National Geographic Special - The World\'s Most Beautiful Places

113 STARK & WILD

ARIZONA

Awestruck visitors stand at Mather Point,

one of the most popular viewing spots on

the vast rim of the Grand Canyon. They are

specks against North America’s greatest

natural spectacle—in places 18 miles (29 km)

across and 6,000 feet (1,800 m) deep. Their

allotted span is a moment against the six

million years the Colorado River has taken

to carve the canyon, an even briefer flicker

against the two billion years of geological

time layered in the ancient shale, sandstone,

and limestone of the canyon walls.

DON’T MISS

Sit at Toroweap Overlook and take in the view—the

immense curve of the canyon, the silvery thread of

the Colorado River 2,500 feet (760 m) below and

the array of lava, cinder cones, and other volcanic

features that make this lookout unique.

The dying rays of the sun light the walls of Wotan’s

Throne on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

grand

canyon

national park