Need Info: Grand Canyon South Rim

[FirstToy]

We are thinking of going and heard there is a lot of snow.
Any special preperations or routes to take?
recommendations on hotels?
is the skywalk open?

also debating if we should take the 4x4 or the car... it's not an offroading trip, unless there is some areas along the way worthy or if the snow is going to be gnarly enough to justify the truck. car is awd, btw.

thanks for any help!
this will be our first time at the Grand Canyon. I went w/ I was a little kid but a distant memory...

 

[Brentbba]

James,

Hit SOCALFJ with a pm or email. He and Yosh were just out there. See his write up in the SoCal 80's section.

They camped in their SMB so he may not be much help on hotels.

 

[Grolar]

Hi,
Looks like roads to the South Rim are currently wide open:
Grand Canyon National Park - Weather and Road Conditions (U.S. National Park Service)

You can also have a look here:
ADOT Freeway Management System - Sonora

The skywalk seems to be open as well.
Official Site of the Grand Canyon Skywalk

As far as lodging is concerned: I slept at Yavapai Lodge inside the Park last year and it's fairly decent. Not luxurious but clean. It can be booked through www.Xanterra.com and this is the low season, so lower prices are to be expected. Lodging solutions inside the park abound and some are more expensive than others. Not worth lodging in Tusayan IMHO as prices are only slightly lower than in the concessions.

I think you should be good with your AWD car, a set of tire chains can't hurt. Beware of very low temperatures there as the South Rim's altitude is mo/less 6,000 ft. Once got 35°F daytime in early October!

And finally, some might differ but the best view I experienced there was Desert View (Eastern part of the Park).

Have fun and take pics!

 

[e9999]

I was there in the winter 3 or 4 years ago.

I remember it as pretty crowded and touristy even with snow. Not the place to get away from it all if you stay where most of the folks are doh, that is the rim area. With snow, going down the canyon may not be obvious. Some hotels were pretty expensive and busy. May want to check online for availability.

Gorgeous, of course.

 

[Grolar]

Not the place to get away from it all if you stay where most of the folks are doh, that is the rim area.

Agree, but I also noticed that once you walk away from the main entrances to the rim trail, the crowd is thinning dramatically. Most tourists just do some "car hopping" and don't even bother walking along the trail. So don't let crowds next to parking lots deter you as this is a great walk where you even could experience some loneliness. And I checked the Xanterra resorts page for Grand canyon, most of them have vacancies right now, which wasn't the case last time I was there (last April). At that time, the crowd was very bearable.

 

[Sno bored]

The skywalk is in an area they are calling "Grand canyon west", which is on an indian reservation that looks like 3 hours from the main tourist area of the south rim.

 

[rmirandayopo]

James, why you choose winter time?
Go to Vegas and get the Helicopter ride…

To visit the top Grand Canyon is great, but to hike to the bottom is greater!!!

 

[FirstToy]

grolar,thanks for the info- i read it from the hotel. off season was cheap and great.

we had way more fun than expected! we had the Canyon to ourselves basically (no crowds and barely any traffic) and the snow made it look amazing. Of course the views were stunning, it was like a painting- and def good reason it's a "wonder of the world". It was also perfect weather, around 54F and under & beautiful skies.

this was from the tower on the west end

saw this awesome Cruiser-camper from Germany. Couldn't see the owners around, they might have been hiking or napping inside.

we found an awesome trail that was basically untouched! fresh powder was about 2' deep and fun to hike & play

lil' guy made it a few hundred meters

some fun backcountry 4x4

we also hit Sedona for some sights and 4x4 fun- also very quiet and had the trails mostly to ourselves!
If The Dude is reading, I didn't want to pop in on such short notice but your previous guidance made this trip super fun and easy for Michelle. Thanks Kristina and Pasquale!

the stairsteps and going around this rock were the only things that kind of freaked my wife out- but in a fun way

you can't tell but you have to stay on the light part of the rock or else roll off way below!

We had lunch and a prickly pear cactus margarita which was great. Down to family in PHX and rounded out a great trip!

 

[Brentbba]

James - as usual, your pics are fantastic!

 

[Grolar]

Great pics! Happy that you had a blast. FYI, the HZJ 79 has Swiss plates (Zürich) even though it seems to have been built in Germany.

And I just checked on their website... this kind of car can be yours for € 69,000 - that's $ 92,500!