The Ultimate One Day Itinerary for The Grand Canyon’s North Rim

Last September my family and I traveled to Arizona to see what was up with one of the Seven Wonders of the World…i.e., the Grand Canyon.  We traveled for 9 days to three different locations: Page, the North Rim, and the infamous South Rim.  I wasn’t a newbie to Arizona but I had never been to any of these three locations.  You could say I was pretty stoked to see some new territory!

After our bursting-at-the-seams scheduling in Page, AZ, I began to wonder how we were going to top all the awesome activities we just did! Despite my fear, I knew I was in for another treat as soon as I stepped out into the cool evening air at the Grand Canyon Lodge in the North Rim.  (And let me tell you, after spending two days in Page’s almost 100-degree heat, the North Rim was certainly a treat!)

The North Rim sits a little over 8,000 ft elevation, which means it has beautiful forests and cooler temperatures!  As we climbed higher and higher up the mountain from Page the scenery became prettier and prettier.  We arrived just as the sunset, which meant my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon was from the patio of the Lodge during “golden hour”.  In other words, my first view of the Grand Canyon was memorable and breathtaking.  If you take a look at the picture below, you’ll see what I mean!

Maybe it’s just me, but I fell a little in love with the North Rim.  I loved the view from the Lodge, I loved the stone patio that you could sit out on while being served food and drinks, I loved the Lodge, I loved the trees, the temperature, the laid back not-as-crowded atmosphere. It was all pretty rad, and I would definitely return if given the opportunity!

With that being said, I know vacation days are precious and we can never afford to stay as long as we actually want!  We spent two nights here, meaning we truly only had one full day to explore the area.  We were busy from sun-up to sun-down (literally), but I think we really made the most of our time there, and I don’t feel like we missed out on doing anything we really wanted to do.

So if you’re planning to see the North Rim on your next travels to Arizona, here’s a great One Day Itinerary for spending the day in the good ol’ North Rim of the Grand Canyon!

1. Watch the Sunrise from the Grand Canyon Lodge.

First things first – you gotta wake up and see the first light hit the canyon! It’s awesome to see the sun bring out the colors over the course of its rising! It’s truly an unbeatable experience, and it’s worth missing a few extra ZZZ’s to make it happen! We made sure to be up for the sunrise the first morning and slept in the second!

2. Fuel up for your day by having breakfast at the Lodge!

We had breakfast in the Lodge both mornings, and it was really a treat! Most people are concerned about trying to have dinner there, but in my opinion, breakfast is way better.  For one, there’s not a long wait for a table so reservations aren’t necessary.  Second, at night you can’t see anything out the windows!! We got to sit down, enjoy a delicious breakfast, and get to look out the window at the Grand Canyon! Highly recommend it.

3. Walk from the Lodge to some of the scenic overlooks below!

The patio on the lodge has steps that take you down to a trail right below the building and on the Rim of the Canyon!  The trail intersects with other trails, but my purpose for mentioning it here is that it has a couple of awesome viewpoints that are an easy distance from (and actually within sight of) the Lodge.  We got some nice pictures around these areas and I highly recommend making time for them during your stay!

4. Go on a scenic drive: Point Imperial, Angel’s Window/Cape Royal

If you’re staying in the North Rim, I highly recommend going on a scenic drive!! If you head away from the Lodge you will soon see signs on your right for Point Imperial and Cape Royal. Follow the signs and see both of the scenic spots! There’s hiking around both, but we decided to save our hiking for closer to the Lodge.  We did cover a lot of ground between these two viewpoints and were really impressed with what we saw!

5. Take a stroll through the North Rim’s Visitor Center

The North Rim Visitor Center is located right next to the Lodge and won’t take a lot of time away from your itinerary.  It’s not large, but it has a pretty cool topographical map of the North Rim and of course souvenirs! They also have maps of the area and its hiking trails which would be pretty useful.  Oh, and don’t forget to get a picture of yourself or your group in front of the Visitor Center sign!

6. Go on a hike!

Did you really think I was going to leave hiking out of my itinerary?? That would be pretty close to sacrilegious for me, so we included a short but sweet hike down the Transept Trail which starts right next to the Lodge.  It was a nice trail that followed along the Rim for most of the hike.  It wasn’t so long that it took up a lot of time or wore us out, which was perfect for our busy day!

7. Watch the sunset from The Lodge’s patio!

Last but not least, eat dinner and relax on the patio of the Lodge while watching the sun go down.  This was by far one of my favorite parts of the North Rim!  You have to get there well before the sun actually sets if you want a seat right on the edge, but really there isn’t a bad seat on the east portion of the patio.  (The west portion gets blasted pretty heavy by the setting sun.) Again, get there early for a good spot!

So there you have it, the perfect One Day Itinerary for visiting the North Rim! I hope it helped y’all better plan your trip.  The North Rim is such a treat!

Don’t forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!!

Until next time!