Arizona Travels: Grand Canyon

-
A little snippet from my Arizona Travels book (coming out soon) about the Grand Canyon:


The Grand Canyon is located in the northern part of Arizona and a must see place to visit. With approximately five million guests each year, this majestic place offers breathtaking views. You can spend an entire day or two traveling around the park and get a different experience viewing the canyon from various locations. The canyon has several hotel choices, gift shops, the skywalk, picnic areas and restaurants. You can also take a helicopter ride inside the canyon, hike down to the bottom, white water raft trips on the Colorado River, or ride the rails from Williams, AZ. If you are one who loves a paranormal experience, the Grand Canyon has had its fair share of ghost and UFO sightings.

Grand Canyon
http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm
*The above site will help you to find all the information on the Grand Canyon you will need to make your visit a pleasant one.

Grand Canyon West and the Skywalk
www.grandcanyonwest.com/
Reservations: 1-888-868-9378 or 1-928-769-2636
Location: Grand Canyon Hualapai West entrance
Price: $25 per person (plus park entrance fees)
*To find the west entrance to the canyon from Kingman you will travel north on US 93, drive approximately 30 miles to the Pierce Ferry Road, and then turn right. You will drive 28 miles to Diamond Bar Road; turn right; drive 14 miles on a dirt road and 7 more miles on a paved road to the Grand Canyon west entrance.

Grand Canyon Tours:
Phone: 1(800) 301-7152
Website: www.canyontours.net



Grand Canyon Railway
A fun way to get to the Grand Canyon is to jump aboard the Grand Canyon Railway for a historic ride.  This Polar Express type experience offers four different packages which start in Williams, AZ, and travels to the Grand Canyon National Park.  Today, we can take the same route that generations before us traveled.
In 1901, and when Arizona was just a territory, the Grand Canyon trains would take folks to the south rim of the canyon for a fun excursion.  The train offered a nice comfortable trip to the Grand Canyon for all men, women and children.  Some would choose to make it a day trip, while others decided to take a room at the lodge.  These people stood at the rim and were taken in by the extraordinary beauty of the canyon much like we do today.


In 1968, the trains quit traveling to the Grand Canyon when automobiles became trendy.  People were opting to drive themselves to the park instead of spending the money on the train ride.  In 1989, a group of businessmen purchased the Grand Canyon Railway, revamped the train, and found renewed interests from people wanting to take the historic ride.  Today, many sit in comfort to take a fun day trip or several days’ vacation using the Grand Canyon Railway as their mode of transportation.  If you are interested in booking a ride you can go to their website, http://www.thetrain.com or call 1-800-THE-TRAIN.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

26 Bar Ranch (John Wayne Ranch)

-
Image
Immersed in the Hereford’s history in Eagar, AZ, sits the 26 Bar Ranch.   It was first known as the Milky Way Ranch in the 1940’s with its big white show barn which housed many Hereford cattle.   The barn is now a local landmark.   In 1964 the ranch became the 26 Bar Ranch or John Wayne’s Ranch, who was one of the owners.   Wayne, along with Ken Reafsnyder and Louis Johnson, his business partners, kept the ranch until John Wayne’s death in 1979 from lung and stomach cancer.   Lately, I have heard rumors that Bigfoot has been seen near the ranch.   I don’t know if that is true or not, but it would be worth checking out.  John Wayne and Louis Johnson
Read more

Historic Downtown Payson

-
Image
Located in the northern part of Gila County is the town of Payson, Arizona.  Because of where it is located in the state, it has been christened “The Heart of Arizona”.   Payson was established in 1882 and was first identified as Green Valley.  Two years later in March, a post office was erected with the assistance of Lewis Edwin Payson.  The people showed their gratitude by changing the town’s name to Payson.  Also that same year, the first rodeo was held and deemed the “world’s oldest continuous”.   It is still held in Payson till this day.  In the 1950’s, after many complained about the trip from Phoenix to Payson taking eight to twelve hours, a new paved highway was constructed.  State Route 87 (or the Beeline Highway), made travel quicker and easier for those wanted to get away from the heat of the valley to the gorgeous, serine forests in Payson. Website:   http://paysonrimcountry.com/ GREEN VALLEY PARK ...
Read more

Cowboy Mummy Found in Desert

-
Image
  There are many strange stories in the Arizona files. One that is told is about the mummy found in the desert near Gila Bend nicknamed “Sylvester”. Many believe that he once was a 19th century cowboy, a con that loved to play cards. Stories are told that he finally got caught cheating and was shot in the stomach. He made a hasty exit while bleeding profusely from his wound. He got as far as Arizona’s Gila Bend desert when he fell off his horse and died face down in the sweltering heat. Shortly afterwards, he was covered by the blowing sands, which appeared to have dried his body overnight. This apparently preserved his body resulting in the mummified form he was found in. The more believable story was that he was found shortly after death and preserved in a high level of arsenic. Arsenic was used to stop the physical occurrences of a corpse rotting by killing bacteria and insects that invaded it. This custom of using arsenic was found to be poisonous by the 1900’s and never ...
Read more