How Large Is The Grand Canyon

It really doesn’t matter how many facts and figures you read about the size of the Grand Canyon, or how many photographs you see, or how many times your neighbors (who have already been) describe it to you, ‘cos when you first visit the Grand Canyon you will still be amazed at the sheer size of this enormous hole in the ground. It’s incomprehensible. Having said that, here are a few facts, figures and other interesting bits ‘n bobs about the spectacular Grand Canyon.

More current news and information on the Grand Canyon National Park Facebook page.

How Large Is The Grand Canyon

Well, that kinda’ depends on what you mean by the Grand Canyon, you see, the Grand Canyon National Park includes 1,904 square miles, that’s 4931 square kilometers and 1,218,375.54 acres – that’s BIG don’t you think, but when most people want to know about the size of the Grand Canyon, they mean the actual Grand Canyon, the length of the Grand Canyon in river miles, and if that’s what you mean by the question then the answer is that it is 277 miles long, starting at Lees Ferry and ending at Grand Wash Cliffs, 277 spectacular miles away.

Although the Grand Canyon isn’t actually the longest (the Colorado River is 1450 miles long), it’s certainly regarded by many to be the most beautiful, the most spectacular, the most awesome in the world.

What about the depth? Well, near Grand Canyon Village on the South rim of the Grand Canyon it measures a vertical mile, 5,000 feet from the rim to the river, that’s straight up and down, however, if you’re hiking up or down the trail is 7 miles (and don’t forget that when you’ve hiked down to the river bed, eventually you’ll have to hike back up again). At the deepest section the Grand Canyon is even deeper, closer to 6000 vertical feet. At Grand Canyon Village the Grand Canyon measures 10 miles across, but further along, at its widest point it measures an amazing 18 miles.

Difficult to imagine isn’t it? Let’s look at it this way;

a journey to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back takes 2 days on foot, or by mule train.
hiking from rim to rim takes three days, that’s just one way (usually from the North rim to the South rim)
rafting the Grand Canyon can take two weeks, maybe even a little bit longer
even the most experienced backpackers and hikers can “lose themselves” for weeks in the most remote areas of the Grand Canyon

Can you picture it yet? Let me tell you that however large you imagine the Grand Canyon to be, multiply it by at least ten when you eventually get to the visit the most spectacular canyon in the world.

Some people just take things one step further don’t they . . . awesome dudes.