Visiting Grand Canyon North Rim with Kids | Know Before You Go

What to know before your visit to Grand Canyon North with young kids.

This last July, 2021, we ventured to view the beautiful and magnificent Grand Canyon North. I had heard so much about this beautiful place and was kind of surprised to find out that it is only visited by 10% of all the 5.9 million people who visit the Grand Canyon every year.

The closest city is an hour away, therefore most lodging is an hour away as well. There area a few lodging exceptions that typically fill up quickly.

1. Camping

2. Kaibab Lodge and

3. The Grand Canyon Lodge, located directly in Grand Canyon North.

We stayed at the Grand Canyon Lodge, and it was truly breathtaking.

The caveat with the Grand Canyon Lodge is that it typically books up a year in advance. I was super fortunate to get a booking within days of our travels because of the pandemic and wildfires. It just happened to be a season when they had many cancelations.

If you have an opportunity to stay at this lodge, I highly suggest it. The pricing was reasonable, and the views were incredible plus, the hiking is literally right outside your door. That convenience alone is super helpful with young kids when the trip consists of looking at mountains and walking.

*If you stay at the lodge, I highly recommend bringing your own food because the lodge food is subpar and very expensive.

Once you get to the Grand Canyon North, a couple of signs tell you what to available with your time available.

We did the Bright Angel Pointe trail with the kids, and this trail is well paved, but oh man did it give my husband and me both some anxiety taking a 3 and 5-year-old on this trail. The drop-off is pretty extreme, and there is not much preventing you from an accidental fall.

We survived, and I can’t say it enough the views were in-cred-i-ble.

Since we stayed at the North Rim Lodge, we also explored the trails that stem directly from the lodge, and the trails stemming directly from the lodge are narrow and have no railings.

Despite the mild trail anxiety, we enjoyed our time there with young kids, and I’m excited to sit and enjoy this lodge again without young kids!

The Bright Angel Pointe trail is round-trip .5 miles.

There are freshwater resources to fill up water bottles outside of the Grand Canyon North Rim visitors center, and there are clean bathrooms just outside the visitors center too.

If you are able to catch the Sunset, you should. It’s insane.

Here is a list of all of the North Rim trails available. Trails ranging from 20 minutes to 6 hours.

I may have scared ya a bit when it comes to visiting the North Rim with kids, but I promise it’s not worse than hiking any other mountain with your kids; you just gotta keep a close eye on them, hold hands, bring plenty of water and be prepared for a bit of complaining.

I would make this trip again and again in a heartbeat; the only thing I would change is having brought my own food instead of eating the lodge food!

I loved our trip to Grand Canyon North Rim. The views are the best I’ve ever seen of the Grand Canyon.

Other Sites to see along the way:

We saw Bison in Kabab on our way to the North Rim; that was fun! https://www.theoutbound.com/arizona/photography/explore-the-cliff-dwellers-in-marble-canyon

If you’re coming from Phoenix, you will pass Cliff Dwellers on your way to the North Rim. It’s an area that was once a trading post near a bunch of naturally fallen boulders. We stopped to view the boulders, and the kids got a kick out of it.

To view the boulders is free.

If you’re coming from the Utah side or plan to head towards UT after like we did, you can plan to stop at Moqui Natural Cave. The museum is closed on Sunday, so we weren’t able to drop in and explore it, but it’s filled with ancient artifacts and has really great reviews on google.

The neighboring Sand Caves and Sand Cave Trail (.5 mile round trip) are free and accessible to hike 7 days a week.

https://visitsouthernutah.com/attractions/moqui-cave/

And that’s all I got for ya! If you have any questions drop them below or connect with me on Instagram.

Enjoy your adventures!