Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [175]
Exploring the Park Without a Car. Once at the South Rim, you can ride the park's free shuttles from March 1 through November 30 (year-round on the loop serving Grand Canyon Village). Three shuttle routes serve all of Grand Canyon Village, Canyon View Information Plaza, Mather Point, Yavapai Point, Yaki Point, and Hermit Road. When the shuttles run, Hermit Road and Yaki Point (including the South Kaibab trailhead) are closed to private vehicles.
When the shuttles don't meet your needs, you can call Fred Harvey's 24-hour taxi service (☎ 928/638-2822). You can catch a taxi from Tusayan into the park with Grand Canyon Coaches (☎ 928/638-0821).
INFORMATION
Contact Grand Canyon National Park, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 (☎ 800/638-7888; www.nps.gov/grca), for a free copy of the Grand Canyon Trip Planner. Those who want more in-depth information can buy books, maps, and videos from the Grand Canyon Association, P.O. Box 399, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023 (☎ 800/858-2808; www.grand canyon.org). Among the hundreds of books written on the Grand Canyon, several stand out. For a general overview, leaf through Grand Canyon: A Natural History Guide (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1993) by Jeremy Schmidt. For a discussion of the human history of the Grand Canyon, try Living at the Edge: Explorers, Exploiters and Settlers of the Grand Canyon Region (Grand Canyon Association, 1998), by Michael F. Anderson. In An Introduction to Grand Canyon Geology (Grand Canyon Association, 1999), author L. Greer Price explains the geology of the Grand Canyon in terms anyone can understand.
FEES & PERMITS
Admission to Grand Canyon National Park costs $25 per private vehicle and $10 for those on foot, bicycle, or motorcycle. The receipt is good for a week and includes both rims. You can make advance reservations for campsites at Mather Campground (on the South Rim) and at the North Rim Campground by calling ☎ 800/365-CAMP (2267).
Permits are required for all overnight camping in the backcountry. This includes all overnight stays below the rims (except in the cabins and dorms at Phantom Ranch) and on parkland outside of designated campgrounds.
Backcountry permits for the month desired go on sale on the first of the month, 4 months earlier. For example, permits for all of May go on sale January 1; permits for June go on sale February 1, and so on. At press time, fees were $10 per permit plus $5 per person per night. A permit is good for up to 11 people. You can get a Backcountry Permit Request Form by ordering the free Backcountry Trip Planner from the park. To do this, call the park's main number (☎ 800/638-7888) and choose the "backcountry information" option, or write to Grand Canyon National Park, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023. Or download a form and instructions from www.nps.gov/grca.
You can fax your Backcountry Permit Request Form to 928/638-2125 no earlier than the date the permits become available, mail it with a postmark no earlier than the date the permits become available, or take it in person to the Backcountry Information Center on either rim. The park receives many more permit requests than it can fill, so it's a good idea to put in your request as soon as permits become available. Allow 1 to 3 weeks for processing. No requests are taken by phone. The staff at the Backcountry Information Center (☎ 928/638-7875) at the Maswik Transportation Center, across the railroad tracks from Maswik Lodge, answers questions over the telephone Monday through Friday from 1 to 5pm Arizona time. You can visit the office in person from 8am to noon and 1 to 5pm daily.
INFORMATION CENTERS
Completed in 2000 near Mather Point, the Canyon View Information Plaza was designed to orient visitors arriving at the park and incorporate a new light-rail system. Though the rail system has not been built, the Information Plaza has the streamlined appearance of a modern transportation hub, with ample room for pedestrians and no automobile parking lots. Outdoors in the landscaped