Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most popular National Parks in America with more than four million visitors each year. The history of the Grand Canyon begins approximately six million years with the Colorado River being the cause of its creation. The Colorado River slowly eroded the land beneath it forming the spectacularly deep canyon that we all know today. The canyon is 278 miles long and averaging 7,500 feet in elevation, with a wide variety of ecosystems living all throughout the canyon. The Grand Canyon earned recognition as a National Park on February 26, 1919 and was later declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Dark Sky Park.
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon only receives about 10% of the Grand Canyon National Park visitors each year but is home to some of the most spectacular views and adventures. In 1776, 236 years after the South Rim of the Grand Canyon was first discovered by settlers, Father Escalante visited the ponderosa covering the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Over time, ownership of the North Rim was heavily negotiated as Arizona and Utah claimed the territory until Arizona earned official statehood on February 14, 1912.