Grand Canyon 2020

patperry2766 wrote:
Exploring trip to the area summer 2020. Here's what I know, or think I know.

The South Rim is more commercialized than the North Rim, but does that mean that it's any less spectacular?

The Grand Canyon is Spectacular, IMHO, every time I see it whether from the North or the South. Period. That said I do not enjoy crowds and have been to both multiple time - most of my better Memories over the last 50 years were from the North, just has more of what works for ME. On the South side you can come in from the East on RT 64 - much less traffic and it lets you sort of get into the park slowly - my feeling - before getting into the Heavy Commercialization and Crowds. We almost always come and go from this Entry - usually coming from Canyon de Chelly :) .

The North Rim is higher elevation so the daytime temps will be more tolerable. Would be most interested in The NPS campground, and while they don't have hookups, there are generator hours. So, are daytime temps tolerable?

Correct about elevation - BUT - in the hot season it is/can be still fairly Warm in the summer so to be Comfortable you May need a little A/C. That said in one of my visits when locating my son for a summer internship in Cali we hit Snow on the 2nd of June - it was Unbelievably Beautiful - and had all melted by 10:00, so just keep that in mind when deciding on where to focus your stay. You know what the say about the weather in the SouthWest - if you don't like it "Not to worry, it Will Change shortly"


It will be easier/quicker to travel to Antelope Canyon/Horseshoe Bend, Zion and Grand Staircase Escalante from the North side.

Utah and all those Sites you wish to see are not that close - it will take Time and a Good Road Map with a smart Route. If you are trying to list sites you have left many out - :) - State Parks, need to be researched and included - IMHO - as many are just Great - Monument Valley - HorseShoe Bend - Page - Lake Powell - Rt 128 and RT 12 - Green River ........

It's roughly 225 ish miles from North to South Rim so I don't want to spend entire trip burning up the roads driving back and forth

You have not mentioned the amount of time or the time of Year you are doing this trip, both are important considerations in the Plan;). If you have looked at the Map you will see some of the slot Canyons and Page and HorseShoe are all on the way to the North Rim - then if leaving the North Rim you could head to Zion - out the Tunnel do Bryce and Kodachrome/Escalante/RT 12 on the way to Goblins and Capital Reef

I'm trying to balance the trip where it works best for all of us. I'm into photography so I could easily spend all day wanting to do my thing, but I also have a wife and son that don't necessarily have the same idea of my fun.

What do they want to do - your part of the trip will likely Require you to be up before Sunrise and set up for Sunsets so you can still do things - Hikes and site visits - with them :) Look over Stan's images as they may help in deciding your stops - https://www.pbase.com/sparker1/root%26view=tree - you can also search the web as he has more on Utah in other websites. So Much to see - So Much to Do and Never enough TIME

To get the full experience, how much time should I reasonably expect to spend on this trip? I will easily have 2 1/2-3 weeks for this trip, but is there enough things to do in the area to keep us captivated, or will we get bored after a week or so?

Simple answer is there is Never Enough Time. So what to do? Do your Homework - learn a LOT MORE - Plan a lot More - I think if I were you I'd focus on one area for doing what you want - then just plan on driving through the rest to be able to plan for the Next 5 or so trips. Sorry but you can see it in three weeks but it takes a Lifetime to become immersed in the SouthWest, just too much of it to do in three Weeks, IMHO. So pick out the few spots you want to See/Experience/Photograph give yourself some time there and then plan to Drive through a lot of it to just see it so you can Plan to do what suits you. We have found that for the state of Utah we Enjoy it Most in the Winter, Late Fall, Early Spring - fewer People - Not Hot - and with the Sun Low in the sky Just Beautiful.

Any and all suggestions or comments will be greatly appreciated.