It’s really to each their own. I love road trips and I love the National Park system - we’ve been to few of the big nature Parks because we’re east coast based and financially curtailed, but have traveled to and enjoyed a number of National Monuments and National Historic Sites. A couple of years ago as we empty nested then retired we started flying west every couple of years so I got to see Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower and this year finally the Grand Canyon (and Saguaro) at age 62. I’m so glad I did, but then again I’ve always wanted to. I hope to get to some of the others in the next few years.
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I’ve had two long vacations in Arizona, and my favorite place of all is Canyon de Chelly. You have to tour it with a Navajo guide. It’s smaller scale than the Grand Canyon, of course, but just breathtaking. And so many native American dwellings! I would go back there in a flash if I could.
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https://youtu.be/bZwiS6ga-1w?si=gSfkKrNGi4T3JfJw&t=108 …well, assuming I linked this correctly and the Brady Bunch is to be trusted? Lol. Correct, more than a mile down.
Visited as a kid and also had intense memories of the gift shop! I’m pretty sure I have the memory of standing at that same lookout as the Brady’s but I suppose I could be remembering the TV view. If I visited again, I would want it to be more immersive; hiking down or part-way, camping at the bottom, etc versus just staring at it from the top. I do think it’s a must-see if you have the opportunity.
I see someone else posted about Chaco Canyon - yes! incredible and hiking to the top of the mesa to look down on it all is amazing.
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I don’t have a huge desire to see the canyon. I’d like to see other areas of the west as a side trip, I suppose. For instance I really would like to go to Jackson Hole, and sure, I’d like to see the Tetons since I’m there. But I wouldn’t travel to see that. I enjoyed Muir Woods when we did a 10 day CA trip, but I wouldn’t have gone on a trip as that being the main purpose.
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I have no desire to see national parks, I have a good friend who is trying to see every one (and making very good progress). Everybody is different.
A friend recently asked me which vacation I prefer beach or mountain, I answered neither, city. It is a very big and wondrous world, go where you want, don’t go to places that don’t interest you!
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In my opinion, the best time of year depends on what you plan to do and what you prioritize. For example, different times of year are better/worse for most pleasant temperatures, smallest crowds, best lodging options/availability/price, offering shuttles across the full rim, rafting availability, etc.
The Grand Canyon is deep enough that temperatures towards the bottom of the canyon are ~20F hotter than temperatures at the rim. If you plan to hike within the canyon, April-October daytime peak temperatures are likely to be unpleasantly hot. Summer temperatures are likely to exceed 100F in the canyon. A late fall hike is likely to have more pleasant temperatures, but some of the shortest daylight hours and earliest sunset of the year, which can make trying a complete a hike to bottom and back in a single day more challenging and less pleasant (more rushing). An early spring hike is likely to have ~2 hours more daylight than the fall, but there are likely to still be patches of snow towards the top. If you instead plan to stay entirely on the rim where it is ~20F cooler, then you are likely to prefer the weather in different months. Even the summer weather may be okay at rim, with average highs in the 80s.
If you want to avoid crowds, Jan/Feb are likely to have lowest traffic by a large margin at South Rim. With the reduced traffic in the winter, there is also far better hotel availability/prices, including lodging within the Grand Canyon National Park. It’s a similar idea for getting a backpacking permit. The overwhelming majority who apply for popular periods of spring/fall do not get a permit in lottery, while near ~100% who apply for a first available date permit in less popular periods of winter get one. In addition to the snow/weather and road closures, there are other potential limitations in less crowded months, such as shuttles having a more limited route in the winter. The North Rim closes entirely during the winter, as may certain roads on both rims.
Views and experiences also can vary dramatically with time of year. For example, winter has views of snow on rocks, fall has foliage, spring has wildflowers. Activities within the Colorado River, such as rafting, are likely to have far more availability in April-September than other months. Full services at North Rim are only available May 15 to Oct 15.
As I noted earlier in the thread, my previous trip last year was towards start of December. If I was going again, I’d probably choose a spring trip, taking advantage of some things that are better to do in spring than December, and having a different experience.
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For me it’s all of them… each holds different interest for me. Although I’d limit myself to a week on the beach each year but can spend much longer in the other two.
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Kindred travel spirits! I love big cities, too!
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I’ll start by saying that I took myself to Yosemite for the first time in June on a Road Scholar trip. And we’re going to New Zealand next year on a Globus tour, primarily for the natural beauty. We (I) do love national and state parks and have been to tons of them over the years. Favorites perhaps include Alaska, Hawaii, and Rainier.
Cities are fine and we’ve been to tons of them too. We lived in Chicagoland city and suburbs for 40 years, and I visited NYC multiple times as a child and once lived there for a year.
That being said, our recent four day 40th anniversary road trip up to Monterey and back was more tiring than I remembered in my younger years. So now in my 70’s, I would not try to repeat some of the trips we did in earlier times. I am more of a looker than a doer these days.
Speaking of the Grand Canyon, we went there at the end of a 15 day road trip from Denver to Phoenix in 1977. No park reservations, no motel reservations - we used our AAA and Mobil guides to find places along the way and slept in the car one night at the Grand Canyon. We went to: Fort Collins, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Air Force Academy, Leadville, Aspen, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Silverton Railroad, Mesa Verde, Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce, Zion, and North and South Rims. And the Phoenix Zoo 
.
So the Grand Canyon did not really stand out. Overall, I think I liked the Grand Canyon of the Pacific (Waimea Canyon State Park) better. Of course, I mainly saw that from a helicopter 
.
Husband just now said, but we didn’t do all that in one trip. Oh yeah, we did, I replied, brandishing the photo album.
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H remarked earlier this week about his memory of the Grand Canyon… “we went with my family in 1981 where we camped on the rim in a pop up camper in July with nothing but a box fan. I have no desire to ever go back to the Grand Canyon!” 
I went in 1981 as well, though in August. I love traveling all kinds of places, but I’m a big believer in that life is too short to do things you don’t want to do. Even if 95% of the population thinks something is great… if you don’t, don’t do it.”
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off topic, but isn’t that like gold dust? My dad waited for the rafting lottery for literally 20 years or more and never got it.
I mentioned earlier that when I visited once in March, the entire canyon was completely filled with cloud and we saw nothing, and I mean nothing. There were hardly any visitors when we went in Feb, maybe because there was a big storm coming. When the storm came, they closed Route 64 and we had to leave the way we came via Flagstaff. Checking the forecast is crucial October through March.
Anyway, regarding the topic of the thread, I personally couldn’t be with someone who wasn’t interested in seeing places I want to see, but everyone has their own travel goals. In fact, for years and years my hubby said he didn’t want to go to Iceland. He thought it would be hyped up and too expensive. Then we went last year for 5 days and saw the most amazing winterscape ever. We had an incredible (and freezing-butt cold) NYE in Reykjavik. It was worth every penny and I would have paid more and spent more time if it was required. Luckily, the dead of winter, with the exception of NYE, isn’t a great time to visit Iceland, and too many tourists weren’t a problem.
There is usually a very good reason why many famous destinations are over-hyped.
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I love @marilyn ‘s saying “I’m more of a looker than a doer these days.” Another description is the “slow go years” vs the “go go years.” We are doing lots of active vacations (such as national parks, including hiking and biking in them) in early retirement, while we can. We will do the “looking” in our later years. We do tend to pick places we both want to visit, because there are so many of those.
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It depends for what date. The most popular summer launch dates have <1% success rate in lottery. The least popular winter launch dates have 100% success rate in lottery. There also ways to book through a private charter, without directly using NPS lottery.
Yes, if you are not making reservations long in advance, it’s best to check the forecast. That’s not the normal weather in March, or any month. A quick Google search suggests partial cloud inversion only happens a couple times per year and total cloud inversion with a sea of clouds completely filling canyon only happens a couple times per decade. It sounds special in its own way. The Atlantic has some pictures of the Nov/Dec 2013 cloud inversion at A Sea of Clouds Fills the Grand Canyon - The Atlantic .
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Back before I was born, in the fifties, my parents drove to the Canyon on their way to California with two toddlers. By the time they arrived, my mother was so exhausted and car sick that she wouldn’t (or couldn’t) get out of the car. So my dad and sisters saw the Canyon but my mom didn’t. She probably sat in the car with her eyes closed and enjoyed the peace. Poor thing, they thought they were moving to California but didn’t care for it and drove back to NY state 6 months later but not by the Grand Canyon.
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I’ve been to the north & south rim of the grand canyon multiple times and always had a very nice visit. We stayed in cabins on the premises of both both & south rims. I’ve also stayed in rustic cabins in Waimea Canton on Kauai. I love national parks but understand not everyone does (thank goodness). We have always managed to avoid most of the crowd and just have a lovely time.
We also have had lovely uncrowded visits at Yellowstone, Tetons, Yosemite, Glacier, Waterton, and many other national parks.
I enjoy cities as well but find nature relaxing and something that renews me. Cities are exciting and bustling compared to nature.
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Just wanna throw this out. Although I love the National parks (my husband retired from the NPS last year), there are other public lands that are wonderful in their own right. The US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management have millions of acres of lands open to the public that have things well worth seeing and doing. They can be MUCH less crowded than the national parks. States also have parks, wildlife reserves, etc. open to the public. I’ve recently visited two states recently that have great state park systems: California and Michigan. I’ve visited Sanibel Island in FL three times and we always make sure to take a tour of the Ding Darling (a famous cartoonist) National Wildlife Refuge when we’re there.
So, next time you get an urge to enjoy the outdoors, remember to check out other places besides National Parks.
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That’s in our state, on my list of places to visit someday. Grand Canyon is further, and it’s a maybe. In the meantime we’ve enjoyed many national parks, especially Rocky Mountain National Park (an easy daytrip for us - we like to do hikes/picnics there) and Arches in Utah.
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Wow! We must have seen a cloud inversion. This would have been around 1993 or so, I guess. And I can honestly say that we could see even less than your photo shows.
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For those not wowed by the GC, here are some hilarious one star reviews. I especially love the one about the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall also being overrated (I def don’t agree 
)
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I love the National Parks and would gladly go back to the Grand Canyon (I have been 3 or 4 times) but there are other National Parks I like more. In that area I love Zion and Bryce and Arches, too.
I am in sort of the situation your partner is in, but with my oldest’s special needs highly anxious rescue dog, who lives with us (both the kid and the dog). While the dog is better than she was (she’s on Prozac) she is currently not fit for a pet-sitter (huge flight risk who has among other things, jumped out of the partially rolled down window of a moving car). So I feel kinda stuck. I would looooove to go travel more and am sorta planning in my mind some more trips with friends leaving DH and/or the kid with the dog, but my family has some issues that I need to be around for too (not just the dog) so not sure when those trips will happen.
If I was in your shoes, I would plan a trip with friends (or a week with your partner if he is willing to leave the cats that long). No need to drive across the country if you don’t like driving. I’ve done that in my younger days and would honestly enjoy it again because I like driving, but it’s hard. When we most recently did the Grand Canyon when our kids were little (about 15 years ago) we flew into Salt Lake City and rented a car there and then drove around to various National Parks for two weeks+. You could cut it shorter with your partner and just do a week. No need for the cross country drive if you’re not feeling it. Flying into Phoenix or Las Vegas would be closer to the Grand Canyon and you’d still get some driving in (300 miles instead of 2000 miles).
I feel like we need to travel while we still can because there will come a day when we just can’t do it any more (big part of why this special needs rescue dog galls me). But for your trip, the Grand Canyon can only be one part of it. There is so much more to see in that area. Someone else mentioned Sedona – if you like small, artsy cities it’s definitely worth a visit. If you like big cities, Vegas is so over the top it’s worth stopping in just for one night even if you don’t gamble. I liked the old neon museum more than the current excesses. Zion and Bryce are other National Parks worth a visit. Or go south to Phoenix and Tucson. Walnut Canyon National Monument is another place I remember fondly from my travels out west with my parents when I was a kid. You could see the cliff dwellings and imagine the ancient ancestors who lived there.
Since you are on the fence about it I would not plan a trip ONLY to the Grand Canyon. You might be underwhelmed by it. I thought it was pretty amazing, but I loved the Grand Tetons too. Add in some other destinations like Sedona, etc, so there is more potential for somewhere to be really enjoyable for you and if it’s amazing that’s a bonus, but enjoyable is plenty good enough in my book.
BTW, the lodge at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon burned this past fire season so I don’t know how much of the North Rim is open, but expect it to be a different experience than in the past. You might want to stick with the more popular South Rim.
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