The Grand Canyon is one of the most visited natural places on earth, with tourism to the area fueled by it’s incredible landscape and it;s proximity to major cities like Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. One of the biggest issues with regards to tourism at national parks is the distances that must be traveled to get there, and unless you live in the southwestern United States you are going to need to fly into a city that is in the vicinity of the park you want to visit. Proximity to a city that supports commercial airline traffic is critical to boosting tourism numbers, as is seen in the amount of yearly visitors to Zion Canyon being disproportionate to other parks in the southwest during times when they are heavily marketed. When a push is made towards making people aware of the parks of the southwest, Zion benefits the most simply due to the fact that it is only 2 hours or so from Las Vegas, while other parks are longer drives. People who are visiting Las Vegas and want to take a break from the lights and gambling can get into a car and visit Zion for a few hours before returning home, which shows that if a major city is within driving distance to a park, it will benefit from that proximity. The Grand Canyon is no different, being on the top of the lists that most people make of national parks to visit. While the distance from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon is larger, the desire to visit the space is shared by far more people, thus making it one of the top visited places in the world.
The crowds that are present when you visit the Grand Canyon are going to vary depending on the season. Naturally, as the weather gets colder there are fewer people who make the trek to outdoor spaces and national parks, reducing the amount of people who will be competing for those hiking trails and photo opportunities. In the winter time between December and February, the temperatures in the Grand Canyon National Park range from about 20 degrees at the low point to about 45 degrees at the high, and there will many times be snow around the South Rim. This not only provides you with a far less crowded experience, but also will change the landscape to look more like a winter wonderland than you would ever image. The Grand Canyon National Park describes winter visitation as a “wonderful experience,” and while you are going to need a coat to spend time outside it remains one of the most breathtaking scenes that you are ever going to witness. Winter in the Grand Canyon is absolutely perfect for touring, and our guests are treated to an experience that is utterly different than our summer tours. If you have seen the Grand Canyon in the summer, do yourself a favor and visit it again in the winter. It is going to look completely different and provide you with the magic that only the Grand Canyon can offer, only it is going to do it in a way you never expected.