The Grand Canyon is a natural phenomenon which is located in the Arizona State of the United States, This scenic place has evolved over million years with the River Colorado consistently eroding the rocks and making it into a huge canyon which is like nothing else in the entire world.
This has been aptly named is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and has been instrumental in bringing millions of visitors to this place over the years, As has been rightly said by Donald Culross Peattie in his work The Road of a Naturalist "The Grand Canyon is carven by the master hand; it is the gulf of silence, widened in the desert; it is all time inscribing the naked rock; it is the book of earth."
It is steep-sided and carved by the River Colorado over millions of years, This natural wonder is largely contained within the National Park which also happens to be among the first National Parks in the US,
US President Theodore Roosevelt was one of the main proponents for the preservation of this region and had also visited it several times to enjoy the beauty and also to hunt.
The whole area is stretched out in 277 miles (446 kilometers) length, 18 miles (29 kilometers) wide and 1.83 kilometers (6000 feet) deep, John Wesley Powel who was an American Explorer, teacher, geologist and also a war veteran has described it thus, "The glories and beauties of form, color, and sound unite in the Grand Canyon - forms unrivaled even by the mountains, colors that vie with sunsets and sounds that span the diapason from tempest to tinkling raindrop, from cataract to bubbling fountain."
Contained within such beautiful and serene surroundings is the National Park of the same name which is a designated World Heritage Site and one of the Crown Jewels
of the National Park System, Declared a national park in 1919, it attracts millions of visitors each year, It is spread over an area of 1.2 million acres and is home to a multiple variety of flora and fauna.
Numerous animals from the endangered California condor to the Cougars, Rattlesnakes and Gila Monsters find shelter here, There are over 1500 species of plants, ancient archeological sites which date back thousands of years and one of the most complete geological cross sections visible anywhere on the planet.
There is road, rail and air access to this scenic spot., But if one really wants to take in the expansive beauty of the place, then the best option is get aboard the Grand Canyon Railway, It was the first means of transport to reach the area and saved a lot on cost and time than the horse-driven stage coaches, There are two railway depots on the gorge, On the southern side of the line is the Williams Railway Depot which was built in 1908 and on the Northern end is the Grand Canyon Depot built in 1910,The South Rim and North Rim of the Canyon were accessed by this train.
The place is also home to the historical El Tovar Hotel which was established in 1905 and is a National Historic Landmark, It is located on the rim and provides breath taking views of the gorge and the river.
Then there is also the Railway Hotel which was built on the architectural pattern of the century old Fray Marcos Hotel, opened by the Santa Fe as Harvey House, It provides the feel of the bygone era and offers comfortable rooms and amenities.
To quote James Wesley Powel again "The elements that unite to make the Grand Canyon the most sublime spectacle in nature are multifarious and exceedingly diverse." How very true indeed!
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