The Grand Canyon
became a national monument in 1908, but
wasn't designated as a national park
until 1919.
|
The Grand Canyon
is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide
in some places |
There are
over 2,000 plant, bird, mammalian,
reptile, amphibian, and fish species that
live in the Canyon area. |
At the bottom of
the Canyon is the Colorado River. The
Colorado is about 300 feet wide and 100
feet deep. It flows west at about four to
five miles per hour. |
There are about
160 rapids on the Colorado through Canyon.
The rapids range from class 1 to class
five. |
The Canyon habitat
varies from desert to forests on the rims. |
The Grand Canyon
is home to several native American tribes.
The Havasupai is the only tribe that lives
in the Canyon. |
There are over
2,700 known archaeological sites in the
Grand Canyon National Park. |
Human artifacts
found at the Canyon so far date back about
10,000 years. People have been
continuously using or living in the Grand
Canyon area ever since then. |
There are over
400 miles of trails within the Grand
Canyon National Park. |
The Santa Fe
railway opened the El Tovar Hotel in 1905.
Albert Einstein, playwright
George Bernard Shaw, and author Zane Grey were
some of the early famous guests who stayed
the the El Tovar Hotel. Some of the US
presidents who stayed there included
Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft,
Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Herbert
Hoover, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight
Eisenhower, and Bill Clinton. |
The South Rim of
the Grand Canyon is 7,000 feet above sea
level. The North Rim is 1000 feet higher
at 8,000 feet above sea level. |
The inner Canyon
is 2,570 feet above sea level. |
Besides where
there are rivers and creeks, the inner
Canyon is all desert. |
Summer
temperatures range from 80 to 120°F in
the inner Canyon. |
Temperatures in
the winter range from 20 to 65°F in
the inner Canyon. |
Phantom Ranch, at
the bottom of the Canyon, is the only
place that offers accommodations in the
inner Canyon. |