Thinking about visiting Grand Canyon National Park with kids?
Here’s all the best tips to have a fun trip!
The Grand Canyon National Park is located in northwestern Arizona.
The Grand Canyon was carved out over the years by the Colorado River. It’s a huge national park that spans across 1,218,375 acres.
It’s full of amazing viewpoints and it truly lives up to all of the hype!
The Grand Canyon is known the views at the popular South Rim. You can also visit the less crowded North Rim for some amazing views as well.
Our 4 kids really loved this incredible national park. It’s definitely bucket list worthy!
Here’s everything you need to plan your visit to the Grand Canyon with kids!
What to Know Before You Go
I think the most shocking thing about the Grand Canyon is that there aren’t any barriers to keep kids from falling off the edge. That’s your job as a parent.
There’s lots of signage telling people to stay off the edges, but you’ll see hundreds of people who walk right past those signs to take their photo on the edge.
You’ll want to keep little kids near you. Most hiking trails along the edge are far enough away from the edge to make a parent feel at ease. In fact, many areas are handicap accessible!
However, there are some points that the path curves closer to the edge, so you’ll want to grab your child’s hand at those points.
Be sure to bring plenty of water to stay hydrated. It’s a hot, dry climate and staying well hydrated is key.
There are free bus shuttles that drop off/pick up visitors at various viewpoints.
You can also hike along the trail to each viewpoint, but at some point, you’ll probably want to go ahead and use the shuttle to save your little one’s tired legs some steps.
What to Bring
Comfortable Walking Shoes – There’s a lot of walking here. This National Park is HUGE! However, I will say that you can use their free bus shuttle to get from point to point if you don’t want to hike.
Water – Be sure to bring plenty of water. It’s hot and dry here, so you’ll want to be sure to bring a water bottle. There are refill stations around the park so be sure to utilize those!
Lunch – I recommend eating a picnic lunch before you park your car and then bring in a few snacks.
Sunscreen – This is a must – it’s a dry hot climate and you’ll want to avoid scorching in the sun.
Disinfecting Wipes – We like to have these with us in National Parks because water washing stations aren’t always available and it’s nice to have these after using pit bathrooms.
Stroller – If you have very small children a stroller is a must. If your kids are 4 and up, I’d skip the stroller as the buses can be really crowded. Having a stroller will slow you down as you have to fold it up every time you get on a shuttle bus and of course finding room on the bus to bring on a large object could prove tricky.
What to Do at The South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park
Our family entered the South Rim from the East Entrance Station right around noon, giving us about 5 hours in the park. Your plan may vary based on where you enter the National Park.
Desert View
First, I’d recommend stopping at Desert View. If you’ve been traveling for a while, the amenities here will be a welcome site. There are bathrooms, drinking water, food, and souvenirs here.
The view itself is spectacular. It’s also fun to visit this location as you can point it out to your kids later on if you visit the North Rim.
You can go up into the Desert View Watchtower if you like. We opted out as we had a day of hiking ahead of us.
Viewpoints by Car
Next, there’s a series of pull offs and various viewpoints you can visit by car. You might like to go further down the road from Desert View, so that the view changes a bit more.
We stopped at Grandview Point to see the amazing view from there.
There’s several other viewpoints and pull offs to stop at if you choose to.
As you enter further into the park, cars are not allowed, so you’ll need to find parking and start to use shuttle buses or hike the trails.
We were lucky and found parking at the Visitor Center. There’s additional parking available at the Park and Ride Lot to the south.
From here, our family brought along water bottles and a backpack with 1 extra water for each person as well as some snacks.
The Rim Trail
We took our 4 kids ages 8-14 on the Rim Trail between Grand Canyon Visitor Center and the Village, which was a 2.5 mile hike one way.
If you do the Rim Trail, be sure to stop at the Yavapai Point and Geology Museum. There’s some neat displays and of course, bathrooms!
Between the Geology Museum and the Village, kids will love all of the fun geological markers. Our kids were obsessed with them!
There’s not a lot of benches along the way on the Rim Trail, so if you find one at the right moment, it might be time to take a break and have that snack!
Going on a hike might not normally be your thing, but I highly recommend taking a moment to get away from the busy touristy points. We treasured those moments of silence, hearing the wind blowing gently through the canyon.
Hiking into the Canyon
If you aren’t an experienced hiker, or if you have young children, I wouldn’t advise you to hike into the Grand Canyon.
People are tempted to go into the Canyon, but you lose a lot of elevation very quickly and of course, it’s 10x as hard to climb back up the trail as it is to go down it.
If you take kids down into the canyon, they should have some prior hiking experience. Be prepared for loose gravel, steep inclines, and major drop offs.
We opted to stay on the Rim Trail with our 4 kids and see the canyon views from above.
Ride the Hermits Rest Route
Once you’ve had your fill of the Rim Trail, you can use the Red Route to ride the shuttle bus to various viewpoints all the way to the end of the line at Hermits Rest.
There’s tons of amazing views along the way.
We thought some of the best views were found at Maricopa Point, Mohave Point and Pima Point.
At each point, there’s hiking trails as well as lookout points. If your crew is tired from their earlier hike, like ours was, you might enjoy hopping on and off the shuttle bus checking out the viewpoints.
I wouldn’t say that the best view is at Hermits Rest but it is fun to complete the journey to the end of the line.
There’s a fun souvenir shop there that sells popsicles and ice cream bars, which is a welcome site after a big day of hiking!
North Rim Grand Canyon
If you are interested in seeing the Grand Canyon from both sides, you’ll want to plan a day to see the North Rim.
Even though the North Rim and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon are just 10 miles apart as a bird flies, they are separated by the deep canyon making it a long trip between the two!
It’s about a 5 hour drive to get from one rim to the other as you have to travel 215 miles around the canyon.
We entered the North Rim of the Grand Canyon next to Jacob Lake.
This park is noticeably quieter than the South Rim. There’s no shuttle busses here or tourist crowds. This Rim is about the views and the hikes.
The North Rim offers beautiful views as well as wildlife. If you’re lucky, you might run across the herd of roaming bison. They are such a fun sight to behold.
There’s beautiful views throughout the park, but I will say that this park is harder to navigate as there’s a lot of curvy switchback roads. Come prepared if you are prone to dizziness or car sickness.
Roosevelt Point
Looking for an easy hike for kids? Roosevelt Point Trail is only 0.2 miles
It’s a woodland loop that has beautiful trees and spectacular canyon views. This also is a nice place for a picnic as there are benches.
Cape Royal
The Cape Royal Trail is about 0.8 miles roundtrip. This trail was the highlight of the park for us.
You can see views of the Canyon and the Colorado River.
We really loved Angels Window, which is a really neat natural structure.
I hope this has been helpful in planning your trip to the Grand Canyon National Park.
Learn More about Visiting National Parks with Kids
Be sure to check out all of our articles on National Parks.
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You can grab a free printable Road Trip Packing List here. It has everything you need as a family for your time on the road!
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