Grand Canyon in June

We had to give up our trailer park village reservation in July.

Now planning to go out some time in June, but of course now it's booked solid. Looks like North Rim is too.

I had originally booked the village thinking I'd want electric for running AC, but it looks like temps out of the canyon may not bee too bad given the elevation.

My coach is a 31 (actual length something like 32 ft) and both mather and desert view have a 30 ft limit.  I'm guessing they would be rather strict about that so I'm guessing those are out.

What would you do?
  plan on boondocking someplace?
  or book one of the commercial CG's at Tusayan, just out of the park.....
        or one further south at the train station? 
            Which one would you try for?

My recommendation is to stay at Camper Village in Tusayan. There is a shuttle bus stop right in front of the campground that will take you into the park. It is not that much more expensive than Trailer Village.

DeMotte campground, 17 miles north of the entrance to the North Rim has 21 first come first serve spots.  If you arrive before noon you can usually find a spot you'll fit in(might have to back in, but there's enough room).  Jacobs Lake campground has more room, is 25 miles further north. 
Both are Forest Service dry camps, but in June, at the North Rim, you won't need air conditioning.  Altitude is 8000'+, temps are mild.
Also lots of boondocking available in the forest.  I've seen 42' DPs parked 3 miles off the pavement under a tree, all by themselves.

South rim is hot, crowded and accessible enough to get the partying crowd on the weekends.

Definitely stay on top of the rim, even if in Tuasyan. It is 50 miles from Grand Canyon RR park in Williams. We stayed at Trailer Village for 4 nights first and explored all around the South Rim. Then we went to GCRR for 2 days. We thought we would take the train ride. But then we realized it took us right back up to the South Rim, so that didn't make any sense. Instead we took a day trip (full 8 hours) to the canyon floor via a 4-wheel van. Comfortable 12 passenger van with a narration that picked us up at the GCRR Hotel. It takes you through Seligman on Old Route 66 and past a few other interesting sights, rest stops and lunch are included and you get about 1 1/2 hours to explore the canyon and dip your toes in the Colorado River. It was expensive but we thought it was a good value. Only 5% of all visitor's to the Grand Canyon go to the floor. The GCRR RV Park is basically a parking lot and it is noisy as regular trains go past. However it was clean with paved sites and you are allowed to use the indoor pool at the Hotel.

We drove past a Flintstone's RV park on the way up from Williams, but I can't remember how far it was to South Rim from there and didn't really pay attention to condition.

Brad there is a boon docking place at Tusayan on the Jim Loop road. The OH stayed there last year said it was great. Make sure you can get out of the spot you choose as he had a bit of trouble. Newbie at the time. I got the info on here so do a search. 

Thank you all!
Yes, i remember SeilerBird mentioned that Jim Loop Road spot a long time back in a different thread.... I've kept that one in the back of my mind

and those North rim options sound interesting.  I'd personally like to do that but I think DW wants the kids to be able to see the South Rim, gift shops, and all that hoopla...and no doubt to re-live a really great trip she and I took together there staying at El Tovar many years ago before kids...  I might work on that though...maybe go from the South Rim to the North Rim...do a night or two at each...?...

Last year at the campground I got a call from some lady who was at the south rim.  She said her GPS told her it was a 3 hour drive from the south to the north rim, and was there any short cut.
I mentioned that there was a fairly significant hole in the ground to drive around, but there was a 23 mile walking short cut if she preferred.  :

blw2 said:

Thank you all!
Yes, i remember SeilerBird mentioned that Jim Loop Road spot a long time back in a different thread.... I've kept that one in the back of my mind

and those North rim options sound interesting.  I'd personally like to do that but I think DW wants the kids to be able to see the South Rim, gift shops, and all that hoopla...and no doubt to re-live a really great trip she and I took together there staying at El Tovar many years ago before kids...  I might work on that though...maybe go from the South Rim to the North Rim...do a night or two at each...?...

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North Rim beautiful too and you can see a fault line on the south from that side. We visited several tears ago and last year.

Wally might know if the rim is all open again. Some parts were closed due to the fires. We decided to drive out on the Kaibab plateau to point sublime instead.  Unfortunately the weather was awful but the views were very different in the mist.

If you have a good vehicle with very tough tyres I'd also recommend Toroweap. Beautiful and very quiet. You are very close to the river and can see some lava flows from there. Last few miles very rough and you need 4x4.

jackiemac said:

North Rim beautiful too and you can see a fault line on the south from that side. We visited several tears ago and last year.

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Actually the Bright Angel fault is visible from either the south rim or the north rim. Every day the rangers put on a program called the fossil walk where they investigate a huge fossil field located close to the Bright Angel Lodge. On the walk they take you to a spot to tell you about the fossils you are about to see (shells and anthropods not dinosaurs, GC rim is too old for that) that is located right on the fault. If you look at the north rim from the south rim you can see a place on the north rim where the elevation drops by about 185 feet. That spot is on the right hand edge of this photo.

The fires on the North Rim closed part of the actual National Park(the road to Point Imperial)for a few weeks. It was back open before the end of the season. 
Parts of the National Forest outside the park were closed longer, and a small part remained closed in Oct. when we left.  I'm sure it'll be back open again by now. 
Road to the North Rim opens May 15, as does the park.  Because of my wife's surgery, we'll be a bit late and won't be there until around the 22nd.

Haven't been to Toroweap.  It's around 120 miles one way from where we host and the last 65 are dirt.  We only get 2 days a week off and I couldn't talk the DW into tent camping a night that far out.
Point Sublime is awesome as is Jumpup Point.  Much of what there is to see at the North Rim is outside the park.  If you've only got a couple of days the park is great.  If you've got more time...bring a 4x4 and spend some time away from the crowds.

Hope your wife is recovering well Wally. 

Tom that talk sounds interesting will need to look for it next time we go!

jackiemac said:

Hope your wife is recovering well Wally. 

Tom that talk sounds interesting will need to look for it next time we go!

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It is extremely interesting. I have been on it a few dozen times. I never get tired of looking at the fossils. It used to meet every morning at 9:30 in back of the Bright Angel Lodge. It is an easy walk, less than a quarter of a mile on fairly flat land. It is so cool to sit in an earthquake fault.

SeilerBird said:

It is extremely interesting. I have been on it a few dozen times. I never get tired of looking at the fossils. It used to meet every morning at 9:30 in back of the Bright Angel Lodge. It is an easy walk, less than a quarter of a mile on fairly flat land. It is so cool to sit in an earthquake fault.

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Thanks a lot Tom, I'll look out for it. Sounds right up my street. I am interested in geology and fossils, must be as I live with one ??

jackiemac said:

Thanks a lot Tom, I'll look out for it. Sounds right up my street. I am interested in geology and fossils, must be as I live with one ??

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If you love geology then can you tell me the geological forces that built the Grand Canyon?

If you like fossils, visit the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument(better hurry, before they sell it to the oil companies).  There's a visitor's center with  a lot of fossils.  One of the guys there even has a dinosaur named after him.
My wife found several fossils while we were at the GC(not in the Park!)and the guy was able to identify one of them as shipworm shells @about 250million years old.  The other nice one she found was a complete clam, also about 250 million years old. 
We're going back this Oct because there's a lot of exploring to do via Jeep, but when we were there last year, the alternator was out on the toad and we couldn't use it.

There's a relatively new park at Cameron (east end of the canyon park ).  It's has full hookups, but pretty plain after that.  We stayed there once in 2015.  It had just opened and was nothing but sand and hookups, but they had planted a lot of trees.  It may be a bit better now.  The trading post is handy.


Cameron Trading Post

SeilerBird said:

If you love geology then can you tell me the geological forces that built the Grand Canyon?

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Oh Tom, feels like school days!  Obviously the water and wind and any ice.  Lava will no doubt have played a part in it too.  My OH has read a book that we saw in the visitors centre at Capitol Reef - its the geology of the west.  I have not read it, I find that kind of thing a bit tough going.  I also struggle to retain details in my head. 

Old_Crow said:

If you like fossils, visit the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument(better hurry, before they sell it to the oil companies).  There's a visitor's center with  a lot of fossils.  One of the guys there even has a dinosaur named after him.
My wife found several fossils while we were at the GC(not in the Park!)and the guy was able to identify one of them as shipworm shells @about 250million years old.  The other nice one she found was a complete clam, also about 250 million years old. 
We're going back this Oct because there's a lot of exploring to do via Jeep, but when we were there last year, the alternator was out on the toad and we couldn't use it.

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We have visited GS too, don't remember seeing the visitor centre, or maybe we went past it.  We love that area and I am so very very saddened by what is happening about the parks right now.  I did think about posting something but thought it would probably start a political debate.  :

I will definitely make a point of checking that out next time we are there.  It's not currently on our route, although we are seriously considering it because of what is going on and I get the impression they won't hang about before the mining starts.  We haven't been to Bears Ears but it looks amazing!

Haven't seen any fossils but we did see the Oyster Beds at Capitol Reef.

I just love your country, it's amazing!!  ;D

SeilerBird said:

If you love geology then can you tell me the geological forces that built the Grand Canyon?

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This is a good link about the formation of the canyon... We are planning on mid to late May
https://answersingenesis.org/geology/grand-canyon-facts/when-and-how-did-the-grand-canyon-form/