Grand
CanyonGrand Canyon: The Legendary Park of the United States

On the way, we spent a few hours visiting Joshua Tree National Park. You’ll find a few hikes in the arid American desert. There are several short walks and lovely viewpoints to enjoy in half a day.

Once at the Grand Canyon, we stopped at the village to gather information about the park’s different hikes. The principle is simple: you leave the car in the village, and shuttles in 4 colours take you to the different areas of the park. They are completely free and run very frequently.

To get the day off to a good start, we began with the South Kaibab hike, a huge 30 km loop that goes all the way down to the Colorado River. Because yes, at the Grand Canyon, hikes start at the top and then head down.

We went down as far as we could, before climbing back up for the same number of hours.

For this kind of hike of more than 8 hours, the best option would be to camp at the bottom of the canyon and climb back up early in the morning. Not being equipped, Mélyne and I did the round trip, and I don’t recommend our route: you see the same things again in the other direction. The loop combines South Kaibab, Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel, and many excursions, guided or not, are available.

For those who aren’t keen on hiking, don’t worry: you start at the top, and the view over the canyon is magnificent with no effort at all. We also recommend the sunset at Hopi Point, which you can reach by shuttle.

I was very impressed the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. I thought that after that, it would be hard to surprise me again with the same kind of landscape.

But that was before I saw Horseshoe Bend!

Horseshoe Bend is, as its name suggests, a horseshoe-shaped meander through which the Colorado River flows. The red earth stands out from far away. At the top, the ground is flat with a few irregularities, and suddenly this huge meander makes you realise how dangerous the landscape is. A special moment, as the place is so different from anything we had seen before.

In the Native American reservation, you can visit a magical place: the inside of Antelope Canyon. Famous for its many photos, which have become wallpapers on our computers, it can only be visited with a guide, because the site is protected and belongs to the territory of the Navajo Nation.

Allow €70 per person for a visit of up to 2 hours. The place is truly magnificent if the weather is on your side: the sun’s rays on the red rocks and the curves left by the water make it particularly photogenic.