In Arizona, USA is one of the most amazing natural phenomena on the globe - the Grand Canyon. This is a huge crack in the surface of the earth, dug by the Colorado River for millions of years. The canyon was formed due to the extensive process of soil erosion, and is its most striking example. Its depth reaches 1800 m, and the width in some places reaches up to 30 km: thanks to this the Grand Canyon is considered the largest canyon in America and in the world as a whole. On the walls of the gorge you can study geology and archeology, because they left traces of four geological epochs, experienced by our planet.
The waters of the stormy river that flows along the bottom of the canyon have a reddish-brown color due to the sand, clay and rocks that it is washing away. The gorge itself is filled with clusters of cliffs. Their outlines are very unusual: landslides, erosion and other natural phenomena have led to the fact that some canyon cliffs look like towers, others - on Chinese pagodas, others - on fortress walls, etc. And all this is the work of exclusively nature, without the slightest interference of the human hand!
But the most amazing nature of the Grand Canyon: it is a variety of natural areas with different climatic conditions. This is the so-called altitudinal zonation, when the temperature of the air, its humidity and the soil cover vary greatly at different heights. Representatives of the local flora are also very diverse. If the bottom of the gorge is a classic desert landscape of the southwest of North America (different types of cacti , yucca, agave), then at the plateau level pine and juniper trees, spruce and fir, habitual to coolness grow.
History and attractions of the Grand Canyon
This area was known to American Indians many centuries ago. This is evidenced by ancient rock paintings.
They opened the gorge for Europeans from Spain: first in 1540, a group of Spanish soldiers, traveling in search of gold, tried to descend to the bottom of the canyon, but to no avail. And already in 1776 there were two priests who were looking for a way to California. The first research route on the Colorado Plateau, where the Grand Canyon is located, was the scientific expedition of John Powell in 1869.
Today, the Grand Canyon is part of the national park of the same name, which is located in the state of Arizona. Among the local attractions stand out for its beauty and magnificence Bukans-Stone, Fern Glen Canyon, Shiva Temple and others. Most of them are located on the south side of the canyon, which is much more frequented than the northern one. Of the man-made attractions can be noted only one - a memorial plate with the inscription on the Indian tribes, calling this place their home (Zuni, Navajo and Apache).
How to get to the Grand Canyon in the USA?
It's easiest to get to the canyon from Las Vegas , and this can be done in several ways: by renting a car or ordering a tour by bus, plane or even a helicopter. The entrance to the Grand Canyon costs about 20 US dollars, it operates exactly 7 days, during which time
Extreme lovers come to the Grand Canyon to raft down the Colorado River on inflatable rafts. Other local entertainments are descent into the canyon on mules and a helicopter excursion over the gorge. More cautious tourists are invited to inspect the canyon from one of the observation platforms: the most popular is Skywalk, the bottom of which is completely glass. Previously, in the 40-50s of the last century, so-called visual flights on passenger planes over the Grand Canyon were popular, however, after the tragic collision of two aircraft in 1956, they were banned.