2 Days at the Grand Canyon: A South Rim Itinerary for Families

A relaxed, kid-friendly plan for the South Rim

By Chris Hayworth, Nestward

The Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world: a mile-deep canyon spanning 278 miles of the Colorado River, entirely within Arizona. Two days isn't enough to see all of it. But it's plenty to fall in love with the South Rim, watch a sunrise and a sunset, and let kids burn off energy without anyone melting down. Here's how to spend it.

Before you go: the practical stuff

Almost everyone with two days does the South Rim, which is open all year. Entrance is $35 per private vehicle, good for seven days. The South Entrance near Tusayan is the busiest, with waits up to two hours between 9:30am and 4pm in peak season. If you're arriving mid-morning in summer, the East Entrance at Desert View usually has shorter lines and gives you a dramatic first view on the way in.

The single best move: park your car and ride the free shuttles. The South Rim has a real network of routes, and trying to drive the village in summer is its own punishment. Days here run 20 to 30 degrees cooler on the rim than at the bottom of the canyon, and weather changes fast, so pack layers even in summer.

Day one: get your bearings on the rim

Start at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. Grab a park map, let the kids start a Junior Ranger booklet, and catch one of the daily films in the theater. "We Are Grand Canyon" (on the hour) shares the heritage of the 11 tribal communities connected to the canyon; "Grand Canyon: A Journey of Wonder" (on the half-hour) is a rim-to-river orientation. Both run about 24 minutes and are free.

From there it's a short walk to Mather Point, the overlook where most visitors get their first real look. It's a jaw-dropper, and it's also where everyone clusters, so don't linger if it's packed. Instead, walk the paved, mostly flat Rim Trail toward Yavapai Point. The views open up the whole way and the crowds thin out fast.

• Yavapai Geology Museum. Big windows, a relief model, and the clearest explanation of how this thing formed. There's a free 30-minute ranger Geology Talk out front, typically at 3:00pm. Kids who like rocks will be locked in.
• Sunset at Mather or Yavapai Point. People come from all over the world for it. Arrive 30 minutes early, claim a railing spot, and bring a jacket.

Day two: history, viewpoints, and Desert View

If anyone's up for it, sunrise on the rim is quieter and just as good as sunset. Otherwise, start in Historic Grand Canyon Village. Stop by Kolb Studio, a five-story house-turned-museum perched right on the rim near the Bright Angel Trailhead. The current exhibit tells the story of brothers Emery and Ellsworth Kolb, pioneer photographers who ran the Colorado River in 1912 with a hand-crank movie camera. It's a quick, free, genuinely interesting stop (open 8am to 7pm), and the building itself is worth the walk.

With your second day, point the car east along Desert View Drive. It's a scenic 25-mile drive with pullouts the whole way, and far fewer people than the village. The payoff is the Desert View Watchtower, a 70-foot stone tower at the easternmost developed point on the South Rim, with sweeping views of the canyon and the Colorado River below. If you entered from the south, this can double as your exit toward Cameron and points east.

A note on hiking with kids: you do not need to descend into the canyon to feel it. If your family is up for a taste, the upper stretch of a corridor trail like Bright Angel gives you the sense of going "in" without committing to a hard climb back out. Turn around early. The canyon is much hotter and steeper below the rim than it looks, and the way back up is the hard part.

How to pace it so nobody melts down

• Ride the shuttle, skip the parking stress. It frees you up and the kids like the bus.
• Carry more water than you think. There are fill stations at the visitor center; the air is dry and the elevation is high.
• Do your big walking in the morning or evening. Midday summer heat on the rim is real, and shade is scarce.
• Mind the edge. Many viewpoints have unfenced drops. With younger kids, the paved Rim Trail is your friend.
• Build in one unscheduled hour. Sunset, a snack, a Junior Ranger badge ceremony. The canyon rewards slowing down.