Grand Canyon advice?

[Click_here]

We are starting planning for a fall visit to the Grand Canyon and want to both camp in the park as well as outside near the rail station and take the train in/our on one of the days.

Looking for some advice on any particular sites, locations, general advice, etc. on a week long visit.

Was considering camping at the rail station and then going up for the day trip and return, then moving on to camp inside the park for a few days more.

Any advice or suggestions appreciated.

[Kim Gass]

What do you want your campground to offer and what is Fall exactly?
North Rim is higher colder quieter. No hookups. You would need a genny or solar maybe for a week.
South Rim also has no hookups. Genny hours are manageable.

max length 40 feet N Rim
Mather Campground S rim is tight

Trailer CG next to Mather is wide open with hookups.

Mather and Trailer Village are very near a large grocery store.
Also on the very convenient bus route which is free

The train? Meh.. The best viewing is at dawn and dusk and the train schedule dumps you in at the height of the busy part of the day. The train is for train buffs and cramps visiting a lot of the scenic lookouts that are strung along the S Rim.

[CAG]

What ever you do you probable need to begin now. It gets very difficult to get reservations the longer you wait.

North Rim is much more spectacular than the south, with 1/10th the visitors. The disadvantage is you are further from any major town but that can be a good thing also. The North Rim will close around the middle of November and not open again until mid May. It is a 5 hour drive from the South Rim.

The rail trip is a rail trip. Not much else to it. If you want to do a train ride do the Durango-Silverton

If you are going to drive that far, either the North or South, I suggest taking more time and going on to the various National Parks in Utah. You can hit Zion and other up the west side cross over and do Kanab, Canyon Lands and others down the east side coming back into Monument Valley on the Navajo Res. Just keep in mind that's not a day trip

My wife standing on the overlook in Zion.

[Route 66 Traveler]

We have stayed at the RV park located within walking distance of the train to the GC. It is a very nice, clean and close to downtown Williams. All of the spots are level blacktop with full hookups. There is a kennel for your dog available if you want to take the train to the GC. The train leaves in the morning and returns late afternoon. It's about an hours drive if you want to go by car. Check out the park on Google Earth. We prefer the back-in spots on the south perimeter.

https://www.thetrain.com/

https://www.thetrain.com/lodging/rv-park-location/




The Grand Canyon hotel is in the upper right corner, the RV park lower left. RV Check-in is at the building with the blue roof, top center, on W. Franklin Ave.

[brwarrior]

Last year I stayed in the forest on the North Rim side. We went one morning to the rim itself. No campground, just dispersed camping. We had a great view to the east looking at the east end of the canyon. I think we were on Rd 611. Don't go too far in if you have a long trailer. I had a 28' that I had to back down a road.

We were south of Jacob Lake. Hit the restaurant and bakery there for dinner on night 1.

We took a day trip up to Zion and did a couple hikes up there.

[CAG]

There is an RV park at Jacob's Lake. It is outside the park and privately owned.

JMHO but we do the Polar Express every year with the grandkids. It is the same train but does not go all the way to the Canyon. We have stayed at the lodge and at various motels in Williams. Williams has several very good eating places and some fun things to do. Old 66 runs through town.

Nothing against the RV parks in Williams but you are near working RR tracks with most of them. There is a KOA just east of town which is nice and in the pines. The others are paved or gravel parking lots. Few if any trees. BearAzona is a wildlife, drive through park just east of Williams.

Valle, which is about half way to the Canyon at the intersection of US 64 and 180 has a RV park. Other than going to Valle for fuel and propane on elk hunts I cannot tell you much about it but it does also have a motel, fuel/gas.

You can use Good Sam's trip planner or the information on that site to get feedback on various RV parks.

[Route 66 Traveler]

Originally Posted by CAG

Nothing against the RV parks in Williams but you are near working RR tracks with most of them. There is a KOA just east of town which is nice and in the pines. The others are paved or gravel parking lots. Few if any trees. BearAzona is a wildlife, drive through park just east of Williams.

You can use Good Sam's trip planner or the information on that site to get feedback on various RV parks.

We stayed there on our first trip to Williams. It’s typical KOA with dirt roads, dirt spaces, lots of kids running though your site and dust, dust, dust. No Wifi and the cable tv was minimal. At the time we were there water was being trucked in daily and the pressure wasn’t too good. There are no restaurants or stores close by. The freeway, I-40, is adjacent with the usual road noise.

There is another KOA on the road to the Grand Canyon that is a few miles out of Williams.

[stustoner]

Do the helicopter tour.....pricey, but well worth it.....your stomach will drop when you go over the edge.......with Tom Petty's Free Fallin' playing in the background.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by Route 66 Traveler

We stayed there on our first trip to Williams. It’s typical KOA with dirt roads, dirt spaces, lots of kids running though your site and dust, dust, dust. No Wifi and the cable tv was minimal. At the time we were there water was being trucked in daily and the pressure wasn’t too good. There are no restaurants or stores close by. The freeway, I-40, is adjacent with the usual road noise.

There is another KOA on the road to the Grand Canyon that is a few miles out of Williams.

It seems the Circle Pines which is just east of Williams now advertises GO-Cart for kids. I have not stayed there in years. The other KOA did not get that good of reviews either so it might be a good idea to research with
https://www.campgroundreviews.com/ or similar.

[Click_here]

Originally Posted by stustoner

Do the helicopter tour.....pricey, but well worth it.....your stomach will drop when you go over the edge.......with Tom Petty's Free Fallin' playing in the background.

Wow, that looks like fun. Never done a helicopter ride before and always wanted to.

[Click_here]

I knew we would get some good advice here! Thanks all for the ideas. We do like trains and have done the Durango Silverton line before. As far as dry camping on the north side, didn't realize there were no hookups, but that is why this site helps.

My Greyhawk only has a single house battery and we had to replace it at one year but unless I can run a generator, it is unlikely we could camp there. And we were thinking end of Sept for the visit. Next rig will need to have two batteries and hopefully a way to (easily) add solar.

We have done many of the other NPs out west from Arches and Mesa Verde and Canyonlands but never managed to make the GC. Going to be booking something this weekend. Again, thanks

[Route 66 Traveler]

Originally Posted by CAG

The other KOA did not get that good of reviews either so it might be a good idea to research with
https://www.campgroundreviews.com/ or similar.

I always use Campground Reviews, Good Sam, and Google Earth when checking out campgrounds. Circle Pines has numerous tall pine trees with big pine cones, so we got a spot without pine cones above us. Didn't want one landing on our roof or truck...

We have stayed there four times over the past 5 years, and the last trip killed it for future stays. Water restrictions, too many kids and dust. There is an RV park in Tusayan, just South of the entrance to the GC, the Ten X Campground:
https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234488