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GRAND CANYON HOTEL MAP

local information

Grand Canyon Hotels

Find hotels near the Grand Canyon!

Attractions in the Grand Canyon

Check out Grand Canyon attractions

Getting Around the Grand Canyon

Essential transportation information

Shopping

A guide to local shopping

Grand Canyon Dining

Where to eat in the local area

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Hotel Listings

Holiday Inn Express Grand Canyon
SR-64/US 180,
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 US

The Grand Hotel At The Grand Canyon
State Highway 64,
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 US

Red Feather Lodge
Highway 64 Tusayan,
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 US

Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn
100 Highway 64,
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 US

...more hotels

ABOUT THE GRAND CANYON

Grand Canyon is unmatched throughout the world for the vistas it offers to visitors on the rim. It is not the deepest canyon in the world. Both the Barranca del Cobre in northern Mexico and Hell's Canyon in Idaho are deeper. But Grand Canyon is known for its overwhelming size and its intricate and colorful landscape. Geologically it is significant because of the thick sequence of ancient rocks that are beautifully preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon. These rock layers record much of the early geologic history of the North American continent. Grand Canyon is also one of the most spectacular examples of erosion in the world.

Grand Canyon was largely unknown until after the Civil War. In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran with a thirst for science and adventure, made a pioneering journey through the canyon on the Colorado River. He accomplished this with nine men in four small wooden boats. Though only six men completed the journey. His party was, as far as we know, the first ever to make such a trip.

In the late 19th Century there was interest in the region because of its promise of mineral resources, mainly copper and asbestos. The first pioneer settlements along the rim came in the 1880s. Early residents soon discovered that tourism was destined to be more profitable than mining, and by the turn of the century Grand Canyon was a well known tourist destination. Many of the early tourist accommodations were not much different than the mining camps from which they developed. Most visitors made the grueling trip from nearby towns to the South Rim by stagecoach.

In 1901 the railroad was extended from Williams, Arizona to the South Rim, and the development of formal tourist facilities increased dramatically. By 1905 the El Tovar Hotel stood where it does today, a world class hotel on the canyon's edge. The Fred Harvey Company, known throughout the west for hospitality and fine food, continued to develop facilities at Grand Canyon, including Phantom Ranch, built in the Inner Canyon in 1922.