According to NPS.GOV, around 5.5 million people visit Grand Canyon National Park each year. The canyon is 277 river miles long and up to 18 miles wide. It is truly a sight to see! This was my first trip to the Grand Canyon, I could not have been more amazed than with what I saw!!

In case you have missed the past couple of blog posts, Dan and I planned a trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, and when booking our flights out West from Orlando, the best location distance and driving time-wise was to fly in and out of Las Vegas. We originally thought to fly into Las Vegas (3 hours from Sedona), visit the Grand Canyon, and fly out of Phoenix (3.5 hours from GC to Sedona). After pricing out our rental car picking up in Las Vegas and then dropping off at the Phoenix airport, the cost was much more than picking up and dropping off in Las Vegas. We decided to do the following plan:

Day 1: Orlando– Land in Las Vegas/ Drive to Sedona

Days 2 & 3: Sedona, Arizona (2 Nights in Sedona)

Days 4&5:  Grand Canyon (2 Nights in Grand Canyon)

Day 6:  Las Vegas (1 Night in Las Vegas)

This plan worked best for us, and while it may not work for everyone, it worked well for us being able to see and do everything we wanted within the time frame that we had.

Thinking of doing the same type of itinerary? Check out my guide on how to make the most of your time in Las Vegas and Sedona as well!

When making our plan to visit the Grand Canyon, we decided we wanted to stay inside the Grand Canyon National Park at the South Rim. A lot of people apparently had the same plan to visit the Grand Canyon like we did in October, so by the time we went to book our hotel, our options were really limited. When staying inside Grand Canyon National Park, there are a couple of great hotels to pick from. El Tovar is by far the nicest option.

El Tovar: Hotel owned and operated by the Fred Harvey Company in conjunction with the Santa Fe Railway. This hotel sits directly on the Canyon Rim and features a dining room, lounge, and gift shop.

Bright Angel Lodge: This hotel sits at the top of the Bright Angel Trail Head. This hotel is a registered National Historic Landmark and features both guest rooms and cabins. Fun Fact- The Buckey O’Neill Cabin was originally home to one of the Roosevelt Rough Riders and the Red Horse Station, which served as a post office for 20 years. This is a great middle-tier option.

Yavapai Lodge: This hotel is the most affordable option and is the prime location at the South Rim. The lodge is a short walk or bus right from the South Rim and very close to the market, bank, and post office. Yavapai West (where we stayed!) offers 10 single-story Mid-Century Modern buildings. Yavapai Lodge East rooms are located in 6 two-story buildings featuring the newest guestrooms and modern amenities like air conditioning! This lodge is definitely the cheapest option

Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel: This hotel is newly refurbished and is located right next door to the train depot. Note- It is outside of the Grand Canyon and located in Williams, AZ. This hotel is just a block away from downtown Williams (The Historic Route 66. You’ll be able to hop on the train and experience Grand Canyon via railway! This is a great alternative for those wanting to spend time around the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for the day and want a cheaper price.

Dan and I began our trek to the Grand Canyon after our hike and checking out of our hotel in Sedona. The drive from Sedona to the Grand Canyon (If staying at the Grand Canyon Village) is about 2 hours. On the way to the Grand Canyon, we decided to stop in Williams, AZ, the historic Route 66! I’ll be writing a blog post on our visit soon, so stay tuned! Willams is a good halfway point from Sedona to the Grand Canyon, so it broke up the drive nicely. After our visit, we got back in the car and continued on to the Grand Canyon.

We got to the Grand Canyon around 4 PM. When you arrive at Grand Canyon National Park, you will come to a stop where you will be handed a guide and directions on how to purchase your park entrance pass for your visit. Your digital pass can be bought on Recreation.Gov and allows you to get immediate access to download it to your phone. Your pass will also be mailed as a PDF and can be printed out for display when you arrive. For a private vehicle, the pass is $35 and is valid for 7 days from the day of purchase. The online pass admits everyone traveling with you in your car or personal vehicle. For motorcycles, the pass is $30 that is valid for 7 days, individual (bicyclists, hikers, and pedestrians) are $20 and valid for 7 days. I highly suggest purchasing this before you arrive to the park. The cell service /wifi is very spotty and not very strong, so it may be hard to get the website to pull up to purchase as well as download the pass.

Once you enter the park, be sure to stop and get your picture at the Grand Canyon National Park sign! Because did you even visit the Grand Canyon if you don’t stop at this sign? ;) Be careful when driving because you never know who may pop out! Elk were all over and they don’t care about you or your car on the road!

We followed signs to Yavapai Lodge where we were staying. To be honest, I was a bit nervous to stay here. I knew it was the cheapest option and was unsure how clean and safe I would feel in the motel-style accommodations. The check-in process was very easy. Because of Covid,  a lot of the amenities were not available including the shuttle that runs through the property up to the South Rim at the canyon and back. This wasn’t an issue since we had our own car, but think this would have been so nice and convenient had we been able to use it. Yavapai Lodge has an and East Village. Both sides have been renovated and have air conditioning and heating units. The Yavapai Lodge includes the Yavapai Lodge Restaurant, which usually offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner (As of October 8, 2020, the restaurant was still closed due to covid) You can also visit the Coffee Shop as well. Yavapai Lodge welcomes all families as well as pets! Specific rooms in Yavapai West are pet friendly, so if you plan to bring your furry friend, be sure to specify when booking and at check-in. Yavapai Lodge now has universal and three Tesl electric car chargers located at Building 1 at Yavapai East and four universal chargers located in the parking lot at Market Plaza, right near the hotel lobby. This hotel was nice for the 2 nights we stayed there. The rooms were clean, the price was good for a short stay and what we needed from the hotel, and it had air conditioning. It wasn’t very fancy and didn’t come with a lot of amenities if that is something you are looking for.

Map of Yavapai Village:

We got to sleep super early on our first night so that we could wake up and be ready for our full day at the Grand Canyon!

Yavapai Lodge is about a mile from the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. It’s a direct walk up the Greenway Trail and will end at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. You can also get to the rim from a trail that begins at park headquarters. When staying at Yavapai Lodge, you can also take the Village Route, which will drop you at the Visitor Center as well. Since we were starting early and had planned to do plenty of walking that day, we drove to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center from Yavapai Lodge to begin our day. Our first hike of the day was to Ooh Ahh Point in the Grand Canyon via South Kaibab Trail!

The South Kaibab Trail is located by Yaki Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. This is about a 10-minute drive from the Grand Canyon Visitor’s Center, but you can’t park at the trailhead, which is closed to private vehicles.

From the Visitor Center, you will need to take the Orange Shuttle Bus from several of the parking lots around Grand Canyon Village. The buses run frequently, but because of social distancing, the number of people on each bus is limited. START AT SUNRISE. If you’re trying to avoid a lot of people, get onto the bus to South Kaibab Trail easily, and to get great photos without having to wait on others taking their photos, get to the Visitor Center as early as possible.

We started around 6:30 AM and found there to only be a small number of people also doing this hike. Doing the hikes early in the morning as we did at sunrise, gives you a great experience with beautiful sunrise colors, cooler temperatures, and far fewer people.

You can also take the Hiker’s Express Shuttle Bus, which is usually available to hikers leaving early to do the Rim to Rim hikes, but anyone can use these shuttle buses.

Ooh Ahh Point is a 1.7 mile out and back trail. This trail is used for hiking and is accessible year-round. It’s a moderate hike, but definitely doable! Ooh Ahh Point is the “halfway ” point to Cedar Ridge. I loved this hike because it wasn’t too difficult but still felt like I got a good hike in to start the day. This hike offers incredible views of the Grand Canyon and is where I saw the Grand Canyon for the very first time. It was truly beautiful and breathtaking!

If you plan to do this hike in the morning, be sure to bring a jacket. It was really cold and OMG so windy!! This hike was more like “steps” and rocky/dirt inclines. When the wind would blow, dust would go everywhere. There is so side railing, so really be sure to watch your step! Don’t forget to bring your water too! :)

After we got down to Ooh Ahh Point, we turned around and began to make our way back. It will definitely take some time to get back up because of the steps and the walk back up. More people were starting to make their way down at the time we came back up because of the time. I cannot stress enough going early!

We took the Orange Shuttle Bus back to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center and knew we wanted some coffee, so we headed outside of the park to the Starbucks at the Tusayan General Store. I don’t recommend this location due to the fact they don’t do Mobile Order and it took us about 30 minutes for our 2 drinks when there was barely anyone else inside. They were moving SO slow. Coffee options are so limited around Grand Canyon Village as well as outside of the park, so keep that in mind when looking for breakfast! We actually got a late breakfast at McDonald’s (Don’t judge- I’m a sucker for a good hashbrown and Egg McMuffin lol!) We didn’t eat lunch this day because we ate late and planned to do an early dinner. Keep in mind everything is more expensive here because they upcharge knowing your options are limited as well as the fact that nothing else is in the area, so if you’re hungry or wanting to shop, you’ll spend your money.

We headed back to Yavapai Lodge to change our clothes from our morning hike. It’s crazy how it was 39 degrees in the morning, but early afternoon, it was up to 78! We drove back up to Grand Canyon Visitor Center. October usually isn’t a busy season and with covid, a lot of people were not traveling, so it was never hard to find a parking spot.

We walked up to Mather Point and WOW it was breathtaking. We saw so many more people and tourists taking photos/ getting near the edge. I can’t imagine what it must look like visiting here during regular summer months or not during a pandemic because I feel like it would be like Disney World and incredibly crowded. I’m so thankful we decided to do a hike and get away from the crowds to see the Grand Canyon in a different way than just from the touristy parts.

Mather Point is where the majority of Grand Canyon visitors see the Grand Canyon for the first time. This is because of how close it is to the visitor center. I highly suggest walking along the rim if you have the time. You’ll start to get away from the crowds of people and if the weather is beautiful, you’ll enjoy a long walk with amazing views. From Mather Point, stop at Yavapai Point. It is an easy walk west from MAther Point and has the Yavapai Observation Station nearby. Yavapai Point has great views of the three points on the south rim and is the closest to the Colorado River.

Keep going west toward Grandeur Point. It’s a short distance west of Yavapid Point along the rim trail. The views are great and has a small, flat point. If you’re still walking, keep going toward Maricopa Point. This is the first point on the west rim shuttle bus (Hermit’s Rest Route)

Other Points of Interest:

Powell Point

Hopi Point

Mohave Point

Pima Point

Yuma Point

Mimbreno Point

Mesclaero Point

Jicarilla Point

Plute Point

SAFETY TIP: Be careful where you are walking! I was SO afraid of falling off the edge. Not because I was doing anything dangerous, but I had ready so many people aren’t paying attention and are on their phones. Many are looking to get the “perfect shot” or “Insta worthy” photos, but none of that matters if you fall! Dan thought he would be funny and make me a tad nervous on the edge… can you tell :)

Once you walk west along the rim, you will make it to El Tovar Hotel. This is also where the Grand Canyon trail will be stopped. You can visit the shop, stop for food/drinks, or continue on to the Bright Angel Hotel! You can also pick up the shuttle from this hotel to go back to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. Because the internal shuttles were not operating while we were there, we made the walk back to the visitor center to get our car. It only took about 30 minutes going back, but obviously took us much longer getting to El Tovar because we loved stopped to see the views. :)

After freshening up at the hotel, we got back into the car and headed outside of the park to the Big E Steakhouse and Saloon. It’s definitely touristy like a lot of the places along the Tusayan Village area, but the food was good! We got there around 5ish (Because we apparently turned into really old people this trip ha!) and had no problems getting in and getting a table. We ended our night with ice cream and got back to our hotel to watch HGTV for an hour or two. When you start your days early, you end early too!

The next morning, we checked out and made the 4-hour drive back to Las Vegas! Tip: If you’re looking for a place to get coffee on your drive back to your next destination and Williams is on the way, I suggest driving 45 minutes and stopping to get coffee at Brewed Awakenings. It’s great, local, and is SO good. Definitely worth waiting for and driving away from the Grand Canyon.

If you’re looking to plan a trip to the Grand Canyon, I highly suggest it! It was unlike anything I had ever seen or done before, and think everyone should experience it!

I would love to help you plan for the future!

Love and Travel Dust,

Molly