Roadschooling Grand Canyon National Park
Roadschooling Grand Canyon? There is no wonder this is one of the most iconic of all national parks … and U.S. landmarks! Read on for some of the family-friendly spots enjoyed during our visit.
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While we could have definitely spent more time here, the few days we did get gave our family enough to see how amazing the Grand Canyon is.
ROADSCHOOLING GRAND CANYON – WHERE WE STAYED:
We booked a couple nights Mather Campground, which is located in historic Grand Canyon Village at the South Rim. You want to reserve as soon as you are able, which is 6 months in advance. You better believe I had my alarm set to tackle our online reservations as soon as the window opened for our travel dates! FYI: The maximum RV length is 30 feet and there are no hook-ups!
DAY 1:
First task – set up camp! Which is really made super easy when traveling in what we feel is the ultimate roadschool adventure rig – a Class C motorhome. You just park, put out the slide and awning, and viola!
VIEWPOINT #1: MATHER POINT
After stretching our legs for a bit (we drove from Joshua Tree, with a quick pit stop at kitschy Bedrock City), we took in views at Mather Point, which is located in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon Visitor Center.
After snapping some photos, the kids got their Junior Ranger National Parks Passports stamped as well as browsed through the gift shop. We always take our passports with us on each roadschool adventure!
VIEWPOINT #2: HOPI POINT
Hopi Point came up when researching some of the better kid-friendly viewpoints at the park, so we decided to venture there after a quick dinner at camp. One of the biggest tips: time your arrival to capture the sunrise our sunset! We arrived right before the latter, and it was definitely worth it!
This viewpoint is located along scenic Hermit Road, which you can’t drive on with your own vehicle (though you can walk or bike its 7 miles!). Our crew found parking near Maswik Lodge and walked to the Transfer Station right at the bottom of the road. From there, we boarded a shuttle with a whole bunch of people with the same plan!
We stayed until the very last shuttle pickup (which is 30 minutes after sunset), and then headed back to camp for the rest of the night!
DAY 2:
BIKING THE GRAND CANYON
August can bring monsoon type weather at the Grand Canyon, so our plans for a morning bike ride around the area were thwarted (however, here is a great bike route map from Bright Angel Bicycles in case you have better luck with weather than we did!).
Instead, we spent some of our morning camp-bound, waiting to see if the torrential rain and hail would let up! Times like this definitely made us extra grateful for an RV; we witnessed several tents get swept up in the deluge!
BRIGHT ANGEL LODGE & TRAIL
Before we knew it, however, the sun came out (for a little bit), and of course, the kids wanted ice cream in the immediate heat! We were able to snag some from Bright Angel Fountain when checking out Bright Angel Lodge.
After their treats, we decided to take advantage of the break in weather and embarked on a hike down Bright Angel Trail. The trailhead is located just a little west of the lodge and offers up to a 12-mile roundtrip hike. You obviously wouldn’t want to do that all in one day during the summer because of the limited shade.
Truthfully, we are not that hardcore and actually, our jaunt was cut short because the monsoon weather rolled back in! I think we only made it about half a mile before we realized we better head back up.
HOPI HOUSE
So we headed back indoors and checked out Hopi House, where we had a blast checking out Native American arts, crafts, and goods for sale.
And then we headed back to Seemore (our Class C motorhome) for shelter.
DAY 3:
This was a our last morning, so we departed from camp early and drove half an hour east on Desert View Drive, to take in some sights from that end of the park, known as Desert View.
TUSAYAN MUSEUM AND RUINS
For us roadschool adventure families, the Desert View vicinity is a do-not-miss area of the park! Here you will find the Tusayan Museum and Ruins, which are what’s left of an Ancient Puebloan village. You can learn all about ancient pueblo life and walk along the self-guided trail … imagine what the village was like based on what is left on the ground!
DESERT VIEW WATCHTOWER & DESERT VIEW POINT
We then hopped back into our rig and drove just a little way to the Desert View Watchtower area.
We climbed up the staircase in stone watchtower to the observation deck for a 360 degree view, which includes the Colorado River and the Painted Desert. On a good day, you can see well over 100 miles of landscape!
Besides the unique architecture, there some pretty amazing paintings that line the wall along the staircase!
From here, we loaded up and started making our way to our next national park – Mesa Verde!
We hope this helps give you some ideas for your own trip roadschooling Grand Canyon!
Check out our other roadschool adventures at these national parks:
Three-Day Driving Itinerary Through North Cascades National Park (WA)
A Drive Around Crater Lake National Park (OR)
A Morning at Pinnacles National Park (CA)
Overnight at Joshua Tree National Park (CA)
Grand Adventure at Grand Canyon National Park (AZ)
Exploring Cliff Dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park (CO)
One-Day Itinerary at Arches National Park (UT)
Wonderfully Wet at Zion National Park (UT)
Outdoor Science Classroom at Bryce Canyon National Park (UT)