The Grand Canyon is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Europeans first saw the Grand Canyon when Hopi guides, whose people had been living in the area for generations, led members of the Coronado Expedition to it in 1540. In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell led the first successful expedition down the Colorado River the full length of the Grand Canyon.

Designated a national monument in 1908, the Grand Canyon became a national park on February 26, 1919. The Grand Canyon’s spectacular scenery encompasses 1,900 square miles. The canyon is home to five Native American tribes: the Hopi, Navajo, Havasupai, Paiute, and Hualapai.

Grand Canyon Facts:

• The Grand Canyon, as the course of the Colorado River twists through it, is 277 miles in length.
• Its narrowest width, at Marble Canyon, is only 600 yards across. In contrast, its average width from rim to rim is 10 miles across. At its widest, the Grand Canyon spans 18 miles.
• The average depth of the Grand Canyon is one mile. The elevation of the South Rim is 7,000 feet above sea level, while the elevation of the North Rim is 8,100 feet.
• Running from Colorado’s Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, the Colorado River is 1,450 miles long. Within Grand Canyon National Park itself, the Colorado River’s 277 miles flow at an average speed of four miles per hour. The river’s average width is 300 feet across, although it narrows to only 76 feet wide at mile 135, where the river, 85 feet deep, is also at its deepest. On average, the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon is 40 feet deep.
• In addition to its geologic wonders, the Canyon contains outstanding biological diversity, containing five of the of the seven life zones, including Lower Sonoran, Upper Sonoran, Transition, Canadian and Hudsonian, which is the equivalent of traveling from Mexico to Canada. It is home to numerous rare, endemic (found only at Grand Canyon), and threatened/endangered plant and animal species. The park contains over 1,500 plant, 355 bird, 89 mammalian, 47 reptile, 9 amphibian, and 17 fish species.