The Grand Canyon spans a wide range of climates and habitats which supports a rich variety of plant and animal life, including the Kaibab squirrel which is unique to the area. The Colorado River drops over 1,900 feet through the canyon with an average gradient that is much steeper in areas with rapids. While discovered by Spanish explorers in 1540, the Grand Canyon was established as a national park in 1919 to protect the area under U.S. control after being under Spanish, Mexican, and American authority. Most tourist facilities and services are located on the South Rim while the North Rim receives more snow and has a shorter season with more limited visitor amenities due to its higher and more remote location.
2. WILDLIFE
There is a rich variety of plant and animal life in the Grand
Canyon due to its great altitudinal range, spanning climatic
conditions from desert to subartic. Exemple: KAIBAB
SQUIRREL- Is the only mammal unique to the Grand Canyon.
3. COLORADO RIVER
The Colorado drops some 1,900 feet through the
Canyon, from Lee’s Ferry at 3,116 feet above sea
level of Lake Mead, which backs into the Canyon
some forty miles. The river’s average drop is 8.1
feet per mile, but the gradient is much steeper in
rapids.
4. HISTORY
Discovered by Spanish explorers in 1540-only forty-
eight years after Colombus found the New World.
The Grand Canyon was first under Spain,then
Mexico, and finally the United States, which in 1919
set aside the Canyon as a national park.
5. SOUTH RIM
Most of the Canyon’s tourist facilities and services
are centered on the South Rim, where the Park’s
principal administrative offices are also located.
6. NORTH RIM
High and remote,the North Rim receives nearly
eleven feet of snow each winter, and has a short
tourist season with limited visitor facilities.
