Things to do at Grand Canyon with kids

Grand Canyon National Park is the second most popular National Park in the U.S. There’s no bad time to visit the Grand Canyon. Keep in mind, though, that winter conditions can be extreme with snow and ice causing road closures. The North Rim is only open from middle of May to the end of October.

Our time was limited and we were only able to visit the South Rim of the Canyon. We stayed at the Grand Canyon KOA with the RV in Williams, Arizona for this visit and drove to the National Park. 

We got to the Grand Canyon right before sunrise. There were maybe 5 cars in the e tire parking lot when we got there! After watching sunrise in the parking lot, we walked around the visitors area and saw numerous elk and wildlife wandering the park.

We did all of the look outs at the main area, as a mom of three adventurous kids, I do have to say I was anxious the entire time the looked over the fenced edges.  We walked the Rim Trail which is an easy, paved walk. It’s ideal for children and is very much wheelchair and stroller accessible. We walked along this trail for about 2 miles then turned around for a 4 mile round-trip hike. There are multiple educational signs along the way and the kids loved reading these. This is a great walk as there are benches along the way to sit and look out the canyon. 

When you are visiting with your kids, definitely grab a free Grand Canyon Junior Ranger program booklet at any visitors center in the park. The kids complete a number of activities depending on your child’s age and can earn South Rim, North Rim and Phantom Rattler badges.

We enjoyed lunch a late lunch at the picnic tables by the main parking lot then headed back to Williams. 

This was the first stop along our route as we headed north to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. I definitely would not skip the Grand Canyon because I think the educational information about the geology was a great base as we made our way north. The kids loved to identify the various layers of rocks through our trip and they remembered them from the upper rim trail. 

Next time we visit we will take the Grand Canyon Railway for a different experience!