Grand Canyon-North or South Rim?
 

Would like to take the family to see the GC as part of a road trip to Texas from CA over Winter break. Would like to know how to do this over a two-day layover. I understand most visitors go to the south rim. One of our party is unable to hike more than a few miles at a time. How is December/January there? Best places to stay? North rim a good viewpoint?
thanks.

The North Rim is closed from mid October until mid May, so that's not an option. The South Rim is open year round, and the best views are easy to access without hiking at all, although there are short loops that you can hike if you like. Best place to stay is inside the park, and I suggest you make your reservations ASAP; you can always cancel them if plans change. (Bright Angel cabins and Lodge are my favorite because they're right on the rim and have a historic--some would say old!--ambience.) Be prepapred for snow and cold temps...

The south rim is wonderful at that time of year. We've been there at that time when there was no snow and trails were dry, but also have been in April when there was snow. The rim trail is great for folks who don't walk far and is paved in many areas. I would encourage you to go down into the canyon at least a short way as long as the trails are not icy.

We've stayed in Bright Angel cabins, back a few yards from the rim also in Thunderbird lodge, and elTovar on the rim and Yavapai, back a bit of a walk. ElTovar was the nicest, but the room we had was quite small. The others were clean, good beds, but basic motel type lodging. The point in choosing to be in the park is that you don't have to drive anywhere to see sunrise and sunset.

I'm not sure the shuttles run in the winter, but if not, you can drive out to Hermit's rest and stop at the wonderful view points along the way. People who want to hike the rim trail could meet the folks in the car for a bit of a rest if they want.

thank you.

Shuttles were running mid March the year I was there to hike the canyon.

There is a good possibility there will be snow on the trail. Don't let that stop you from hiking down a ways. It actually made the hiking easier, believe it or not. We had YakTrax but they weren't necessary.

You will get MUCH better views of the canyon if you go down South Kaibab. Bright Angel trailhead is right there at the lodges but you are in an inner canyon. A shuttle can take you to S. Kaibab or you can park your own car there.

If you ever get a chance in the future to go to the north rim during the summer do it even though you have been to the south rim. Higher in elevation so cooler, a LOT fewer people, a slower pace, and I think better views of the canyon from the rim. They are not the same.

We are 2 couples in our 60's who are planning a grand Canyon trip mid August. Originally, we were going to go on the train, but after reading posts, we have nixed that idea. We are flying in and out of Las Vegas and have approx. 8 or 9 days. Our thought is to go to Grand canyon South rim, Zion and Bryce. We also thought about Lake Powell but not sure we have enough time. We are confused as to how many days to stay at each place and the best route to get back to LV at the end. We would appreciate any suggestions. We do have tentative reservations inside South rim, Brice and Zion, but no sure how many nites to stay at each place.