Grand Canyon National Park: Yavapai Point

On By nationalparkswithtIn Arizona

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Welcome back to National Parks & other public lands with T! If you are seeing this on Twitter or Facebook, please visit the blog to see all of the photos and read the story by clicking the link.

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On one of our days in the Grand Canyon, we took a tour that was not the wisest investment we’ve ever made. The van was late picking us up, the guide was nice but lacked common sense, and the tour ended abruptly when an elderly participant cut a gash in his forehead necessitating a trip to the medical center.

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Though I had a moment’s vindication when out of all twelve people on the minibus, I alone was able to dial 911 on my Samsung (leaving eleven iPhone users in the dust), we would have been better off using the park shuttles to get to the points we did see on the tour. Live and learn…but we did still spend the day in the wondrous Grand Canyon.

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One of the interesting stops on the tour was Yavapai Point. Since we were on a tour we didn’t have to worry about parking…there wasn’t much. Yavapai is the Northernmost point in this part of the South Rim, is closest to the Colorado River and has excellent panoramic views.

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Three large canyons converge on the Colorado River here. Directly opposite Yavapai Point is Bright Angel Canyon.

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We looked around the visitor center before moving on to the next stop. There is a geological museum inside which includes a topographic relief model of the canyon.

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To see my other posts on the Grand Canyon, please click the following links:

Location: Arizona

Designation: National Park

Date designation declared: 1/11/1908

Date of my visit: 8/20/2014

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At a stop on the way back, the tour guide encouraged us to stage this photo where we seem to be rescuing hubby from plunging to his death. At this angle, you can see the wide ledge behind him. He was fine. But when an elderly man hopped over the wall to try the same thing, he lost his balance and hit his head on a rock. Best not to fool around on the rim…better safe than sorry.

19 thoughts on “Grand Canyon National Park: Yavapai Point”

  4. Point well taken on fooling around on the ledge. When we visited the Park a few years ago, I was fascinated by a book in the bookstore entitled “Death in Grand Canyon,” which documented every death since they became a National Park from the rafting accidents on the Colorado, flash flood tragedies to people thinking they were going to do a day hike with a canteen of water on a scorching day to photographers who got too close without remembering what was behind (or in front) of them to the catastrophic commercial air collision between a United Airlines and TWA plane in 1956. It was morbidly fascinating, but reaffirmed that the beauty one beholds can be fatal if one uses bad judgement or doesn’t pay attention to his or her surroundings.

    Reply

    1. Ah yes, I have read excerpts from that book. The mule story made my daughter rethink taking the mule ride, though we regained our courage a few years later and did that in Bryce.
      That man was there celebrating his 50th anniversary with his wife, who thankfully was a retired nurse and administered first aid until help arrived. Hopefully he was OK and able to enjoy the rest of his trip.

      Reply
  7. Arynne

    Thanks for visiting my blog and for the like on my Grand Canyon post! Your pictures of this park are incredible!

    Reply

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