We hiked down into it and also hiked along a chunk of the rim. I can see how just peering at it from the various car lookouts would be kinda meh.
When we travel, we do quite a bit of prepping our kids, and it really enhances the experience. So for Grand Canyon, we had them read kid fiction books about it, read a little about the actual history of the area, and watched some related TV (Brady Bunch visit to Grand Canyon, etc). Ken Burns has a really good DVD series on history of the national parks. We had the kids watch that on one of the long car drives to one of the parks.
It’s well with the investment to give them some context but does take some effort. But we often travel with another family they doesn’t bother, and our kids are a lot more engaged than their kids are and I think the prep is why.
If kids have been to Disney a lot, the gear change may be hard for them to appreciate.
I was merely suggesting that, as national parks go, Grand Canyon doesn’t rank as high as many other places. It is definitely inspiring…but as a “pass by and wave” place to see on the way to someplace else,not as a destination in and of itself.
As a child, my parents would frequently take us around to National Parks and battlefields. My top 10 (in no particular order) are:
Yellowstone
Bryce Canyon
Arches
Grand Tetons
Redwood
Yosemite
Gettysburg (while reading The Killer Angels on the trip)
Acadia / Bar Harbor
Zion
Tennessee Valley
I didn’t really enjoy the Grand Canyon, nor Mt. Rushmore. Both were essentially a single point of scenery that were interesting and peaceful to enjoy, but the trip to both wasn’t very interesting, there wasn’t a whole lot to do there (we didn’t white-water raft, and didn’t take a mule down), and I find more joy in living things and varied scenery.
We just went to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone (these are only 1 hour apart from each other North Entrance of Grand Tetons to south entrance of Yellowstone) and Glacier (about a 6.5 hour drive heading north from Yellowstone) 3 Amazing parks with so much to do. We went white water rafting on the snake river, horseback riding, hiking and saw some amazingly majestic landscapes. My one regret is that we missed out on a western chuckwagon dinner (which is essentially the Hoop de do Revue)
I live about 45m south of Wburg. It’s one of my favorite places any time of year. Things get busy here during the summer because of the coast, but I’ve strolled the streets there in December in just a sweater (it was 76 here yesterday). Avoid July, August and labor day imo. Busch gardens and water country are fun for a park fix, and norfolk (where I live) has awesome museums (nauticus/uss wisconsin, Chrysler art which is free).
Yes, and though I will say even with such a long time, we didn’t get to everything on our list! it’s such a wonderful place! In our two weeks we did:
The London Eye
Aquarium & Shrek thing next to Aquarium
Tower of London
Kensington Palace & Princess Diana Memorial Playground
Hampton Court
Legoland Windsor
Buckingham Palace
British Museum
Saw both parts of the Harry Potter play
Did the Harry Potter Studio Tour
Saw Phantom of the Opera
Madam Tussaud’s
I live in Austin, so we can go to San Antonio whenever we want , but I enjoy staying at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort And Spa and try to make a weekend trip there at least once a year. It’s pricey so I would recommend it for just a day or two. On the weekends they bring in entertainment or show a movie outside, they have smores at night, there’s a lazy river, etc. It’s very close to Sea World as well.
Blaspehmy! What you need is a local tour guide.
Although honestly, June-Aug I just do day trips. There is a lot to do around YNP that does not involve crowds, so that’s where we spend more time, until late Sep. early Oct. when it clears out in there.
It’s not that the Grand Canyon is not beautiful. It is. And I’m blessed to have seen it in person over 2 1/2 days. I just prefer the beauty and tranquility of Yosemite.
Definitely echo the recommendation of staying in the valley for Yosemite. Plan ahead (365 days or so, I forget). We’re going over Memorial Day this year (covid-19 permitting) and booked it the first day available. We did get a relatively last minute stay about a month in advance in early July in 2018 but I think we were just really lucky with a couple room cancellations. We stayed at the Yosemite valley lodge which is quite reasonable. This is our strategy with all national parks by the way - plan ahead and reserve for the accommodation in the park if you can. We’ve done it now for the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion too though agree it’s particularly helpful for Yosemite given traffic and time getting in and out of the valley. Reserve a year in advance and yes you need to float the cost on your credit card but can cancel for full refund up to 7 or 3 days in advance. This is not relevant for some parks (like Arches/Canyonlands or mt St. Helens) but if an option we always try to take it.
I think you could easily fill 5-7 days in Yosemite if desired between hikes, bike rides / rentals, ranger programs, lazy river raft down the Merced, pool time, and 1-2 day trips out of the valley (tuolomne or wawona). And definitely do the jr ranger programs!
There are two Grand Canyons. One is the South Rim. Which I visited once.
And the other is the North Rim. 1000 feet higher. Lovely weather, trees, hiking, camping. Been here twice. Several days each time.
I was standing in the north rim visitor center looking outside when a spiffy sporty little car roared up to the parking lot. Guy rushed inside to the info desk. “What would you do if you had a half hour here?” the guy asked the ranger at the desk. Without hesitation the ranger said, “Weep.”
We were returning from a family reunion with no definite itinerary. I asked the two grandkids traveling with us which they wanted to visit again: Yellowstone or Great Sand Dunes.
To my surprise they were hands down 100% for Great Sand Dunes.
My family and I love visiting Colorado. Most anywhere in Colorado.
We just took the 5yo granddaughter on a short trip to Colorado Springs, which included visiting Garden of the Gods, a train trip through the Royal Gorge, and a visit to the Dinosaur Resource Center. We also did a day trip up to Winter Park where we went to one of the family run hillsides with inner tube sledding.
In the past we’ve also done snowmobiling (both guided and self touring), and dog-sledding.
I’m not a skier, but obviously there’s that and snowboarding ($$$$).
Tons to do in Denver (see TripAdvisor).
In the summer time, numerous places to go white water rafting, hiking, boating, fishing, etc.
There’s an amazing # of National Parks.
Just driving through any of the mountain routes can be breathtaking, and the drive up to the top of Pike’s Peak is incredible.
The Aspen trees throughout certain areas of the state set the mountainsides on fire in the fall…
And if you like beer, there’s so many breweries in Colorado; most of the restaurants and bars have unique, local selections.
One of our favorite Colorado things is a place you can dig your own fossils out of a pile of shale. We’ve been twice. Haven’t found anything truly amazing, but lots of leaves and bugs that are 34 million years old. My daughter is super meticulous so totally her thing.
It’s just a little family run place so the website is really goofy. It’s next to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.
, but I enjoy staying at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort And Spa and try to make a weekend trip there at least once a year. It’s pricey so I would recommend it for just a day or two. On the weekends they bring in entertainment or show a movie outside, they have smores at night, there’s a lazy river, etc. It’s very close to Sea World as well.
