- Because there really are so many.
The last of all the Grand Canyon fun facts you need to know. What have you thought so far?
- There are 91 species of mammals, 447 species of birds,
58 species of reptiles and 18 species of fish, five of which are native,) located in Grand Canyon National Park. - There are some records for the fastest known Rim-to-Rim time, for running or hiking from the South to the North and back. For women, the record is held by Taylor Nowlin of Portland Oregon with a time of 7 hours, 28 minutes and 58 seconds and she set it on November 21st, 2018. For men, Jim Walmsley from Flagstaff set the record with a total time of 5 hours, 55 minutes and 20 seconds, on October 4th, 2016.
- For the best dry, mild conditions for rafting, visit in April, May, September and October. Did you know these Grand Canyon Fun Facts?
- There are bike rentals available to bike at the Grand Canyon, and you can even take a shuttle bus complete with bike racks to get you there. There are also bike-only campsites available at the South Rim’s Mather Campground and the North Rim Campground.
- William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have all visited the North Canyon.
- Three years after president Theodore Roosevelt visited the Grand Canyon in 1903, he was still pushing for it to have national-park status. He declared the area a Game Reserve and in 1908 named it a national monument. (Neither declaration needed the congress to approve.)
- Grand Canyon National Park is the second most visited National Park with more than 6 million visitors a year. When it comes to numbers, Great Smoky Mountains National Park sees more than 11 million visitors annually.
- The first Anglo to lead an expedition to explore the Grand Canyon was John Christmas Ives. He predicted the area would remain wilderness in 1861 when he said, “The region is, of course, altogether valueless. It can be approached only from the south, and after entering it there is nothing to do but leave,” he wrote.
- According to archaeological findings, the first people to go through Grand Canyon were most likely hunter-gatherers about 10,000 years ago. Did you know these Grand Canyon fun facts?
- There have been 1,750 counted plant species growing in the park.
- Less than a fifth of the Colorado River’s length runs through Grand Canyon National Park. The Colorado River is 1,450 miles long and only 277 miles of it are in the park or about ? of the river.
- The Colorado River drops almost 2,000 feet during its journey through the Grand Canyon.
- Seven years after the Grand Canyon became a national park, it had 37,745 visitors. As of 2017, the park had 6.2 million visitors. Wow, how about this for Grand Canyon fun facts?
- Park rangers say the biggest mistake people make at the park is 1) not carrying enough water and 2) wearing improper footwear, like flip-flops or heels. A lot of people also underestimate the effort needed to get back to the rim.
- There’s a crazy high demand for Phantom Ranch because they are the only public accommodations on the Canyon floor. There are monthly lotteries held for reservations, 15 months out.
So that’s it. Let me know what you think of all these fun facts in the comments!