Grand Canyon Travel Forum

I was thinking of spending christmas away this year. Is traveling to the grand canyon a wise choice? Has anyone done this before in December? Will it be extremely cold,snowy and unbearable? Can you still get some good views of the canyon and not feel as though you will slip and die due to all the ice on the trails? What are some hotels people recommend? Any feedback would be most appreciated!

Thank you!

I haven't been there during the winter. But the pictures I have seen of snow on the Grand Canyon were just breathtaking. Here in Arizona, snow is intermittent, with some years having much more than others.

For hotels, you definitely want to get one of the lodges inside the Park -- preferably one of the rim lodges (El Tovar, Kachina, Thunderbird, or Bright Angel). Yavapai and Maswick are around 1/4 to 1/2 mile away from the rim, but still inside the park. Here is the website to check for availability:

http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/

I agree with Mike, I have just come back and the photos that I seen of the Canyon in Winter were something completely different to how it looks in the Sumemr months.

On the road leading into the Canyon, there are signs saying roads could get flooded or icy, so there could well be a lot of it and it could be a bit dangerous at times during winter. Even in the spring time the temperatures can quickly drop below the rim after the sun has gone down to below freezing.

You will have to check online, or contact the Park rangers through the US Governements official website for the Canyon: www.nps.gov/grca/

Hope this helps out a bit.

Kayleigh

It will be very cold, yes, and often very windy. You'll likely see snow on the ground but whether or not it will hamper your trip depends upon the weather systems coming in. Road closures occur at least once every year in that region, but are relatively rare and get cleaned up fairly quickly. This is the desert, and there just isn't that much precipitation, frozen or otherwise.
The South Rim of the Grand Canyon (the North Rim is closed all winter) has viewpoints providing excellent overlooks very near to the road, and it would be unlikely that ice would be much of a problem. The dirt trails are the ones that lead into the Canyon. If the weather cooperates, you could do some of one of the trails but it may not be possible.
As far as hotels, it's always best to stay within the park itself. There are several lodges that can be booked online through xanterra.com. In the high season, if trying to book 6 months in advance, most rooms would certainly would be booked, but you're likely to get something since you're going in the winter.
The alternative is Tusayan, which is just a couple of miles from the park gate. There's also Cameron Trading Post, which is very reasonably-priced, and only a few miles from the eastern gate off US 89.
If you're there for New Year's, Flagstaff has a fabulous celebration. Hope you can stick around for that.
hth

I was there in December and visited the Grand Canyon with friends that hired a car... It was Breathtaking. We hung around for quite a while looking out at the snow. The realization of how tiny we were in comparison to such a natural beauty is something that I will never forget. There were Tour busses and people all around looking out... You get mesmerized... We ventured down the path towards the bottom but only for about an hour (there and back) I got the most beautiful photo standing in front of a frozen waterfall... I haven't got it on my Arizona page but I'll add it to my pages in the next couple of days...
All you have to do is rug up to keep warm... Don't miss the Magic of that time of year... Happy travels :)