Discover the Wonders of the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon in Arizona, USA, carved by the Colorado River, which is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and over a mile deep. The canyon is contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, and other reservations. The area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Grand Canyon is part of the Colorado River basin, which has developed over the past 70 million years. The major geologic exposures in the Grand Canyon range in age from the 2-billion-year-old Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Inner Gorge to the 270-million-year-old Kaibab Limestone on the Rim. Groundwater flow in the Grand Canyon region is an active area of study, with two major aquifers where groundwater collects. Native American cultures, such as the Ancestral Puebloans, Cohonina, Sinagua, Hualapai, Havasupai, Southern Paiutes, and Navajo, have inhabited the Grand Canyon area.History, Settlers, and Environmental Challenges of the Grand Canyon

• The Grand Canyon is believed to be the location where humankind arose out of the Third World from a sipapu.

• Spanish explorers visited the Grand Canyon in 1540 and again in 1776, with some priests exploring the area in search of a route from Santa Fe to California.

• American explorers, including James Ohio Pattie and John Wesley Powell, also visited the canyon in the early 19th century.

• Frank M. Brown attempted to build a railroad along the Colorado River to carry coal in 1889, but drowned in an accident near Marble Canyon.

• The Grand Canyon became a national monument in 1908 and a national park in 1919.

• Federal administrators face challenges related to the reintroduction of the California condor, air tour overflight noise levels, water rights and management disputes, and forest fire management.

• The ecosystem of the canyon was permanently changed after the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, leading to erosion and the displacement of native species.

• Between 2003 and 2011, 2,215 mining claims had been requested that are adjacent to the canyon, including claims for uranium mines.

• A 20-year moratorium on new uranium mining was established in 2012, but mines with previous authorization are still allowed to operate.

• Weather in the Grand Canyon varies greatly according to elevation, with temperatures ranging from over 100°F in the summer to below zero in the winter.

• Visitors should obtain accurate forecasts due to the hazards posed by exposure to extreme temperatures, winter storms, and late summer monsoons.

• The Grand Canyon area had some of the cleanest air in the United States as of 1999.Environmental Factors Impacting Grand Canyon National Park

• Air quality in the area can be affected by air pollution from coal-fired power plants, mining, oil and gas, vehicles, and urban and industrial pollution from nearby states, California and Mexico.

• Differences in visibility tend to be seasonal: best during the winter and poorest during the summer.

• Air quality and visibility in the canyon are affected mainly by sulfates, soils, and organics.

• A number of actions have been taken to preserve and further improve air quality and visibility at the canyon.

• Due to the increase of greenhouse gases, temperatures have steadily risen making recent years the warmest of the century.

• Grand Canyon National Park contains 129 vegetation communities, and the composition and distribution of plant species are influenced by climate, geomorphology, and geology.

• Of the 90 mammal species found along the Colorado River corridor, 18 are rodents and 22 are bats.

• Its great biological diversity can be attributed to the presence of five of the seven life zones and three of the four desert types in North America.

• The Lower Sonoran life zone spans from the Colorado River up to 3,500 feet (1,100 m).

• The Upper Sonoran Life Zone includes most of the inner canyon and South Rim at elevations from 3,500 to 7,000 feet (1,100 to 2,100 m).

• Approximately 30 bird species breed primarily in the desert uplands and cliffs of the inner canyon.

• The abundance of bats, swifts, and riparian birds provides ample food for peregrines, and suitable eyrie sites are plentiful along the steep canyon walls.Grand Canyon National Park: Wildlife, Tourism, Activities, Viewing, and Fatalities

• The conifer forests in Grand Canyon National Park provide habitat for 52 animal species, including porcupines, shrews, red squirrels, tassel-eared Kaibab and Abert's squirrels, Indian peacocks, black bear, mule deer, and elk.

• There are pinyon pine forests and one seed juniper woodland in the park, with various species of perennial grasses, snakes, and lizards. The mountain short-horned lizard is a particularly abundant inhabitant of the piñon-juniper and ponderosa pine forests.

• Ponderosa pine forests are home to gray fox, mule deer, bighorn sheep, rock squirrels, pinyon pine, and Utah juniper. Amphibians such as the Utah tiger salamander and the Great Basin spadefoot toad are common in the rim forests. At least 15 of the 90 bird species that breed in the coniferous forests are known to be neotropical migrants.

• The Canadian Life Zone, which includes the North Rim and Kaibab Plateau, features Engelmann spruce, blue spruce, Douglas fir, white fir, aspen, and mountain ash, along with several species of perennial grasses, groundsels, yarrow, cinquefoil, lupines, sedges, and asters. Mountain lions, Kaibab squirrels, and northern goshawks are found here.

• The Hudsonian life zone, located only on the North Rim, has subalpine grassland communities and montane meadows, both typified by many grass species, such as blue and black grama, big galleta, Indian ricegrass, and three-awns. The wettest areas support sedges and forbs.

• Grand Canyon National Park attracts about five million visitors per year, with 83% from the United States. The top domestic visitors are from California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and New York. The most prominently represented nations among the 17% of visitors from outside the United States are the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands.

• Popular activities in the park include rafting, hiking, running, and helicopter tours. The Grand Canyon Ultra Marathon is a 78-mile (126 km) race over 24 hours. The floor of the valley is accessible by foot, muleback, or by boat or raft from upriver. Camping is generally restricted to established campgrounds, and reservations are highly recommended.

• The Grand Canyon Skywalk, a glass-bottomed bridge, is located on the Hualapai Tribe's property, Grand Canyon West, about 250 miles (400 km) by road from Grand Canyon Village at the South Rim. Skydiving at the Grand Canyon became possible in 2016.

• The Grand Canyon Escalade, a multimedia complex, was planned to be built on the canyon's rim. However, the Navajo Nation Council voted against the project in 2017.

• The Lipan Point on the South Rim offers a wide array of rock strata and the Unkar Delta area in the inner canyon for viewing.

• About 770 deaths have occurred in the Grand Canyon between the mid-1800s and 2015. The deadliest commercial aviation disaster in history at the time took place in the canyon in