Grand Canyon hiking/sightseeing
 

At the Grand Canyon, what can you recommend for us to hike that won't be too strenuous, for we are not in real good shape? Also, we do have a car, but wonder what would be best, . . . to drive from point to point, or take the shuttles? Would we have to make reservations?

Remember the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is at 7000ft elevation.

In the summer, there is a shuttlebus that goes along the west end of the rim. You can take the shuttle and walk along the rim for a bit. Take water and wear hats and sun protection.

For most of the viewpoints east of the Village you will need to drive. Taking the shuttle is the only way to see the viewpoints west of the Village, except during the Winter. The shuttles are free, no reservations. But you definitely need reservations for lodging. When are you going, and do you already have lodging reservations?

There is a rim trail that you can walk that wouldn't be strenuous. Also, you could take the shuttle to one of the western viewpoints and walk the trail to the next one. Here is a map showing the shuttle routes and the distances between the points:

http://www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/upl...ransit-map.pdf

You can also hike part way down Bright Angel Trail or South Kaibab Trail. But if you are not in good shape, it will probably seem quite strenuous hiking back up.

We are not fit hikers either, and so decided not to walk down one of the canyon trails (though it was tempting particularly at South Kaibab which looked lovely). We did however, take the shuttle bus out to one of the western viewpoints, then walked along the rim trail to the next shuttle stop, maybe 1 1/2 miles. I cannot remember which stop it was, but we asked at the information desk in Maswik for a recommendation and took her advice. It was a very pleasant walk, and surprisingly quiet. Very few other walkers, and little road noise, except for the occasional shuttle passing by. It was gorgeous.

Don't hike down to the bottom, depending on the weather you can walk down a little, just remember, it takes double the strength to come up. Take lots of photos.

Hike along the rim along the shuttle routes so if tired you can come back to where you've parked the car.

You don't need reservations for parking or shuttles. You will have to pay entering the National Park if you don't have a pass.