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Grand Canyon Facts

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Below are some of the facts about the Grand Canyon:

  • The Grand Canyon is one of the top attractions of Arizona in US, and is considered as one of the natural wonders in the world.
  • The length of the Grand Canyon is 446 km.
  • The widest point of the Canyon measures 29 km, and the narrowest is 4 km.
  • The deepest part of the Canyon is over 6,000 ft.
  • The Canyon already is an extremely steep hill form, and on top of that the erosion done by the Colorado River as it passes through the Grand Canyon has made it all the more steeper.
  • The place is a reserve of multiple interesting rock formation of significant geological importance and the rocks are found in layers which gives a site a beautiful natural look.
  • The upper rim of the Grand Canyon is made of limestone which is estimated to be 230 million years old.
  • The bottom layer of the canyon is formed of Schist rock which is estimated to be 2 billion years old.
  • The natives who live near the place are Red Indians.
  • The first person to complete expedition of the Grand Canyon was John Wesley in 186 In 1871, he first use the term Grand Canyon. Before that, Grand Canyoun were called Great Canyon and Big Canyon.
  • In 1919 the site was declared a National Park, and it was the 17th National Park formed in the US. Because of its natural beauty coupled with the beauty of the Colorado River flowing in between, the place receives 5 million tourists yearly.
  • The popular activities people enjoy here are rafting, trekking, and hiking.
  • The Grand Canyon experiences varying weather at different places. Due to different heights the weather varies resulting in varying amounts of precipitation, humidity, and temperature. The wettest and coldest place here is Bright Angel Ranger Station, and 8 miles from this place lays the driest and hottest place of the canyon at Phantom Ranch.
  • The Grand Canyon is formed of rocks which are older than the dinosaurs, and yet there were no dinosaur bones found in the Canyon. The reason probably is that although the forming rocks were old, the Canyon took shape after the dinosaurs disappeared from the earth.
  • Fossils of many other animals and marine life forms were discovered at the Grand Canyon. 2 billion years old marine fossils were also found and then again just 10,000 years old mammal fossils were also found.