Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Location	Coconino County & Mohave County, Arizona, USA
Nearest city	Fredonia, Arizona (North Rim) and Grand Canyon, Arizona (South Rim)Nearest city: Fredonia, Arizona (North Rim) and Grand Canyon, Arizona (South Rim)
Coordinates	36°3′27″N 112°8′15″W / 36.0575°N 112.1375°W / 36.0575; -112.1375Coordinates: 36°3′27″N 112°8′15″W / 36.0575°N 112.1375°W / 36.0575; -112.1375
Area	1,217,403.32 acres (4,926.6564 km2)   (1,180,862.78 federal) 4,926.66 km²
Established	February 26, 1919 Established: February 26, 1919
Visitors	4,413,668 (in 2007)
Governing body	National Park Service

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the United States' oldest national parks and is located in Arizona. Within the park lies the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, considered to be one of the major natural wonders of the world. The park covers 1,902 mi² (4927 km²) of unincorporated area in Coconino County and Mohave County.

North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Most visitors to the park come to the South Rim, arriving on Arizona State Route 64. The Highway enters the park through the South Entrance, near Tusayan, Arizona, and heads eastward, leaving the park through the East Entrance. All park accommodations are operated by the Xanterra corporation. Park headquarters are at Grand Canyon Village, a short distance from the South Entrance, being also the center of the most popular viewpoints. Some thirty miles of the South Rim are accessible by road. A much smaller venue for tourists is found on the North Rim, accessed by Arizona State Route 67. There is no road connection between the two within Arizona except via the Navajo Bridge, near Page, Arizona, entailing a five-hour drive. Otherwise, the two rims of the Canyon are connected via Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Hoover Dam.

1938 poster of Grand Canyon National Park

The rest of the Grand Canyon is extremely rugged and remote, although many places are accessible by pack trail and backcountry roads.

The area around the Grand Canyon became a national monument on January 11, 1908, and was designated national park on February 26, 1919. The creation of the park was an early success of the environmental conservation movement; its National Park status may have helped thwart proposals to dam the Colorado River within its boundaries. (Lack of this fame may have enabled Glen Canyon Dam to be built upriver, flooding Glen Canyon and creating Lake Powell.) UNESCO has declared it as a World Heritage Site.

The Grand Canyon itself, including its extensive system of tributary canyons, is valued for the combination of large size, depth, and the exposed layering of colorful rocks dating back to Precambrian times. It was created through the incision of the Colorado River and its tributaries after the Colorado Plateau was uplifted and the Colorado River system developed along its present path.

Grand Canyon seen from Spot Satellite

Grand Canyon National Park*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	United States of America
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, viii, ix, x
Reference	75
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1979  (3rd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Electric vehicles

Officials at GCNP has been selected by the National Park Service (NPS) to test the Segway Human Transporter, a self-balancing, electric-powered scooter. ^[1]

By the air

The Grand Canyon is a "special flight rules" airspace, and there are detailed charts indicating areas which are restricted, and other areas which have minimum flight altitude requirements. These rules were implemented to reduce noise and pollution in the Grand Canyon area. There is an airport outside of this airspace, designated GCN (Grand Canyon National Park).

Education

Residents living in Grand Canyon Village in Coconino County attend schools in the Grand Canyon Unified School District.

See also

Arizona portal

• Grand Canyon
• 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision
• List of trails in Grand Canyon National Park
• List of Colorado River rapids and features
• Jacob Lake, Arizona
• Colca Canyon, Peru
• Cotahuasi Canyon, Peru

External links

• Media related to Grand Canyon National Park at Wikimedia Commons
• Official site: Grand Canyon National Park
• Grand Canyon National Park at the Open Directory Project

References

1. ^ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-83483506.html

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