The Best Viewpoints in the Grand Canyon

Earlier this year, Dave and I took a trip to the Grand Canyon to celebrate him being done with chemotherapy (!!!) We were in desperate need of a getaway and some quality time together that didn’t require us thinking or worrying about our next doctors visit.

We got the clear from his doctor to travel and wanted to go somewhere with warmer weather, that wasn’t too far from Colorado and had a mixture of mostly relaxing but semi-active site seeing. We landed on Arizona! It’s always been a dream of Dave’s to go see the Grand Canyon, so we did just that!

We actually started our trip in Scottsdale, then traveled up to the Grand Canyon and finished our journey in Sedona. It was the perfect week long trip and the best way celebrate being done with treatment and ring in the new year.

We arrived at the Grand Canyon in the late afternoon and immediately went to the Yavapai Point and Geology Museum to be in awe of the views. And yes, we were in awe. Anyone who’s visited the Grand Canyon can certainly attest to how grand it surely is.

We were surprised at how much snow there actually was at the Grand Canyon in January. We did a mini walk along the Rim Trail, however didn’t have our hiking boots on so we didn’t get very far. It was extremely slippery and we stayed close to the inside part of the trail (both of us aren’t huge on heights and easily get that pit feeling in our stomachs!) We did one more stop off to take in the sunset at Hopi Point and then headed to our hotel for an early night. We were determined to get up early to make the most of our time at the Grand Canyon the next day.

The next morning we got up around 6:45 to make the 7:30 a.m. sunrise. We packed up all our stuff, got coffee to go and hit the road to the national park. Now, I’m not a morning person but seeing the sun come up over the canyon was simply magical and TOTALLY worth it. All the colors were simply gorgeous, constantly changing and I’m sorry but these pictures really don’t do the Grand Canyon justice.

The best part about being there during the offseason was that it felt like we had the park to ourselves, it was empty! We’d stop off at all the view points and be the only ones there, taking in the views in complete silence. It was truly spectacular! We thought the best viewpoints in the Grand Canyon were:

• Mather Point
• Yavapai Point
• Powell Point
• Maricopa Point
• The Abyss
• Mojavi Point
• Hopi Point
• Grand View Point

But let’s be real, you can’t really go wrong with any viewpoint at the Grand Canyon.

Since there was so much snow on the trails, we weren’t able to do any of the hikes that go down into the canyon without micro-spikes. We were pretty bummed but decided to stick to the Rim Trail and take a nice long walk. The Rim Trail goes for a total of 13 miles. We didn’t do the entire walk but ended up walking from the Visitors Center to the Village, took the bus to the Yavapai Lodge for lunch, and then walked back to the Visitors Center. It was a perfect way to see the Grand Canyon at our own pace and soak in the views.

Do you see the person standing on the edge of the cliff in the pic above? He went out of the boundary area to get a picture by the ledge and ohmigoshhhh I had to look away!! 🙈

Such a fun place to explore and obviously, the Grand Canyon is really a special place. I do think everyone should see it at least once. (And then maybe a few times more!) We’re hoping to go back one summer and hike and explore inside of the canyon. It seems like it would be pretty sweet! 😉