PHX) and Las Vegas (LAS).

When we visited the Grand Canyon, we flew into Phoenix and made a road trip out of it, with stops in Scottsdale and Sedona along the way. The Phoenix airport is 233 miles from the South Rim, which takes between 3.5-4 hours depending on traffic. While a bit of a trek, there are many amazing stops you can make along the way!

The Las Vegas airport is 278 miles from the South Rim, which takes 4-5 hours, so it’s a bit farther than Phoenix. But if you want to enjoy Las Vegas as well as the Grand Canyon, it can be a great starting point!

One option you could consider as well is to fly into one airport and fly out of the other, which would give you the chance to explore both Nevada and Arizona!

Regardless of which airport you choose, we highly suggest renting a car to get to the park, but there are also tours that pick up in both Las Vegas and Phoenix, but you’ll have less time to explore the park.

Where to Stay at the Grand Canyon

Figuring out where to stay at the Grand Canyon was the hardest choice of our 5 day trip. While we loooove Airbnbs, there weren’t many options, which was a bummer since having a kitchen would’ve been so nice! We ended up choosing a hotel to be close to the action, but we’re listing a handful of options below so you can see a variety of choices.

Airbnb

Note: all of these Airbnbs are located about 35-45 minutes south of Grand Canyon Village.

• Option #1: This farmhouse loft is probably the best looking traditional option we could find. Super cute and has a kitchen!
• Option #2: This airstream looks so fun to stay in! You’d have the ability to cook + use the restroom without leaving the trailer.
• Option #3: Go glamping in a yurt! We’d probably recommend this for warmer months so you don’t get too cold. 🙂

PS: If it is your first time staying at an Airbnb, click this link to get $40 off your first stay!

Hotels

The hotel options at the Grand Canyon are mehhh (in our opinion). The majority of them have poor reviews and they are all a bit pricey for what you get. BUT, if camping or glamping is not your thing, we highly recommend booking a hotel. Here are a few better rated options:

• Yavapai Lodge: This is where we stayed and it was fine! Nothing fancy, but it was right along the South Rim, so we were super close to the action, giving us a little more time to sleep in for sunrise adventures 🙂 They also have a restaurant there that is decent.
   
• Bright Angel Lodge: This is a cool looking lodge in Grand Canyon Village making it an awesome location to explore!
   
• El Tovar Hotel: This is probably the nicest option in Grand Canyon Village in an amazing location with views right outside the hotel.
    
• The Grand Hotel: This is another nicer option at the Grand Canyon, but it is a bit pricey and 15 minutes from Grand Canyon Village.
   
• Holiday Inn Express: Located right by The Grand Hotel, this is a cheaper alternative and they have free breakfast!

Camping

There are 3 campgrounds on the South Rim: Mather Campground, Trailer Village RV Park, and Desert View.

Mather Campground is located right by the Visitor Center area and is a great location! It is open year round, but only requires reservations March-November. For the other months it is first come first serve.

Trailer Village RV Park is also open year round and it is suggested to book a campsite one year out if planning to visit during the more popular months.

Desert View is only open mid-April to mid-October and requires reservations. For both Mather and Desert View, plan to book the campgrounds at least 6 months out to guarantee a site!

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Under Canvas

We have been dying to stay at Under Canvas, which is a luxury glamping campground. They have a location 35 minutes south of Grand Canyon Village and we highly recommend checking them out!

Things to know before visiting the Grand Canyon

There are a couple things to know about visiting the South Rim to make sure you have an awesome visit (and are mentally prepared)!

Getting Around the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is the second most visited National Park in the US, so as you can imagine, it gets super busy! You have four main options getting around the South Rim: driving and parking, the free shuttle bus, walking, and renting a bike/doing a bike tour. For this guide we will focus on the first three. Here’s a little more info on your options!

• The free shuttle bus is probably the best way to get around the park so you don’t have to worry about parking in each spot. There are four routes total: red, orange, blue, and purple. During the busier times of the year, certain roads are closed to private vehicles (Hermit Road and Yaki Point Road), so the shuttles (red and orange in this case) are your only option to get to those areas.
   
• The photo above shows the routes and we will be referencing the red, orange, and blue routes on this guide. The purple route is for those who shuttle in from the neighboring town of Tusayan.
   
• There are some parking lots that you can park in for the day, but they can fill up fast! We highly recommend arriving, parking early, and then shuttling around the rest of the day.
   
• Walking is another great option to get around the South Rim. You can technically walk 13 miles of the rim, but on this guide we will only have you walking some of it, with the option to walk more or shuttle more.

Hopefully this isn’t too confusing! We will include instructions of how to get to each spot on our Grand Canyon itinerary to hopefully make it a bit clearer.

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We use AllTrails+ on every single hike and it is the most helpful hiking tool out there! Some of the features we love are offline maps (so we can navigate even without cell service), wrong-turn alerts, and its 3D maps feature, so we can get a feel for trails before we hike.

Bring a lot of water + sunscreen!

As we mentioned above, it gets a lot hotter in the canyon and if you plan to hike down, you’ll definitely need lots of water, especially for the climb back up! Our friends didn’t pack enough water and were struggling hiking back up to the top.

The rim and trail down into the canyon are very exposed, so we’d highly recommend putting on lots of sunscreen, as the sun will be on you the entire day.

Start early!

The mornings are much more pleasant temperature wise than the afternoons, so we’d suggest starting your day at sunrise so you have enough time to see everything and can try to beat the heat!

When we did the Bright Angel Trail, it had gotten very hot by the end of our time hiking and we were so glad we started early. If we had started in that heat, we aren’t sure we could’ve hiked as much.

Dogs are (sort of) allowed

Dogs are allowed in some areas of the South Rim, including along the Rim Trail. However, they are not allowed below the rim or on the park shuttles. So if you’d like to bring your pup, you will be able to visit all of the overlooks with them, but will not be able to take them on trails that go into the canyon.

Food Options at the Grand Canyon

There are a handful food options at the South Rim, which you can find here, including a market with a surprisingly awesome grocery selection. We ate at a buffet one night and it wasn’t the greatest, but that is to be expected when in a national park, so we suggest packing or making your own food to save money!

Grand Canyon Itinerary

1. Start the day nice and early with sunrise at Mather Point or Yavapai Point. These are both great spots to view the sunrise (or sunset). How to get there: We recommend driving to these spots for sunrise since it’ll be less crowded.
    
2. Drive over to the Canyon Village Marketplace & Deli to grab breakfast and coffee. This is also a good place to grab lunch for later!
   
   There are two parking lots here (A and B) that would be great spots to park your car for the day (unless you are staying close by and have somewhere guaranteed to park).
    
3. Take the blue route to the Hermits Rest Route Transfer to start the Bright Angel Trail. This is the trail that takes you down into the canyon.
   
   We recommend going to the 3 Mile Resthouse and turning around, for a 6 mile round trip hike. If you want to go into the canyon, but hike a little bit less, the 1.5 Mile Resthouse is also a great spot to turn around!
    
   We loved this hike and highly recommend it! Just make sure you’re prepared for the hike and have plenty of water, sunscreen, and snacks. It’s a bit grueling going back up, so we’d suggest starting early to beat the heat!
    
4. Take a little break and enjoy your picnic lunch before your next hike!
    
5. After eating lunch, take a more leisurely walk along the South Rim Trail. This starts right by the Bright Angel Trailhead, so no need to shuttle! This trail goes a total of 13 miles, but you can go as little or as long as you’d like! We suggest going to at least Yavapai to see as much of the rim as possible.
    
6. Once you’re done with the South Rim Trail, you have two options of how to get to your next stop.
   
   Option #1: You can either walk back to where you started by the Bright Angel Trailhead.
   
   Option #2: take the Orange Route or Blue Route (depending on where you stopped) to the Hermits Rest Route Transfer stop (right by the Bright Angel trailhead). Once you get back to the Bright Angel trailhead you can take the red route or walk (2.3 miles) on the rim to Hopi Point.
    
7. Spend the rest of the day at Hopi Point for sunset! This spot is popular, so try to get there early to get a good spot.
   
   They run a special shuttle right after sunset from Hopi Point back to the Hermits Rest Route Transfer, so make sure to grab one of them so you don’t get stuck there! Once you’re at the Hermits Rest Route Transfer stop, take the blue route back to your car.  
    
8. After an awesome sunset, enjoy dinner at one of the park’s restaurants!

If you have extra time…

Here are some ideas of some fun things to do if you have more than one day at the Grand Canyon!

• Explore more of the viewpoints on Hermit Road!
• Hike the entire Bright Angel trail to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (17.7 miles, 5,006 ft elevation gain–permit required)
• Backpack the Hermit Trail (15.4 miles, 5,144 ft elevation gain–permit required)
• Hike the South Kaibab trail down to Ooh Ahh Point (1.8 miles, 692 ft elevation gain)
• Visit the Desert View Watchtower
• Explore the North Rim! The North Rim is closed December 1-May 15 due to snow, but we hear this part of the park is very worth visiting if you go when the roads are open! Note: this is about a 4 hour drive from the South Rim.

Planning a Grand Canyon adventure?

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