We hear from visitors all the time
about how they come to the North Rim
over and over again.
It’s one of those touchstone places.
And, when you think of all the reasons
why we have National Parks,
the North Rim is the quintessential
example of everything that makes parks special.
You have incredible scenic beauty,
You have naturally functioning ecosystems.
You have wildlife,
but more importantly
there's something about the North Rim that
just invokes that sense of solitude and serenity.
This is a place that invites you to slow down,
to ponder,
to feel your own innate creativity
and to just fall in love with landscape.
It’s a place that worms your way
into your heart and never leaves.
We have a lot of artists and photographers,
and writers, and poets
that make their way to the North Rim
over and over again
in search of that solitude
and that inspiration and the beauty
that this place provides.
Even some of our former employees
have went on to become very
famous writers, people like
Edward Abbey.
Here on the North Rim,
he was a fire lookout for four seasons
and he manned the fire tower.
But, more importantly he wrote here,
and found a lot of inspiration in this landscape.
You haven’t fully experienced
Grand Canyon until you come
to the North Rim.
The South Rim is beautiful,
there's a lot of stuff going on there
but - I don’t think you
have the full sense - of the drama
and the beauty and
the scope of Grand Canyon
until you make your way up to this
high mountain plateau
and see the rim from these forests.
Grand Canyon is at her most majestic
when you see her from the North Rim.
Every season here has a character
and a feel to it,
and a rhythm to it.
It’s that thing that brings you back
over, and over, and over again.
Is those connections
to not only the place,
but the natural rhythms of this place.
Perhaps the best thing to do at
the North Rim
is to watch the cycles of the sun
as it rises in the morning
and sets in the evening.
And it has a profound effect on people
and their experiences.
Sunrises are quiet,
they are almost reverent,
hardly anybody is talking.
And, then you go down for sunset
and there's chatter
and the clicking of cameras
and the oohs and awes
and the excitement that ensues from
watching this spectacular, natural show.
And, as the sun begins to go down
towards the horizon
we get incredible alpenglow
within the canyon
and the colors within the rocks
take on an edge to them that is
difficult to describe.
There is nothing like a sunset on the North Rim.
National Parks were set aside
to preserve incredible scenic landscapes
for future generations.
When you come to the North Rim
you get to step into that vision
and experience if first hand.
And, we get to have this opportunity
because the people who were here before us
took the time
to be good stewards of this place,
to care for it
and preserve it for our experience.
And now, as we look to the future,
we have the opportunity to do the same.
To care for this place,
to preserve it as it is, so that someday,
our children, and their children after them,
and their children after them
can come here and have
this same incredible experience
in this remarkable place
known as - the North Rim.