In January 2020, my best friend and I had planned an epic 10 day Utah and Arizona adventure for Spring that year. As we all know what happened in a few short months, the trip was cancelled, the world locked down, and life changed as we know it. Finally in August 2022, with the pandemic slowly seeming behind us, my best friend and I aligned our schedules, circled a day, blocked our calendars and hit the road for the trip that came to be affectionately known by us as Utah 2.0, as homage paid to our first attempted journey to Utah. Now with two extra years of planning, and research, we were more ready than ever to finally see this beautiful state for ourselves. This trip was an amazing adventure filled with breathtaking panoramic views, meeting the nicest people, unexpectedly awesome food, and a few surprises throughout. Our one day trip to Grand Canyon trip nothing short of stunning.
We were greeted with breathtaking panoramic views at every place we stopped. Though we only had a few short hours at The Grand Canyon we really felt like we experienced the best of this majestic place.
Continue reading this post for an epic 1 day at the North Rim at Grand Canyon National Park. I’ll list out our best recommendations on how we fit this amazing location into what was just supposed to be a trip to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. I think it was our favorite part of the trip, in part because it was so unplanned, so we had no expectations and ultimately we were just awestruck. This page has affiliate links and if you purchase something from this page I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. I donate 5% of this blog’s revenue to the Environmental Defense Fund, so you help donate to a great cause if you click on any affiliate links or ads that may be on this page.
Before you visit The Grand Canyon North Rim, be sure to visit the website for the National Park Services for the Grand Canyon North Rim to check for any park closures and alerts. Note that typically the North Rim closes for the winter starting December 1 through to May.
This trip to the Grand Canyon North Rim worked out perfectly because we had rigorous hikes the day before and the day after, so this was a nice “break” as it was mostly driving, and very little hiking or walking.
Driving from Orderville to The Grand Canyon
Our visit to the Grand Canyon was a last minute decision while we were staying in Orderville near Zion National Park two hours away from The Grand Canyon. We were in the middle of what was a trip for Zion and Bryce Canyon, which you can read about in my post, Road Trip to These Amazing Utah and Arizona National Parks. The day we visited the Grand Canyon was was the day we were going to hike The Narrows at Zion National Park, however we opted against hiking The Narrows because of the Toxic Cyanobacteria Bloom that was occurring throughout the Virgin River. With a newfound free day, we decided to exercise our spontaneity and drive down to the Grand Canyon – and wow, we were glad we did! It was a two hour drive so we left at 6 am to ensure we got the most out of our day. The drive was an easy and enjoyable straight drive south, through Kaibab National Forest where we were shocked to find ourselves driving through a landscape of ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce and and juniper. Since we hadn’t planned on this detour to the Grand Canyon, we didn’t have time to research this part of the trip, so we did not expect to drive through a forest landscape, we thought we’d be driving through the desert! So it was a really fun change of scenery through the Kaibab National Forest as it was the polar opposite of our expectations. The air turned surprisingly brisk and cool as we continued south from Utah, and as we drove into the Grand Canyon National Park, we saw the landscape start to break up with boulders and more and more rockiness as we got deeper into the park. We were surprised that we were still surrounded by the tall pine trees and then suddenly we turned a corner and the view before us opened up to the stunning sprawling vistas of the Grand Canyon. It was just amazing. Below are the three overlooks and easy hikes we did at the Grand Canyon, we recommend stopping at all of them, they were all beautiful and had something unique to see.
1. Imperial Point Trail at the Grand Canyon
We started our drive through the Grand Canyon with our first stop at Imperial Point Trail. Without researching this whole day, we were stunned as we drove up to the parking lot and were greeted with the stunning sprawling landscape that stretched out before us. The sun was peeking through the clouds and a thin mist hovered over the canyon creating such an ethereal haze in the atmosphere. We were among the first ones at this trail and we felt we had this stunning view to ourselves that day. If you follow the path along the rim of the parking lot, you will find yourself walking down some stairs to where the natural rock juts out into the depths of the canyon at 8,000 feet elevation. Imperial Point is the highest of the North Rim overlooks, and the northernmost, presenting a very different panorama than that from the other two popular viewing locations further south (Cape Royal and Bright Angel Point). It truly was one of the most stunning and magical moments, and we were so glad we left early that morning to see it. As much as I like to plan, I think part of what made this part of the trip so magical was the fact that we did practically no research, so we had no idea what to expect. At Imperial Point, you will have a perfect view of Mount Hayden a craggy pointed rock formation who’s dramatic profile is one of the most often photographed scenes in Grand Canyon National Park. You can continue 4.9 miles along the trail, it is an easy hike, however at the time of writing this post, National Park Services reports that its been some time since this trailer has been maintained. Instead of continuing this hike, we stayed here at the viewpoint for some time to soak in in these perfect views before driving to the next viewpoint.
2. Cape Royal at Grand Canyon National Park North Rim
Next, we drove towards Cape Royal, but along the way we came across a few lookout spots and stopped to observe the view. There are some stops that offer a stunning view of Angel’s Window. Cape Royal offers another stunning view of it, before completing the .8 mile easy hike to walk out on top of the amazing rocky cliff. This was a perfect easy hike, we could have stayed here for hours just taking in the views. We found a great spot at Cape Royal to enjoy a few snacks overlooking Angel’s Window, which turned out to be my favorite pictures from the whole trip.
3. Bright Angel Point Trail at the Grand Canyon
Another must see hike is at Bright Angel Point Trail, which shares a parking lot with Grand Canyon Lodging as well as the Visitor Center, gift shop, post office, a deli and saloon, so its amazingly convenient. The .5 mile round trip walk is an easy trail that begins on the Bridle Path behind the Visitor Center or from the Grand Canyon Lodge veranda however it has steep drops on all sides with little to no railing at times and can be very narrow, so please take caution, especially if you have small children with you, I was surprised at the steep drops along this path. We actually almost skipped this trail until we ran into a park ranger who convinced us to turn back and we’re so lucky we did. This hike is amazing because from the lodge, and parking lot area, you’re completely surrounded by the tall pine trees and forestry of the Kaibab Plateau, and then when you begin the trail you are quickly transitioned to the canyon cragginess and steep drops of this dramatic landscape. The entire time we were at the Grand Canyon we couldn’t believe how quickly the landscape kept changing.
Lunch at the Grand Canyon Lodge – North Rim
Before we hiked Bright Angel Point Trail, we stopped for lunch at the Grand Canyon Lodge. You can make a reservation online, but we were lucky that they had seats available with no wait when we went. The parking area is surrounded by the forestry of the Kaibab Plateau, however upon walking into the Lodge we were surprised to be greeted with floor to ceiling windows overlooking more stunning views of the Grand Canyon. We were also pleasantly surprised at how good the food was, we got a Rueben sandwich and some chili, with blueberry crème brûlée for dessert and it was all really delicious. We didn’t stay overnight, we went back to Orderville that night to continue our trip, but I would absolutely consider staying at the Grand Canyon Lodge if I am able to return to The Grand Canyon North Rim. Also here is a saloon, deli, and gift shop, it was great how everything was situated perfectly in this area.
I hope this helps you plan your trip to Grand Canyon North Rim! If you found this helpful please leave a comment below! Be sure to check back to see the full YouTube video of our trip, and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram at @amanda_meets_world_
