Grand Canyon is a chasm located in northern Arizona that is one mile deep. The Colorado River began to carve a passage through the strata of rock at some point. Between 5 and 6 million years ago, which is when scientists believe the canyon began to form. Since the end of the most recent ice age. People have been living in the canyon and the surrounding area. Spanish explorers in the 1540s were the first people from mainland Europe to arrive to the Grand Canyon. It was in 1893 when then-President Benjamin Harrison. Designated the Grand Canyon as a forest reserve. And it wasn’t until 1919 that it was elevated to the status of an official United States National Park.
The Grand Canyon is an essential stop for tourists who are making plans for a lifetime of travel. Because it is the most popular natural landmark in the entire country of the United States. Your senses will be jolted into action as you experience the exhilaration of standing. On the edge of the Grand Canyon and looking out over the sculpted landscape.
There are a number of trails within the canyon as well as around the rim. Each of which leads to a different vantage point. If you walk even a little distance down the Bright Angel route. You can experience what the canyon is like below the rim and have access to more viewpoints.
Rafting the Colorado River through the Canyon. Is an even more exciting option for those looking for an adventure.
Where Is Grand Canyon Located?
The Grand Canyon can be found in northern Arizona. More specifically in the direction of Flagstaff’s northwest direction. Due to its length of nearly 270 miles, its width of up to 18 miles, and its depth of one mile. The canyon considered to be one of the largest canyons in the world.
Approximately five to six million years ago, the Colorado River eroded a deep passage. Through several layers of rock, which resulted in the formation of this natural monument.
Rock that is billions of years old and yet exposed can found in the in the said place. A cross section of the Earth’s crust dating back over two billion years may be on the walls that are one mile high. Geologists have given the ability to examine evolution across time. Because to the rock layers that have discovered.
Near the bottom of the Inner Gorge is where you’ll find the Vishnu Basement Rocks. Which are the rocks that are thought to be the oldest in the canyon. The Vishnu rocks created approximately 1.7 billion years ago when lava solidified and united this region. Which was formerly a volcanic ocean chain, to the mainland of North America.
An educational installation known as the Trail of Time. That can found on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. And it allows visitors to the park to learn about the geologic history of the canyon.
Native Cultures
Archaeologists have found 12,000-year-old ruins and relics. During the last Ice Age, when mammoths, giant sloths, and other huge creatures inhabited North America. Prehistoric humans settled in and around the canyon. Stone spear points show early human occupancy.
Caves in the canyon side have yielded hundreds of split-twig sculptures from 1000 to 2000 B.C. Deer and bighorn sheep figurines. Anthropologists believe prehistoric hunters left sculptures. In caverns to ensure a successful hunt.
Ancestral Pueblo, Paiute, Navajo, Zuni, and Hopi inhabited the Grand Canyon. The Havasupai now call the Grand Canyon home. They Havasupai have resided in the canyon for 800 years, according to tribal history.
Almost all Havasupai ancestral land seized to create the place Canyon as a reserve and national park. The Havasupai regained a substantial section of their territory in 1975 when influential publications supported them.
The Havasupai rely heavily on tourism. Havasu Falls, located near Grand Canyon National Park, draws 20,000 people a year.
The Explorations
In the 1540s, the first Europeans to arrive at the Grand Canyon. In were Spanish explorers who escorted there by Hopi guides.
Joseph Christmas Ives, an American soldier, botanist, and explorer, entered the Grand Canyon in 1858. While on a mapping expedition of the Colorado River. Prior to this, more than three hundred years had passed. Since the canyon was first explored. John Newberry, a geologist from the United States. It was one of the naturalists that went on the voyage. He credited with being the first geologist to investigate the Canyon.
After ten years, another American soldier and adventurer named John Wesley Powell came back to the area. The Colorado River’s path through the canyon mapped out. In greater detail as a result of his journey.
Grand Canyon Village
The 1880s saw the arrival of the first settlers who made their homes around the rim of the Grand Canyon. They were explorers searching for a place to extract copper. The earliest settlers quickly came to the conclusion. That tourism offered greater financial potential than mining.
In 1893, the land that now known as the Grand Canyon designated. As a national forest reserve thanks to an act signed by President Benjamin Harrison. After 1901, there was a rise in the number of visitors visiting the Grand Canyon. At that time, construction workers finished a branch line of the Santa Fe Railroad. That would transport visitors from Flagstaff, Arizona, the closest major city, to Grand Canyon Village. Which is located on the canyon’s South Rim and serves as a starting point for tours of the canyon.
In the year 1903, then-President Teddy Roosevelt made a trip to the Grand Canyon. Since Roosevelt was an avid hunter and felt a responsibility to preserve the natural state of the land. For future generations, he designated certain areas of the Canyon as national game reserves. In later years, the region designated a National Monument.
In 1919, three years after President Woodrow Wilson established the National Park Service,. The Grand Canyon designated as a national park. This was the first national park in the United States.
It’s Skywalk
In 1919, 44,000 people visited Grand Canyon National Park. Five million people visit the place annually.
The Grand Canyon Skywalk, a glass-floored cantilevered walkway, recently added. The Hualapai Tribe opened the contentious attraction in 2007; opponents say it violates holy lands and is invasive.
The canyon’s water resources and Native American sacred sites have threatened by tourism. The federal government regulates it’s river and helicopter trips each year.
In 2017, the Navajo Nation rejected on environmental grounds the Grand Canyon Escalade. A large development project that would have featured hotels, retail, and a gondola.